Red Sox confident in ‘off-the-wall’ first-round pick Jake Schaffner

NEW YORK — In a departure from their recent MLB Drafts, the Boston Red Sox selected position players with their first three picks Saturday.

In fact, they didn’t just zero in on any hitters; they specifically targeted left-handed batters from the University of North Carolina.

In an unexpected draft-day move, the Red Sox selected shortstop Jake Schaffner with the No. 20 pick in the first round and then outfielder Owen Hull with the 67th pick in the competitive balance round B. Both are left-handed, contact-first hitters from UNC.

“I think even more unique is that they were roommates, too,” said Red Sox scouting director Jake Bruml, in his first year leading Boston’s draft. “Both of them were transfers this year to UNC. We got to meet with both of those guys at the combine. They told me they’re best friends, so hopefully they can bring some of the magic that they had in that (College) World Series run to Boston in the coming years.”

With their last pick of the first day, the Red Sox took Wisconsin high school shortstop Jace Mataczynski, a right-handed hitter, in the third round at No. 96.

Where the Red Sox took Schaffner shocked draft experts, as he had been rated the No. 79 draft prospect by The Athletic’s Keith Law.

Bruml acknowledged the unorthodox selection but highlighted Schaffner’s elite bat-to-ball skills, noting he’s an above-average runner and will stick in the middle of the field.

“We prepared for 20 scenarios. I won’t say where this scenario was on that list,” Bruml said. “We knew what we were getting into. We were very comfortable with it and, for the record, told (Red Sox) senior leadership, ‘Hey, we are going this route. This is going to be viewed as very off the wall.’

“We were very convicted in our evaluation of Jake and what it can provide us through the rest of the draft, so we were in a spot that, yeah, it’s exciting because we got a player that we love and are excited to join the organization, but have to block out the noise a little bit and make sure we do what’s best for the org.”

Schaffner spent the first two years of college at North Dakota State before transferring to UNC for his junior year, when he hit .356 with six homers among 33 extra-base hits. His speed and contact skills are Schaffner’s greatest strengths.

In his analysis, Law wrote that Schaffner “makes hard enough contact to project to keep hitting for average with some doubles power in pro ball, although his slugging percentage for UNC was elevated by his speed on doubles and triples.”

Schaffner, too, was surprised when the Red Sox called his name.

“I was definitely super excited when that call came,” he said. “I keep using the word grateful, but I really have no other word to describe it. It’s just such an unbelievable experience. That call, when I got that call, I was like, ‘Holy cow!’ I remember my hand was shaking a little bit.”

As for Hull, he spent his freshman and sophomore seasons at George Mason before transferring to UNC for his junior year, where he hit .393. Like Schaffner, his speed and contact skills stand out, as does his plate discipline. He walked 48 times last season compared to only 49 strikeouts.

Hull, who is 6 f00t 4 and 215 pounds, seems to have room to gain power. He finished second in Division I baseball in hits (103) and RBIs (87), and he tied for third in doubles (27).

Mataczynski, a strong defender at shortstop, is another speedy player, but questions about his swing suggest he’ll need to spend time developing in the minors.

In recent years, the Red Sox have selected underrated players with their first picks in an attempt to sign them for less, while offering more money to later-round, harder-to-sign picks with high upside.

In 2022, they drafted Mikey Romero in the first round and signed him for $2.3 million, below the $2.9 million suggested slot. They then used a portion of those savings to offer Roman Anthony a higher bonus, whom they took in the second round and convinced to sign rather than head to the University of Mississippi.

Anthony signed for $2.5 million, but his draft slot had been pegged for $820,400. The Red Sox did something similar in drafting Nick Yorke in the first round in 2020 before signing third-rounder Blaze Jordan for more money.

Regardless of how the Red Sox execute the remainder of the draft, one thing is clear: They’ve pivoted to drafting hitters.

The Red Sox took a pitching-heavy focus in the last two drafts under chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and former scouting director Devin Pearson. Pearson is now an assistant general manager for the Washington Nationals, with Bruml taking over this year’s Red Sox draft.

The Red Sox revamped their pitching development infrastructure under Breslow, with 2024 second-rounder Payton Tolle emerging as the system’s most successful example. Tolle debuted 13 months after being drafted and is now a rotation mainstay. In those pitching-heavy drafts, the Red Sox took 29 pitchers with 41 draft picks. Bruml said the focus on hitters Saturday wasn’t necessarily intentional.

“We had other players on the board, and some of them were pitchers, some of them were other hitters,” Bruml said. “It was just how everything lined up that led us down this path. And I know maybe that looks weird, having made additional hitter selections on Day 1, but it wasn’t anything specific that said we are going to target hitters. It was still about drafting the best player available at each given spot.”