CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Guardians lost a pair of right-handed pitchers in the major league portion of the Rule 5 draft Wednesday as baseball’s winter meetings came to a close in San Diego.
Triple-A pitchers Nic Enright and Kevin Kelly were selected in the first round. Kelly was taken with the No. 8 pick by the Rockies and Enright was the No. 9 selection by Miami. Colorado announced that it was trading Kelly to the Rays for cash considerations as the draft wrapped up.
Cleveland declined to make a pick at No. 23. All clubs passed on their picks in the second round.
Boston right-hander Thad Ward was the top pick of the Nationals in the first round. Two more Red Sox pitchers (Andrew Politi and Noah Song) were taken in the first round. Politi went to the Orioles and Song to the Phillies.
The Dodgers and Yankees were the only other clubs to lose multiple players in the draft.
Kelly, 25, went 5-2 with a 2.04 ERA and four saves in 48 appearances between Akron and Columbus in 2022. A 19th-round pick of Cleveland in the 2019 draft out of James Madison, the Springfield, Va., native did not pitch in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic season, but has a lifetime minor league WHIP of 1.13.
Enright, 25, went 5-1 with stops in Akron and Columbus in 2022. He posted a 2.88 ERA in 65 2/3 innings with 87 strikeouts and a 0.96 WHIP. Enright, a 20th-round pick in 2019, saved 11 games in 48 appearances.
Players taken in the Rule 5 draft must spend the upcoming season on the selecting club’s 26-man roster and must be placed on outright waivers in order to be removed from the 26-man roster in the subsequent season. Should the player clear waivers, he must be offered back to his previous team for $50,000 and can be outrighted to the Minors only if his original club does not wish to reacquire him.
In the Class AAA phase of the draft the Guardians selected right-hander Bradley Hanner from the Twins. The 6-4 right-hander was the Twins’ 21st round pick in 2019. He went 7-4 with a 4.60 ERA in 39 games at Class A Cedar Rapids last season.
The also selected catcher Michael Berglund from the Rays. He hit a combined .234 (47 for 201) with 10 doubles, four homers and 16 RBI in 69 games at Class A Bowling Green and Class AA Montgomery. He was Tampa Bay’s eight round pick in 2018.
The Guardians then selected right-hander Justin Lewis from Arizona. The 6-7 right-hander was 3-2 with a 5.19 ERA in 39 relief appearances for Class AA Amarillo and Class AAA Reno. In his career, he has 236 strikeouts in 216 innings at the minor league level.
Cleveland lost right-hander Eli Lingos to Colorado.
When a team drafts a player in the Triple-A portion of the draft, they must pay the original team $24,000. The acquired players do not need to stay on the big league roster.
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