by Francis Ferry, NLN baseball beat writer

July 31, 2023: Aurora, Colorado – On the surface, the draft class of 2023 was not an impressive looking one; a class that required deep mining to find it’s few precious gems. This class may not add to the ‘home grown’ lore of the Aurora Borealis, but then again… You never know.

A busy day at the winter meetings saw the Borealis trade their #2 & #3 pick to Yuma as part of the Gunner MacGruder deal, but they did acquire 2^nd and 3rd round picks from Okinawa (for financial considerations) and a 1^st and 3^rd round selections from West Virginia (for Matt Ferrell). In the West Virginia slot, at #16, the Borealis selected OF Roberto ‘Fudd’ Martinez out of Ciefuegos of the International College Association, where the Peloteros won the championship over Cambridge. As an intragral senior leader on the team ‘Fudd’ hit .306 with 10 HR and 32 RBI in 48 games. As a four-year starter, Roberto finished with a career .292 average, 41 HR, 128 RBI and a .501 SLG. At 6’2”, 195 lbs, you’d think ‘Fudd’ would be a gazelle in the outfield, but he lacks adequate defensive skills as they relate to covering the outfield, which puts a damper on his reliable glove and powerful arm. Offensively, he has shown some pop in college, and scouts feel he has a pretty good eye, even if he doesn’t always make contact with the good pitches he chooses to swing at. Speed, though, is his game, as he is one of the fastest baserunners around – accumulating 54 steals and getting caught only 10 times in his four years a Ciefuegos. Currently he has struggled at Short A as the starting left fielder for the Oceanic – a .233 average with 3 HR. What’s odd is his 5-3B, after having only 4 in his college career, something that may bode well for a future at Northern Lights Park?

With their own pick, at #35, in the first round Aurora selected 2B Guillermo Cavazos, out of Stanford. Guillermo is another guy with adequate defensive skills and an offensive game built around speed. His senior year he hit .290 with 10 HR – an anomyly seeing he hit a total of 5 in the previous years and coaches do not expect him to come close to repeating that feat. Like Martinez drafted ahead of him, Cavazos was a big leader on his team as a three-year starter. Also like his fellow first-round partner, he, too, has gotten off to a slow start – .226, 1 HR, 15 RBI in 37 games – but one of his traits the coaches like is a pretty patient approach at the plate, resulting in a .311 OBP – not bad considering his low average. The Aurora system is deep with second-baggers, so it’ll be interesting to see how Guillermo progresses.

Aurora went back to the outfield for their selection in the second round – #11, taking left-handed (there’s a shocker) hitting Teruo Ine from the University of Tokyo. Ine is much in the same mould as Martinez and Cavazos – Decent defense (in this case he covers ground well, though his glove is a tad unreliable), speedy, and a natural leader on a playoff team. Coaches believe he has the potential for a powerful bat (despite his 6’3”, 190 frame) with a natural gap-to-gap swing. Where he needs work if swinging at better pitches and making better contact – in his first 36 games at Mokule’ia he has 28 K and only 6 BB, while hitting .241. His senior numbers included a .286 average. Working in Teruo’s favor is that he is almost exclusively a centerfielder, and those can be gold for an organization.

Aurora entered the third round with a pick curtesy of West Virginia and they a ‘project’ player in C Shoraku Matsui out of Asia University, where he was a team leader in many offensive categories. Possessing a strong arm, Matsui has been praised by teammates and coaches alike for how he handles a pitching staff and calls a game from behind the plate. He got his chance to start for the Geckos only in his senior year, where he hit .277 with 9 HR and a team leading 35 RBI. He has struggled thus far in the Hawaiian League – as have much of this years draftees, with a .224 average and just 1 HR. His offensive skills grade out to pretty average, and has a long way to catch up to last years top pick, Manny Castro (who is raking at the tune of .327 with 11 HR and 45 RBI). On the plus side, he has already shown the high upside he has defensively with 35% of would be base stealers thrown out.

With the 6^th pick in the 4^th round – a ‘consideration pick’ from New Jersey in the Josh Ligonier trade, Aurora selected CF Robert McGinnity, a highly rated, speedy CF, with a lot of offensive help needed, but McGinnity decided to return to Louisville for his senior year. With their own pick at #31, Aurora to 1B Kent Cole, also a high defense, big speed guy in need of offensive tutoring. But like McGinnity, chosen earlier, the Michigan State junior also decided to return to school.

With the 31^st pick in the 5^th round, LF Dave Burkett, out of Iowa, was the Borealis’ target. Formerly an 11^th round selection of Reno, Burkett choose college. A two-year starter, Burkett hit only .241 with a .329 SLG, but he did win an All-Leather Award for his defensive prowess in LF. Once in the Islands, Burkett quickly warmed up and in 8 games was hitting .346, earning an ‘injury’ promotion as of late the organization has been hit hard with an array of injuries. His first game in SLRC is coming up tonight. Not much is expected of Burkett, but he’s smart, hard working, a team player and like this years theme – a natural leader, so we shall see. Should this quick journey to A Ball pan out, we may be hearing more from this Iowa farm boy.

Of the remaining selections, of interest is SS Jarrod Gamble, who was drafted out of Arizona in the 7^th round, and will miss the season with a PCL injury. He’s a high speed, high quality defender at short.

So as we look at this years class, there is no ‘can’t miss’ starter looming for the future. No Paul Carlisle, no Nick Giles, no River Pope. But the group is composed of quality guys of intellect, ethic and stature. Do those things win ball games? No… not directly, but with some questionable skill abilities, these are guys Aurora can rely upon to work hard – right? With hard work, good things can happen. We shall see all in due time.