A Schelling For Your Thoughts

MILWAUKEE — It came as no surprise on Monday when the Brewers selected a young power arm with the 14th overall pick in the 2010 First-Year Player Draft. Their selection of 28 pitchers in 50 total picks is no shock either.

This season, as well as the recent past, pitching has been the club’s Achilles’ heel. With that in mind, the Brewers set out to find as many good pitching prospects as they could find who merited a selection.

First on that list was high school right-hander Dylan Covey, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound hurler with a plus fastball and plus curveball. Covey was a pick that general manager Doug Melvin was quite pleased with on the Draft’s first day.

“I give the guys credit for not taking the easy way out and maybe going after a college pitcher that might be able to get there quick and pitch in the bullpen,” Melvin said on Monday night.

Age-wise, the Brewers trended toward college-aged athletes. Out of 50 picks, the club took 31 from college, five from junior colleges and 14 from high school.

Of those 31 college selections, 15 were pitchers while the other 16 were position players. Out of 28 pitchers, the club took just eight lefties. After pitchers, the position at which the Brewers made the most picks was at catcher, taking six.

One of the Brewers’ more notable selections on Day 3 was Billy Schroeder, a senior left fielder from Grand Canyon University — taken by the Brewers in the 47th round with the 1,419th overall pick. Schroeder, who is a 6-foot, 210-pound right-handed hitter, is the son of former Brewers catcher and current club broadcaster Bill Schroeder.

Schroeder wasn’t the only familiar name on the Brewers’ Draft sheet, however. One round later, the club selected lefty Marques Kyles out of Limestone College in South Carolina. Kyles, a 6-foot-9, 220-pound senior, is the son of Brewers bullpen coach Stan Kyles.

“It’s great to be able to give opportunity to people you’re familiar with,” said Bruce Seid, the Brewers’ scouting director. “They’ve played at the collegiate level, and they actually bring something to the table that could be helpful to our organization.

“We’re happy to have them. And we’re happy to be the ones to give them the opportunity.”

Along with Schroeder, the Brewers selected two other players with Wisconsin ties.

Right-handed pitcher Conor Fisk, from Grafton High School, was taken at No. 1,029 overall. Another right-hander, Scott Matyas — who attended Kettle Moraine High School before pitching for the University of Minnesota — was taken with the No. 1,209 pick.

Another notable aspect of the Brewers’ 2010 Draft class is size. Out of 50 picks, only eight stand shorter than 6-foot and only one is shorter than 5-foot-10. At 6-foot-9, Kyles is the tallest of the Brewers’ picks, while five others are 6-foot-6 or taller.

According to Ray Montgomery, assistant director of amateur scouting, size is one of the top criteria for the Brewers, and it showed throughout the Draft.

“We accomplished a lot of our goals,” Montgomery said. “We wanted to bring some big, physical guys, some guys with good arms and some great athletes. I think we did that over the last three days.”

Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.