Diamondbacks go college-heavy on Day 2 of draft

The Diamondbacks went heavy with college selections on Day 2 of the baseball draft on Monday, taking college pitchers in particular with each of their first two selections.

Virginia left-hander Nate Savino and Alabama right-hander Dylan Ray came off the board in the third and fourth rounds, respectively. The Diamondbacks also landed a local talent, selecting infielder Demetrio Crisantes out of Nogales High in the seventh round.

“It was a really good blend of college players and interesting upside high school players as well as arms and position players,” Diamondbacks scouting director Ian Rebhan said. “I think whenever you kind of get that blend it’s really exciting and we’re really happy with how it went.”

Two years ago, Savino was a highly regarded prep pitcher who enrolled early at Virginia ahead of the 2020 season. But the reports suggest he struggled to show the kind of progress scouts expected from him during his freshman and sophomore seasons.

His stuff was said to have ticked up last fall and into this spring, but he did not maintain either the velocity or the sharpness on his secondary pitches as the season progressed, according to his MLB.com draft profile.

“It’s in there because we’ve seen it before,” Rebhan said. “We’ve got a ton of history with that player. He’s a guy we saw back in high school. He was a higher-profile high school player. He’s also only 20 years old, so there’s pretty significant upside there in buying the upward trend.”

Ray missed the 2021 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but he returned this season in relief, striking out 49 in 31 1/3 innings. He also performed well in recent weeks in the Cape Cod Baseball League, boosting his performance by posting a 1.64 ERA with two walks and 17 strikeouts in 11 innings in the high-profile collegiate league.

Rebhan said the Diamondbacks plan to develop Ray as a starter, adding that the club has seen the makings a four-pitch mix, including a fastball up to 96 mph.

Ray, speaking on a conference call with reporters, said he hoped to show he can start. He said he pitched in relief this year at Alabama as a way to ease back into action following surgery.

“When I got to college and then I had Tommy John, they didn’t want to put 85 innings in one year on my arm, so they put me in the next-best role for that,” he said. “Now that I feel like I’m healthy and ready to go, I feel like I can put the mileage on my arm now.”

The Diamondbacks selected BYU infielder Andrew Pintar in the fifth round, the second player among their top six picks who was drafted despite undergoing a recent surgery. Pintar underwent shoulder surgery in the spring, missing all but 17 games this season.

Rebhan said the club liked Pintar’s total package of athleticism, speed, bat-to-ball skills and the ability to play multiple positions.

Like with Mississippi State right-hander Landon Sims, whom the Diamondbacks took Sunday with the 34th overall pick despite him having undergone Tommy John surgery this year, the Diamondbacks were comfortable with what they had seen from Pintar in previous years, Rebhan said.

“It’s not like they had never done it; they’ve had a ton of success,” Rebhan said. “I think that gives you a little bit more comfort.”

With Crisantes, who is committed to Arizona, the Diamondbacks were “really intrigued by the upside in his bat,” Rebhan said. Crisantes finished his senior season with a .485 average. He struck out only three times with 32 walks.

Rebhan would not comment when asked if he were confident the Diamondbacks would sign all 11 players they have drafted through two days. The draft concludes on Tuesday with the final 10 rounds.

Reach Piecoro at (602) 444-8680 or nick.piecoro@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickpiecoro.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Diamondbacks go college-heavy on Day 2 of draft