NEW YORK — As the Red Sox prepared for the first of three games against the Yankees in The Bronx, the organization began its second day of participation in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by selecting an outfielder from Brooklyn.
Williams Jerez, who has played for a team sponsored by Yankees senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner, was taken with the 81st-overall pick. He is a native of the Dominican Republic who starred for Grand Street Campus High School, leading the city's Public School Athletic League with a .692 batting average.
Boston took high school catcher Jordan Weems in the third round, the organization's second catcher taken to that point. He is a left-handed hitter who hit .443 in 39 games for Columbus (GA) High School.
Among the other notables taken by the Red Sox in the second day of the three-day draft is Travis Shaw, a first baseman out of Kent State whose father, Jeff, pitched in the majors form 1990-2001.
A local pick came in the 28th round as Boston took right-hander Brenden Shepard out of Stonehill College in Easton, Mass. Shepard had 10 saves and a 3.63 ERA in 20 relief appearances for the Skyhawks this year.
Of the 33 players selected so far by the Red Sox, 16 are from high school and 17 from college. Boston has taken 20 pitchers, 14 of them right-handed, as well as six infielders, five outfielders and two catchers. The club took a pitcher in every round from 11 to 18.
The remaining 20 rounds of the draft will be conducted Wednesday.
