Posted by intrepid reporter SufferinSox:
One man’s take on the signed first rounders (caveats, the
players’ potential is seen through the dark blurry lens of low advance scouting,
so feel free to counter on the grades/evals.
I didn’t rank unsigned players as of late 3/14/15):
Austin
Kickpunchers (AcrticleLegend): GRADE:
A+:
#1--Joshua Nolasco SP (RH)--
This HS SP looks like a workhorse stud top of the rotation P. High potential durability, and stamina in the
high 80’s, double plus control with a killer R split and 4 solid pitches, he
could be marauding the league for years.
He’s a high makeup guy who should make it. Teammates call NolacsNONO.
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Baltimore Bully’s
(Thunderdonkey): Two first rounders: GRADE
C-:
#31—Tim Mosely RP (RH) – A 20 year old RP as a first pick is questionable. Adding to the questionable pick is an RH
split in the 40’s, only two pitches, the second in the low 50’s.
#46—Alex Braun SP (RH) – Brawny Boy looks like a #3 at best. Maybe his sinking action will induce enough
groundballs to give him better success.
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Boston Brown Sox
(jrcpga): Four first rounders!! (3 signed):
GRADE C:
#32—Red Spilborghs SS –This 18 year old HS SS has a long way to go, but
if he can get there, he will be flashing leather and lightning fast speed. A contact hitter with speed, and the
potential for a strong glove at SS leave Boston very hopeful. His below 50 makeup, however, may leave them
wanting more.
#47 Dizzy Williams 3B
-- Unsigned
#51--Daryl King CF – A potential avg. CF who slaps the
ball, that is, when he makes contact. He
doesn’t look like he makes much contact, however. Daryl will not be king of CF.
#63—Kirk Davis 3B –A platoon 3B who has some power and can maybe
hit LHP’s, he looks only ok.
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Chicago is it next year (Demonchildme): GRADE--Incomplete:
#15—Oswaldo Pimentel 2B—Unsigned
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Chicago Outfit (Nitehawk98):
Three first rounders: GRADE A:
#4—Andrew Hull SP (RH)—19 yr. old Hull looks like he could develop
into a strong #2/3 type SP. His control
and decent splits will help guide a strong 4 seam fastball #1 P with little
support from any of his other offspeed pitches.
#53—Walter Sabathia SS—Locals call him smoothie because of the way
he glides on the field. Some say he can
cover the entire middle field with his range.
The Outfit hope it’s true. A
right handed “bat” with a poor hitting eye will be forgiven for his swings and
misses if he grows into his potential range because once he gets to a ball, he
has the cannon to throw it from anywhere.
#65—Rick Solis SP (RH)—Yet another HS’er that the Outfit hopes grow
into his britches. Solis wields a nasty
knuckleballer with a 4 seam follow up that induces a bunch of ground
balls. The Outfit can’t wait to start
Solis with Sabathia scooping up everything any batter makes contact with.
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Cincinnati Scallywags (Graybeard): Two first rounders: GRADE: Incomplete:
#34—Johnny Cust RP (LH)—
#64 Stolmy Correa 3B—
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Detroit Ducks (chawkins11): Grade A:
#6 Alex Cruz RF: Cruz is
everything you might want in a RF. He’s
got + speed, can’t field so much, but who cares. This HS’er eats lefties for breakfast and
should be terrorizing pitchers with his ability to make contact with
power. In Detroit, they love Cruz
control.
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Fresno Fruitcakes
(Luthermax) : Grade Incomplete:
#16
Adam Davis 2B:
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Hartford Hawks
(Chico921): Two first rounders: Grade
A-:
#14 Hector Lewis SS – unsigned
#56 Reagan Jorgenson
3B: Continuing the spate of HS’ers,
the Hawks pick up the potential best 3B in the draft. A LH power bat and strong fielder with enough
speed to leg out a slooowww, but not a slow roller, Jorgenson is everything a
3B should be. The only questions are
poor baserunning acumen and below average stamina. But, the Hawks don’t care. They’re not going to be asking Jorg to run,
only to hit.
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Jackson Boon Sox (CameoLions):
Three first rounders-- Grade D:
#33 Matty Vargas RP (LH)—I hate to have to write this because I have
a lot of respect and admiration for the Boon Sox’ history, but it’s certainly not
the good ole days for the Boon Sox draft.
The home crowd is wondering what happened to the GM with this pick. Vargas is not expected to hit the big leagues
till…ever. Over/Under? AA.
#48 Mateo Cortazar
CF: Good news is that Mateo could
someday make it to the bigs…as a backup/defensive specialist with above average
speed.
#52 Derek Halton 3B (unsigned,
which looks like it’s a good thing).
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Kansas City
Allstars (bearclan1): Grade A-:
#24 Warren Baltz RP (RH)—Breaking the string of HS’ers, the Allstars
tab a lights out, 3 pitch RP. Looks like
a can’t miss closer who will be closing shop in KC for as far as the eye can
see. The only question is taking an RP
in the first round, but Baltz looks like a Chapman or Kimbrel quality.
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Los Angeles
WhiteWaves (northpole832): Three
first rounders--Grade C:
#23 Jason Stafford CF (unsigned)
#43 Ricky Russell RP
(RH) – Ricky R looks like a run of the mill RH RP…well that’s a little too
critical. Looks like he could make it to
the bigs and fill out the middle to top half of a pen.
#60 Homer Balfour
2B: Clearly the best name in the
first round, if not the whole draft.
Homer’s name is an aspiration that likely won’t be met very often. If he develops, it will likely be into a rangy Left fielder who can slap the
ball around against RHP and run like the wind, but he won’t see enough ball
fours to use that speed often enough.
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Louisville Bats (muredhawk16): Four first rounders—Grade B to B+:
#20 Max Miranda
RF – Max is not the max RF’er out there, but he’s a solid above average RH
power bat.
#42 Dayan Matos RF: If only
Matos had the stamina to play more than a 100 games per season, he’d be very
sought after. He unfortunately looks
like his lack of stamina matches his makeup.
Otherwise, his batting eye could develop enough to let this LH bat kill
RHPs.
#50 Bryan Berry
RP: This lefty could be a long
relief/spot starter who makes a difference.
He’s got a long way to grow into his high control and splits. If he gets there, his strong 4 pitches will
let him be a force, leaving the Bats to say he’s been “Berry Berry good” to
them.
#59 Philip Borland unsigned:
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Madison
Getchapopcorn (aclog7373) Two first rounders: Grade
Incomplete:
#30 Pete Merloni RF; #45
Douglas Boesch P (Unsigned)
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Mexico City
Guacamole (dbacks4848) Two first rounders: Grade
Incomplete: #5 Andy Wall RP (LH); #35
Mendy Bryant SP (RH) (Unsigned)
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Milwaukee Scots (andy1874)
Five first rounders!!?!?!: Grade B+:
#25
Benji Campbell SP (LH) unsigned;
#26
Jenrry Villa SP (RH) – JV looks like he’ll make the V someday as a middle
to back rotation SP. Milwaukee wishes they
could trade the extra “r” in his first name in exchange for a stronger righty
split. Alas, while you can buy letters
and vowels on wheel of fortune, you can’t buy an increase in righty splits in
WIS.
#61 Alan Harrell RP
(RH): Harrell has the RH split that
Jenrry would like. On the strength of
this, Harrell may help the ML club someday hold down the pen.
#66 Chris Hodges RP
(RH): The Scots must need pen
help. They pick up another piece in
Hodges. Potential high control and a
plus plus slider may grease his way to the bigs.
#67 Michael Ricarrdi
C: Ricarrdi’s not a C, but a
DH. He’s got a solid base on which he
rests a powerful bat that should lead to 25-30+ HRs a season
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Monterey Banditos
(dafood): Two first rounders: Grade A-:
#3 Darron Herrerra SP (RH) – Yet another
HS’er, Herrerra is trying to develop 5 pitches to go with his above average
control and splits. Not the best #3 I’ve
ever seen, but certainly someone you don’t mind picking up in the first round;
#8 Darrell Titan 3B—Once
Titan makes it to the bigs, he should be the fastest 3B there is. With the right coaching, he may also be the
best baserunner. His strong bat should
get him on base enough to terrorize pitchers and make the Banditos not care
that he’s really a LF’er rather than a 3B.
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Montgomery
Guardians (SufferinSox): NO
first rounders!!
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Nashville Sound (bigronnie): Two first rounders: Grade B+:
#11 Tim Barker RP (RH) Long relief
pitcher par excellence…possibly.
Barker’s got a strong character that may help him grow into his
significant potential.
Control/Splits/Pitches…he could have it all;
#54 Dan Biemel SP (LH): The Sound were concerned about Biemel’s
injury record, but not enough to take a chance on his control and strong
changeup and slider. Biemel sold the
Sound on letting him make his way from Canada to country music’s
heartland.
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New York Metros (Joehonus): Three first rounders: Grade B+:
#19 Darrell McBride C: McBride doesn’t call a very strong game,
but the Mets don’t care. McB should kill
LHPs and has a strong enough arm that he should hold down the baserunners from
running wild.
#40 Gabby Foltynewicz
CF – The Metros drafted Folty after they figured out how to pronounce his
name. It wasn’t because of his stellar
fielding or hitting. Folty may end up as
a backup CF if everything works better than expected;
#58 Vic Tartamella SS -- The Metros saved their first round with
this latter round pickup. Always good to
have a strong fielding SS, and Tartamella fits that bill. His bat isn’t strong, but leather like this
can sometimes beat wood.
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New York Skyliners
(tommymax):
#13 Stone Bailey SP (RH) Grade B:
Stone has a 4 seamer and slider, but his changeup won’t help
much. The big question for the Skyliners
is whether 2 pitches will be enough.
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Norfolk
Battleships (aeroguy32): Two
first rounders: Grade B:
#29 Pascaul Fernandez 2B – Pascual is not a strong fielder
and doesn’t have a lot of stamina to stay on the field as much as the Battleships
would like. They would love for him to
be able to play more because he’s a contact hitter who should be able to grow
into a solid part of their lineup.
#62 Barry Amaya SP
(RH) – This HS’er from WV has a long way to grow. If he gets “there,” he should be a lower
rotation P whose lower control might be countered by a little better splits.
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Ottawa Oracles (frapercap): Three first rounders: Grade B+:
#21 Deolis Wise RP (LH) – Wise should end up as a long reliever. He’s a control pitcher with 3 pitches who may
struggle against lefties;
#27 Rogers
Pillette RP (RH) – Pillette’s health issues may cut his development off a
bit. Pillette doesn’t have the best
repertoire, but he’s been effective against righties;
#41 Phillippe Solis CF – Solis is not a CFer, but the Oracles
take some solace in Solis’s bat and speed, which should be enough to let him
get to the bigs someday, if only as a role player.
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Richmond Royals
(Moose821): Four first rounders: Grade A:
#12 Ellis Martin SS – Martin looks like a keeper for sure. A solid fielding SS who carries a bat is
tough to find.
#18 Wallace Collins
3B – The Royals continue to make an impact with WC. He has the biggest 3B bat. His only weakness is a slightly weak arm for
a 3B, but he’s accurate. No need to
worry about his lack of speed. It
doesn’t matter much when the ball goes out of the park.
#38 Ossie Hoes 2B –Allie
Hoes’ cousin once removed, Ossie hopes to be like Allie someday. He’s got to make sure he has a good doc,
however, as he looks to be injury prone.
If he stays healthy, he’ll do the Hoes proud.
#55 Terrell Sobkowiak
SS—Terrell looks more like a 3B/RF than a SS. He’s got somewhat of a light bat for those
positions, but bat enough to taste the bigs someday.
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Sacramento Exterminatars
(hst1): Grade Incomplete --
#10
Barry Alexander 1B unsigned
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Salem Blues (lerxst): Four first rounders: Grade
A+:
#7 Dixon Bigley SP (RH) – Dixon
doesn’t have the best stuff, but he’s got the potential to have great control
and learn how to handle L and R’s enough to make it the Bigleygues as a strong
#2.
#22 Rubby Johnson CF
– Best CF in the draft falls to 22. The
Blues are singing a happy song after picking up Rubby. It’s rare to find a strong fielding CF who
can match it with a bat. Rubby’s got it.
#36 Polino Aquino SP
(RH) – The Blues blow away the field with a strong pickup at this point in
the draft. Hard to believe Polino fell
so far, but the Blues are happy to catch him.
Not only does this Wells ME HS’er have potentially +90’s control, he
should be effective v righties and has a plus 4 seamer and slider with strong
curveball and changeup. That’s 4,
count’em, 4 solid pitches to go with that control. With these three pickups alone the Blues lead
the pack, but wait, there’s more…
#45 Alex Griffin SP
(RH) – AG is not the best starter in the draft, but come on, he’s the Blues
4th first rounder who should make it to the bigs. AGriff doesn’t overwhelm with his pitches,
but he likely has enough to fill in at the back of a rotation or spot start.
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Salt Lake City
Mountain View (circe 98): Two first rounders: Grade B+:
#9 Abraham Gill SP (RH) – MO State U
product has 4 pitches and won’t take long to get to the bigs. In fact, he’s already got the stuff to make
it, though of course he should have time to develop some more.
#37 Nathan Todd SP
(RH): Can’t win ‘em all, and it’s
likely Todd won’t win any in the bigs.
He’s got AA control with the outside chance of AAA.
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San Diego Colemans
(davewillie): Grade A:
#2 Matthew Sweeney 2B—Sweeney’s
a big character guy with an OMG bat. His
glove is as big as his bat, but his throwing arm is alarmingly weak. When you can hit like he does though,
everyone forgets that your throw to first didn’t make it before the new pitch
clock ran out.
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San Juan
RoundTrippers (worldtooher): Grade Incomplete:
#28
Audrey Delgado SP (RH); #44 Roenis Gil RP both unsigned
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Scranton Street
Punx (kobh): No first
rounders…or 2nd…or 3rd!!
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Seattle Seals (tbone66): Grade A-:
#17 Shouhie Matsumoto SP (LH): He’s called Shhhhh at Stanford U because he
quieted opponents bats. That’s at
college. He’s got a 4 seamer, but needs
help with his curveball, slider, and cut FB.
It will be interesting to see how far he can ride the 4 seam FB.
#39 Adam Monell SP
(LH): Monell looks like a poor man’s
Shhhhhh, which is a good pickup at this spot.
These two P’s should do well in Seattle’s P’s park.
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Texas Wolverines
(Szavsza23): Grade Incomplete:
#57 Vince
Osbourne SS: Unsigned
