MLB Draft 2019: Yankees’ picks rounds 31-40

We’ve made it to the home-stretch of the 2019 MLB Draft! It is not easy to find information on players selected as things wind down on day three, but here’s what we could drum up. As we have done all day, we’ll update this post with information on selections from rounds 31-40 as they are announced.

Round 31, Pick 945: C Chad Knight
Staples High School (CT), 6’0”, 205 lbs

A two-way player—though drafted by the Yankees as a catcher—Knight hit .515 with 11 home runs and 26 RBI this season, with 55 strikeouts and a 1.08 ERA in 43 innings. He was named the Gatorade State Player of the Year, and was part of the 2013 Little League World Series team. Interesting tidbit: he’s a distant relative of Joe Torre, and once got a pitching lesson from Mariano Rivera.

Round 32, Pick 975: RHP Ethan Hoopingarner
Aliso Niguel High School (CA), 6’3”, 200 lbs

Hoopingarner works with a fastball that sits upper 80s and tops out at 90, and a curveball. The right-hander is a USC commit.

Round 33, Pick 1005: SS Javier Reynoso
Colegio Angel David HS (PR), 6’2”, 190 lbs

The Puerto Rico native, who seems to go by the name Francisco Reynoso, is described as having “good raw arm strength.” He is a switch hitter with more power from the right side. Reynoso is a Florida Southwestern State College commit.

Round 34, Pick 1035: RHP Joey Lancellotti
North Carolina, 5’11”, 205 lbs

Lancellotti ranked in at 217 on Baseball America’s Top 500 list. He has three pitches in his arsenal, including a mid-90s fastball, and a plus slider. Scouts expect him to strictly be used as a reliever because of his size and delivery— “he has a fairly significant head whack.” It’s unclear why he was ranked so high by BA and fell so far.

Round 35, Pick 1065: LHP Nathaniel Espelin
The Winchendon School (MA), 5’11”, 185 lbs

The left-hander’s fastball sits mid-80s and topped out at 87 in 2019. He posted a 1.17 ERA with 109 strikeouts in 66 innings at Belmont last year. He’s committed to the University of Dayton.

Round 36, Pick 1095: RHP Montana Semmel
Westhill HS (CT), 6’4”, 225 lbs

Semmel mixes a four-seam fastball, a two-seamer with good movement, a solid curveball, and is working on a changeup. His fastball averages low-mid 90s, and scouts say he has touched 96. It’ll be interesting to see if the Yankees can pry any of these high schoolers away from their college dreams. Semmel is committed to Chipola College.

Round 37, Pick 1125: RHP Bryce Jarvis
Duke, 6’2”, 185 lbs

The right-hander was Duke’s featured Saturday starter this season. He notched 85 strikeouts through 68.2 innings and recorded a 4.06 ERA across 10 starts.

Round 38, Pick 1155: OF Dontae Mitchell
Lakewood HS (FL), 6’0”, 185 lbs

Mitchell hit .266 with nine extra-base hits over 64 at-bats during his senior year of high school. He successfully stole 32 bases out of 33 attempts. The outfielder is committed to play at the University of South Florida.

Round 39, Pick 1185: 1B Jake Farrell
Northeastern (MA), 6’4”, 215 lbs

The Yankees really can’t get enough of Jakes this draft. This is their fourth one. The big first baseman hit .322 with 10 home runs this year for Northeastern. In an interview, Farrell stated that he modeled his swing after Cody Bellinger. He led the team in home runs, so that seems to be working out for him.

Round 40, Pick 1215: RHP Alex Garbrick
Morehead State (KY), 6’1”, 200 lbs

No better way to end the draft than with another right-handed college pitcher. In 2019, Garbrick tossed 58.1 innings with 69 strikeouts over 10 starts. That was good for a 4.32 ERA.