Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports
The Cincinnati Reds had a great selection of starting pitchers with three of the top 20 prospects available to them with the No. 27 pick in the 2013 MLB Draft.
The Reds decided though that they wanted to go with a selection with more upside potential and avoided the pitchers by taking Samford outfielder Phillip Ervin. He hit .337 with 11 home runs and had 21 stolen bases and could be the center fielder of the future for the Reds.
If you take a look at the outfield in Cincinnati right now, you have Jay Bruce who will be in right field for a long time to come and Shin-Soo Choo who is in center field. I like the possibility that Ervin could become the team’s starting center fielder within two or three years. I know that Billy Hamilton is still in Triple-A being groomed to be in center. It is possible if Ervin can prove when he gets into the minor league system that he can play center field, Hamilton may need to be looked at more in left field.
That is a problem for the Reds to deal with on another day but there is a lot of potential there with Ervin. I will be quite curious to see which level the team will start him at. I wouldn’t be surprised if he found himself at Double-A before the 2013 season is over.
The key to this pick is that the Reds have time to allow Ervin to mature as a player while being in the minor leagues even though he did play college ball. It could turn into the one of the best picks in the entire first round.
Andy Schmidt is a columnist/writer for RantSports. Follow him on Twitter @ASchmidtSports, like his Facebook page or add him to your network on Google.
