Wednesday, December 8, 2010

NL EAST S18 Draft Review

NEW YORK DOLLS

Round

Pick

Player

Pos

Age

SUMMARY

1

17

Ernest Sutcliffe

SS

20

Great speed and projects to be a good defender. His is a slow developer and has a ways to go to make his projections, but you have to like this guy with the 17th pick

1

34

Matthew Gray

RF

21

Good base runner with 30+ sb speed. He has solid contact skills and won't strikeout a lot good traits for a leadoff man. He does struggle versus left handed pitching and will max out with 15 hr power at his prime. Still a solid late 1st round pick up.

1

41

Hughie Alexander

RF

19

Solid speed and great power, alexander also has a good batting eye, but he will struggle with good ML pitching and won't be much of an impact player. Look for him to sizzle in AAA and earn a chance to fail in the big leagues with a desperate team.

2

90

Pat Byrnes

LF

21

He has speed and good understanding of how to hit, but his skills as a hitter just don't match his brain for the game. He develops some muscle or even makes regular contact with the ball and this guy is going to impress. As is he is no one an Ml team will drool over.

3

122

Derek Roundtree

CF

22

Plus 2B defender with great speed. He has no power and below average contact. Look for him to get some platoon Abs versus left handers or come off the bench as a pinch runner in the ML someday.

4

154

J.J. Hill

RP

22

Great tweener with solid durability and stamina. He has the splits to pitch in the ML and even features 3 solid pitches. His lack of control wills scary many teams but that's why he was available in round 4.

5

186

Bo Bush

RP

21

3rd all-time of Clayton College's career save list. He has great velocity and average splits. Look for him to lean way to heavily on his 4-seamer, because he don't have much else. It worked in college to throw it by people it won't work in the big leagues.

SUMMARY: New York loaded up on speed guys with the s18 draft. New York is already built on a foundation of pitching and now they seem to be working on adding a lot of speed into the future mix. Sutcliffe will be a nice pick if given the time to develop with the right coaching. New York seems to have scored big in this draft.

GRADE: A-

Norfolk Trainwrecks

Round

Pick

Player

Pos

Age

SUMMARY

1

3

Joshua Quinn

SP

20

1st overall pitcher taken is a good one. He has 5 pitches to throw, but lacks a killer pitch to lean on. He has plus splits velocity, control and stamina. This guy is a future ace. At 20, he is still about 2 seasons away but he could start in HIA right now and work against better competition. This guy will be the face of Norfolk very soon.

1

43

David Newsome

SP

18

His slider is legendary in Russleville, AR. He has great mound presence and projects to be a solid pitcher, there is concern will his command as he was known to walk a number of batters and he never struck out a whole lot in high school. He should be expected to be a 5-7 inning 4th or 5th starter in the Majors not bad at all.

2

60

Julio Saenz

SP

19

You have to like Saenz has 2 plus pitches with strike out potential written all over him. He has above average splits and control. He isn't going to get the game done pretty all the time, but he will give you earned quality innings. My kind of grinding pitcher who will fight for his 5 innings. A wonderful add in the 2nd round.

3

93

Ben Keisler

P

20

One of the best fastballs in this year's draft, complimented by 4 other pitches makes it that much better. He has not project to be a good starter because of his stamina issues, but he might be a great closer or long reliever. He should be able to eat of the competition with his splits and control. Expect him to strikeout a number of batters with little effort.

4

125

Roosevelt Ransom

SS

18

Projects out to be a defensive whiz-kid, but he doesn't show to ability to get to those projections. It's worth the shot in the 4th round to see if you can get his defense close. He has very little bat to speak of.

5

157

Ralph Little

CF

22

Great speed and good defender University of Southern Mississippi's career stolen base leader. He doesn't project to have a ML bat, and his makeup suggests his defense never to get to a pro level either, but 5th rounders are project picks so why not!

SUMMARY: Quinn is going to be the pitcher to build the rotation around. Newsome and Saenz and Keisler should be great pieces to the puzzle of what to do with for the rotation. These guys all should be ML ready very quickly and could turn things around for Norfolk who seems to be building a pitching staff to be reckoned with.

GRADE: A

Pittsburgh Pirates

Round

Pick

Player

Pos

Age

SUMMARY

1

7

Alex Balboa

SP

18

3 great pitches matched with good splits and control are nice pieces to have. There are concerns about his low stamina and his lack of ML quality velocity, but he is crafty and should shut down the naysayers. Watch for him to be in the ML fairly quickly for an 18 year old. . I'm not sure if he will be a starter, but he will be pitching.

2

64

Ruben Mercedes

SP

20

Elite control and a sweet split fastball. He is a pure groundball pitcher which those with a good defense will love. His average splits will bring out his detractors, but look for him to be at least a part0time ML pitcher.

3

97

Onan Cho

SP

19

I love this guy in the 3rd round. If you can push him and get him the right coaching he is going to be special. Great control stamina and splits compliment 3 solid pitches. He's never going to be a multi-million dollar man but he could be the sparkplug a mean needs to get over the top. Might be the best pick in the 3rd round.

4

129

Pete Webster

SP

18

I would let him go play football; his splits don't project well enough to be in the big leagues.

5

161

Albert Pickett

P

21

Minor league starting pitcher, he's not going to be much of a footnote in the history of this league.


SUMMARY: second straight draft where the pirates played it smart and loaded up on talent. You have to love getting 3 sure pitchers in the first 3 rounds. They should have enough depth in the minors to start making some moves and filling out the depth charts for the next few seasons.
GRADE: A-

Atlanta Braves

Round

Pick

Player

Pos

Age

SUMMARY

1

12

Tony Mori

RP

20

Tony Mori could be the biggest reach in the S18 draft. He's a good player elite split, elite control strikeout velocity and 3 solid pitches, but he's got very low stamina and poor durability. He will struggle to pitch 30 innings watch every day he might get 50 innings in a stretch season and that's if he makes his projections with his average makeup. Huge risk with the 12th pick.

2

69

Turner Moreno

P

18

Solid 2nd round pick with good control and stamina 4 pitches to count on and solid splits. He will struggle some against left handed batters, but should still be valuable in the rotation. He should strikeout a number of guys in in trek through the league.

3

102

Adam Fick

P

22

Average pitches, below average splits, but good stamina and control will make him a minor league monster without Big league hopes.

4

134

Julio Cruz

RF

21

2 tool prospect with power and speed, but don't count on a high batting average or anything fewer than 120 strikeouts a season. I think a batting line of .204/25hr/15sb/162so might be expected. I don't think I could stomach it probably an AAA guy.

5

166

Steve Corbin

3B

20

Part 2 of the bash brother's combo for Atlanta. He is going to strike out less than Cruz, but still will bat around .210 with home run power

SUMMARY: I think Atlanta wasted their 1st round pick on Mori, but only time will tell what kind of player he becomes. My biggest issue is going to be his lack of trade value if Atlanta changes directions and Mori is out. Moreno is a nice pick up and saves an otherwise poor draft.
GRADE: C-

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