Yankees Draft Coverage

MLB Draft 2016: Yankees draft picks from rounds 21-30

By TanyaAnderson@Tanya__Anderson Jun 11, 2016, 4:03pm EDT

Round	Overall	Name	Position	School	Comments
21	638	Timmy Robinson	OF	USC	Right-handed senior center fielder who batted .282/.368/.486 with eight home runs and 46 RBI for the Trojans this season. Ranked 73rd in the state of California by Baseball America and earned All-Pac 12 first team honors as a junior in 2015. Stole 19 bases a year ago and nine in 2016. Had a 45/30 K/BB ratio this season. Robinson has above-average power, speed, and range with an above-average arm. He has tools for days that he hasn't necessarily been able to put together on the field as of yet, but he has gotten better each season so far.
22	668	Blair Henley	RHP	Arlington Heights HS (TX)	Threw three consecutive no-hitters this season. Has better pitchability than pure stuff, but possesses a strong pair of pitches with his fastball and slider combo. Ranked 392nd by Baseball America and 32nd in the state of Texas. Currently committed to play at Texas next year and seems likely to head to college instead of signing. While fairly polished for a high school pitcher, Henley still needs some work on his changeup for a third pitch. At 6'3" and 175 pounds, he has an easy, repeatable delivery, but scouts doubt how much velocity he has the potential to add to his 87-91 mph fastball going forward.
23	698	Braden Bristo	RHP	Louisiana Tech	The 6'0" and 180-pound righty had a 5.69 ERA with a 10.08 K/9 in 55.1 innings as a junior for the Bulldogs this year. It was his first full season in the rotation and he made a total of 14 starts. Bristo was also a football recruit coming out of Ouachita Christian in high school.
24	728	Joe Burton	OF	Harford CC	Burton is an extremely physical player who batted .407/.514/.749 with 16 home runs and 23 stolen bases this season. The 6'4", 240-pound right-hander has great bat speed and power, but he is still working to refine his approach at the plate. Speedier than your average big guy, Baseball America ranked him 370th overall and third in the state of Maryland. Unfortunately, his defense in the outfield is not good and he is likely destined for first base in the future.
25	758	Edel Luaces	OF	No School	Right-handed, 6'5" center fielder from Hileah, Florida. Played for the Globe Institute of Technology in Manhattan where he batted .271/.352/.396 with four doubles and a triple.
26	788	Gage Burland	RHP	Gonzaga	A draft-eligible sophomore, Burland was previously selected in the 26th round of the 2014 draft by the Orioles. He had a 7.84 ERA this season, allowing 11.32 hits per nine innings and 6.10 walks per nine in 20.2 innings for the Zags. On the plus side, he did manage to strike out 12.19 batters per nine in his 12 games this season. Burland can hit 94 with his fastball and Baseball Draft Report ranked him as the 15th best pitcher in the West Coast Conference.
27	818	Phillip Diehl	LHP	Louisiana Tech	Baseball America ranks Diehl as the 19th best player in Louisiana. He missed most of the 2015 season with an arm injury before returning as a reliable pitcher for the Bulldogs this year. He struck out 90 batters in 80 innings. Diehl spent the last two seasons at Louisiana Tech after previously transferring from Evansville to Wabash Valley College. He pitched to a 4.39 ERA with a 10.13 K/9 and a 3.04 BB/9 in 2016. Diehl has a fastball that sits between 88 and 91 mph with a good slider.
28	848	Will Jones	RHP	Lander University	Jones is a 6'1", 195-pound fifth year senior who earned second team All-Peach Belt honors in 2015 as a utility player and helped Lander to the College World Series in 2016. He was also previously named the Regional MVP for his performance. Jones has mostly played as a utility infielder in his college career and hasn't pitched since April, but the Yankees were clear about drafting him for his pitching instead of his hitting. He batted .262/.355/.477 with nine home runs this year.
29	878	Bo Weiss	RHP	Regis Jesuit HS (CO)	Son of current Rockies manager Walt Weiss, Bo has the projectability that scouts love. The 6'3" righty has a fastball that hits 94 with a changeup that is his best secondary pitch. Weiss needs to throw it more since his breaking ball isn't the greatest. He has the talent to have gone much higher in the draft, but it's unclear how easy it will be to get him to forgo his commitment to UNC. Weiss required two surgeries when he was younger to correct a clubbed right foot, but he has overcome that to turn into a very fine pitcher with a promising future. He pitched to a 2.91 ERA with 61 strikeouts in 43.1 innings.
30	908	Ben Ruta	OF	Wagner College	The senior right-hander is 6'3" and 195 pounds. He batted .335 this season for Wagner, and was named to the All-NEC first team in 2015 and 2016. Baseball Draft Report ranks Ruta as the fifth best hitter in the NEC. Ruta batted .335 with eight stolen bases this season. Baseball America ranks him as the eighth best prospect in the North East Conference.