Draft Pick Discussion, Rounds 1-5

[brwrsfan]

Another pitcher, Andrew Gagnon from Long Beach State, another college guy. RHP. Another big guy.

[ListachRides]

Piliere just said this in his chat "Really like Gagnon. Good stuff, low 90s w/ pitchability. Very good in the Cape"

[StearnsFTW]

There goes Barron.

[Raw Biz]

When will they take a position player?

[CheezWizHed]

With this draft, we should be able to beat the Bucks now...

[kilgore37]

They are going to draft 61 pitchers. A few of them have to stick

[tstads20]

Can say this much for the Brewers draft so far: these guys are huge.

 

Here's some stuff on Gagnon:

STRENGTHS:

Heavy FB 90-92, comfortable 91, flashes late life with cut to RHH. FB

mostly downhill and straight. CHG at 81 w/occasional sink.

WEAKNESSES:

Slurvy breaking ball lacks hard bite and definition. CHG occasionally

over-thrown, lacks feel. Needs to stay in mechanics more consistently in

order to become more efficient with FB strikes.

SUMMARY:

Potential middle-rotation ML starter or closer candidate. Needs to

develop better breaking ball and more consistent change-up. Too many

fastball counts right now.

More here.

[ListachRides]

Gagnon was #70 on BA's board, #69 for Perfect Game. Probably good value where we got him.

[YoungGeezy]

When will they take a position player?

When there is a position player at the top of there board I'm guessing, I think this is just the way the chips are falling for them. Hopefully soon though, our system could use some.

 

 

[NievesNoNO]

I like the emphasis on pitching.

[patrickgpe]

i think they are just taking the best player, it seems like all 4 players are rated higher than where they were drafted. After "gutting" the system in the offseason, i think the brewers just need to get the best players in the fold

[colbyjack]

Perfect Game is in the process of converting video from our sister-site, BaseballWebTV, making all of those videos available for free. If you click on Jorge Lopez' player profile, scroll down a little to check out some video of him from last January's World Showcase. I hope you're not hungry for Papa John's...

 

http://www.perfectgame.or...erprofile.aspx?ID=244685

 

Here's a recent profile I did on Taylor Jungmann:

 

http://www.perfectgame.or...s/View.aspx?article=5785

 

Notes on Jungmann from 5 Tool Talk:

 

http://5tooltalk.com/2011-notes-3-27-11.html

http://5tooltalk.com/2011-notes-2-26-11.html

http://5tooltalk.com/2011-notes-6-15-10.html

http://www.5tooltalk.com/collegenotes4-10-10.html

http://www.5tooltalk.com/collegenotes5-20-09.html

 

Notes on Bradley from 5 Tool Talk:

 

http://5tooltalk.com/2011-notes-3-27-11.html

[And That]

Baseball America on Andrew Gagnon:

Though he has yet to post a winning season in college, Gagnon has

improved each year at Long Beach, lowering his ERA from 6.28 to 3.28 to

2.80. He showed good feel for pitching in the Cape Cod League last

summer, leading the circuit with five wins, and he carried that momentum

into his junior year. Gagnon has a prototypical 6-foot-4, 195-pound

frame and an easy arm action, but his delivery can get a bit too

mechanical at times, and scouts would like to see him loosen up and just

throw. He pitches heavily off a lively 90-93 mph fastball that has

peaked at 94 this spring, and he pounds both sides of the strike zone

with it. Gagnon has worked to improve his feel for his breaking stuff,

as he throws both a slider and a curveball, and for much of his career

they tended to blend into each other. At his best, he shows a 79-82

hammer curveball and an 82-85 slider, each with distinct shapes. His

82-85 changeup is also an average pitch. Gagnon is still learning to put

hitters away with his secondary stuff (he has 183 strikeouts in 245

career innings) and still learning to win, but he has the ingredients to

be a workhorse mid- to late-rotation starter in the big leagues.

[WisconsinSportsRule]

Is anyone surprised that they continue to go with pitchers?

[Beast Light]

I like how this draft is going so far.

 

The minor league system is short on pitching and by the time these guys would work their way to the big leagues, Gallardo is the only sure thing to be around (barring injury). The last two years showed us just how important good pitching is.

[tstads20]

Like others have said, I think it's just the way the chips have fallen. In another universe, they may have gone Baez and Jungmann had other guys been picked ahead of them.

 

It seems like they are going with best talent available according to their reports.

[YoungGeezy]

No, did it last year, BPA strategy, just the way the board is working for them

[Raw Biz]

I think every team will almost always say they picked "the best player available." They don't want to come out and say "there were better players but we didn't want them." I want to restock on pitching too but I would've liked to have seen one position player in the first 4-5 picks. Hopefully there's a good one to take with that 5th pick.

[jmeks23]

Are they are any high risk high reward HS bats left? Might be a good time for a couple of those at this point.

[TooLiveBrew]

Lopez is from a region of the island that is best-known for producing positional talent, and not surprisingly the 6-foot-4 righthander is a converted shortstop. He moved to the mound two years ago, when he started concentrating on baseball full-time. Prior to that, he excelled in track and field, volleyball and basketball, in addition to baseball.

Unless he sucked at those other sports, this guy is a tremendous athlete. If a comeback chopper ever gets over his head, I think we can safely declare him a total bust.

 

 

With some time to think about the first two picks, I feel better about them not just being high-ceiling guys & that these are pitchers with decent shots at being very good. Here are some excerpts from Perfect Game's 50 in 50 scouting reports on Jungmann & Bradley:

 

Jungmann is a power pitcher with a fastball that sits at 93-95 mph, peaks at 98 and has good sinking action.

...

Jungmann has a very high ceiling, though, when combining his physical projection and competitive approach, along with a solid three-pitch mix that includes a 12-to-6 shaped curve with explosive downward action and an occasional changeup.

 

Sounds like Jungmann will need to refine his delivery, though: If there is a knock on Jungmann, it’s his high-effort delivery with noticeable violence in his upper half. He has a distinct downward head jerk at the point of release, creating an undesired bobbing motion. But he gains an advantage from his unique, deceptive delivery as his arm speed accelerates from the top of his throwing arc. Scouts have long said he will need to simplify his mechanics as he advances, but Jungmann has never had command issues or trouble repeating his delivery, or even the hint of a sore arm.

 

While Jungmann seems to be quite polished**, Bradley sounds like a more raw player -- but one that scouts believe in, in terms of ability & ceiling.

 

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Bradley never truly asserted himself as a legitimate high-end prospect for the 2011 draft, or was even on the radar of many clubs, until last summer at the Cape Cod League all-star game. He worked in only one inning, but many of the close to 100 scouts in attendance thought he had the best arm in the contest. Not only did Bradley exhibit a very easy, fluid arm action with sound mechanics, but he was the only pitcher with above-average stuff who commanded everything in his arsenal. His fastball was a steady 93-94 mph, and he complemented it with a solid curve and change. Bradley subsequently went on to lead the Cape League in strikeouts, with 44 in 41 innings, while walking just six. His strikeout total held up as the league’s best, even as he departed the Cape with two weeks remaining in the regular season.

 

I have to admit that I have a little Arnettaphobia with this pick, but I'm going to try to push that out of my head.

 

Bradley has ... a 91-94 mph fastball, 81-84 curve and low-80s changeup in most of his outings this spring. His smooth delivery and refined mechanics, along with his ability to command all his pitches has finally set him apart from other college arms and he will be duly rewarded for his quiet rise up the prospect ranks in this year’s draft.

...

he is expected to be one of the top 3-4 picks in the draft, possibly even the first college lefthander selected.

 

So I don't know if there's a tangible reason (aside from a deep class) why Bradley fell to 15 from a projected top 5 pick, but this certainly doesn't sound like a guy the Brewers just reached for at 15.

 

 

** Jungmann is the perfect example of a guy I'd love to see the Brewers challenge & skip to BC right out of Helena. Given his track record & stuff, I wouldn't be surprised if he were ready to face AA hitters in 2012.

[ListachRides]

For high school bats, we've talked about Matt Dean and Derek Fisher, both of whom I believe to still be available. Both are probably tough signs at this point.

 

Others still out there: Senquez Golson who is a speedy CF type and Ben Roberts who is Montana's version of Brandon Nimmo. Both would make me happy.

[YoungGeezy]

The only time they will pass on someone they feel is better is if the price tag is extremely high. I don't sit here and take Jungmann unless I truely believe he is better than Cron, Anderson, Guierrieri and so on. There job is to find the next great player not to pass on them. They may not want that "better player" just because they are not impressed with him and don't think he will be as good as others think.

[Hate those Rodents]

I read somewhere that Olney pressed Melvin who finally admitted a slight chance that Jungmann is up with the Brewers THIS season.

[CheezWizHed]

Unless he sucked at those other sports, this guy is a tremendous athlete. If a comeback chopper ever gets over his head, I think we can safely declare him a total bust.

 

Nah, he will have the "ups" to get all of those, but chances are he will spike the ball while throwing it to first base... http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[TooLiveBrew]

I read somewhere that Olney pressed Melvin who finally admitted a slight chance that Jungmann is up with the Brewers THIS season.

WOW. That's saying something. I wonder if he'll just go from Helena right to Huntsville, then.

 

 

Nah, he will have the "ups" to get all of those, but chances are he will spike the ball while throwing it to first base

 

Well-played