The Dodgers are known for drafting players that out perform their draft rankings. This year promises to be no different, and in today’s article, we’re gonna cover the final 5 picks, picks 14-18.

Evan Shaw

Picture Courtesy of the X account of Shaw

Shaw is a 6’4 left-handed pitcher out of Kansas, who has always shown to have good “swing and miss” offerings.

Shaw has eligibility left, so he does have some leverage, and being drafted in the 23rd Round (Pick 490), will make that situation at least worth watching. I don’t think the NIL monies would be overly significant to compete with, but Kansas provides an elite education, so there are a lot of factors at play.

Shaw is from Minnesota and originally went to Minnesota State, then to Cochise College where he spent 2 years and became an NJCAA All-Region Team selection. At Cochise, he recorded 184 Ks in 129 Innings, which equates to a K/9 Ratio of 12.84.

He made 10 starts as a Junior at Kansas and recorded another very impressive 12.76 Ks per 9 and a K/BB ratio of almost 3 to 1.

I’ve seen him pitch on a couple of occasions, most recently at the Big 12 Tournament, and he has good poise and good stuff. Here’s what his Head Coach at Kansas, Dan Fitzgerald had to say about the Minnesota Southpaw.

“Shaw had one of the best left-handed sliders in this year’s draft to go along with an above average fastball,” Fitzgerald said. “He’s a great athlete and will pitch for a long time in professional baseball.”

High praise considering Fitzgerald came to Kansas from LSU and was at Dallas Baptist before that and helped Dan Heefner build that program into one of the nation’s best.

Jackson Nicklaus

Nicklaus, despite what you might be thinking, is not related to the Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus. But, they have some of the same qualities in the sense that winning seems to follow them and he definitely has the “clutch gene”. Just check his walk-off against Kansas in the Big 12 Tournament for proof.

This one is a little closer to me because he went to OU, and he was an integral part of the Sooners team that went into Virginia Tech and beat Nick Biddison’s Hokies, then rushed all the way to the College World Series Finals Series. I also got to see him quite a bit against OSU, and will never forget that Gabe Davis, a pitcher for OSU, reached 100 mph for the first time in a game against him.

That was a cool moment.

He was a Freshman that played a huge role on that team, so he’s a bad dog that knows how to bite when he’s a pup.

Nicklaus has hit 27 home runs in his 3 years at OU, and has also drawn 124 walks, an registered an OPS approaching .900. So, he’s very talented, but then fits the profile of an offensive player that excels in the Dodgers system.

He’s also a very good athlete that throws right to give the maximum positional versatility, but hits left, which suggests someone in his background knows baseball.

I’ve seen this young man hit 2 bombs, and I mean bombs, then lay down a drag bunt for a base hit, and on back-to-back days, so he has skill and a complete offensive game.

It’s time to change the spelling of his last name from Nicklaus to STEAL, because that’s exactly what he is as a 17th Rounder, and as the 520th pick.

He does have eligibility left, and OU is headed to the SEC, and I can tell you that NIL monies are the “real deal”, so this one is wait and see, and, quite honestly, hope for the best. This kid is Good!

Very little movement to his swing, smooth path through the ball, lift in front, which gives a hitter the possibility of the best of all worlds.

Isaac Ayon

© Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK

Ayon is a 6’4 Right Handed pitcher that came to the Dodgers from Oregon and is from Fresno. He was a top 300 National Player coming out of High School but had his Senior season at Buchanan canceled due to Covid.

He got mound time right away as a Freshman in 2021, then was a workhorse in 2022 throwing 87.1 innings. So, he had a good first couple of years but then had to miss all of 2023 due to elbow problems that eventually led to (UCL) brace repair, which is an alternative to Tommy John Surgery.

Although he avoided Tommy John the first time, he wasn’t able to escape it as he had to miss 2024 as well, this time to have the Tommy John Surgery.

His stuff plays up when healthy though and has touched high 90’s, and his ball has a pretty distinct sinker-ish right turn on pitches located middle-in to righties. His slider has a sharp break, great depth, and the potential to be a + pitch. He pairs that with a changeup with good tumble.

This is the 2nd year in a row that he has been drafted, and, having missed 2 years, would have eligibility, so we’ll see what happens.

Just as an aside though, taking a player in his situation is not foreign to this organization. This is exactly what happened with Michael Grove at West Virginia, and, to a little lesser extent, Justin Wrobleski at OSU.

Chase Willams

Williams is a really talented 19-year-old outfielder with a middle infield background who played a year at Northwest Florida State (Powerful Juco). Then, after hitting .379, parlayed that into an offer from Florida State, to which he is currently committed.

Williams is a switch hitter who walked 31 times beyond his lofty batting average and used his speed to steal 29 bases. He also scored 71 runs, so, he masters in getting on, getting over, then getting in.

I LOVE his kind of game, and especially the fact that it is being targeted by the Dodgers at a noticeably high rate.

Hunter Elliott

Elliott is a 6-3 LHP who did not pitch this past season at Ole Miss due to having Tommy John surgery. The Dodgers offer a Doctorate for pitchers looking to recover from the dreaded procedure, as they’ve done it with countless pitching prospects.

He does have eligibility left, and, again, NIL money in the SEC is eye-opening, and being the Dodger’s last pick, and overall pick number 610 makes this an interesting situation to follow.

Elliott was a big part of the Ole Miss squad that beat Jackson Nicklaus and the OU bunch for the 2022 National Championship, so he has high-level experience, albeit limited due to injury.

As a freshman, he posted an ERA of just 2.70 and also threw 80 innings, so he was good and was a workhorse. He also recorded 102 Ks and had a batting average against of just .201 and for a Freshman in that competitive of a world, that’s insanely impressive.

Elliott is known to carve up lefties and features a good fastball that he locates very well, a change-up that can carry him, and a slider that is + when it’s on. He also has a ton of grit, and performs even when he doesn’t have his best stuff, and, according t0 Mike Bianco, his Head Coach at Ole Miss, keeps fighting until he “finds it”.