Puerto Rican shortstop Delvin Perez was taken by the St. Louis Cardinals with the 23rd overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft on Thursday night.
2016 MLB Draft: SS Delvin Perez drops to Cardinals at No. 23 pick
Perez showed up in or near the top 10 of many mock drafts in the weeks before the draft, but his stock fell in recent days thanks to reports of a failed drug test, per Jon Heyman of Today's Knuckleball.
Plucked from the International Baseball Academy in Ceiba, Perez's strength is his defense, and he was rated in May as the seventh-best prospect in the draft by Baseball America.
“His defense is obviously there,” one scout said in January, per Alyson Footer of MLB.com. “It’ll take time to see how much he hits. It’s the hardest thing to project, because it’s the hardest thing to do. But he’s where he needs to be with his speed and defense.”
Perez is 6’3 and a reported 165 pounds, but he doesn’t turn 17 until November, which gives him plenty of time to grow and gives him plenty of upside, especially on offense.
“He has wiry strength and could grow into some power as he matures. He already has good bat speed and has made progress refining his hitting mechanics, but his strike zone judgement and ability to recognize breaking pitches need work,” wrote our own John Sickels of Minor League Ball in May. “He should hit for average but without more progress with his approach his OBP may be too low for him to make full use of his above-average running speed on the bases.”
The 23rd overall pick has an allotted signing bonus amount of $2,222,500.
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