By Nathan Rode
National Supervisor

The second day of the 2015 Draft got started early Tuesday afternoon and it didn’t take long for things to get interesting. After the first two rounds, there were plenty of names still on the board that had the industry wondering when, and if, they would get popped. Here are some thoughts and highlights from the third through 10th rounds…

+ Just three picks into the third round, the Rangers took one of the best prospects available in Duke RHP Michael Matuella. Going into the season, Matuella was a candidate to be the first overall pick, but injuries have limited his appearances with the Blue Devils. When healthy, he can pitch in the mid 90s with secondary stuff that projects to be at least average. Texas’ draft so far has some risk, but interesting upside. The Rangers snagged RHP Dillon Tate (UC Santa Barbara) with the fourth overall pick and then got the speedy OF Eric Jenkins (West Columbus HS, NC) in the second round. In the fifth, they took OF Chad Smith (South Gwinnett HS, GA). Smith is a fringy runner that lacks arm strength so he profiles in left field, but his bat is interesting. He has a good, loose swing and showed the ability to consistently make hard contact last summer. In the sixth, they got RHP Tyler Ferguson out of Vanderbilt. Ferguson has a plus fastball and breaking ball, but his struggle with finding the strike zone and deep pitching staff for the Commodores limited his exposure this spring.