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On the first day of the draft, the Brewers selected three high-upside high school players who all have a shot to become something special one day. With those picks, many were of the opinion Milwaukee would go with a low-risk college player here. Turns out, that's exactly what they did. Fortunately, they also got a great name out of it.
With the 85th overall selection in the 2014 MLB Draft, the Brewers have chosen Cy Sneed, a right-handed pitcher out of Dallas Baptist University.
Sneed has been drafted before, as the Texas Rangers picked him as a high schooler back in 2011 in the 35th round. Obviously, he chose not to sign and instead went to college, where he has posted ERAs of 4.45, 4.84 and 3.55. He has a good fastball that comes in around 92-94 MPH along with a curveball.
Though Sneed had some struggles in his first two years of college ball, he has been quite good his junior year. Sneed has made 16 starts, allowing opponents to hit just .254 against him. He has 82 strikeouts and 36 walks over 104 innings, so it appears he will be more of a pitch-to-contact kind of guy than a big-time strikeout pitcher.
He's a big guy, at 6'4" but weighs just 185 pounds, meaning there is room for him to fill out if need be.
It seems most believe Sneed will be a reliever as he reaches the upper-levels of the minors and, hopefully, the majors. That fits in with the Brewers likely signability strategy as they save money to sign their first three selections.
It's not the most glamorous pick the team could make, but it's hard to argue against the strategy they have going right now. Besides that, having a reliever in the system who seems like he could advance quickly means the Brewers can fill bullpen holes from within with strong players rather than over-spending outside of the organization on relief pitching. I dig it. Plus, I mean, that mustache.
Sneed is also on Twitter, if you care to give him a follow.
