Top 2007 Wisconsin Draftable Kids

[Madtown Bomber]

I have been slacking on evaluating talent in this state this year so I am hoping for some help from the gurus of this site to help.

 

I know college there is that Zimmerman kid from Stevens Point. There has been some rumblings that he may sneak into the end of round 2.

 

HS wise I don't think there is much. The only one I have heard anything about is some Casey kid from Whitefish Bay who is going to Notre Dame.

[Past Member]

It will be easier to guage who the best HS players are in the state once the Wisconsin High School Baseball Coaches Association has its annual convention. They publish a yearbook that has all of the top players from every team in the state. A lot of times though, a HS kid may not mature into a top notch prospect until his senior year.

[berniebrewer4life]

I heard about a kid from my hometown(delavan) got a letter from the Astros about pitching for them. He's only 16 but i forget his name.

[Past Member]

Sounds like a boastful statement by a overly proud parent or fellow citizen (not you). It would be against MLB rules to offer a contract or anything for that matter to a kid who is not a senior in High School. And to top it off, if that senior was good enough, or even borderline good, he would have been drafted at some point, and for the Astros to be talking to him, they would have had to been the ones who drafted him. Seeing as how he is only 16, that seems highly unlikely.

[sbrylski]

I think they send out quite a few of those letters. One of my friends who now plays for the Green Bay Billys got a letter from a big league team while in high school, but then never got drafted or anything. Just telling them they are watching them, keep it up, ect.

[Brew Man Dan]

This isn't the 2007 draft, but there are two pretty good players in Fond Du Lac. Wes Munson's younger brother Sam, and another infielder Ryan Theis, both of them who have been at Perfect Game. Other than that, I can't think of anyone else right now.

[colbyjack]

Zimmerman really is the only guy in-state that has a legitimate chance to be taken in the top 5-10 rounds of the draft. It's a down year for Wisconsin.

 

UW Platteville has a decent prospect in 1B/OF Ross Bennett. He hit .385/.471/.720 last year as a sophomore, and was rated BA's #5 prospect in the Mountain Collegiate League. He isn't the most toolsy players, but if he keeps on hitting he's going to draw some interest. I have a UW-Stevens Point/UW-Platteville contest in late March circled on my calendar that I hope to attend.

 

UW Whitewater and Oshkosh always seems to have a player or two emerge over the course of the spring.

 

Kenosha Tremper has two pretty good pitchers in LHP Nick Rice and RHP Andrew Paulauskas. Rice is generally considered to be the best prep player in the state.

 

The Casey kid from Whitefish Bay that has committed to play for Notre Dame is 1B David Casey.

 

LHP Nic Jensen from Appleton East is a fair prospect. He has committed to play for Iowa.

 

Beaver Dam's Collin Kuhn has committed to play for Arkansas, arguably the most notable commitment from an in-state player.

 

Blazer could comment on the in-state players a lot better than I can, but those are the names that stand out the most to me.

 

Sounds like a boastful statement by a overly proud parent or fellow citizen (not you). It would be against MLB rules to offer a contract or anything for that matter to a kid who is not a senior in High School. And to top it off, if that senior was good enough, or even borderline good, he would have been drafted at some point, and for the Astros to be talking to him, they would have had to been the ones who drafted him. Seeing as how he is only 16, that seems highly unlikely.

 

The scenario berniebrewer4life mentioned is quite common, as Sam noted. Teams send these letters out to players just to let them know that they're watching. It isn't a contract or anything else that would infringe on any MLB or even prep eligibility rules. The fact that the player is 16 years old has nothing to do with it.

 

Most teams challenge their area scouts to go out and contact, and in many cases, conduct home visits with as many players as possible. The players are interviewed, tested, etc., and as long as the scouts (or recruiters) don't buy the kids a meal or anything else, there is nothing wrong with any of this.

 

The '08 prep class should be much better than this year's. There is Muson and Theis as noted, as well as a RHP from Green Bay named Chris Wakefield that has touched the low-90s and another player from Southern Door whose name currently escapes me.

 

EDIT: Apple-ton display issue

[sbrylski]

The '08 prep class should be much better than this year's. There is Muson and Theis as noted, as well as a RHP from Green Bay named Chris Wakefield that has touched the low-90s and another player from Southern Door whose name currently escapes me.

 

Wakefield plays at my former high school, I was watching for his name as I was reading your post. Hardest thrower I've ever seen at his age. (Not that I see a lot.)

[UWRyan428]

Bay Port?? I'm a Redbird. Our Legion teams (DePere) have always been better...

[Brew Man Dan]

This isn't until the class of 2010. Conner Fisk, but a pitcher named whos been pitching on a Triple - A equivelent traveling team called the Wisconsin Rockhounds, can already touch 74MPH on the gun, and has a two and four seam FB, plus another pitch, and pitches with great command.

[colbyjack]

With all due respect 999555999, if the Wisconsin Rockhounds were a AAA equivalent team, they wouldn't have a high school freshman that throws 74 mph on their team.

[Blazer25]

Quote:

---

This isn't until the class of 2010. Conner Fisk, but a pitcher named whos been pitching on a Triple - A equivelent traveling team called the Wisconsin Rockhounds, can already touch 74MPH on the gun, and has a two and four seam FB, plus another pitch, and pitches with great command

---

 

We had a showcase this past weekend and had 7 2010 grads that threw harder than 74 mph.

[Brew Man Dan]

I heard that they were AAA equivenlent, apparently thats not correct. I guess I keep my posts to people that could actually get drafted.

[Blazer25]

Potential 2007 WI draft guys:

 

Zimmerman RHP UWSP

Cal Stanke RHP UWO

Adam Dominick RHP UWW

 

 

Nick Rice LHP Kenosha Tremper

Andrew Paulaskas RHP Tremper

Kurtis Muller OF Sun Prairie

Kyle Neslon RHP Madison Memorial

 

That's about it for me.

[tomter38]

Blazer, has Nick Rice committed to a college yet? He is definitely a great talent

[colbyjack]

Rice has committed to play at Southern Illinois. I'm going to see him pitch this weekend in Cedar Rapids, IA and Perfect Game's indoor pitcher/catcher showcase. Word has it his fastball continues to get better and better, and was recently clocked at 91 (he's been around that range in the past, but he is most consistently in the 84-87 range).

[colbyjack]

I commented on this in another thread, but Rice was throwing 85-87 this past weekend at the PG Indoor Showcase in Cedar Rapids.

 

A name that hasn't been brought up before if Barron, WI native Mark Hallberg, who transferred to Florida State this past season after spending his first two years at UIC.

 

seminoles.cstv.com/sports...ark00.html

 

Hallberg's presence allowed the Seminoles to convert former Aflac All-American Buster Posey to a catcher, where he has received high praise for his rapid conversion. Hallberg is pretty slick with the glove, has a nice approach at the plate, hits for contact and is extremely hard to strike out (one of the hardest players to strike out in the nation the past couple of years, and he didn't strike out at all his junior and senior years in high school).

 

You have the chance to watch Hallberg and the Seminoles tomorrow night (Tuesday) on FCSP, I believe at 5:30 PM against the Florida Gators.

[citrusblend]

Another kid that should get some looks is Jacob Husing from Carthage College. I've seen him throw a few times and he has some good stuff. I think he was clocked at around 92. So far after two games down in Florida he has a 0.00 ERA with 14 K's and 3 BB's in 15.2 Innings. I think he is pitching this weekend at the Metrodome.

[BrewCrewWS2008]

well from fond du lac Ben Anderson is the best senior on the team and for pitching they have Eric Schmitz who is pretty darn good but i doubt they'll be drafted, but in 2008 Sam is better than Wes was at his age and Theis is a monster all like someone said before, then they is Bubba Hunter an OF from ******on East i think who is very good. Sam should be a top 15 round pick Theis should also be drafted. They are like the Pierce Munson to headed monster and Fondy once again should be a top team in the state

[colbyjack]

Thanks for the updates on a few of the Wisconsin kids. It is always fun to hear about the best kids the state has to offer, even if Wisconsin is no California.

 

I read last weekend that Jordan Zimmerman touched 95 in a one-inning relief outing vs. UW Platteville in a rain-delayed triple-header last Monday. The weather has been messing with all of the Wisconsin team's playing schedules, as I believe Stevens Point had to delay their weekend games vs. UW Whitewater to today and tomorrow.

 

Zimmerman has been rumored as a possible late first-round pick. I had one scout tell me that he is one of the top five overall players that he has seen over the past year, which obviously is huge praise.

[parkside21]

I had the chance to see Zimmerman pitch last year in the D3 college world series in Apple-ton in which he faced off against eventual winner Marietta and senior Mike Eisenberg...I think that was his name anyways..the kid from Marietta ended up being a 7th or 8th round pick for the Reds I believe, and also had another player drafted later on. Anyways, Zimmerman had great stuff (duh) and I think his fastball was consistently hitting 90-91 and may have touched 92 on the "in house" gun. His breaking stuff was very good, though for a point of comparison, Eisenberg's was better, but Zimmerman's broke harder.

 

As for the Patrick (Bubba) Hunter name, I haven't seen him play baseball at all this spring...but if his character in baseball is similar to that of how he carries himself during hockey games (where he is also very talented), I'd see it as a pretty big red flag.

 

Anyways, that's my two cents.

[brewcrew00]

What ever happened with Jason Berken from West De Pere? He was in the rotation at Clemson, but haven't heard much in the last year?

[parkside21]

Also, interesting to see that Jensen (from Apple-ton East) will be playing at Iowa. His brother (or maybe his cousin), Eric Jensen also played for East (class of '99), and went to Iowa on a football scholarship where he played tight end and had a brief stint in the NFL (he may still be floating around on a practice squad somewhere). I remember playing against his brother in 8th grade...kid was huge.

 

This may be late notice, and probably already discussed elsewhere, but if you're in the area, check out this year's Division 3 NCAA World Series in Apple-ton over the weekend, starting Friday, May 25th. Wisconsin will be represented by two teams this year, Carthage and UW-Stevens Point.

 

It's too bad UWSP and Carthage are both playing in the early games tomorrow, and I can't make them...I assume Zimmerman will pitch tomorrow, and I guess I'll have to hope to see him pitch on Monday or something.

[PrimeTime955]

Anyone seen lefty Phil Issacson from Eau Claire North? I believe the Gophers are recruiting him.

[nsimps]

Kyle Murphy from Beloit (U of Kansas) might get picked in the later rounds.