O's Gary Rajsich and club's top two picks talk about the draft

For the first time, the Orioles have selected high school pitchers in back-to-back years with their top pick in the First-Year Player Draft, which has been held since 1965.

With the No. 11 pick last night, the Orioles selected prep right-hander Grayson Rodriguez from Central Heights High School in Nacogdoches, Texas. He is 6-foot-5 and 230 lbs., and has a college commitment to Texas A&M. Scouting reports indicate his fastball often sat 92 to 94 mph this season, touching 97 and 98 mph. MLBPipeline.com graded his fastball at 65 on the 20-80 scouting scale. The grades were 55 on his slider, and 50 for his curveball and changeup.

Rodriguez was ranked No. 22 on the draft list from MLBPipeline.com and ESPN.com's Keith Law, No. 24 by Baseball America and No. 36 by FanGraphs.

As a junior, he helped lead Central Heights to the Texas 3A State title. Rodriguez went 14-1 with a 0.38 ERA and 178 strikeouts and was named the Texas Sports Writers Association Player of the Year.

Rodriguez said he expected to sign with the Orioles rather than go to college.

"You know, I guess I want to get it done as soon as we can," Rodriguez said early this morning during a conference call. "Go out there to Florida, get a uniform on and start pitching. I'm ready. My advisor told me today the Orioles were very interested in taking me. I was ecstatic, I said, 'Go for it, that would be perfect.'

"It was unbelievable. Going into the draft I wasn't real sure what was going to happen. When I heard my name called at pick 11 it was almost like my heart stopped. It was just an amazing feeling. I accomplished one of my childhood goals but I am definitely not done yet."

With the No. 37 pick Monday night, the Orioles selected Oregon State shortstop Cadyn Grenier. A righty hitter, Grenier goes 5-foot-11 and 180 lbs., and is considered among the best defensive shortstops in college this year and a player that can stay at that position in pro ball. He was the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year.

In his junior season, he hit .328/.415/.478 in 58 games with 16 doubles, two triples, five homers, 60 runs, eight steals and 44 RBIs. A three-year starter for Oregon State, Grenier was drafted in round 21 out of Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas by St. Louis in 2015.

Grenier was ranked No. 46 by ESPN, No. 61 by FanGraphs, No. 63 by Baseball America and No. 68 by MLBPipeline.com. His season is still going as Oregon State (47-10-1) will play Minnesota in an NCAA Super Regional. The winner of that will reach the College World Series.

On an Oregon State conference call last night Grenier said he, too, expects to sign with the Orioles.

"Yeah, there is obviously a very good chance I will sign, without a doubt," Grenier said. "This is what I've been looking forward to. This is motivation. Somebody felt I was a good enough player to take this pick and now it's going to be my mission to go out and prove them right."

Orioles scouting director Gary Rajsich felt the club filled some needs with his first two selections.

"We feel very good about the day. We got the pitcher we all wanted and we also addressed a need," he said. "We got two things accomplished today that were very important to the future of this organization.

"Grayson was our top guy. He was our target guy coming into the draft. The first thing you notice is he has a big, strong durable body and he's an advanced high school pitcher that is a unique combination of power and polish. That attracts you right away. All of us watched him this spring and he was a consistent performer. He held up very well through the spring and we all saw him great. He was consensus pick for us in the first round. We all loved him and were thrilled he was there for us at pick 11.

"He has a good, advanced delivery that he can repeat. His arm action is nice and clean, and the ball comes out of his hand very well. He has advanced command of four pitches and he just pounds the strike zone. We just love the competitor in him. He has poise and composure on the mound. He is just out there to take care of business."

Rodriguez said reports that he dramatically improved his body and conditioning over the winter were true. He started last September going to a workout facility in Tyler, Texas, and he had a personal trainer. His velocity improved.

"I started to see it when we started our throwing program," he said. "The ball felt different coming out of my hand. It was jumping out of my hand and it felt like half the effort it did before to throw it as hard as I wanted to. I definitely didn't have to try to throw hard. It just kind of came a lot more natural. I worked with a pitching coach down in Houston, David Evans, to work on my mechanics. Everything just worked so much more fluent. The ball would just jump out of my hand. When I threw a fastball I could hear it right before it hit the mitt."

As for Grenier, he is noted for his top defense at the shortstop position.

"I owe it all to the preparation that I put in day in and day out," Grenier said. "I take every ground ball in practice like it's a Game 7 World Series clincher. And that is just the way I go about my business on defense. I know my athleticism and my arm, and I expect to make plays that people can't even dream of and I expect to make them routinely. So it is all the mindset and preparation I put in and it pays off."

In 2015, Grenier was drafted out of high school. Then as now, he said he had not heard much before that draft from St. Louis and he said the same was true this year of the Orioles.

"I hadn't heard much about where people would see me go," he said. "We just sat in our players lounge and waited and I finally got the call and they said Baltimore wants you. Honestly, it was the same way in high school. I hadn't heard from the Cardinals all that much, and all the sudden, they popped out of nowhere. I hadn't talked to the Orioles very much at all this year. Just the normal meeting with the area guy (scout). It wasn't anything like, 'Hey I'm checking in every week to let you know we are really interested.' "

The listed slot bonus amount for the No. 11 pick is $4,375,100 and the slot for the No. 37 pick is $1,923,500. Later today, the Orioles will select No. 87 overall in the third round and they will pick 11th in each round today through round 10. The draft concludes Wednesday with rounds 11-40.

#Orioles have been adding a lot of good pitching into the system through the #MLBDraft the last 2-3 years, and have done so again with RHP Grayson Rodriguez.

Here's video from one of his last starts before the Draft in May. #Birdland pic.twitter.com/12EpT8NhSY

-- Adam McInturff (@2080adam) June 5, 2018

#Orioles select 2B/SS Cadyn Grenier (Oregon State) #37 overall, the team's second selection so far in #MLBDraft #Birdland

Here is video of Grenier from late in the season, a late May look by @SpenceHans_2080 pic.twitter.com/I6YX3Lv9ts

-- Adam McInturff (@2080adam) June 5, 2018