No shortage of shortstops in Phillies' draft picks

After a briefing Monday night following the selection of Larry Greene with their first pick in this year's draft, Phillies scouting director Marti Wolever said he knew who his second selection would be.

He was like a guy at a poker table waiting for a card to come out. His problem was Round 2 wouldn't start for another 13 hours and five teams still had to make a pick. Despite all this, Wolever's card came out of the deck.

The Phillies chose five shortstops yesterday, starting with Florida high schooler Roman Quinn. By all accounts, Quinn is a speed demon with a cannon. He played a lot of centerfield at Port St. Joe, but the Phils see him in the infield. A workout Sunday at the team's complex in Clearwater cinched it. All that was left was for him to still be available at a spot the Phillies felt comfortable, 66th overall.

"We had seen him play in centerfield in the spring and saw him take infield practice and it intrigued us enough that we thought he could play there," Wolever said. "And after the workout, we [definitely] thought he could play there. You've got an [excellent] runner with an above-average arm and he's got a little pop in his bat, so we're pretty excited about that."

There's a hole at shortstop throughout much of the Phillies' farm system. Wolever and his department also used picks in the fifth, 10th, 11th and 16th to hopefully address those needs. The fifth-rounder, Mitchell Walding, may shift over to third base.

With the 90th overall pick, the Phils took Harold Martinez, a third baseman from the University of Miami. Martinez was a 19th-round pick of the Rangers in 2008. He hit .301, but his power numbers slumped from a year ago. After leading Miami with 21 homers as a sophomore, Martinez had just three homers in 209 at-bats for the 'Canes this season.

In the third round, No. 120 overall, the Phillies grabbed their first pitcher, lefthander Adam Morgan, a junior from the University of Alabama. Morgan, an All-Star at the prestigious Cape Cod League last summer, was just 5-7 with a 4.64 ERA. Morgan (6-1, 195) needs to up the velocity on his fastball, which is generally in the 87-90 range, according to Baseball America.

The Phils next pick (No. 151) was Nebraska junior third baseman Cody Asche, who hit .327 with 12 homers and 56 RBI for the Cornhuskers this season. His lefthanded power is an attractive asset.

The Tyler Greene the Phillies picked in the 11th round is a Georgia signee and not related to the first-round selection they made on Monday night. Talking Tyler Greene out of going to college might be a challenge given that Greene has a pet bulldog.

Ryan Garvey, an outfielder from Palm Desert (Calif.), was the Phillies' 15th-round pick. His dad, Steve, was an excellent major leaguer who was a key part of the Dodgers' teams that broke the Phillies' hearts in the playoffs in 1977 and 1978. Garvey is a USC signee.

Locally speaking, another guy they almost surely won't have any trouble signing is Penn righthander Paul Cusick, whom the Phillies selected in the 29th round.

Cusick, a senior who graduated in May, was the Ivy League player of the year and the 10th righthander the Phillies picked.

Among local selections by other teams:

Villanova ace Kyle McMyne was nabbed by the Cincinnati Reds in the fourth round (No. 145 overall). McMyne, a junior righthander, was 12th in the nation with 10.89 strikeouts per nine innings. His 94 Ks in 77.2 innings this season were the most by a Villanova pitcher in 51 years.

La Salle righthander Cody Weiss was picked in the 14th round (No. 423) by Seattle. Weiss, a junior, was drafted by the Dodgers in the 26th round out of high school 3 years ago. It's the second-highest position an Explorer has ever been taken. Only Fred Morris, an Astros' 11th-rounder in 1977, was higher.

Saint Joseph's, for just the second time in program history, had two players taken in the same draft. Closer Ryan Kemp was selected in the 14th round (No. 445) by Cincinnati and fellow reliever A.J. Holland was taken in the 16th round (No. 506) by Atlanta.

Monmouth University third baseman Ryan Terry, whose two-run homer helped Conwell-Egan defeat St. Joseph's Prep, 8-3, for the 2006 Catholic League baseball championship, was selected by Tampa Bay in the 21st round (No. 660 overall). Terry played his final high school season at Truman.

In the supplemental round on Monday night, Seneca (N.J.) High School righthander Kevin Comer was selected by Toronto with the 57th pick.