After taking Kody Hoese with their first pick (25th overall), Michael Busch in the second round (31st overall) and Jimmy Lewis (78th overall) in the Competitive Balance Round B, the Los Angeles Dodgers prioritized pitching on the second day of the 2019 MLB Draft.
With the 102nd pick in this year’s Draft, the Dodgers selected right-hander Ryan Pepiot out Butler University in the third round. They followed their third-round selection that by taking University of California Irvine third baseman Brandon Lewis with the 131st pick (fourth round).
In the fifth round (161st pick), they drafted Stanford University right-handed pitcher Jack Little. Eastern Kentucky University right-hander Aaron Ochsenbein was taken in the sixth round and James Madison University right-hander Nick Robertson was drafted in the seventh round.
As the Draft continued, the Dodgers selected Bryant University outfielder Ryan Ward in the eight round, Fresno City College left-handed pitcher Alec Gamboa in the ninth round, and Virginia Commonwealth University shortstop Zac Ching was picked in the 10th round.
Through the first two rounds of the 2019 MLB Draft, the Dodgers have selected six pitchers, four infielders, one outfielder, 10 college players and one prep player. Even with the focus on pitching in Day 2, the Dodgers used three of their first five draft picks on a power college bat.
Pepiot went 4-4 with a 3.92 ERA during his junior season and set Butler University school records in both single-season and career strikeouts with 126 and 306, respectively. He is now the highest draft pick in Butler baseball history, passing two-time All-Star Pat Neshek’s sixth-round selection in 2002.
Lewis earned two All-conference nods at L.A. Pierce College before transferring to Irvine, and he went on to tie the school record with 14 home runs this season. Lewis additionally led the the Big West conference in runs scored, doubles and RBI.
Little went 3-1 with a 2.76 ERA and nine saves this season en route to making a second consecutive All-Pac-12 team. He tied the Stanford school record with 16 saves as a sophomore in 2018 and was named a first-team All-American by D1 Baseball, Baseball America, Perfect Game, the NCBWA and the ABCA.
Ochsenbein, who underwent Tommy John surgery his freshman year, went 5-2 with an 0.83 ERA and 10 saves in 30 appearances this season. The senior built on his 2018 Cape Cod League performance, when he led the league 16.4 strikeouts per nine innings, by striking out 90 batters in 54.1 innings pitched.
Ochsenbein is one of 11 players in Ohio Valley Conference history to pitch to a sub-1.00 ERA with at least 50 innings pitched.
Robertson appeared in 38 games for James Madison over the last two years, going a 5-1 with eight saves and a 1.01 ERA while holding opponents to a .128 batting average over 23 relief appearances this season.
As a freshman in 2018, Ward became the first Bryant player to hit over .400 (.409) while adding 35 extra-base hits. He followed that up by batting .382 with 13 home runs as a sophomore this season.
Gamboa is coming off a freshman season at Fresno City College that saw him earn the Central Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year Award. He logged a combined 64 innings between eight starts and seven relief appearances, going an 8-1 record and a 1.97 ERA while helping the Rams win the CVC Championship.
Ching, who played multiple infield positions in his four years at VCU, hit .310/.404/.502 with 22 doubles and six home runs in 56 games this season.
