Cedar Rapids native A.J. Puk selected 6th overall by Oakland Athletics

CEDAR RAPIDS — Here's something to file away for possible future use. The Cedar Rapids Kernels open the second half of the Midwest League season June 23.

The opponent for a four-game series is Beloit. The Snappers are the low-Class A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics.

Pie-in-the-sky thinking, but, in a perfect world, wouldn't it be the coolest if A.J. Puk somehow made his professional pitching debut here?

There's at least a sliver of hope that'll happen after the A's chose the former Cedar Rapids Washington prep Thursday night with the sixth-overall pick of the 2016 Major League Draft. Puk is a junior left-handed pitcher for the University of Florida.

'I came into the draft open minded,' Puk said in a conference call with Bay Area reporters. 'You really don't know about the draft. I was excited where I landed.'

'We're ecstatic,' Puk's father, Dave, said from Gainesville, Fla., where the family gathered at a local restaurant to watch the draft. 'It's been a lot of ups and downs ... a lot of hard, hard work. Just think about it. He went to Florida as a hitter and just kind of fell into pitching.'

Puk was a two-way player as a freshman for the Gators, but arrived on the pitching prospect scene last season as a sophomore. His velocity grew to the mid and upper-90s, and his slider developed.

The 6-foot-7 left-hander was projected as the possible first-overall pick, but the Philadelphia Phillies chose prep outfielder Mickey Moniak instead. The Cincinnati Reds, Atlanta Braves, Colorado Rockies and Milwaukee Brewers also passed on Puk.

This was considered a wide-open first round, with every player having perceived flaws. With Puk, it was a rather uneven junior season and a lack of general command of his pitches.

'A.J. Puk, a lefty out of Florida that I love everything about,' Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez said on MLB Network's coverage of the draft. 'He's got a 94 to 96-mile-per-hour fastball, which is plus for his age. His body, it's a body that is reaching maturity, yet. Still kind of raw. But there's a very bright future with this kid. Coming from the left side, expect great things out of this kid ... This kid has no ceiling.'

'I think eventually the five teams that passed on A.J. are going to say 'What were we thinking?'' Dave Puk said.

A.J. Puk said he always has patterned himself after New York Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia, another tall lefty. If he has half of Sabathia's career, he should be happy.

'He's a big left-hander, and I've always watched him and thought maybe I could be him one day,' he said.

The assigned dollar value by MLB for the sixth-overall draft pick is $4,069,200, though Puk's signing bonus could surpass that since he has the leverage of returning to Florida for his senior season. Oakland has $9,883,500 to sign all of its draft picks in the first 10 rounds, without being accessed a tax.

Florida plays rival Florida State in a best-of-three NCAA super regional this weekend, with Puk scheduled to pitch Satuday's Game 2.

'A week ago, I thought Puk was the top guy for the Phillies, Reds and Braves,' Jim Callis wrote on MLB.com. 'But inconsistency is the knock on Puk, and a lackluster start on (last) Saturday apparently helped knock him down to No. 6. He can show you a mid-90s fastball and a wipeout slider, so I think the A's have at least a late-inning reliever here. If he can get more consistent, they have a front-line starter.'

'Two days ago, there is no way the Oakland A's thought they would get A.J. Puk,' MLB Network's Jonathan Mayo said. 'So they are probably doing cartwheels in that draft room right now in getting, if everything is going right, is a top-of-the-draft, top-of-the-rotation type of guy. Whether he does that consistently, we'll have to see. He only averaged about 4 2/3 innings per start because of his command issues. But if they can get him straightened out, the fastball, changeup, slider comps, we're talking top-of-the-rotation starter. A guy they didn't think they'd even have a chance to take.'

The highest drafted Iowan is Marshalltown's Jeff Clement, who went third overall to the Seattle Mariners in 2005 out of the University of Southern California.

'A.J.'s very happy it's over,' Dave Puk said. 'It's one thing pitching against teams in the SEC (Southeatern Conference). But I think it's time for him to take on the next challenge.'

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