Could Padres Harvest 10 Players from 2016 Draft

Haul was much deeper than the three, first-round picks

By Bill Center

Mason Thompson walks towards the field as he gets ready to warm up his arm during Spring Training mini camp

There was a lot of excitement last June when the Padres selected pitchers Cal Quantrill and Eric Lauer and infielder Hudson Potts with their three first-round picks.

Quantrill and Lauer immediately spoke of possibly reaching the Major Leagues by the end of the 2017 season. And Potts got off to a strong professional start in the Arizona Rookie League and at short-season Single-A Tri-Cities.

But upon further review, the Padres’ 2016 draft might be much deeper than first imagined.

Six picks from last June’s draft show up on the lists of the Padres’ top 30 prospects. And one scout recently said that up to 10 or 12 players selected by the Padres last season will make it to the Major Leagues.

His list has all the usual candidates in Quantrill, Potts, Lauer and University of Florida center fielder Buddy Reed, who was the Padres’ second-round pick.

But his list also included lower-round outfielders Tre Carter (11th round) and Jack Suwinski (15th).

And some of the picks that excited him most were pitchers Reggie Lawson, Mason Thompson, Joseph Lucchesi and Lake Bachar — who followed Reed in order in the draft — and Jesse Scholtens, who was selected in the ninth round.

Thompson and Lucchesi are both mentioned on the top 30 prospects lists.

“Only time will tell for certain, but the Padres’ 2016 draft looks a lot deep than most,” said the scout.

Aside from the obvious first-round picks, the players who he liked most were three pitchers drafted immediately after the second round — Lawson, Thompson and Lucchesi.

Reggie Lawson gets him arm loose with a band before his bullpen session at Spring Training mini camp

— Lawson was the 71st player selected in the draft in the supplemental phase at the end of the second round. The 6-foot-4, 200-pound right-hander signed out of Victorville High was once viewed as a potential top-15 pick before he had an unidentified arm issue as a senior. His velocity was back up to 92–94 after he signed and he has an advanced breaking ball and change.

— Thompson, like Lawson, will enter his first full professional season as a 19-year-old. He also signed out of high school as a third-round pick (85th overall). But he missed almost all of his senior season at Round Rock, Texas, after Tommy John surgery. Before the injury, the 6-foot-6, 186-pounder was projected as a first-round pick with a mid-90s fastball with a curve and a changeup. Thompson had a 2.25 earned run average in five starts with the Arizona Rookie Padres last summer with 12 strikeouts in 12 innings. Hitters batted only .186 off Thomspon. Projects as a №2–3 starter.

— Lucchesi was drafted in the fourth round out of Southeast Missouri State. The 6-foot-5, 220-pounder is 23-year-old with a deceptive, low/mid-90s fastball. Lucchesi finished his first pro season at Single-A Fort Wayne after starting at short-season, Single-A Tri-Cities. Overall, he had a 1.29 ERA in 15 games (10 starts). He allowed only 31 hits and three walks with 56 strikeouts in 42 innings for a 0.81 WHIP.