ST. PETERSBURG -- A day after becoming the Devil Rays' No. 1 selection -- and third overall pick in Major League Baseball's First-Year Player Draft -- Evan Longoria was wearing a Rays uniform and taking batting practice at Tropicana Field.

"I was pretty nervous at first," Longoria said. "But the guys gave me a lot of confidence by not messing around with me too much in the locker room. Finally I got my feet under me and I enjoyed the whole experience."

Longoria made solid contact, but did not come close to hitting any balls out. And standing amid Major Leaguers, he looked as if he could do some filling out. But Wednesday afternoon served up a positive for Longoria and the organization.

"The size of everything in the Major Leagues," Longoria marveled. "You don't get to go into clubhouses that have 50, 60 seats and a huge spread. And the whole environment of the stadium and the guys, the way [the ball] comes off the bat. You don't get to see that every day."

Longoria, who used a wooden bat en route to winning MVP honors in the prestigious Cape Cod League last summer, said he believes his biggest transition into professional baseball will be going back to the wooden bat.

"I went metal bat the last six months, or whatever it was. To go back to [the wooden bat], it's always tough," Longoria said. "Hopefully, if it goes well, it won't take too long like it did in the Cape. Playing every day wasn't a problem either. I think I just need to get out and play."

Longoria and his family left the Los Angeles area at 9 p.m. PT Tuesday night and arrived in Tampa at 6:30 ET Wednesday morning.

Rays manager Joe Maddon said he wanted to impress upon Longoria a few facets of the organization.

"With any young man like that, I would just describe to him my personal philosophies on what we're doing here," Maddon said. "Really have him understand that my belief in work ethic is big. Being a good teammate is big. We are into fundamentals, that's big -- basically that the team comes before the individual. Those are the things I want all the guys to know when they come into this situation. I'm not saying that it hasn't been like that in the past. But that's what it's going to be like from now on."

While Longoria took batting practice, the Rays continued to select players on the final day of the draft and concluded after making catcher Travis Tartamella from Los Osos High School (Calif.) their 50th selection.

The breakdown of the 50 players selected by the Rays over the two-day period went like this: 20 pitchers, 14 outfielders, 12 infielders and four catchers, with 29 of them high school players.

Notable among the second-day picks was Candy Maldonado, the son of the former Major Leaguer of the same name; the Rays selected the outfielder from Porterville College (Calif.) with their 46th pick of the draft. Maldondo joins Tyree Hayes, son of former Major Leaguer Charlie Hayes, as the only sons of Major Leaguers drafted by the Rays. The Rays selected Hayes with their eighth pick. He is a right-handed pitcher from Tomball (Tex.) High School.

Rays scouting director R.J. Harrison said all but three of Wednesday's selections were draft-and-follow picks, which means the Rays drafted those players with the intention of following their progress and trying to sign them before the next draft if they like what they see. He said they drafted a few players who are going to four-year schools, but he felt like they had a chance to sign them.

Now the organization will turn its attention toward signing their choices.

"By having Evan in the fold already, it makes it easier," Harrison said. "Kind of sets the tone."

Harrison and company did their homework on the players they drafted, which means the Rays have a good idea about what it will take to sign them.

"We don't anticipate many problems," Harrison said. "Most of the guys we had a good feeling about signing."