By: Mike Puzzanghera
Three former Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox players were selected on the first day of the 2022 MLB Draft Sunday night. Brooks Lee (Y-D ’21), Peyton Graham (Y-D ’21), and Drew Thorpe (Y-D ’21) all heard their names called in the opening two rounds.
Former Y-D shortstop Brooks Lee was selected by the Minnesota Twins with the eighth overall pick in the first round of the MLB Draft.
Lee played in 21 games for Y-D last summer, hitting .405 with a 1.099 OPS. The Cal Poly product hit six homers, four doubles, and drove in 13 runs for the Red Sox.
This past spring at Cal Poly, Lee hit .357 with 25 doubles, 15 homers, and 55 RBI. Lee received the 2022 Brooks Wallace Award, given annually to the nation’s top collegiate shortstop. Under the guidance of his father Larry, Cal Poly’s head coach, Lee developed into one of the nation’s top prospects coming out of college.
Another former Y-D shortstop, Peyton Graham, was selected 51st overall by the Detroit Tigers in the second round of the MLB Draft.
Graham appeared in 24 games last summer for Y-D, hitting .247 with two home runs and four doubles against the best collegiate pitching in the country.
At Oklahoma this spring, Graham broke out, hitting .355 with a 1.058 OPS in 67 games. Graham hit 20 home runs, 17 doubles, drove in 71 runs, and stole 34 bases in 36 attempts.
Former Y-D pitcher Drew Thorpe was selected 61st overall by the New York Yankees in the second round of the MLB draft, rounding out the trio of former Y-D players that were picked.
Thorpe made just two starts for Y-D last summer, but they were dominant. He allowed just one run over 10 innings and struck out nine.
Like Brooks Lee, Thorpe played collegiately at Cal Poly. This spring, the 6’4″ right-hander pitched to a 2.32 ERA over 104.2 innings. He struck out 149 opposing hitters and walked just 25 for a whopping 5.96 K/BB ratio.
The MLB Draft continues at 2 p.m. Monday with rounds 3-10, where many other former and current Y-D players will wait to see if their names are called.
