Twins use first pick to select shortstop Marek Houston

When the Washington Nationals selected Eli Willits with the first-overall pick on Sunday evening it kicked off a round filled with surprises But the Twins were anticipating that perhaps even more than usual assistant general manager Sean Johnson who heads the draft for the Twins revealed And while there were other surprises in the draft perhaps the Twins selection at No wasn t such a shock After all multiple mock drafts in the lead up to the draft had the Twins linked to Wake Forest shortstop Marek Houston and on Sunday the Twins made him their first pick of the night It s kind of a moment I ve reliably looked forward to my whole life Houston disclosed I was sitting on the couch for about three hours at present just watching the TV and it kind of just hits you right after all the hard work and everything with your family around you It s just amazing Starting with Willits eight prep players went within the first picks but when it came time for the Twins selection they went with a college bat as they ve so often done with their first pick in latest years Houston is a strong defender with selected evaluators ranking him as the top defensive shortstop in the class which in this particular class is saying something considering the first round was stacked at the position We really feel like he s a really good shortstop range arm all the things that we know are essential for the position Johnson explained His make up his leadership for the position we re really ecstatic about getting him with our first pick The glove has invariably been a strength This year with the work he s put in Houston has shown that the bat is as well In his junior year at Wake Forest Houston hit with a OPS collecting hits in games and advancing more power jumping from four long balls in his freshman season to eight as a sophomore and as a junior He also had doubles stolen bases and runs scored for the Demon Deacons this season I go into each year thinking about what can I do to get better and for me that was kind of just impacting the ball a little bit more than I did the year before Houston declared I went into the year trying to gain a little bit more muscle try to get a little bit stronger and faster and the coaches around me really helped me with anything mechanical wise hitting wise and it came together really well After Houston with their second selection on Sunday at No overall the Twins grabbed right-handed pitcher Riley Quick a -year-old out of Alabama Quick underwent Tommy John surgery in early but recovered from that and finished his last season with a earned-run average across innings pitched striking out batters The Twins grabbed another infielder with their second-round pick selecting -year-old high schooler Quentin Young the nephew of former MLB players Dmitri and Delmon Young the latter of whom spent four seasons with the Twins Quentin Young hit with a OPS in games last year at Oaks Christian High School The upside with Quentin Young is tremendous I think that s presumably like the highlight of our scouts for the night We thought he d be off the board by then Johnson revealed To be able to get him where we took him our scouts are maybe in the room still trying to do gymnastics With their final pick of the day the Twins selected James Ellwanger a right-handed pitcher out of Dallas Baptist who finished the year with a earned-run average and struck out batters in innings pitched The draft which has been condensed to two days now will conclude on Monday with rounds four through Related Articles Mizutani Byron Buxton is every bit deserving of this All-Star moment Twins fall one run short of sweeping Pirates Meet the Twins lifer pitching to Byron Buxton in the Home Run Derby Cole Sands embrace of opener role benefitting Twins Making a splash Byron Buxton hits for cycle in Twins win against Pirates