2009 College Resource Thread

[colbyjack]

We're still about a month away from the college baseball season to start (jucos are underway this weekend), but several publications have already started their college baseball preview features.

 

I'll kick this thread off with my own personal top 10 going into the season:

 

http://www.pgcrosschecker...yArticle.aspx?article=538

 

Here's my PG All-American team from a couple of weeks ago:

 

http://www.pgcrosschecker...ason_College_AA_Team.aspx

 

Unfortunately I'm not going to be able to make the DQ Classic (Feb 27-Mar 1) at the Metrodome this year as I have a few times the past couple of years. There really isn't one premier matchup like there was a year ago between Brett Hunter of Pepperdine and Shooter Hunt of Tulane, but UC Santa Barbara will be in attendance with a rather impressive weekend starting staff. Host Minnesota will also welcome Hawaii and Washington. Washington would be a must-see game if QB/CF Jake Locker were playing baseball this spring. Minnesota has a pair of intriguing draft-eligible prospect in 2B Derek McCallum and OF Eric Decker, both of whom should go in the top 3-10 rounds.

 

The Big Ten this season will kick off the year dueling the Big East in the inaugural Big Ten/Big East Challenge at various locations in Florida, February 20-22.

 

The best prospects in the Big Ten this season are LHP Matt Bashore and C Josh Phegley of Indiana. If you can catch a Friday Hoosiers game this season, you'll be in for a treat.

 

As for other area college talent, A.J. Pollock of Notre Dame is probably the best prospect that is the closest to the Milwaukee area. Louisville and Missouri are the two best national programs closest to the area if you're looking for a spring road trip.

 

As the college baseball season progresses we'll be sure to post interesting storylines, observations, stats, etc., within this thread, and welcome you to do the same.

[brewerguy71]

Evan Crawford from Indiana is a top watch guy as well. Its too bad they wont be anywhere near here this year. Closest shot you get is Iowa or Illinois (U of). Derek McCallum and Eric Decker from Minnesota are interesting prospects as well. Couple of kids at Iowa have some promise too. Mizzou is definitely the place to go to see the best talent in the country in Coleman and Gibson.

[colbyjack]

Baseball America kicked off their region-by-region coverage today, starting with the Northeast. James Jones of Long Island University is profiled today, a player that was the buzz of the Northwoods League last summer.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/jjones09428309.jpg

 

http://www.baseballameric...-preview/2009/267573.html

 

The individual conference previews are for subscribers only.

[TheCrew07]

I wouldn't mind a player like him in the sandwich round, an under the radar college type with some athleticism who can swing the bat. Though I guess he's not under the radar anymore, but i'm into lefties who can run it up there above 90

[colbyjack]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/kheckathorn09428309ds.jpg

 

Kyle Heckathorn of Kennesaw State is profiled today by BA as they took a look at the conference capsules of the East/Southeast. As you can probably tell by the picture, Heckathorn is a big bodied righty who has a power arsenal and pretty impressive command of a three-pitch arsenal. As you can read in the story below, some consider his changeup to be his best pitch, which is crazy when you consider he has touched the upper-90s with his fastball and upper-80s with his slider. Be prepared to hear this young man's name more and more as the spring progresses.

 

http://www.baseballameric...-preview/2009/267594.html

[colbyjack]

I list a team full of potential break-out players from the college level in my column this week. Please note that I scribed this story a week ago, so I'm not riding on BA's profile of James Jones:

 

http://www.pgcrosschecker...yArticle.aspx?article=571

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/btootle09428309.jpg

 

As for BA, the turn to the South today while profiling Jacksonville State RHP Ben Tootle (a former rotation mate to Brewers farmhand Donovan Hand):

 

http://www.baseballameric...-preview/2009/267595.html

[colbyjack]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/jphegley09428309.jpg

 

Josh Phegley of Indiana is profile today, a potential first-round pick if he comes close to repeating his 2008 numbers while also rebounding defensively. The rest of the Midwestern conferences are also broken down as subscriber-based content, but Phegley's story is free for all to enjoy:

 

http://www.baseballameric...-preview/2009/267596.html

[colbyjack]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/aoliver08428309.jpg

 

Andrew Oliver will be eligible to play this season after an Ohio court ruled in favor of his case, not only making him eligible to play, but also will put the NCAA's "no agent" and "restitution" rules under question that could significantly change things moving forward. Aaron Fitt does a nice job making sense of the story at Baseball America:

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/college/?p=746

[colbyjack]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/tmendonca09428309aw.jpg

 

Oliver's situation caused me to miss BA's West conference previews late last week. Tommy Mendonca was a huge part of the Fresno State Bulldogs College World Series victory, although he really, really needs to tone down his swing (NCAA record 97 strikeouts a year ago).

 

http://www.baseballameric...-preview/2009/267597.html

[colbyjack]

With the college baseball season scheduled to kick off this coming Friday, be sure to check out PG Crosschecker's overviews of the top 100 college teams, which includes projected lineups, top prospect and tools lists for each team:

 

http://www.pgcrosschecker...ll/2009/top_100_w_sr.aspx

[colbyjack]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/ggreen09428309lg.jpg

 

Grant Green highlights BA's preseason All-American team.

 

http://www.baseballameric...ca-teams/2009/267613.html

[colbyjack]

The college baseball season kicks off this Friday, and on Saturday the MLB Network has a couple of games on their schedule. The College Urban Invitational will once again be televised, with the participants including San Diego, San Diego State, Southern and Bethune-Cookman. You won't be able to see Stephen Strasburg pitch, since he's slated to go on Friday, but there is quite a bit of talent to watch on the USD team that includes a impressive sophomore cast (Kyle Blair, Victor Sanchez, Sammy Solis). Blair or junior Matt Thomson are likely to take the mound in Saturday's contest for the Toreros, and Sanchez is one of the top hitting prospects available in the 2010 draft. These games a year ago gave us the opportunity to see top prospects (for last year and this year) such as Tim Murphy, Grant Green, Robert Stock and Brad Boxberger.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/network/schedule/?ymd=20090221

 

Nice to see the MLB Network joining the fray among the channels that carry college games. With ESPN (mostly during the CWS), the FSN college sports trio, CSTV and ESPNU, hopefully we'll have quite a few games to cover this year.

 

Also, don't forget about last year's college baseball thread, in which several people in addition to myself chimed in with a variety of observations, which makes me wonder if some of our non-Brewers fans will start to re-appear in the days to come...

 

http://forum.brewerfan.net/viewtopic.php?t=8874?page=3

[colbyjack]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/jfellhauer09428309lg.jpg

 

The college baseball season is upon us. BA had their first weekly preview story of the year up yesterday, focusing on Josh Fellhauer and the Cal State Fullerton Titans host TCU. Today BA's Aaron Fitt is in Florida covering the inaugural Big East/Big Ten showdown:

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/college/?p=756'

 

EDIT: One game has already been completed, UConn vs. Michigan State. Normally I wouldn't bring this up, but UConn does have a very interesting pitching prospect by the name of Dan Mahoney who is a darkhorse to become a first round pick in June (and named to my sleeper/breakout team a couple of weeks ago). He's a draft-eligible sophomore with a big body and a big arm, and found more success last summer as a closer playing in the NECBL. The first game of the season today Mahoney appeared in relief, pitching the final inning for the Huskies, tossing 1 inning, giving up a hit and an ER while striking out 3 and not issuing a walk (his biggest problem a year ago). He has Andrew Cashner-type potential as both an overall prospect and in regards to his draft status.

 

CSTV/CBS College Sports also has video of quite a few games through their Gametracker feature. Some of their games are available for free (including Vanderbilt @ Stanford, which pits LHP Mike Minor vs. RHP Jeff Inman), so check it out (be sure to download Microsoft's Silverlight 2 plug-in application to be able to do so):

 

http://www.cstv.com/media/livegame.html

 

And of course, don't forget to check out the two games scheduled to be on the MLB Network tomorrow night. I have it confirmed from San Diego ass't. coach Eric Valenzuela that Kyle Blair, one of the top prospects available for the 2010 draft, will take the mound for the Saturday TV game. An interview with Valenzuela should be up on PGCrosschecker's homepage later today.

 

EDIT: The interview with Eric Valenzuela is up. I hope you enjoy it:

 

http://www.pgcrosschecker...yArticle.aspx?article=590

[colbyjack]

Aaron Fitt continues to update the BA blog over the weekend. Last night he mentioned (via BA's Dave Perkin) that Stephen Strasburg pitched in front of 50+ scouts last night and touched 98-99 with a low-80s breaking ball. Overall here's his line:

 

5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R (0 ER), 11 K, 2 BB

 

Here are some more lines to open the season. Most of these guys probably won't be pitching 6+ innings until they have warmed up a little to the new season.

 

Alex White

5 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 9 K, 1 BB, 1 HR

Dustin Ackley went 3-4 with a BB

 

Kendal Volz

6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 5 K, 2 BB

 

Kyle Gibson

6 IP, 3 H, 1 R (0 ER), 6 K, 3 BB

 

Brad Boxberger

6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 11 K, 6 BB

Grant Green went 0-4

 

Ben Tootle

4 IP, 0 H, 1 R (0 ER), 4 K, 3 BB

Tootle still is more likely to be a future closer, although I also think Volz and Boxberger will eventually be used in short relief at the pro level -- some feel the same way about Gibson and White

 

I tuned into last night's Stanford-Vanderbilt contest to check out RHP Jeff Inman and LHP Mike Minor. Neither pitcher was particularly sharp, but both had their moments. That is kind of Inman's M.O. Every time I see the guy pitch he can throw one brilliant pitch followed by a hanger. The guy seems so incredibly laid back and loosey-goosey on the mound, almost to the point where it seems as though he looses his focus. He has a great three-pitch arsenal: low-90s FB, 80 CB, nice fading CH, and he can show through the course of the game that he can throw any of those pitches for strikes. I really believe that Inman could be a top 5-10 pick to a team that feels they can get him focused to the point where he pitches more consistently.

 

Minor also had his moments, although he wasn't particularly sharp with his FB-CH command. He was nibbling more than usual, although he wasn't missing by much. He looked to gave some pretty good giddy-up on his fastball, and similar to the times I have seen him in the past, his breaking ball is clealry his third pitch and something he continues to struggle to master. Physically it looks as though he has grown a little taller, and kind of resembles Brian Matusz, and while Minor does have a nice change, he isn't quite as strong and his fastball isn't as powerful as Matusz'.

 

Minor: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R (2 ER), 6 K, 2 BB

Inman: 7 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 3 K, 1 BB

 

To Inman's credit, his defense wasn't particularly sharp behind him, and easily could have had only 2 ER cross the plate against him.

 

Vanderbilt's Jason Esposito, a freshman from CT who is taking over at 3B for Pedro Alvarez, definitely has been watching Arod's career. Esposito's batting stance is almost exactly the same, and as he continues to fill out, he will look a lot more like the controversial slugger.

 

Cal's Blake Smith should be going on Sunday, while playing RF the first two games of the weekend series, similar to how Rice used Joe Savery a few years ago. Andrew Oliver reportedly will pitch this weekend, although I'm not sure which day (it wasn't last night). Overall I'll provide updates on the hitters and closers on a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis.

[HF29]

I've been watching the first six innings of the game and here are some observations on USD:

Kyle Blair -- I understand that this was his first start and he's probably a little rusty; however I'm disappointed and expected to see a lot more from a guy who many people think will be a top ten pick in 2010. He had no fastball command whatsoever and I doubt his velo was more than 90-91. His curveball, which he possibly threw 50% of the time due to his lack of fastball command, looked a lot better. It's tight and he commands it well to either side of the plate. His changeup had nice fade. However, the main theme for Blair tonight was his lack of fastball command. If he was facing a better team, he probably wouldn't have gotten out of the first inning.

Victor Sanchez -- Much more impressive. He's a big kid with wide hips who has room to put on at least 20 more pounds of muscle. He's solid at 3B with good mobility and a strong arm. But his bat is his money-maker. He has a laser quick swing with easy power. He turned on an inside fastball and hit a 420-430 foot bomb to left. I can definitely see him going in the first round in 2010.

Austin Green -- Interesting freshman to keep an eye on. Very quick to the ball from the right side. He's another one who has more than enough room to fill out and gain power as he matures. He also moves well in LF.

[colbyjack]

I've yet to see Blair command his FB really well. The couple of times I got to see him in HS he over-relied on his curveball, and the times I had reports of him in the NWL two summers ago I heard the same thing. However, I have also heard reports of him being nearly untouchable when he is able to get up to 94-95 as he has been during his career. His curveball has looked better than what it did yesterday (I remember a much bigger breaker than the slurve-like CB he was throwing yesterday), and he also mixed in a pretty nice changeup.

 

He looked pretty good in the 2nd and 3rd innings, and during his last inning as well. Focus seems to be a concern for him, as he doesn't pitch as well out of the stretch, or at least he didn't yesterday. As you noted HF29, it was his first start, so it's important to keep that in mind since a lot of the pitchers I followed over the weekend didn't pitch their best games.

 

That reminds me of a good story BA's John Manuel wrote about the importance of fastball command at all levels (subscribers only):

 

http://www.baseballameric...e/column/2009/267543.html

 

Anyway, Blair reminds me an awful lot like Joe Blanton at a similar time in his career at Kentucky. Also a FB-CB pitcher with a less than perfect body that was effectively wild, Blanton was a 1st-rounder that has put together a solid career as a 3rd/4th starter for the A's and now Phillies.

 

As for Victor Sanchez, I really liked him coming out of high school, but I'm concerned about his future for a couple of reasons. First, his swing is very long, he chases low and away more than he should and has difficulty turning on inside pitches. Second, his body type probably isn't good if you foresee a long career at the hot corner. When I talked to scouts about him a couple of summers ago (he too played in the NWL out of HS) many felt that he would be better off behind the plate. I think eventually he may be best served at 1B, and while he has the potential to hit there, he has to solve a few of the holes in his swing to become a more consistent run producer.

 

Bethune-Cookman's third baseman, Jairo Acevedo, really impressed me defensively. He's a good looking athlete overall, and can play the middle IF, but he has a cannon for an arm, and was impressively accurate as well. I'd like to see him flash the leather at shortstop.

 

I need to watch the rest of the game, as RHP Matt Thomson pitched the final four innings for the Toreros, and has early round aspirations.

 

EDIT: I watched the rest of Saturday's USD game to take a good look at Thomson. He threw very, very well, the opposite of Blair, throwing almost all fastballs (I think I counted two sliders), and moving the pitch around the zone very, very well. He was fearless in his approach, challenging the B-C batters the get the bats off of their shoulders (they had worked both Blair and even Strasburg the day before very well),. He throws from a low three-quarters delivery with a very easy delivery. He has a narrow upper body but is solid through the waist, and resembles Tim Hudson. One of the sliders he threw, the last pitch of the 8th inning, wasn't even fair.

 

I remember being impressed after watching Thomson last summer in the Cape all-star game, but I was even more impressed after seeing him pitch over the weekend.

 

Also, I have official radar readings from the weekend from the MLB Urban Invitational:

 

Stephen Strasburg: 96-98

Sammy Solis: 90-94

Kyle Blair: 89-92

Matt Thomson: 90-93

 

Keep an eye on Solis for 2010.

 

A couple of updates for some of the more notable pitching prospects over the weekend...

 

Andrew Oliver

6 IP, 2 H, 2 R (1 ER), 11 K, 1 BB

 

Blake Smith

5.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R (0 ER), 7 K, 4 BB

[colbyjack]

While I plan on getting to the more notable performances of the weekend like I always do, I chronicled the Thursday night starts (among a few other things) of Stephen Strasburg, Mike Leake and Kyle Gibson in a PGCrosschecker blog entry late last night:

 

http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/Articles/DisplayArticle.aspx?article=616

 

Here's Aaron Fitt's weekly college weekend preview, which includes an interview with Minnesota OF and former Brewers draft pick Eric Decker:

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/edecker09428309rb.jpg

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/college/weekend-preview/2009/267719.html

 

Fitt will be blogging over the weekend from the Houston Cougars Classic at Minute Maid Park.

[colbyjack]

Not sure why my links aren't working...I'll try to fix that.

 

Catching up after a busy weekend, Brandon Workman tossed a no-hitter this weekend, as HF29 kindly noted in another thread, and Texas jumped to #1 in BA's weekly poll. Workman impressed me several times last year and was very impressive on the Cape last summer, leading the circuit in Ks. Friday starter Chance Ruffin (son of Bruce) also has an electric arm, and he should take the mound this coming Friday as CSTV is set to air Friday's Texas-Stanford game, which should pit Ruffin vs. Jeff Inman. Both Ruffin and Workman are sophomores and both could go in the top 10 of the 2010 draft.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/bworkman09428309sd.jpg

 

Here's a link that contains more of my thoughts on Workman if you're interested:

 

http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/crackthebat/patrick_ebert/2008/cape_allstars.aspx

 

Here are the results from the more prominent names across the country. I'm not going to link to it, but BA had several good blog entries from over the weekend from John Manuel covering some interesting draft eligible prospects to Aaron Fitt covering the Houston Cougar Classic at Minute Maid Park.

 

Matt Bashore

6 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 6 K, 1 BB

Bashore bounces back with a nice game Friday, although the Hoosiers lost this one late

 

Kendal Volz

7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 6 K, 3 BB

Volz is off to a nice start this year; he out-duels UCLA Fr. RHP Gerrit Cole -- who is lighting up radar guns in the 95-98 range -- in this one

 

Andrew Oliver

7 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 7 K, 4 BB

Oliver game up 2 HR, and probably plays for the only team where he can give up 6 runs in 7 innings and still win more often than not

 

Alex White

6.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 5 K, 2 BB

Another good start for White, look for him to turn it up a notch this weekend vs. Clemson

 

Sean Black

4.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4 K, 5 BB

I only bring up Black because he faced White on Friday; it's hard not to love the arm, but his control issues have been a constant during his college career

 

Mike Minor

7.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 4 K, 3 BB

A good, not great start for Minor, who should start to command the strike zone better, more consistently as the weather warms up more consistently

 

Jeff Inman

6 IP, 5 H, 4 R (2 ER), 3 K, 1 BB

Inman was cruising along until he once again seemed to lose his focus, saw the flood gates open (despite only 2 earnies) and got himself yanked

 

Blake Smith

2.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R (3 ER), 3 K, 5 BB

Smith is hitting well, and Cal is playing very well (watch out), and while this start isn't the greatest, I still swear by him on the mound

 

Brad Boxberger

6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 5 K, 5 BB

The walks are ugly, but the overall line is nice; I still think he's a future short reliever, but I wouldn't mind being proven wrong given his stuff

 

Also, after getting swept in a four-game series against Arizona State to open their season, they took their frustrations out on Michigan on Friday, whooping them 19-11 while winning all three games they played at the Jacksonville Invitational.

 

Oh yeah, the Gophers took the DQ Classic, again. UC Santa Barbara sent their talented lefty (Mario Hollands) to the mound on Friday over usual Friday starter Joe Gardner hoping that Hollands would neutralize their left-handed heavy lineup, but the odds didn't play in their favor.

[colbyjack]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/bjackson09428309bn.jpg

 

I mentioned that Cal was a team to watch out for just above, and Dave Perkin does a nice job breaking down Brett Jackson and the rest of the Cal Bears at BA today.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/?p=548

[colbyjack]

My two most recent blogs at PG Crosschecker contain some observations from games played over the last week. The first was last Sunday's Florida-Miami game, the second was Friday's Stanford-Texas contest.

 

Beware of Gators

 

Jeff Inman: Consistently Inconsistent

 

Here are some additional observations from those games:

 

Ryan Jackson is so incredibly smooth at shortstop. That's nothing new, but as we've talked about before, he's a big-leaguer for his defense alone. He's done a nice job adding strength to his lower half, and overall he's a good looking athlete with long limbs and a high waist. I'm still not convinced he'll be much of a threat on offense, but he could carve himself a nice Adam Everett-type career.

 

Harold Martinez looked really good at the plate for the Hurricanes. He was playing first base due to Jackson at short and Chris Hermann at third. He was one of the top prospects eligible for the 2008 draft coming out of high school, and was a favorite of many on this board. Questions about his ability to hit with a wood bat caused him to tumble.

 

Hermann is a really good looking left-handed hitter, a transfer from Alvin CC and a 10th rounder of the Orioles a year ago. His stance and body type remind me of Mat Gamel, as does his glove unfortunately. I think he could be a sleeper in this year's draft with a good approach and an easy swing. His body language and running style is similar to Geoff Jenkins if you can imagine that slightly hunched over look and stutter-step strides, which also means he's not the most fleet of foot. He his an opposite field home run to left in the sixth inning off of Justin Poovey, who is profiled in the "Beware of Gators" story above.

 

I was focusing mostly on the pitchers and the draft-eligible hitters, but also keep an eye on Miami catcher Yasmani Grandal and pitcher/first baseman Iden Nazario. Nazario doesn't have the prettiest body or approach, but I was impressed with his sinker-slider combo.

 

As for the Texas-Stanford game, there was plenty of talent to watch on the Texas team. Stanford was thinned out in last year's draft, most notably by catcher Jason Castro, who was the 10th overall pick.

 

Kevin Keyes is the best hitting prospect in the Longhorns lineup, a big, physical right-handed hitter that is going to be a corner outfielder, possibly settling in left field down the road if he continues to mature, as he already is on the thick side. He has a big swing and exciting power potential, but he needs to improve his approach.

 

Brandon Belt is what he is, a contact hitting first baseman that hits a lot of singles and a handful of doubles, but doesn't project to hit many home runs with his current swing. His plate coverage and discipline means he doesn't strike out much, and he also has a slick glover at first.

 

Cameron Rupp is a big, strong-bodied catcher that kind of resembles Adam Dunn physically. I've always been a little concerned about his sticking behind the plate long-term, and he probably will have this question surround him through next year, as he's only a sophomore this season.

 

Toby Gerhart of Stanford is a big, barrel-chested brute that looks like a fullback. That's because he is a fullback, and last fall broke Touchdown Tommy Vardell's single-season rushing record for the Cardinal. I think his future is on the gridiron, as his upper body is so big I think he's going to have a hard time hitting a baseball consistently. That of course means he has great power potential, and for his size he has pretty good wheels.

[colbyjack]

Here are some notable results from the weekend. I'm not going to bother posting results of hitters yet since we're only three weeks into the season.

 

Stephen Strasburg

8 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 18 K, 1 BB

 

Mike Minor

7 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 7 K, 2 BB (111 pitches)

 

Alex White

6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 6 K, 1 BB

 

Mario Hollands

9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 10 K, 1 BB

 

Andrew Oliver

6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 7 K, 3 BB

 

Kyle Heckathorn

6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 10 K, 2 BB

 

Brad Boxberger

7.2 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 10 K, 2 BB

 

Kyle Gibson

8 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 13 K, 1 BB

 

Mike Leake

7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 10 K, 1 BB

 

Just a few more notes. I've talked to a couple of people that have told me Strasburg has not touched 102 mph as reported by other sources. Strasburg himself has become a living legend, and with him his legend grows as people flock to see him pitch. He has been clocked as high as 99, and hits the 97-99 range with great frequency, which of course is still very, very impressive.

 

Mike Leake is throwing 88-92, and as one person told me, if he were two-three inches taller he would be a top 10 pick. Kyle Gibson was throwing in the same range as Leake in their matchup against one another a week ago, and was throwing a really, nasty slider (like he usually does). Gibson of course is considered the better prospect of the two with the better, more projectable frame, but Leake is the better pure pitcher.

 

Brad Boxberger has been in the 92-96 range and showing a very good slider. His stuff is nasty, and the scouting community is still split as to whether or not he can stick as a starter or be moved to short relief. He also throws a changeup, but it's not his repertoire that is in question, it's his delivery.

[Tedaldtada]

18 K's for Strasburg is crazy. He is getting more attention than any previous draft prospect I can remember.