June 10, 2010
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.— Six Vanderbilt players were selected in the 2010 Major League Amateur Baseball Draft held over three days earlier this week.
Senior right-handed pitcher Drew Hayes led off the Commodores taken when he was selected in the 11th round by the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday. Hayes is 6-0 with a 4.25 ERA this year and has 46 strikeouts with 22 walks in 48.2 innings. He has come on strong down the stretch this season having thrown 8.2 innings of one-hit scoreless relief in his last six outings with 11 strikeouts and five walks. After he transferred from Bethel College as a freshman, Hayes has gone 12-4 as a Commodore with a 4.46 ERA with 150 strikeouts in 133.1 innings.
Redshirt sophomore first baseman Aaron Westlake was the second player taken when he was drafted in the 22nd round by Toronto. The California native is hitting .308 on the year with a team high 14 homers and 58 RBI. He has excelled down the stretch having been named to both the Southeastern Conference All-Tournament team and the NCAA Louisville Regional All-Tourney team. Westlake led the SEC in hitting last season with a .377 batting average en route to Freshman All-American honors. For his career he is hitting .336 with 24 homers and 119 RBI.
The Cleveland Indians selected junior right-handed pitcher Taylor Hill, the starting pitcher against Florida State on Friday, in the 30th round. He is 6-5 on the year with a 4.15 ERA and has 72 strikeouts and 25 walks in 102.0 innings. He picked up the win in the championship game of the Louisville Regional with an inning of scoreless relief in the 10th on Monday. Hill is 13-8 with a 4.45 ERA in his career with 159 strikeouts in 190.0 innings of work.
Redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Russell Brewer was selected in the 31st round by Colorado, and senior catcher Andrew Giobbi was chosen in the 32nd round by Seattle.
Brewer is 2-2 this year with a 3.07 ERA and has 39 strikeouts to just eight walks in 29.1 innings pitched. He has closed for the Commodores the past three seasons and with six saves this season the North Carolina native now has 18 saves in his career. That number is one shy of Ryan Rote’s school record of 19 set in 2004-05. Brewer is 7-7 in three seasons with the Commodores with a 3.24 ERA and has recorded 130 strikeouts and just 27 walks in 102.2 innings pitched.
Giobbi is hitting .289 entering the Tallahassee Super Regional and has blasted seven homers with 15 doubles and 56 RBI. For his career the Maine native has a .304 batting average with 17 homers, 56 doubles and 164 RBI. He is third in school history in doubles, seven shy of the school record of 63 set by Dominic de la Osa from 2005-08. He was also a Johnny Bench Award Semifinalist (16 top catchers in the nation) and has thrown out 24 of 56 base runners on the year.
Rounding out the current Commodore contingent of draftees was junior right-handed pitcher Chase Reid who was picked by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 41st round. The Texas native is 4-1 this season with a 3.25 ERA in 26 appearances, with seven starts. He also has three saves and has notched 64 strikeouts and just 13 walks in 63.2 innings. For his career, Reid has a sparkling 11-1 ledger with a 3.85 ERA and 144 strikeouts in 135.2 innings.
This marks the second straight year the Commodores have had six players taken in the draft, and it also snaps a string of three straight years of having a first round selection.
Name Position Round Team
Drew Hayes RHP 11th Cincinnati
Aaron Westlake 1B 22nd Toronto
Taylor Hill RHP 30th Cleveland
Russell Brewer RHP 31st Colorado
Andrew Giobbi C 32nd Seattle
Chase Reid RHP 41st St. Louis