For the second year in a row, the Dodgers selected one of the fastest players in the draft with their first-round pick.
Adding this year’s top pick – shortstop Kellon Lindsey, a high school shortstop in Florida – to last year’s first-rounder (outfielder Kendall George, currently at Class-A Rancho Cucamonga) gives the Dodgers’ farm system the start of a pretty good track team.
“Not on purpose,” Dodgers vice president of baseball operations Billy Gasparino said with a laugh after the Dodgers took Lindsey with the 23rd overall pick Sunday. “But if we ever do have to run a track event, we’re going to be pretty good at it.
“I would also argue I think (Lindsey’s) defense is really good too. As both Kendall and Kellon … they both have additional skills to go with that. It’s a bat we like. It’s defense at a premium position. And then the run tool is definitely their signature strength but just one of many.”
Lindsey also showed speed on draft boards around MLB, becoming one of the fastest-rising high school prospects this spring after he finished his days as a two-sport athlete. The 6-foot-2, 170-pound Lindsey also played football at Hardee High School in Wauchula, Florida, where he was a quarterback.
“Kellon has come a long way in the last 12 months,” Dodgers director of amateur scouting Zach Fitzpatrick said. “We’ve seen his swing progress, his body progress and really feel great about the trendline he’s shown.”
That trend continued after the end of his high school season, Gasparino said.
“Part of his progression started in January when football was over. But his last two months once his baseball season was over was pretty impressive,” Gasparino said. “The strength he’s gained, the swing work he’s done, the power he’s shown, the defensive ability – we saw huge gains the last two months. So I think we’re already seeing signs of, once he commits to baseball only, how good a player he can be.”
Lindsey acknowledged how important it was for him to focus on baseball, starting this year.
“Just putting football aside and putting baseball in mind and focusing on that, focusing on fundamental stuff, I think that was really big for me this season. I think it helped with my growth as a player and off the field as well,” he said.
“I think a lot of it was having football on the back of my mind where I would get finished with baseball season and I’m going into football pretty much immediately. So I think getting that off my mind and understanding that it’s baseball time now and I can really just focus on that, it was a big mentality I had.”
Lindsey had committed to the University of Florida but indicated he expects to sign with the Dodgers and not play college baseball. The slot bonus for the 23rd pick is $3.68 million.
The draft continues Monday and Tuesday. The Dodgers forfeited their second- and fifth-round picks as compensation for the free-agent signing of Shohei Ohtani. Their next pick will be in the third round (98th overall).
