Handful of University of Hawaii baseball players face draft decisions

Beginning this week, four University of Hawaii baseball players might have to respond to the Clash-ian question: Should I stay or should I go?

Several possibilities will unfold during the 2018 Major League Baseball draft, which runs Monday through Wednesday. Draft-eligible players include high school seniors, junior college sophomores and student-athletes who have attended a university for at least three years.

Three UH juniors — starting pitcher Jackson Rees, catcher Kekai Rios and shortstop Maaki Yamazaki — and reliever Dylan Thomas, a third-year sophomore, are expected to be selected in the 40-round draft. With the option of remaining at UH, they have negotiating leverage if they are selected.

“I feel it’s a win-win situation, especially because I’m playing at home,” said Rios, a 2015 Kamehameha graduate. “I’m comfortable with either one. Getting a degree is always good.”

Pro scouts view Rios as a catcher. But this season, he started 13 games at third. He was named to the All-Big West first team as a utility player.

“I’m keeping my options open,” Rios said. “I guess we’ll see what happens Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.”

Rees said he has received pre-draft inquiries from a few teams.

“I didn’t have a preference on round or, really, money,” Rees said. “I told them I wanted to be treated fairly.”

Rees has been told he could be selected anywhere from late Tuesday to what is regarded as a “senior-money” round.

“It depends on what team and where they think I’d fit in,” Rees said.

Rees has improved noticeably in the past year. At the end of the 2017 season, his first at UH following a year at Saddleback College, Rees’ fastball was reaching 90 mph from an over-the-top motion. At the start of the 2018 season, Rees weighed 205 pounds — a 20-pound gain — and had shifted to a three-quarter delivery. Rees’ fastball reached 94 mph.

“With that drop (in motion), I was able to create that whip in my arm that I was missing at Saddleback,” Rees said. “The added weight seemed to help.”

He said he is hopeful that another 20 pounds on his 6-foot-5 frame will add 2 mph to his fastball.

“We’ll have to find that out with the hard work of gaining that weight,” Rees said.

This season, Thomas was effective — 9.9 strikeouts and 0.92 walks per nine innings — with a slider he developed two years ago. The initial plan was for Thomas to improve his fastball and develop a third pitch during the Cape Cod (Mass.) Baseball League this summer. But a dozen teams have taken notice of Thomas during a season in which he amassed a Big West-best 14 saves.

Thomas is scheduled to depart Castaic, Calif., on Thursday, the day after the draft, for Cape Cod. If drafted, Thomas said, he can sign, play in Cape Cod while negotiating, or play summer ball and then return to UH for his junior year. Thomas said he is on track to earn a degree next May.

“Being a redshirt sophomore,” Thomas said, “it kind of puts me in an interesting situation where I have leverage for two years rather than one.”

Yamazaki was viewed as a “plus” fielder entering the season. But he moved to the leadoff spot and finished as the ’Bows’ top hitter with a .325 average. Yamazaki has drawn interest from major league scouts.

Two weeks ago, Yamazaki, who is 22, indicated he would strongly consider signing if he were drafted. “If I was 21,” he had said, “it would be totally different.”

Yamazaki also is set to earn a degree in May 2019.