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Rays feel no extra pressure with higher-than-usual draft pick

 
FILE - In this Monday, June 1, 2015, file photo, Vanderbilt starting pitcher Walker Buehler throws against Radford in the first inning of an NCAA regional college baseball game in Nashville, Tenn. Three Commodores--shortstop Dansby Swanson and pitchers Buehler and Carson Fulmer--are among the top prospects entering next week’s MLB draft. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File) NY150
FILE - In this Monday, June 1, 2015, file photo, Vanderbilt starting pitcher Walker Buehler throws against Radford in the first inning of an NCAA regional college baseball game in Nashville, Tenn. Three Commodores--shortstop Dansby Swanson and pitchers Buehler and Carson Fulmer--are among the top prospects entering next week’s MLB draft. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File) NY150
Published June 8, 2015

SEATTLE — The frustration of last season has a slight payoff tonight in the first round of the annual MLB draft as the Rays get to make the 13th pick, their highest selection since taking INF Tim Beckham No. 1 overall in 2008.

Picking toward the bottom of the first round is one of the reasons Rays officials have cited for their lack of success in the draft, but scouting director R.J. Harrison said the increased opportunity won't bear any additional burden.

"We're going to do like we do every year," he said. "Every year, you try to learn from previous years, and you've worked together longer with your people, and you make changes to always try to become better.

"Pressure? No, I don't think it's pressure. You take the guy you think is the best prospect when your pick comes around, and then you look around in a couple, three, four, five years and see where they are.

"I've never felt pressure in this job in that regard. If you start looking at it in that regard, you start making decisions for the wrong reasons. And we've never done that here in the 10 years I've been in this position with this group."

Plus, it's not like the Rays have a clear choice on whom to take with 12 teams ahead of them.

"You can narrow your focus down a little bit, but we still don't have a real strong idea what might happen above us," Harrison said last week. "When you're picking where we've been picking most of the time since '09, you really don't have clue what you might be getting. I just think we have better percentage chances of being able to focus in on a group and actually get one of those guys from that group."

Harrison said this year's pool is heavier than usual on college infielders and lighter on college pitchers. Several of the top mock drafts have the Rays taking college pitchers, Baseball America suggesting UCLA RHP James Kaprielian, mlb.com and ESPN tabbing Vanderbilt's Walker Buehler.

The first two of the 40 rounds are tonight, with the Rays also picking 52nd.

MEDICAL MATTERS: 3B Evan Longoria was out of the lineup for a second straight day to rest his sore left wrist, hoping with the benefit of today's off day to return Tuesday. "It feels better," he said. … The Rays won't know more until Tuesday on the status of RHP Jake Odorizzi after he has an MRI exam and is examined by Dr. Koco Eaton to determine the extent of his oblique injury. A disabled list stint seems likely, though Odorizzi said Sunday that he "felt a good amount better" and remains optimistic. … OF Desmond Jennings heads to Colorado today to have his still-sore left knee examined at the Steadman Clinic. … LHP Matt Moore (Tommy John surgery) is set to make his second rehab start Tuesday for the Class A Stone Crabs at Dunedin.

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NOT-SO-MINOR MATTER: Prized SS prospect Daniel Robertson, who was hitting .272 with a .783 OPS at Double-A Montgomery since being acquired from Oakland, is sidelined and being checked today for a possible broken hamate bone in his left hand.

MIKIE LIKES IT: Rookie Mikie Mahtook started in centerfield and did a pretty good Kevin Kiermaier impression with a running and diving catch to rob Logan Morrison in the fifth. He then homered in the seventh off LHP and former Triple-A Durham teammate Mike Montgomery.

Mahtook has two hits in 17 major-league at-bats during three stints with the Rays and both are homers. "I was happy that I could help us out," he said.

MISCELLANY: RHP Ernesto Frieri, designated for assignment last week, cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A Durham.… SS Asdrubal Cabrera was not in the lineup so he, in theory, could get the benefit of two days off, but he was a late-inning replacement. … The Rays scored seven runs total in the four games and won three. … The 11 runs total for both teams in the four-game series are the fewest in Rays history and in the majors this season.