Peters Twp. grad Natili drafted in 3rd round by Rockies
Jack Natili got to realize a lifelong dream Saturday afternoon.
Natili, a Peters Township grad, had a big junior season at Cincinnati and the Colorado Rockies selected him with the first pick in the third round of the Major League Baseball draft.
“It was an incredible moment for sure,” Natili said. “Lots of work to lead up to this moment and I couldn’t be happier.”
The Rockies took Natili with the 76th pick, which has a slot value of $1,103,500.
Natili, a catcher, had a trio of three-homer games this spring for the Bearcats, including one in the NCAA Regionals against Louisiana. He also went deep three times in games against Utah and Central Florida.
The Rockies also selected a college catcher, Daniel Jackson of Georgia, with the 37th pick, a Competitive Balance A selection.
Rockies director of baseball operations John DePodesta spoke with the media after the first day of the draft concluded about taking two catchers early.
“Not necessarily the plan we laid out going into the day in terms of ‘Hey, we’re going to get two catchers here.’, but those were both players that we had very high on our board that we felt if we had access to, we wanted to jump on that opportunity,” DePodesta said. “We think both of them have a chance to have very long careers in in the big leagues. I mean, they’re both right-handed hitters, both have power, both can really catch. Maybe I’m showing a little bit of my bias here in terms of where I think a team is built from the start, but these these are two really, really good ones, and they’re both going to get plenty of opportunity with us.”
Colorado General Manager Tommy Tanous noted that Natili’s raw power is intriguing.
Natili also showed durability at Cincinnati. He started all 60 of Cincinnati’s games this spring and hit .339 with 15 doubles, 3 triples, 19 home runs and 65 RBI.
Now he’s ready to start his professional journey.
“I’ll be heading to Arizona (to Colorado’s Spring Training Complex) at the end of the week to begin onboarding and camp,” Natili said.
Natili was the first player that played in the WPIAL to be drafted this year.
Franklin Regional standout Luke Williams, a shortstop, was taken two spots after Natili by the Nationals.
Seton Hill shortstop and Pine-Richland grad Owen Henne was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the sixth round when the draft resumed Sunday. Henne was slated to play his senior season at West Virginia.
Butler High School pitcher Kyle Casteel went in the 11th round to the Chicago White Sox. He’s committed to West Virginia. Norwin High School pitcher Caden Sivrich was taken in the 14th round by the Athletics. He is a Pitt commit.
West Virginia had five players selected from its team that made the College World Series. Pitcher Dawson Montesa was selected by the Cardinals with the 72nd pick and pitcher Maxx Yehl was taken by the Kansas City Royals at 91.
Outfielder Paul Schoenfeld went in the eighth round to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Chase Meyer was the third Mountaineers pitcher selected when he went to the Chicago Cubs in the ninth round. Ian Korn was the fourth pitcher taken. He went to the San Francisco Giants in the 10th round.
Pitt pitcher David Leslie went to the New York Yankees one pick after Meyer. Leslie is a Butler High School graduate and pitched in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference for Grove City before transferring to Pitt. Panthers outfielder Lorenzo Carrier was taken in the 14th round by the Rockies.
Penn State two-way player Michael Anderson Jr. was taken in the fifth round by the Texas Rangers with the 149th pick.