Dodgers select Wheeling Park grad Michael Grove in second round of MLB draft

The Los Angeles Dodgers used their second round draft pick late Monday night to select Wheeling Park graduate and right handed pitcher Michael Grove with the 68th overall selection.

Grove's stock rose during the 2017 season when he earned second team all-Big 12 honors as a sophomore at WVU. He was named national player of the week by multiple organizations after taking a perfect game into the eighth inning of an early April match up versus Kansas.

However, his 2017 season was cut short due to injury and he was forced to undergo Tommy John surgery. Grove did not pitch in 2018 while continuing to rehab from the surgery. That did not deter the Dodgers from using a high draft pick on the former Patriot star.

Grove told NEWS9's Rob Metzger late Monday night that, " It was very humbling to see my name come up in the 2nd round. I'm excited for the opportunity the Dodgers have given me, and I will continue to focus on my rehab to come back stronger than ever. "

Even with the year off, Baseball America still had Grove rated the 271st best pro prospect, saying in part that "pre-injury he was blowing away hitters with a 93-96 fastball and a plus breaking ball with above average control." The publication called him a second or third round talent.

The Dodgers selecting a pitcher coming off Tommy John surgery is not unprecedented and in fact, they've had success in that case. According to Dodgers' beat writer Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register, 2015 first round pick Walker Buehler had the surgery soon after he was drafted, and he's already in the majors. 2014 38th round pick Caleb Ferguson underwent the procedure as a high school senior and he's also pitching this week on the Dodgers' big league roster.

Grove could still elect to return to WVU to take a shot at increasing his draft stock for following next season, a decision he'll be able to make in the coming days.

He is the fourth Mountaineer taken in the top two rounds of the draft in program history and first since Jedd Gyorko (2010-2nd round) according to a WVU news release. That group also includes Oak Glen graduate Chris Enochs, who was a first round pick of Oakland in 1997.