With the 23rd pick in the MLB player draft, the Los Angeles Dodgers have selected Kellon Lindsey, a shortstop from Hardee High School, Wauchula, Florida. There are dozens of blogs and other sites that provide you with what Baseball America, Fangraphs and the like think of him. I’ll spare you the duplication and provide some other background information on him.
For those interested, Wauchula is a town with a population of approximately 5000. It’s situated between Zolfo Springs and Bowling Green, Florida, roughly 65 miles south east of Tampa. Wauchula is the county seat of Hardee County, Florida and has, at one time, held the distinction of being the “cucumber capital of the world.”
Kellon is the son of Gerald and Nicole Lindsey of Wauchula. His mom also graduated from Hardee High and is a teacher. I could not find any information on the father. He has three siblings, 2 older brothers who were also athletes and are college educated. According to a picture I saw of him with his siblings, he also has a sister, though she wasn’t named and nothing else was written about her.
Kellon is 6’2″ and weighs 175-180. He is described as skinny, though all pictures I have seen of him he looks fairly muscular and well built, though not overly so. He was the starting quarterback for Hardee High for 4 years. He holds the school record for career passing yards. In his senior year he passed for over 3,500 yards and ran for 2,300 yards. His calling card is speed. He is one of the fastest players in the 2024 draft class recording 6.57 seconds in the 60-yard dash and he ran the fast 30 yard dash at the MLB combine in Arizona last week at 3.53 seconds. If you watch any videos of him online, of which there are now many, the kid can fly around the bases. His most common comparison is to Trea Turner. Having listened to a few interviews of Kellon, he gives me more of a Cory Seager vibe. It is obvious that he comes from a solid family that he is a small town boy, and that he has been instilled with a tremendous work ethic. Like Seager, he’s not a backwoods country boy, but he does seem that he’s one who likes simple things more than the bright city lights. Whether he has the success that Seager or Turner have experienced remains to be seen.
Kellon’s special interests are fishing, hunting and winning at most sports. He has an instagram page @gatorsbb which has pictures of him with an amazing lobster haul and some good size fish that he caught off the Florida Keys. He sites Tarpon as being his favorite fish to catch. He also says that his favorite player, that does not play the same position as him, is Joc Pederson. If he doesn’t sign with the Dodgers (it is almost 100% certain he will) he will go to Florida University and get a degree in Agriculture Business. He has also never played baseball in cold weather. Once he plays for the Great Lakes Loons, he will check that off his bucket list.
I’ll provide more information on him later.
MILB GAMES:
OKC 5 – El Paso 4
The Baseball Club scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 11th to pull this one out.
Ben Casparius made his first start after coming off the IL. He threw 3 strong innings, allowing no hits, walking one and striking out 4. He appears to be a pitcher that the Dodgers development staff think highly off. Keep your eyes on him, he soon could be on the Dodgers’ IL as all other pitchers. Casparius was followed by Chris Vallant who allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and walk in 4 innings. He also K’d 6. Normally that would be a decent outing. Unfortunately the OKC hitters were desperately trying to mimic the Dodger hitters and couldn’t get much going until the later innings. Joe Kelly also pitched an inning and did what he so regularly does, he walked 2 and struck out a hitter. I’m not sure if he made any pouty faces, though I’m told he is working on them.
The only hitter that had any success was Hunter Feduccia who had 3 hits. Looks like he’s interested in getting traded this month. Trey Sweeney homered, Kody Hoese got a hit and drove in a run and Alan Trejo drove in the winning run on a sacrifice fly.
Corpus Christi Hooks 5 – Tulsa Drillers 3
Not much stood out in this game, other than Damon Keith (a personal favorite of mine) got 3 hits in 4 at bats, including a double. Also, Edgardo Henriquez, he of the 150 mph fastball, let everyone know that he doesn’t want to be traded this month. In his one inning he allowed 2 runs on 1 hit and 1 walk, albeit he struck out 3. He was the losing pitcher.
Fort Wayne Tincups 7 – Great Lakes Loons 4
Peter Huebeck only pitched an inning but did okay. James Meador followed for 5 innings and allowed 4 runs. Noah Miller was 3 for 5, and Jordan Thompson had 2 RBI.
Quakes 10 San Jose Ports 5
Wyatt Crowell started and pitched well. He’s one to keep your eye on. Also, Juan Alonso, who is the younger brother of Pete Alonso from another mother(not really) hit a first inning grand slam to get the victory party going.
Teo first Dodger to win HR derby. Beats Witt 14-13
I like the look of this kid. Dodgers picked another SS on the second day of the draft. Despite their troubles lately, the Dodgers are the only team with four players who have 55 RBIs or more. Ohtani, Freeman, Hernandez and Smith.
I have a few initial thoughts:
That’s a lot of yards.
This kid is all fast twitch. When he’s 6’2” 195 he might hit the ball a long way. What are his bat to ball skills?
There’s nothing 65 miles south east of Tampa. Certainly no 98 mph fastballs live there.
I wonder if, like Trea Turner, he would prefer playing on the East Coast. Never mind. That won’t come til later.
Hope this is a good pick. There were a couple of interesting pitchers still on the board at that time.
Highlight headlines from yesterday:
Teoscar. Congratulations! And oh no, how is this going to affect his swing going forward?
“Soto wants to play with Ohtani!” Ok. How much money does he want to do it?
I’ve decided to fast track Kendle George and Kellon Lindsey and put them in the 2026 Dodger lineup at CF and SS respectfully. That would give the Dodgers two 80 rated speed guys in the lineup.
Kellon scores points for naming Joc his favorite non SS player.
Thanks Rob for the information on Kellen Lindsey. The comp with Trea Turner seems solid. Seems like a great kid. I would certainly think that the slot money for the 23rd pick of $3,676,400, would be enough to get him signed.
But with the available NIL money at a place like Florida, nothing is certain anymore. Sighabilty is a bigger factor than ever, with the drafts with high school kids.
Teoscar now in the starting lineup for the All-Star game replacing Fernando Tatis who needs to have an MRI.
Just an aside, but, I think it is hilarious that the Cubs are in last place and the Brewers are in first place after the Cubs dissed Ross.
Lux, Taylor, Kike, and Biggio. Four dead spots in the 26.
Thanks Rob for this and your other recent Post.
Nice to read you again.
A couple of observations. I read here and at LADT and there are a lot of names put forward as alternatives to our bottom of the lineup guys, but if I’m being honest none of them excite me, and I’m not sure would be a big improvement of the guys we’ve already got.
I think the reason we’re seeing Doc run these guys out time after time is because there really aren’t many needle movers out there, and there’s almost as much chance of one of Kike, CT3, or Lux getting hot at the right time, so why waste the Prospects?
The exception is Aronateza, who has the potential to be a big contributor come the playoffs as Michael suggests. I’d push some chips in for him.
The other point is that it’s a complete no brainer to sign Soto as a FA, and his “come and get me” call should be enough for AF to get it done.
The Dodgers are never going to draft anyone of his elite stature, or realistically have the prospect capital to put together to get him via a trade.
When these elite players become available the Dodgers need to all in. Our Outfield depth is poor, and any nonsense about him being a bad apple has stopped since he got to the Bronx.
Plus Shohei hasn’t deferred all that money for no good reason, and there’s money coming off the books in the off season.
For me the sky isn’t falling. Far from it actually. I think you’ll see a very different second half, and a couple of the Black Hole Gang will come good.
kike and CT3 have got history.
I noticed that the Dodgers took Elijah Hainline in Round 7. He started at WSU and transferred to Oregon State. I watched him in Surprise this spring in the OSU Tourney. I watch shortstops closely and Elijah didn’t “pop” for me. Just another 5’10”, 180lb, college SS with a so-so arm, is what I saw. Obviously a very small sample and the Dodger scouts saw something that I didn’t. Slot value $247,900.
SS – Kellon Lindsey – I am not high on this pick. This has the feel of a swing and miss like Jeren Kendall, Jake Vogel, and Kendall George. Drafting for speed has not helped the Dodgers.
Per Keith Law (for Badger):
The Dodgers have shown no ability to draft and develop position players in the AF era except for Will Smith. Depth in the form of platoon players, utility players, bench players, sure…but one full time regular position player in 9 drafts? OTOH they do have an ability to develop pitchers. Why not stay with their strength with only 1 pick in the first 97 draft picks.
Maybe this works out, but their track record says otherwise.
FWIW, my picks would have been (and all four were available)
1. LHP Cam Caminiti (HS) – Reclassified in his senior year to graduate early. He is 17. Possibly the best HS pitching prospect in the 2024 class. Cousin of Ken Caminiti can’t hurt. I am a fan of genes. – Drafted by Atlanta at 24 (1 pick after LAD). MLB Pipeline #15 draft prospect. Was first high school pitcher drafted in 2024.
2. LHP Kash Mayfield (HS) – An older HS pitcher at 19. The two-time Gatorade Player of the Year in Oklahoma, Mayfield just completed a remarkable senior season at Elk City. He went 8-0 with a 0.16 ERA across 44 innings. He struck out 115 hitters — essentially 87% of his outs — while allowing just four hits and eight walks. Drafted by San Diego 2 spots after LAD drafted Lindsey. MLB Pipeline #30 prospect.
3. RHP Ryan Sloan (HS) – Committed to Wake Forest : “Six-foot-4 and 220 pounds, Sloan has a strong lower half and is built to eat innings. A Wake Forest recruit, he uses his size to create extension and a flat approach angle to add deception. He repeats his delivery well and throws his entire arsenal for quality strikes.” MLB Pipeline #19 draft prospect. Drafted by Seattle in the 2nd round, #60 overall. Has agreed to sign with Seattle for $3MM. Certainly within the bonus pool $$$ for LAD.
4. RHP Brody Brecht (Iowa) – Perhaps the highest ceiling of any pitcher in the draft, but with a corresponding low floor. Paul Skenes”esque” potential. He was the 38th overall player drafted (CB-A) by Colorado. MLB Pipeline #21 draft prospect.
The question becomes…will Lindsey accept a below slot deal to not honor his commitment to University of Florida. Lindsey has told everyone that he expects to sign. Now…for how much?
And for those who are excited about his football exploits, here a few prominent QB drafted:
· Zach Lee
· Cody Thomas
· Kyler Murray
I know I can research to find many more, but those three came to me quickly.
Baseball America is imitating Jeff!
They are doing retrospective looks at past drafts!
2020 ($$$$)
https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2020-mlb-draft-revisited-every-teams-class-four-years-later/
For the Dodgers they are also generally positive:
Los Angeles DodgersThis is one of those drafts where the Dodgers’ dominance stands out…picked four pitchers who have reached the majors…
2021 is a little more measured, as was Jeff:
Los Angeles DodgersThis could easily end up as an above-average draft, but there’s a lot of to-be-determined aspects to it. Mentions Sheehan, Nastrini, Leasure, Wrobo-cop and the minor guys….Not bad for a team that had one top 100 pick.
For 2022 ($$$$) the Dodgers rate above-average. But it’s a guarded grade:
The rest of the draft hasn’t matched the start, but getting two Top 100 Prospects with the 40th and 105th picks overall is a great job.
https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2022-mlb-draft-revisited-every-teams-class-two-years-later/
Mets traded Rylan Bannon to the Twins. Bannon was part of the trade for Manny Machado. Baseball might finally come into the 21st century and allow draft picks to be traded. Manfred said any changes in the draft would have to be negotiated with the MLBPA.
Great article on Ted Williams
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5618681/2024/07/15/ted-williams-1999-mlb-all-star-game/
his career OBP was over 480!