The Yankees stuck to their plan of drafting mainly college players in the seventh round, selecting right fielder Jhalan Jackson out of Florida Southern College 213th overall. The 6'4" right-hander hit 20 home runs and was a finalist for the Tino Martinez award for the most outstanding Division II player.
Jackson transferred to Tennessee Wesleyan from Hillsborough Community College where he played two seasons, earning All-Conference honors in both seasons. Things didn't work out at the new school, prompting Jackson to take a year off before ultimately landing at Florida Southern. He played for the Sanford River Rats in the summer of 2014, batting .297 in ten games. Jackson has batted .417/.476/.857 in 175 at-bats in the 2014-2015 season. He set a new single season record for home runs.
With only one high school player being selected through seven rounds of the draft so far, the Yankees have clearly focused more on advanced players with higher floors than the slightly more unpredictable high school players. It isn't difficult to see that the power Jackson possesses might intrigue teams looking for stronger bats in the draft. It will be interesting to see if that trend continues into the rest of the first ten rounds of the draft.