At the start of the year baseball experts around the country expected Duke pitcher Graeme Stinson to be taken in the 2019 MLB Draft, most just did not think it would come so late.
After a season cut short by injury made his draft stock plummet, the preseason All-American was selected in the fourth round with the 128th overall pick to the Tampa Bay Rays Tuesday afternoon, becoming the first Blue Devil to be taken off the board.
Six rounds later, fellow Duke pitcher Ben Gross was selected by the Minnesota Twins. Gross, who has served as Stinson's replacement as the Blue Devils' Friday night starter, is a graduate transfer from Princeton.
All-ACC first team member Kennie Taylor was taken in the 14th round by the New York Mets. The senior captain leads the team with a .324 batting average on the season.
Then it was the third Blue Devil pitcher off the board as Adam Laskey heads to the Chicago Cubs with the 582nd overall selection of the 19th round. The junior has only appeared in six games this season after starting 14 games in 2018, second most on the team.
Finally, it was the MVP of last weekend's Morgantown Regional, Bryce Jarvis, who was taken in the 37th round by the New York Yankees. The sophomore leads the team with 85 strikeouts on the season and was the catalyst of an upset win over West Virginia in the NCAA Tournament, pitching eight shutout innings with 11 strikeouts.
Stinson was projected as one of the top available pitching prospects at the start of the season, thanks mostly to a dominant showing in the 2018 NCAA baseball tournament. Many saw the junior as a sure-fire first round pick, but he started to lose velocity on his fastball and was officially shut down for the season after last appearing on March 15 against Louisville.
The southpaw pitched in just five games this season tossing 19.2 innings, striking out 26 and giving up 10 earned runs. Stinson also started in Duke's combined no-hitter March 1 against Penn State, tossing the first five innings of the game and giving up just two walks.
With his addition to Tampa Bay's farm system, the Georgia native may be lined up for another chance to pitch in Durham, as the Rays' AAA minor league affiliate is the Durham Bulls.
Two Blue Devil incoming freshmen were also taken with the Pittsburgh Pirates taking top recruit Sammy Siani 37th overall and the Yankees selecting Chad Knight in the 31st round.
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