On day three of the Major League Baseball draft several local prospects were drafted by teams, most notably Utah pitcher Andre Jackson, who will join fellow Ute pitcher Riley Ottesen in the Los Angeles Dodgers' organization, should he elect to sign. The Dodgers made Jackson, a 6-foot-2 righty pitcher, their 12th-round pick, and the No. 370 pick overall.
Jackson missed all of last season after recovering from Tommy John surgery, which indicates a lot of upside, according to Utah coach Bill Kinneberg.
“Without him playing a single inning and getting drafted that tells you what we lost this year with his injury," Kinneberg said just prior to the start of the draft.
Jackson was the last of four Utes taken in the 40-round draft.
Dixie State University right-handed pitcher Dylan File was drafted in the 21st round by the Milwaukee Brewers. The 6-foot-1 pitcher played for Desert Hills High School before playing for the Trailblazers. This past season File was voted the 2017 Pacific West Conference Co-Pitcher of the Year after going 6-1 in conference play with a 2.97 ERA.
BYU had two players drafted late, with pitcher Maverik Buffo being selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 34th round and slugger Colton Shaver going to the Houston Astros in the 39th round.
Buffo, a junior from Spanish Fork High School, went 7-7 last season with a 6.01 ERA. Shaver, a junior from Jordan HIgh School, had a .269 batting average while hitting 13 home runs and compiling 42 RBIs.
Other drafted players with local ties were Joshua Payne, who pitched for Fremont HS before playing for West Texas A&M, and Zack Draper, who pitched for West Jordan before moving on to play for the College of Idaho. Payne went in the 22nd round to the New York Mets while Draper was selected in the 30th round by the Cleveland Indians.
Email: bgurney@desnews.com
Twitter: @BrandonCGurney