American League Central teams -- the Cleveland Indians included -- were responsible for three of the nine outfielders selected in the first round of Monday's MLB Draft.
The Indians selected Texas A&M outfielder Tyler Naquin No. 15 overall -- two picks after the Chicago White Sox took outfielder Courtney Hawkins.
Hawkins, a Texas high schooler, was the Sox's first opening-round high school player in 11 years. With his Carroll High School still in the playoffs, he has hit .437 with 11 homers, 39 RBIs, 56 runs and 17 steals in 36 games. He is an athlete through and through. He played varsity football as a freshman -- Carroll is something of a football factory -- and has even thrived as a pitcher this season. He was 5-2 with a 0.96 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 36.1 innings. He reportedly hit 96 on the radar gun in a recent Texas regional.
The Minnesota Twins, too, took an outfielder when they picked Byron Buxton No. 2 overall. Buxton, a high-schooler from Georgia, hit .513 with 35 RBIs and 17 doubles for his high school club this spring. The Twins had two additional first-day picks, Nos. 32 and 42, which they spent on a pair of right-handed pitchers.
With the Detroit Tigers not picking in the first round, the only AL Central outlier when it came to selecting outfielders was Kansas City, which took right-handed pitcher Kyle Zimmer No. 5 overall. Zimmer, 20, played last season at the University of San Francisco, where he had 104 K's and 17 walks in 88.1 innings. Baseball America rated Zimmer's as the best fastball among college prospects.
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