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Draft  | State Preview  | 5/22/2013

MLB Draft Preview: South Dakota

David Rawnsley     
Photo: Augustana College
In the weeks leading up to the draft, Perfect Game will be providing a detailed overview of each state in the U.S., including the District of Columbia, as well as Canada and Puerto Rico. These overviews will list the state's strengths, weaknesses and the players with the best tools, as well as providing scouting reports on all Group 1 and 2 players as ranked in Perfect Game's state-by-state scouting lists.  Please visit this page for all of the links to Perfect Game's 2013 Draft Preview content.


South Dakota State-by-State List

South Dakota doesn’t have a potential top 10 round selection this June but that is hardly unusual for the state. It does have a couple small handful of college pitchers at South Dakota State and D-II Augustana College who have attracted the attention of scouts, however. Big 6-foot-6, 215-pound third-year sophomore Jordan Milbrath of Augustana was the only player turned in by the Major League Scouting Bureau from the Dakotas this spring and is a probable mid-round draft if he is willing to give up his final two years of eligibility for a shot at professional baseball.


OVERALL RATING (1-to-5 scale): 3
BEST COLLEGE TEAM: South Dakota State
BEST HIGH SCHOOL TEAM: Mitchell HS

BEST OUT-OF-STATE PROSPECT, South Dakota Connection: Sam Wolff, rhp, University of New Mexico (attended high school in Rapid City)
Top 2014 Prospect: Josh Baumgart, ss, Roosevelt HS, Sioux Falls
Top 2015 Prospect: Zach Coppola, of, South Dakota State

HIGHEST DRAFT PICKS

Draft History: Wade Adamson, rhp, South Dakota State U. (1978, Reds/4th round)
2008 Draft: Craig Parry, of, South Dakota State U. (Pirates/50th round)
2009 Draft: Cale Thielbar, lhp, South Dakota State U. (Brewers/18th round)
2010 Draft: Blake Treinen, rhp, South Dakota State U. (Marlins/23rd round)
2011 Draft: Blake Treinen, rhp, South Dakota State U. (A’s/7th round)
2012 Draft: Derek Hansen, rhp, Augustana U. (A’s/23rd round)

2012 DRAFT OVERVIEW

College Players Drafted/Signed: 2/2
Junior College Players Drafted/Signed: 0/0
High School Players Drafted/Signed: 0/0


PROSPECTS TO WATCH

JORDAN MILBRATH, rhp, Augustana College (So.)
Milbrath attended St. Cloud State in his native Minnesota as a freshman in 2011, then transferred to Augustana and sat out 2012 as well as a transfer student, although he did pitch last summer in the Northwoods League. He’s made the most of his first full competitive spring in three years, going 7-2, 4.57 in 67 innings (60 strikeouts, 22 walks allowed) for Division II Augustana. Scouts describe the 6-foot-6, 215-pound Milbrath as an arm strength guy with a fastball that sits in the 88-92 mph range and will occasionally touch higher. His off-speed pitches still need some developing, perhaps due to his relative lack of experience. Milbrath turns 22 this summer despite being a third-year sophomore, not unusual for players from the Upper Midwest, so his best opportunity at professional baseball may be this summer despite his two years of eligibility remaining. Augustana, which as posted a 38-18 record this spring, also has another pitcher, fifth-year senior left handed pitcher Ben Heairet, who has draft potential.

LAYNE SOMSEN, rhp, South Dakota State (Sr.)
Somsen has the best raw stuff in Dakotas, but is a fifth-year senior who missed almost all of the 2010 season and all of the 2011 season due to Tommy John surgery. A 6-foot, 190-pound right-hander, his quality stuff has registered with scouts this spring as well as last summer, when he was named the Coastal Plains League Pitcher of the Year after going 5-0, 1.29. Somsen has unusual pitching mechanics that have been compared to both Tim Lincecum and Trevor Bauer. He pitches between 88-92 mph on his fastball and has been up to 94 mph when in relief. He throws a cutter off his fastball that is very effective and also throws a curveball and a change up. Somsen is 4-4, 1.91 this spring with the 31-21 South Dakota State team, allowing only 53 hits in 75 innings while striking out 73.

JON HANDER, rhp/3b, Washington HS, Sioux Falls
Hander is likely the best senior high school athlete in the state and has signed a scholarship to Big 12 Kansas to play both football and baseball with the Jayhawks. He throws in the upper-80s on the mound with a very tight spinning 73 mph curveball but also might be a two-way player in college as a third baseman.  As a quarterback, he led Washington High School to a 12-0 record in the fall and a No. 1 ranking in South Dakota, completing 59-percent of his passes for 1,818 yards, 22 touchdowns and only three interceptions. Hander’s older brother, Ryan, was a 39th round pick by the Dodgers in 2009 and has pitched at Nebraska for the past four years.
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