Phillies select Georgia HS LHP Ethan Lindow in fifth round of MLB Draft

The Phillies selected their first high schooler of the 2017 MLB Draft in the fifth round, taking Locust Grove High School left-handed pitcher Ethan Lindow.

After taking four straight college players to open the 2017 MLB Draft, the Phillies finally went with a high school player. They took left-handed pitcher Ethan Lindow from Locust Grove HS in Georgia.

Lindow did not appear on the MLB.com Top 200 draft list but he is ranked No. 318 on the Baseball America Top 500.

Here is BA’s scouting report on Lindow ($):

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"He spent the offseason working out with Tom Glavine, whose son played travel ball with Lindow, and the Hall of Famer had an effect on his fellow lefthander. Lindow’s fastball velocity jumped, showing some 92 mph readings, and his breaking ball sharpened to become useful pitch. He has good hand speed, portending future velocity gains, and the feel for a good changeup that earns present average grades.Lindow’s breaking ball backed up significantly as the spring progressed, as did his fastball velocity. His draft stock may depend on how he performs in pre-draft workouts, so he may yet wind up at UAB."

In 57.2 innings this season, Lindow had a 0.97 ERA, walked 18 batters and struck out 97.

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Signability may be the biggest issue with Lindow. The high schooler has a strong commitment to Alabama-Birmingham. The hope is that the team will save money along the way when signing their first four picks. The No. 143 pick has $353.4K allocated to it, but Lindow could wind up getting more.

Last year, Philadelphia went over-slot with their fourth-round pick. JoJo Romero signed for an $800K bonus despite his slot value being $557.6K.

Players selected in the first 10 rounds of the MLB Draft rarely go unsigned.

Just two players selected on Day One or Two last year didn’t sign. Lindow likely will sign with Philadelphia, it just may take some extra money to sway him from his college commitment.

Next: Phils select Houston 3B Jake Scheiner in fourth

If Lindow does sign, he almost will certainly head to the Gulf Coast League along with the other high schoolers Philadelphia selects and players coming over from the foreign rookie leagues.