MLB Draft Picks 2015: List of Day 1 Selections, Grades and Updated Order

The 2015 MLB draft began Monday with the opening two rounds and various compensation picks, totaling 75 overall selections. Vanderbilt shortstop Dansby Swanson was the headliner, as the Arizona Diamondbacks took him with the top overall choice.

In addition to enjoying a strong start to the current season, the Houston Astros enjoyed the luxury of two top-five draft picks Monday evening, taking LSU shortstop Alex Bregman and high school outfielder Kyle Tucker.

Those are only a few of the notable draftees who came off the board. For the complete, updated order, head over to MLB.com. Read on here for a full list of selections, first-round grades and further analysis.

Pick No.	Team (Grade)	Round 1 Selection (Grade)
Pick No.	Team	Compensation Pick Selection
Pick No.	Team	Competitive Balance A Selection
Pick No.	Team	Round 2 Selection
Pick No.	Team	Competitive Balance B Selection
1	Arizona Diamondbacks	Dansby Swanson, SS, Vanderbilt (A+)
2	Houston Astros	Alex Bregman, SS, LSU (A-)
3	Colorado Rockies	Brendan Rodgers, SS, Lake Mary (Fla.) HS (A+)
4	Texas Rangers	Dillon Tate, RHP, UC Santa Barbara (B+)
5	Houston Astros	Kyle Tucker, OF, Plant High (Tampa) (B+)
6	Minnesota Twins	Tyler Jay, LHP, Illinois (A)
7	Boston Red Sox	Andrew Benintendi, CF, Arkansas (A-)
8	Chicago White Sox	Carson Fulmer, RHP, Vanderbilt (A)
9	Chicago Cubs	Ian Happ, OF, Cincinnati (A+)
10	Philadelphia Phillies	Cornelius Randolph, 3B, Griffin High (Williamson, Ga.) (B)
11	Cincinnati Reds	Tyler Stephenson, C, Kennesaw Mountain HS (Ga.) (B+)
12	Miami Marlins	Josh Naylor, 1B, St. Joan of Arc HS (Ontario, Canada) (B-)
13	Tampa Bay Rays	Garrett Whitley, OF, Niskayuna (N.Y.) (A-)
14	Atlanta Braves	Kolby Allard, LHP, San Clemente High (Calif.) (B)
15	Milwaukee Brewers	Trenton Clark, OF, Richland HS (Texas) (A)
16	New York Yankees	James Kaprielian, RHP, UCLA (A)
17	Cleveland Indians	Brady Aiken, LHP, IMG Academy (B-)
18	San Francisco Giants	Phil Bickford, RHP, CC of Southern Nevada (A+)
19	Pittsburgh Pirates	Kevin Newman, SS, Arizona (A)
20	Oakland Athletics	Richie Martin, SS, Florida (B+)
21	Kansas City Royals	Ashe Russell, RHP, Cathedral HS (Ind.) (A-)
22	Detroit Tigers	Beau Burrows, RHP, Weatherford HS (Texas) (B+)
23	St. Louis Cardinals	Nick Plummer, OF, Brother Rice HS (Mich.) (B)
24	Los Angeles Dodgers	Walker Buehler, RHP, Vanderbilt (A)
25	Baltimore Orioles	D.J. Stewart, OF, Florida State (A)
26	Los Angeles Angels	Taylor Ward, C, Fresno State (B+)
27	Colorado Rockies	Mike Nikorak, RHP, Stroudsburg HS (Pa.) (A-)
28	Atlanta Braves	Mike Soroka, RHP, Bishop Carroll HS (Alberta, Canada) (B)
29	Toronto Blue Jays	Jon Harris, RHP, Missouri State (A+)
30	New York Yankees	Kyle Holder, SS, San Diego (B+)
31	San Francisco Giants	Chris Shaw, 1B, Boston College (B)
32	Pittsburgh Pirates	Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B, Concordia Lutheran HS (Texas) (A-)
33	Kansas City Royals	Nolan Watson, RHP, Lawrence North HS (Ind.) (A)
34	Detroit Tigers	Christin Stewart, OF, Tennessee (C)
35	Los Angeles Dodgers	Kyle Funkhouser, RHP, Louisville (A)
36	Baltimore Orioles	Ryan Mountcastle, INF, Winter Springs HS (Fla.) (A)
37	Houston Astros (via Miami)	Daz Cameron, CF, Eagle Landing Christian Academy (McDonough. Ga.)
38	Colorado Rockies	Tyler Nevin, 3B, Poway (Calif.) High
39	St. Louis Cardinals	Jake Woodford, RHP, Plant High (Fla.)
40	Milwaukee Brewers	Nathan Kirby, LHP, Virginia
41	Atlanta Braves (via San Diego)	Austin Riley, 3B, DeSoto Central HS (Miss.)
42	Cleveland Indians	Triston McKenzie, RHP, Royal Palm Beach HS (Fla.)
43	Arizona Diamondbacks	Alex Young, LHP, TCU
44	Colorado Rockies	Peter Lambert, RHP, San Dimas HS (Calif.)
45	Texas Rangers	Eric Jenkins, OF, West Columbus HS (NC)
46	Houston Astros	Thomas Eshelman, RHP, Cal State Fullerton
47	Chicago Cubs	Donnie Dewees, OF, North Florida
48	Philadelphia Phillies	Scott Kingery, 2B, Arizona
49	Cincinnati Reds	Antonio Santillan, RHP, Seguin HS (Texas)
50	Miami Marlins	Brett Lilek, LHP, Arizona State
51	San Diego Padres	Austin Smith, RHP, Park Vista Community HS (Fla.)
52	Tampa Bay Rays	Chris Betts, C, Wilson High (Calif.)
53	New York Mets	Desmond Lindsay, OF, The Out-of-Door Academy (FL)
54	Atlanta Braves	Lucas Hebert, C, San Clemente HS (Calif.)
55	Milwaukee Brewers	Cody Ponce, RHP, Cal Poly-Pomona
56	Toronto Blue Jays	Brady Singer, RHP, Eustis HS (Fla.)
57	New York Yankees	Jeff Degano, LHP, Indiana State
58	Washington Nationals	Andrew Stevenson, OF, LSU
59	Cleveland Indians	Juan Hillman, LHP, Olympia High (Fla.)
60	Seattle Mariners	Nick Neidert, RHP, Peachtree Ridge HS (Ga.)
61	San Francisco Giants	Andrew Suarez, LHP, Miami (Fla.)
62	Pittsburgh Pirates	Kevin Kramer, SS, UCLA
63	Oakland Athletics	Mikey White, SS, Alabama
64	Kansas City Royals	Josh Staumont, RHP, Asuza Pacific
65	Detroit Tigers	Tyler Alexander, LHP, TCU
66	St. Louis Cardinals	Bryce Denton, 3B, Ravenwood HS (Tenn.)
67	Los Angeles Dodgers	Mitch Hansen, OF, Plano HS (Texas)
68	Baltimore Orioles	Jonathan Hughes, RHP, Flowery Branch HS (Ga.)
69	Washington Nationals	Blake Perkins, OF, Verrado HS (Ariz.)
70	Los Angeles Angels	Jahmai Jones., OF/2B, Wesleyan HS (Ga.)
71	Cincinnati Reds	Tanner Rainey, RHP, West Alabama
72	Seattle Mariners	Andrew Moore, RHP, Oregon State
73	Minnesota Twins	Kyle Cody, RHP, Kentucky
74	Los Angeles Dodgers (via Baltimore)	Josh Sborz, RHP, Virginia
75	Atlanta Braves (via Arizona)	A.J. Minter, LHP, Texas A&M

SportsCenter captured the scene that unfolded when Swanson was drafted in the presence of his teammates:

It comes as little surprise that Swanson was off the board right away. The Commodores star was the Most Outstanding Player in the College World Series last year in leading Vanderbilt to a national championship.

Not only has Swanson converted successfully from second base to shortstop in college, but he's also managed to back up his stupendous 2014 campaign with another brilliant year. Being able to manage sky-high expectations to perform at a high level is what Arizona will count on Swanson to do at the MLB level.

Illinois pitcher Tyler Jay got the chance to face Swanson head-to-head in Monday's NCAA Super Regional action and fared quite well at first, per Baseball America's Ben Badler:

Jay was already a lock for the first round, but those just tuning in to college baseball's postseason were exposed to his stuff in style.

However, Swanson would later have revenge, per NCAA Baseball:

Although Monday's loss hurts and Dillon Tate was selected fourth overall by the Texas Rangers before him, Jay can probably take solace in the fact that the Minnesota Twins made him the sixth pick.

What stands out about Jay is he was the Illini's closer all year, yet the southpaw was given the ball to try to knock off Vandy and keep Illinois' season alive. Such versatility is a big reason why Jay was drafted where he was, ahead of a number of distinguished dealers.

One scout spoke optimistically about Jay's prospective transition to a starting MLB rotation based on his skill set and delivery.

"There's an efficiency with how Jay does it," said the scout, per AZCentral.com's Nick Piecoro. "You look at the control and the command numbers, there's precision to go along with the power. That's kind of what you need as a starter."

NCAA Baseball noticed the considerable amount of big league talent on display in Monday's showdown:

But college players don't garner all of the attention. They're more accessible at this point in the year with the buildup to Omaha. Where MLB scouts really have to exercise exceptional judgment is with high school prospects, who are typically at least a couple of years away from making the leap to the majors.

Even more projection is involved when dealing with teenagers, so a number of front offices will have to hope their investments in the more distant future pay big dividends down the road. The first move of that variety came when the Colorado Rockies bet on Brendan Rodgers to be a franchise cornerstone.

Houston opted to pass on Rodgers in favor of a more probable immediate contributor in Bregman. Baseball America's JJ Cooper provided some potential reasoning behind the Astros' decision:

Rodgers will eventually take over at shortstop in Colorado for Troy Tulowitzki, so all eyes will be on the 18-year-old prodigy until he makes his MLB debut. It at least seems as though Rodgers is up for the challenge, though.

Another notable pick near the top came from the Chicago Cubs, who snagged Cincinnati outfielder Ian Happ.

Not only does Happ have a great bat, but he can also play just about anywhere in the field, based on the comments from senior vice president of player development Jason McLeod, per ESPN Chicago's Jesse Rogers:

Grading MLB draft picks is harder than almost any other major professional sport that comes to mind. The most promising first-rounders can take years to reach pro baseball's biggest stage. Even No. 1 overall picks aren't a sure thing, evident in Mark Appel from 2013 and Brady Aiken last year, who went unsigned by Houston.

It's almost as much of a guessing game dishing out grades at the moment as it is for MLB personnel decision-makers to take the plunge on top draft picks.

The big winners and losers from the 2015 draft won't be determined for a while, but at least on paper, the Astros look to be building something special. Their savvy Monday selections will eventually add to a young core that's surprised everyone thus far this year.