New Guardians Pitcher Named Among Biggest Draft Steals

The MLB Draft may not get the same sort of fanfare as the NFL and NBA drafts do, but this is where teams who have proven to be able to develop talent truly make their mark. The Cleveland Guardians have done an excellent job in recent years of guiding future stars such as Travis Bazzana, Chase DeLauter, Gavin Williams, Cade Smith, Parker Messick, and many others to the big leagues, and it will be intriguing to see how this new draft class develops under their watch.

Out of those 20 picks, 13 of them were pitchers, which feeds right into what this organization does best. Of those 13 pitchers, ten of them are 6’3″ or above, and one of those picks was recently named among the biggest steals in the entire draft.

Jim Callis of MLB.com recently wrote an article highlighting the best value picks from each of the first ten rounds. In Round 7, he was a big fan of Cleveland’s selection of 6’8″ righty Savion Sims out of Prestonwood Christian High School in Texas.

“Talk about guys you could dream on. He’s 6-foot-8, 215 pounds. Hits 100 mph with his fastball, does it with ease. This guy’s going to get stronger, and he throws without effort. I mean he’s probably going to throw 104 one day. It’s an amazing arm,” Callis said.

With Gavin Williams, Parker Messick, Joey Cantillo, Cade Smith, and others graduating to the majors over the past few years, the next big wave of pitching talent to come out of this system could largely come from this draft class. The next wave of promotions this system looks ready to produce should primarily come on offense, which is what the team desperately needs.

Fans have already seen incredible production from Bazzana and DeLauter, but other big talents such as Cooper Ingle and Kahlil Watson have gotten a cup of coffee in the majors this season as well. Slugger Ralphy Velazquez isn’t far away either and could come up to provide some much-needed thump at first base sometime in the second half.

As for Sims, how can you not take a shot on a 6’8″ teenager who already throws 100 mph in the seventh round? That’s exactly the kind of high-end talent you look for at that point in the draft, and we’ll see if the Guardians can get him signed and assigned to a minor league team sometime soon.