The Yankees selected right-handed pitcher Drew Finley, the first high schooler of this year's draft for the team, with their third round pick in the 2015 MLB Draft. Finley is 6'3" and 200 pounds with a current commitment to USC. The Rancho Bernardo High Schooler is ranked 12th in California and 60th overall by Baseball America, and 56th by MLB.com. Drew's father was a professional baseball player who currently works in the Dodgers organization.
Finley has a fastball that sits in the 88-92 mph with the ability to hit 93 mph. His curveball has been called inconsistent to this point, but is one of the best among his draft class and should be another plus pitch for the right-hander. Finley is able to get some deception by hiding the ball and gets strikeouts with both of his plus pitches, as well as sporting an average changeup. Pitchability is a big consideration among draftees, and Finley's advanced abilities for his age combined with his MLB bloodlines likely made the Yankees feel like he was a safer bet as a high school arm.
Although Finley seemed to take a step back toward the end of his season after reaching his career-high in innings, a 20-strikeout performance definitely turned some heads. He throws strikes and is consistently able to stay in or around the strike zone. Finley isn't going to blow you away with his velocity, but MLB.com believes that his curveball is 60-grade with 50-grade control.
It's unclear how strong Finley's commitment to University of Southern California is, but being drafted in the third round might be enough to sway him away from college and into pinstripes.