MLB Draft 2019: Mariners Day Three Draft Tracker, Rounds 21-30

It’s the last day of the 2019 draft. The names come fast and furious today in rounds 11-40, and there are a lot of them, so we’ll be splitting them into three articles, ten rounds each.

Round 21: Reeves Martin, RHP, University of New Orleans

Martin is a short king (5’8”) who has primarily been a reliever for the [consults UNO logo] Winged Ghost Pirates. He had a breakout season this year, lowering his ERA to 1.23 while striking out 38 in just 22 innings and walking just six. From the Unpublished Works of our Ben Thoen: “Undersized RHP Reeves Martin just wrapped up conference Reliever of the Year honors, and deservedly so after posting a 1.03 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, 14.1 K/9, and 2.3 BB/9. He’s only a junior, but appears to have little to prove on the college circuit and could sign even if he’s a Day 3 draftee.”

Round 22: Trent Tingelstad, RF, University of Louisiana - Monroe

Tingelstad is a Marysville native and Marysville-Pilchuck grad who attended Everett CC before heading down south, where he hit .353 with 7 HR over the season while walking more than he struck out. We might not get Torkel-bombs, but we will get Tingel-bombs.

Round 23: Caleb Ricca, SS, Northwestern State (LA)

First of all, Northwestern State’s mascot is THE DEMONS, which is pretty metal. THE DEMONS play in the Southland Conference, where Ricca was named to both the honor roll and the all-conference team this season. He slashed .309/.405/.484 in his junior campaign while going 24-for-31 in stolen bases. He also showed off some pop, both at Northwestern State and as a member of the Willmar Stingers in the Northwoods League:

Round 24: Kipp Rollings, RHP, North Greenville University

Kipp Rollings is...not an easy guy to find information about. Apparently he struck out 35 batters in 35 innings this year for NGU.

Round 25: Fred Villarreal, RHP, Houston

Another small-school closer, Villarreal cut his ERA in half this year, down to just over 2. He struck out 44 and walked 19 in 59 innings (33 appearances) for Houston while collecting 10 saves, good enough to get him named second team all-conference. He’s also got a sick mohawk.

Round 26: Garrett Westberg, RHP, UCF

Another college pitcher, another local kid: Westberg was born in Federal Way and transferred to UCF after two years at Tacoma CC. He’s a senior who struck out 55 batters in 45 innings this year while walking 26.

Round 27: Brock Minich, RHP, Nova Southeastern

More college relievers, this time a D2 school. Minich comes from Nova Southeastern, the same school that gave us power-hitting catcher Jake Anchía in last year’s draft. Minich is a senior who allowed a BAA of barely over .200 this year. He only struck out 24 in 24.2 innings of work while walking 15, but he’s 6’6”, so there’s a lot to work with here, literally and figuratively. We will allow his deep and abiding love for Tom Brady to pass by unnoticed since, per his Twitter feed, he seems to be a very well-loved teammate.

Round 28: Anthony Lepre, C, The Master’s University (CA)

Fun fact, the name of this college has been stylized as The Masters University on the MLB site, but is in fact The Master’s University, as in, it’s a Bible college. I think I prefer The Masters University, where I imagine an entire school of green-jacket-clad students. Oh, you wanted to know about Anthony Lepre. He is a senior who was named an NAIA All-American this year after hitting .438 with 28 home runs this season. He transferred from College of the Canyons, which is also where I could find the most recent video of him (unlock your Twitter accounts, baby Mariners, how else are we to see your hype videos?).

Round 29: Utah Jones, SS, North Greenville University (SC)

The Mariners go back to NGU, a school I don’t think I’ve heard of before today, to select the younger brother of SF Giants 3B Ryder Jones. Utah initially began his college career at UNC before transferring to the D2 NGU in order to see more playing time. He earned CCA Player of the Year honors this season and was named First Team All-Conference at SS. Jones is a plus defender who can play all across the infield.

Round 30: Cody Grosse, SS, SE Louisiana

It’s a run on infielders and a run on directional schools! Grosse is a senior who is a plus defensive infielder, although he had a bit of a down season with the bat a year after hitting .314. He still possesses excellent plate discipline, walking more than he struck out.