2011 MLB Draft – Rangers Draft Kevin Matthews and Zach Cone in First and Compensation Rounds

The draft was very pitcher heavy. Majority of the drafts were pitchers, but that can’t be much of a surprise. The talent is crazy impressive in this draft, though, no matter whether its pitchers, outfielders, infielders, etc.

Here is your Rangers update on the two draft picks from last night’s 2011 MLB Draft as well as who drafted some of the prospects that the Rangers were too far down in the order to get their hands on.

Kevin Matthews, LHP, Richmond Hill High

With the No. 33 overall pick, the last in the first round of the 2011 MLB Draft, the Rangers take LHP Kevin Matthews. Matthews is from Richmond Hill, Georgia, coming out of Richmond Hill High School. He has a record of 4-2 and an ERA of 1.68. Matthews has a very small frame, but is extremely athletic at 5’11” and 180 lbs.

He will fit it great with Derek Holland and C.J. Wilson in Texas. His fastball reaches the mid-90’s, which is pretty impressive if you ask me and has a very fast, solid arm. He would be awesome depth for the Rangers organization.

He is considered to be a tough sign because he is reportedly very strongly committed to attending the University of Virginia – in fact, his Twitter handle is very relevant to such. However, being defending AL champs and making it to the World Series, maybe that could be a selling point for Nolan Ryan and his club. Hey, it would be for me!

Zach Cone, OF, University of Georgia

With the No. 37 overall pick within the compensation round, the Rangers draft Zach Cone, an outfielder from the University of Georgia in Athens, GA. The outfielder’s performance and stats have definitely been down this year in comparison to last year and because of this, I don’t think is necessarily the greatest sign for the Rangers. In my opinion, there were definitely better picks for the club such as Josh Bell and Josh Osich.

His performance has definitely been down but the Rangers don’t seem to be concerned in that. He could indeed get back on track and while he may end up being a great pick for Texas, I still think they could have went for someone that was better at the very moment rather than taking a chance on someone not getting back to his old performances.

Where Some of the Rangers’ Top Prospects Went

To wrap up this post, I’m going to let you know where some of the top prospects of the Texas Rangers ended up signing as they went earlier in the draft and didn’t make it to the end of the first round.

Tyler Beede, a RHP out of Massachusetts was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays at No. 21 overall. He is said to have a strong commitment to Vanderbilt and may not allow the draft to go through.

Brandon Nimmo, an outfielder from Wyoming, was drafted by the New York Mets at No. 13 overall.

Joe Ross was drafted by the San Diego Padres out of high school at No. 25 overall. He is committed to UCLA, where he may likely end up rather than in the Padres’ farm system, where he will continue to execute and improve his fastball and secondary pitches. His older brother pitches for the A’s.

Cory Spangenberg was taken by the San Diego Padres at No. 10 overall. Spangenberg is a second baseman was definitely one of the better hitters and faster runners in the draft this year.