Red Sox select Michael Kopech with 33rd overall pick

With the 33rd overall pick in the 2014 MLB Draft, the Red Sox have selected Michael Kopech, a right-handed pitcher from Mount Pleasant (TX) High School.

At 6-foot-3, 195 pounds, Kopech has an ideal projectable pitcher's build. He sports a fastball that sits in the low-to-mid 90s and has reached 98. That fastball helped Kopech dominate at Mount Pleasant, allowing only four earned runs in 64 appearances. He closed the season with nine consecutive double-digit strikeout games, including 14 as part of a no-hitter in his final high school start.

Kopech was ranked the number 37 prospect in the draft by Baseball America and 48th by Perfect Game. Nick Faleris of Baseball Prospectus is high on Kopech, noting a lively fastball and a curveball and changeup that both "flash plus." Faleris and MLB.com both noted that Kopech has quirky mechanics that occassionally leads to inconsistency in his command.

Kopech is currently committed to enroll at the University of Arizona this fall. The 33rd pick has a slot value of $1,678,000. The Red Sox received the pick as compensation of losing outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury in free agency.

Photo Credit: Michael Kopech from baseballfactory.com

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