MLB Draft 2012: Analyzing the Toronto Blue Jays' 1st Day

For the third consecutive year, the Toronto Blue Jays front office, as well as their scouting staff showed up for the first night of the draft with at least four draft picks between the first round and compensation round.

After having four selections in 2010 and five in 2011, Toronto found themselves with an arsenal of five picks once again Monday night.

Armed with selections 17, 22, 50, 58 and 60, the Jays may have been the team in the most enviable position entering the draft.

With an already robust farm system, Alex Anthopoulos and his team of scouts were able to take a few more risks on high-ceiling players if they so desired.

So how did Toronto do?

Without any immediate needs that had to be taken care of, Toronto had the option of choosing the best available player on the board and continuing to stock up on ever-so-valuable young pitching.

With their first pick at 17th overall, the Jays elected to draft high school outfielder D.J. Davis out of Stone County High School in Mississippi.

While Davis may not have even been a first-round selection just a short time ago, his new-found ability to find the gaps at the plate, coupled with his blistering speed (and the ability to use said speed), pushed Davis into the top 25 according to MLB.com's top 100 draft prospects.

Considering the fact that he's a left-handed hitting outfielder with, potentially, the best speed in his draft year, Davis will surely draw comparisons to Blue Jays prospect Anthony Gose. Tho Davis doesn't quite have the arm that Gose possesses, or the power potential, the thought of an Anthony Gose-D.J. Davis tandem in the outfield and at the top of the order should have Jays fans everywhere salivating.

With Eric Thames and Travis Snider also proving that they may never find their way at the plate in the majors, adding another outfield prospect to go with Gose, Jake Marisnick and Moises Sierra was a savvy move by Toronto.

After selecting Davis at 17th overall, Toronto's scouts would have a quick turnaround, as their next pick was due less than 30 minutes after their first, at 22nd overall.

With that pick, the Jays reverted to their philosophy of selecting promising young pitching when they opted to draft Duke University closer Marcus Stroman, who was ranked at No. 10 by MLB.com.

The 21-year-old right-hander may be the most major league-ready player of the draft, sporting a fastball that can reach the mid-90s with late movement, along with a knee-buckling power curve ball that could find him toeing major league rubber as early as this September in a major league bullpen.

While some of you may be disappointed that Toronto passed on power-hitting third baseman Joey Gallo, picking up one of the most dynamic arms in the draft in Marcus Stroman was definitely the right way to go.

After the 22nd selection, the Jays would not pick again until the compensation round, where they would have picks 50, 58 and 60, with only one minute allotted per pick in the compensation round.

With those three picks, Toronto would go on to draft three consecutive high school players in Matthew Smoral out of Solon High School in Ohio, Mitch Nay from Hamilton High School in Arizona and Tyler Gonzales who attended Madison High School in Texas.

As I previously mentioned, the Jays already stacked farm system, along with their numerous selections on day one, allowed them to take these risks on high-ceiling high schoolers.

On the aforementioned top draft prospects list, Smoral came in at No. 28, though concerns about a stress fracture in his right foot (which ended his season) ultimately allowed the Jays to take a chance on him with the 50th pick.

Smoral is known to have a fastball that can reach 92 mph and can throw a decent changeup, which is crucial in the development of any pitcher. While the 6'8" southpaw will need to work on his breaking stuff, he may still prove to be a steal at pick No. 50.

Mitch Nay may not have found himself in MLB.com's top 100 list, but he certainly piqued the Blue Jays' interest, seeing as they chose him with the 58th pick in the draft.

Nay is considered to be a solid power threat but lacked the ability to hit for contact early on in his high school season. Some signs of progress at the latter stages of his season, however, may have convinced Toronto he was worthy of one of their five early selections.

As for Tyler Gonzales, he may have been the most risky of the Blue Jays five picks, as he is signed on to play for the University of Texas next season and may be a hard sign. He also has some major command problems and concerns over his durability thanks to his size, but his fastball (which can reach up to 97 mph) and nasty slider were too tempting to pass up for Toronto's top scouts.

Gonzales is the epitome of the high-ceiling, high-risk project the Jays were able to take a gamble on this year.

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