June 13, 2017 at 4:39 PM
Red Sox select Tyler Esplin with their seventh-round pick
With their seventh-round pick (221st overall) in the 2017 MLB First-Year Player Draft, the Red Sox selected Tyler Esplin, an outfielder from IMG Academy in Florida. He was not ranked by MLB.com, Baseball America, or Perfect Game USA, but was ranked as the 96th-best prospect in baseball hotbed Florida by Baseball America.
Esplin is not yet 18 years old but is already a physical presence, measuring at 6-foot-3, 210 pounds. He is a strong-swinging outfielder who moves well for his size and has a good arm. This year for IMG, he hit .432/.535/.716 with 4 home runs, 7 doubles, 15 walks, and 11 strikeouts in 26 games according to Max Preps. He was also named a 2017 Rawlings-Perfect Game Honorable Mention All-American. While he has also pitched as the occasional closer for IMG, he was announced as an outfielder and will focus there.
Originally from Lake Bluff, Illinois, Esplin is committed to play baseball at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Photo Credit: Tyler Esplin by Prep Baseball Report.
Will Woodward is a Senior Staff Writer for SoxProspects.com. Follow him on Twitter @SPWill.