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2014 MLB Draft: Dodgers select RHP Derrick Sylvester in 31st round

Gil Talbot

LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers on Saturday drafted right-handed pitcher Derrick Sylvester out of Southern New Hampshire University with their 31st round pick in the 2014 MLB Draft, selection No. 939 overall.

The 6'6, 200-pound Sylvester was 9-2 with a 2.59 ERA with 100 strikeouts and 32 walks in his 93⅔ innings as a senior. He pitched four complete games among his 13 starts and even picked up a save in his one relief appearance.

Dodgers scout Rich Delucia saw Sylvester pitch during the season and also during a workout in New Jersey two weeks before the draft, per Tim O'Sullivan of the Concord Monitor, who also described Sylvester's fastball as between 88-92 mph.

"Everybody that I talked to told me I was going to get drafted, it was just a matter of when," Sylvester told O'Sullivan. "But then once the 30th round hit, and there were only 10 rounds left, I wasn’t sure how it was going to work out. I thought maybe because I was a senior they’d rather have me be a free agent sign or something. So once it did happen, it was a relief almost. And I ended up going to a good organization, (DeLucia) is a really good guy, so it worked itself out."

More Dodgers 2014 draft: Every pick, 1-40 Full coverage

Sylvester played high school ball in Franklin, New Hampshire and had a scholarship to pitch at Boston College but soon transferred to Southern New Hampshire in nearby Manchester. He missed the entire 2012 season after arthroscopic right elbow surgery to clean out scar tissue.

Sylvester, 23, is the school's all-time wins leader and in 2014 was a Northeast-10 Conference First Team All-Conference. Here is Sylvester pitching on May 15, his last game for Southern New Hampshire: