College Baseball 2006

[colbyjack]

Fox College Sports Atlantic.

[colbyjack]

I already pointed out that there will be a game on TV this weekend, Miami vs. Florida, Saturday at 10:30 pm CST on FCS Atlantic. Here are a few of the other more intriguing matchups:

 

There are two big tournaments taking place. The first is the Coca-Cola Classic hosted by Rice in Houston, with Lamar, Oklahoma and Long Beach State attending. The most intriguing matchup will be Saturday, when LBSU takes on Rice at 1 pm. Some teams re-align their pitching probables to face the best teams in such matchups, so it will be interesting if LBSU saves Jared Hughes for Sat. and if Rice does the same with LHP Joe Savery.

 

USC is also hosting a tournament, with Kansas, Vanderbilt and San Diego in attendance. All four teams have some very good talent, as there could be some exciting upsets as Kansas already has a few of those under their belts this season.

 

Texas takes on Stanford all weekend long, whcih is probably the best pure matchup of the weekend (I believe it's a re-match of the CWS from a few years ago).

 

Oregon State travels to Pepperdine, which may not be as intriguing as a national matchup but pits two top-15 teams against one another.

 

Both Clemson and UNC open their seasons tomorrow, as fans and scouts alike are anxious to see both teams (particularly UNC's rotation including Andrew Miller & Daniel Bard).

 

And just imagine, while you're shoveling snow and staying inside to avoid the chilly temps, just somewhere out there it is nice enough to play baseball...http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif .

 

Here's BA's weekend preview:

 

www.baseballamerica.com/t...eview.html

 

And if you're at work (or home) and want some background noise, tune into Long Beach State vs. Lamar at 1pm CST:

 

www.longbeachstate.com/gen/thisweek.html

[Blazer25]

You can also catch UIC vs Creighton (in Mesa, AZ) via internet radio

 

at:

 

www.1620thezone.com/

 

Game time is 3:15 pm CST

 

Wisconsin's Ryan Zink might pitch in this game.

[colbyjack]

Joba Chamberlain and Nebraska started their season today against NC State, and won 4-3. NC State did their damage in the 9th inning, while Chamberlain went 7.1 IP, allowing 2 hits and 4 walks while striking out 7.

 

Wisconsin native Jason Berken is off to a fine start as Clemson's season opened today. He tossed 5 scorless innings, allowing only two hits and a walk while striking out 9.

 

Arkansas LHP Nick Schmidt already drew a lot of buzz last weekend after leading three Arkansas pitchers to a no-hitter over Oklahoma State. Today he followed that up with another strong performance over TCU. He went 6 innings in both games, and has yet to give up a hit or a run. In total he has 13 Ks and 4 BBs in those 12 innings of work. Schmidt is only a sophomore, and is among a very strong class of SEC LHPs for the '07 draft that includes Vanderbilt's David Price and Tennessee's James Adkins.

 

Jared Hughes got somewhat of an ugly win today over Lamar. He gave up 5 runs in 6 innings, but only two of those were earned. One of the errors was his own on a comebacker to the mound. Once again Hughes induced a bunch of groundballs to get out of a few jams, and overall gave up 7 hits and three walks while striking out only one.

 

I think we have our official first fast-riser of the college baseball season. RHP Josh Butler of the University of San Diego tossed 8 shutout innings vs. David Price and Vanderbilt today, leading the Torreros to a 10-0 victory.

 

Butler shut down the mighty Texas Longhorns to open the season with 5 strong innings, leading USD to a sweep over then-#1 Texas, and followed it up with 7 shutout innings last weekend vs. UC-Davis. Today as noted he went 8 strong, striking out 8 while giving up 4 hits and zero walks. On the season he is 3-0 in 20 IP, giving up 9 H, 0 R, 2 BB while striking out 18. He's 6'5", 200 pounds, and throws in the 91-94 range. He also has a very good slider and a refined changeup.

 

I should note that Butler isn't a complete unknown commodity. He was the 66th best draft-eligible college player entering the season according to Baseball America, but as it stands right now I'm sure he would easily be somewhere in the top 25.

 

Josh Butler

http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/usd/sports/m-basebl/auto_wide/381820.jpeg

 

Mark Melancon had somewhat of a rough start after being moved to Arizona's Friday starter after he became the club's all-time saves leader. Over 5 innings he gave up 8 hits, 6 runs (5 earned) and 2 walks while striking out 7 vs. New Mexcio. After spending most of his career as a reliever, he threw 104 pitches, so I'm sure he needs more time to stretch his arm out (I'm a little surprised the Wildcats let him go that long).

 

RHP Dallas Buck tossed 6 innings against Pepperdine, giving up 4 H, 2 ER, 4 BB with 3 K.

 

Houston RHP Brad Lincoln was cruising through 5 innings, giving up only 4 hits, 1 ER and 1 BB with 8 Ks. And then the 6th inning rolled around, in which he recorded only one out while giving up 5 runs (4 earned) on 3 H a BB and a big HR by Arizona State.

 

I'm not sure why or how I forgot to check this one earlier, but Ian Kennedy was one out away from tossing a complete game no-hitter on Friday vs. Kansas. He ended up going 8.2 innings, giving up a run (unearned), one hit and 3 walks with 13 Ks. He just keeps on dealing.

 

Greg Reynolds and Kyle McCulloch faced their respective teams (Stanford & Texas), but on different days, and had lackluster results. Reynolds went 6 innings giving up 8 hits, 3 ER & 3 BB with 2 Ks while McCulloch went 4.2 IP with 7 H, 5 ER, 3 BB & 2 K

 

UNC teammates Daniel Bard and Andrew Miller had their season debuts over the weekend. Bard went 7 innings, giving up 5 H, 3 ER & 0 BB while striking out 5. Miller went 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB w/ 9 K. Miller wasn't scheduled to pitch until Tuesday, and control artist Robert Woodard remains the team's Friday starter.

 

Missouri RHP Max Scherzer also had his season debut over the weekend. Against Louisiana-Monroe, he tossed 6 innings giving up 4 hits, 1 ER, 3 walks while striking out 6.

 

UCLA LHP David Huff continues his Barry Zito impressions by striking out 15 in 8 innings of work last Friday vs. Pacific. He gave up only 2 hits one earned run and 2 walks.

 

Another LHP had a dazzling outing, Brad Furnish of TCU, who had a no-hiter (a 7-inning game) with 13 Ks & 2 BBs against Stephen F. Austin.

 

Here are some of the season stats for some of the hitters we've been following. Probably in early March I will provide season cumulative stats for many of the top prospects being discussed.

 

Shane Robinson

.567/.605/.700 in 30 AB, 4 2B, 5:1 BB:K, 7 for 7 SBs

 

Drew Stubbs

.297/.373/.432 in 37 AB, 2 2B, 1 HR, 5:12 BB:K, 4 for 4 SBs

 

Chad Tracy

.238/.298/.357 in 42 AB, 2 2B, 1 HR, 3:3 BB:K, 2 for 2 SBs

 

Matt LaPorta

.304/.528/.435 in 23 AB, 1 HR, 10:5 BB:K

 

Brian Jeroloman

.208/.441/.500 in 24 AB, 1 2B, 2 HR, 7:& BB:K

 

Jon Jay

.359/.471/.590 in 39 AB, 3 2B, 2 HR, 4:3 BB:K (6 HBP), 2 for 4 SBs

 

Evan Longoria will be on Cold Pizza Monday morning

.438/.609/781 in 32 AB, 1 3B, 3 HR, 11:3 BB:K, 2 for 3 SBs

 

Matt Antonelli

.286/.375/.619 in 21 ABs, 1 2B, 2 HR, 3:5 BB:K, 2 for 2 SBs

 

Colin Curtis

.294/.368/.431 in 51 AB, 4 2B, 1 HR, 4:8 BB:K, 8 for 8 SBs

[brettac1]

I think I'm going to watch the replay of Florida/Miami tonight on Sunshine at 10:30 to see LaPorta.

 

EDIT: Jack Z. just said he is there right now scouting this series, cool stuff.

[colbyjack]

Jack Z. just told Jim Powell at Talkin' Brewers that he's down in Florida and caught the first two games of the Florida-Miami series (if the replay is of today's game, you should be pleased watching LaPorta Brett).

 

When Jack Z. is at a game you know a player is involved that they're considering early in the draft. Of the Miami players, you're probably only talking CF Jon Jay and closer Chris Perez, and with Florida you have 1B Matt LaPorta and C Brian Jeroloman.

 

Jack Z. also noted that he was at a Florida HS game yesterday before the Miami-Florida game.

 

EDIT: I hope Brett got to watch this game, as LaPorta blasted a solo shot in the 8th inning off of sophomore LHP Manny Miguelez. The pitch was a pretty good one, as it looked like a tailing changeup that was fading away from the right-handed batter. LaPorta also blasted a shot down the third base line that would have been an easy double if it didn't hit the third base bag so hard. He also drew a walk in the first.

 

LaPorta's power/patience is evident. Anything he made contact with he hit hard. I don't think his swing is particularly long, but he does seem to go in streaks (as so many power hitters do). I don't think he's just a first baseman, as there has been some talk of him playing a little 3B this spring. He has reminded me of Pat Burrell before, and like Burrell I think he could handle LF just fine.

 

Brian Jeroloman batted behind LaPorta in the cleanup spot. Jeroloman also shows a good deal of patience at the plate, but it was different from LaPorta's. LaPorta offers more of an intimidating presence, and therefore gets pitched around. Jeroloman seems more timid as a hitter, which is why he takes more pitches. Just my opinion of course. Jeroloman looked very good behind the plate, very confident and natural back there. It's hard not seeing him at a big-leaguer for his defense alone. As a left-handed batter, I think he's always going to have problems against LHPs, as he did against the one he faced on Saturday.

 

Speaking of good defensive catchers, the game had two. Miami's Eddy Rodriguez has reminded me of Henry Blanco before in that he's more animated behind the plate. A very confident and adept catcher with a very strong arm, his D' like Blanco's could carry him to the big-leagues. Unfortunately, his bat, like Blanco's, is likely to always be a weakness. He has some power, but has trouble making contact.

 

I mentioned sophomore LHP Manny Miguelez just above, and I think he's a player to watch over the next year. He's listed at 6'3", 220 pounds, and when I see measurables like that I think of someone a little more bottom heavy. That isn't the case, as Miguelez is a very well-proportioned athlete. He commanded the strike zone very well, and showed a good fastball, breaking ball and a very polished changeup. He went 8 innings in yesterday's game, and the blast by LaPorta in the 8th was the only earned run he gave up.

 

Florida SS Adam Davis leads off for the Gators, and does a good job setting the table for LaPorta & Jeroloman. He has very good speed, and a quick, line-drive bat with some pop despite being one of the shorter players on the field. As the Gators' SS, he's going to draw a lot of comparisons to former Gator SS and current Cardinals SS David Eckstein. Davis was a 2B up until this year, and some wonder if he'll be a 2B down the road, but from what I've seen of Davis (yesterday and before), I think he has enough range and arm to stick at SS.

 

Miami CF Jon Jay continued to impress me with his ability to hit. He has interesting swing mechanics, but has a very quick bat and a line drive approach. He's very fast down the line to 1B as a left-handed hitter, and while he bats 3rd now, I think he will be better as a leadoff hitter at the next level.

 

The radar guns didn't come out until Miami closer Chris Perez entered the game. In fact, you could see Jack Zduriencik among the scouts behind the screen that had moved down to clock him. Perez did give up 2 runs in the 9th, and didn't look himself. There were no radar gun readings, but you could see how good his stuff was. His slider is a very good pitch, and he likely will be a candidate like Chad Cordero, Huston Street & Joey Devine that could make his big-league debut later this year.

 

Florida's closer is Darren O'Day, and while he doesn't bring the heat like Perez, he has very good control and throws side-armed as a RHP, similar to Chad Bradford. I think that will make him susceptible to left-handed batter, but I think he could make a career as a right-handed specialist.

 

Also, I spotted prep 3B Chris Marrero in the crowd twice during the telecast. I guessed that Marrero was likely the prep player that Jack Z. was down to see, as he noted on Talking Brewers (and sure enough Marrero's team did play Friday evening). Marrero is currently in my top 10 among draft-eligible prospects, and while he has committed to Miami, if he's draft in the top 10 he likely will never step on campus.

 

EDIT #2: I forgot to mention anything about Jemile Weeks, Miami's 2B. Jemile is a lot smaller than Rickie, although Rickie wasn't as big as he is now when he was 18-19 years old. Jemile is a switch-hitter, and probably won't have the same kind of power potential that Rickie does, but I can see Jemile being more of a prototypical, top of the lineup type of 2B. He has very good speed, and looked a lot more natural at 2B. He has a line-drive bat, and makes good contact often using his speed to get on base. Miami's entire lineup is based on speed, as only freshmen Yonder Alonso and Dennis Raben are pure thumpers.

 

Miami is a young team, and seemed to beat themselves more than they allowed the other team to beat them. Errors, baserunning gaffes and other blunders led to several of Florida's runs, and from what it sounded like, that's how they lost on Friday as well (and peeking at today's game, they have already allowed 3 unearned runs).

 

I forgot to mention Florida OF Gavin Dickey before. Dickey is a very good athlete that reminded me of Billy Hall. He came to Florida more known for his football prowess than for his baseball skill, and even entered last fall as the #2 QB to Chris Leak. He decided to focus full-time on baseball, and while he hasn't enjoyed a tremendous amount of statistical success so far, I think he could be a sleeper to watch. He needs refinement, but has faced some of the better pitchers in the country playing for Florida in the SEC. It also should be noted that the Gators were the nation's #2 team last year, losing to Texas in the College World Series.

[brettac1]

I did watch it, and the couple times I have seen LaPorta in this series I have been impressed. He certainly is the kind of guy I like, and I think he is a good enough athlete to play a corner OF spot. I thought Miguelez's stuff was nice, as well, and I kind of liked U of M's LH specialist guy that I saw today (Lane), though he got knocked around a little. Jeroloman has a bit of a Grieve-like approach (trying to get on), as opposed to maybe a Dunn-like approach (looking for a pitch to destroy) that LaPorta has.

 

These are great games to watch, though, a ton of these guys could play in MLB eventually.

[GagneCY03]

Evan Longoria has been on fire to start the season. After 10 games, according to his team's website, he's hitting .438/.609/.781 with 3 Homeruns and 11 Walks in 10 games. He's only struck out three times.

 

CJ, do you think he has the tools to play SS in the bigs?

[colbyjack]

I think Longoria could play SS as a pro. He may not have the greatest range, and he's not even playing SS for LBSU at this point in time (although that has to do with where he's most valuable to his team as well), but he has proven that he can play the position.

 

It will likely depend on who drafts him. A team like the A's, Blue Jays, Red Sox, etc. would be more likely to keep him at SS. A team like the Dodgers that seems to be more traditional in their approach to scouting would probably put him at 2B or 3B. At 2B he might just be your answer as Jeff Kent's replacement after this season since the Dodgers seem stocked at 3B with Mueller, LaRoche, and others.

 

I know Brett had interest in Longoria to open the season, but was skeptical of his walks. Since he started the season with 11 walks (vs. 3 strikeouts) in 32 at-bats, while hitting everything that is thrown in the zone, I'd say he has good command of the strike zone, and is a lock to be taken in the top 10 picks.

[GagneCY03]

I doubt the Dodgers would take him, as Logan White must be drooling over the fact that he'll get a shot at the top prep arm (a philisophical method that I know you disagree with, but we wont get into that). I'd say there's almost zero chance of the Dodgers taking a college player at #7. And the Dodgers have Delwyn Young in Vegas, Tony Abreu in Jacksonville and Blake DeWitt took infield at 2B in Instrux.

 

I dont really see a "Moneyball" team in the top 10. And the top 5 look like they'd want pitching. What team would be a good fit for Longoria?

[natedogge7]

tigers, orioles, and giants in the top 10 i think.

 

 

quick little mock top 10

 

royals- andrew miller

rockies- max scherzer

devil rays- Ian Kennedy

pirates- drew stubbs

Mariners- daniel bard

tigers- evan logoria

dodgers- jordan walden

reds- Matt Latos

giants- matt laporta

[GagneCY03]

You forgot the Oreos. Here's my Top 10 as of right now:

 

KC - Andrew Miller

COL - Ian Kennedy

TB - Daniel Bard

PIT - Kyle Drabek

SEA - Max Scherzer

DET - Matt Laporta

LA - Jordan Walden

CIN - Brett Anderson

BAL - Drew Stubbs

SF - Evan Longoria

[colbyjack]

I dont really see a "Moneyball" team in the top 10. And the top 5 look like they'd want pitching. What team would be a good fit for Longoria?

 

I think the list of suitors for Longoria will be fairly long, and it won't be limited to Moneyball teams. The Pirates, Mariners, Tigers and Orioles need bats more than arms, and the Giants are also a good candidate.

 

And the Dodgers have Delwyn Young in Vegas, Tony Abreu in Jacksonville and Blake DeWitt took infield at 2B in Instrux.

 

Looking at the Dodgers system, you could probably make an excuse why not to take someone because of every position. I personally don't think it's wise not to take someone because of depth, unless you have a near-can't-miss player on the cusp of contributing. That's a good formula to miss on a talented player, and you never know what is going to happen to even the most talented of young prospects.

 

Oh yeah, I'm not so sure this is the best thread for mock drafts.

[Madtown Bomber]

I flew down to Texas to watch the Classic at Rice with Oklahoma, Lamar, and the best college team name Long Beach State "Dirtbags."

 

I got to see a bunch of highly rated players play and these are the impressions I came away with.

 

Rice:

Eddie Degerman was just great! Gave up only a cheap leadoff hit to the leadoff hitter for Oklahoma. Oklahoma is no world beater but they are no slouch either but Degerman was dominate! 10+ K's in 7 innings.

 

Josh Rodriguez was ok. Seemed to be just marginal. Can hit to all the fields but swing was pretty long.

 

Joe Savery can flat out swing the stick. He is intimidating up there and he can hit pretty much every pitch. He can drive the ball to all fields.

 

Long Beach State:

Jared Hughes looked pretty good. Lamar can hit a little bit. They are the same team that threw up a 21 spot on a Oklahoma team during opening weekend. Hughes has good stuff but he very robotic if that makes sense. He reminds me a lot of a Kevin Millwood type. I might be way off but when watching him in person that is who it reminded me off.

 

Evan Longoria is by far the best pure hitter I have seen in the last 2 years of watching college baseball. He can flat out rake and he has suprising power. Definate top half of the first round material.

 

Oklahoma:

Ryan Rohlinger is by far the only top level talent on the team. He usually hits the ball hard. Has pretty good plate discipline. Plays outstanding defense.

 

Daniel McCutchen has regressed so much. He was tabbed as a pitcher to watch but he might be doing a lot of watching if he continues to pitch the way he has. His pitches are flat and do not move. His off speed stuff is horrible.

 

PJ Sandavol has some pretty good stuff. He shutdown a good Long Beach State team. Seems that he may move up the rotation if McCutchen keeps pitching poorly.

[colbyjack]

Thanks for the reports Madtown Bomber! Did you fly down just for that event?

 

Did you happen to catch LBSU on Saturday with Andrew Carpenter on the mound? He's another sleeper pitching prospect on the rise.

[Blazer25]

Some sad news on the WI prospects front...

 

UIC RHP Ryan Zink partially tore his UCL and might have to have TJ sugery... at best he is out 2-3 months.

 

I guess it tore in a bullpen session...sad to hear.

[GagneCY03]

"Looking at the Dodgers system, you could probably make an excuse why not to take someone because of every position. I personally don't think it's wise not to take someone because of depth, unless you have a near-can't-miss player on the cusp of contributing. That's a good formula to miss on a talented player, and you never know what is going to happen to even the most talented of young prospects"

 

The thing about the Dodgers' system is they are going to have three very legit prospects starting at Double A or higher. Hu and Abreu are an amazing DP combo who can hit a little, and Andy LaRoche is one of the better 3B prospects in all the minors. The Dodgers are a little weak at first base, dont have a ton of depth behind Russ Martin and are flat out weak in the outfield. And you can never have enough pitching. That's why I'd avoid a 2B/SS/3B in the first. Is Matt Laporta too slow-footed to play LF? If he could hold up out there, he'd be worth the 7th pick.

 

"Oh yeah, I'm not so sure this is the best thread for mock drafts."

 

Uh, it was Nate's fault! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/laugh.gif Sorry, I'll cease and desist.

[natedogge7]

shane robinso has started the season on fire

 

30ABs 567/605/700 and 7/7 in SBs.

 

i wonder how far he will fall in the draft due to his small stature and lack of power....

[colbyjack]

If Robinson can come close to matching his 2005 season I think his performance alone will boost him up into the first round. I agree his size is going to hold him back on some draft boards, but there are plenty of teams that will overlook his size if he's putting up gaudy numbers for the second consecutive year.

 

Entering the year I felt Robinson was the favorite to win the Golden Spikes award. Either him or Ian Kennedy.

[colbyjack]

College weekend preview starting 2/24/06

 

The past few weeks have seemed to offer a lot more intriguing matchups that this weekend's slate of games. Many of the top teams seem to have a few cupcakes on the schedule, not to take anything away from the Elon's & Bethune-Cookman's of the world. Here are a few of the more intriguing matchups:

 

Pepperdine @ Tulane

This is the best matchup on paper, as both team are ranked in the top 10 by different publications. Not a whole lot of names to tell you about, although I have profiled Pepperdine's Chad Tracy & Tulane's Mark Hamilton.

 

UCLA @ Cal State Fullerton

UCLA is a much improved ballclub from a year ago, and Cal State Fullerton is always tough. It will be interesting to see if UCLA's pitching staff can silent Fullerton's bats.

 

Minnesota @ Florida State

Not the biggest of matchups, but intriguing for us northerners. Minnesota travels south to take on a tried & true FSU club.

 

Illinois-Chicago @ Long Beach State

I was bummed to learn of Ryan Zink's injury, as I had the Friday game of this series circled on my calendar from a few month's ago, looking forward to a matchup between Zink and Jared Hughes. A reminder that LBSU has free online broadcasts if you're itching to listen to some baseball.

 

Tennesse vs. Georgia Tech

Both teams are taking part of a weekend tourney that includes Virginia Commonwealth and Coastal Carolina. The Volunteers & Yellow Jackets square off on Friday, which could provide the most entertaining matchups of the weekend.

 

San Diego @ Georgia

San Diego is a team on the rise, so it will be interesting to see how they do on the other side of the country facng a tough SEC ballclub.

 

Another big weekend tourney hosted by Florida offers these teams:

Ohio State

Wake Forest

Missouri

Florida

 

Every team has a player to watch with great interest. Saturday's game between Ohio State and Florida will be televised. That broadcast will be on tape delay, shown at 2:00 am early Sunday morning on FCSA, so set your TiVO.

 

Another interesting tourney in Houston that Rice will host includes Nebraska, St. John's, Texas State and of course, Rice. Rice and Nebraska face off on Saturday, the most interesting matchup of this tourney.

 

Notre Dame, Air Force, Oklahoma & Memphis will be in Millington, TN at USA Baseball Stadium for yet another tourney. ND vs. Oklahoma on Sunday is the game to watch in this series.

 

BA's weekend preview includes a nice feature story on Nebraska ace RHP Joba (pronounced Jabba) Chamberlain. Take the time to read this one, as you're going to hear more and more about this special young man as the spring progresses:

 

www.baseballamerica.com/t...eview.html

 

Joba Chamberlain

http://www.baseballamerica.com/images2005/jchamberlain450350dh.jpg

 

Jason Berken had a short yet strong start against Mercer. 4 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 3 K, 0 BB. Apparently no injury concerns for Berken, he was on a pitch count and Clemson was determined to use three pitchers in this game to get their staff some work.

 

Brandon Morrow continued to impress against UC Santa Barbara: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 9 K, 6 BB. The walks are high, but everything else is impressive.

 

Josh Bulter (San Diego) and Brooks Brown (Georgia) created a very good pitcher's duel in which Georgia won 1-0. Butler: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 K, 5 BB. Brown: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 7 K, 2 BB.

 

Max Scherzer shut down an impressive Florida lineup, although the Gators were without Matt LaPorta (nothing in the game notes about LaPorta's absence). Scherzer's line: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER (a solo HR), 8 K, 1 BB.

 

Baseball America has reported that Dallas Buck isn't pitching as well as he has in the past. He's still notching W's, but his fastball is in the 88-90 range and his slider doesn't look as sharp. This reminds me of Wade Townsend during his junior year, who still enjoyed success yet didn't have as explosive stuff. Buck's line on Friday vs. BYU: 7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 8 K, 2 BB

 

Brad Lincoln vs. Monmouth: 7 IP, 5 H, 3 R (2 ER), 11 K, 2 BB. On the season Lincoln now has a 2.22 ERA and in 24.1 IP he has given up 19 H, and 6 BB while striking out 35.

 

Ian Kennedy vs. Hawaii: 7 IP, 7 H, 4 R (3 ER), 5 K, 2 BB. Not a bad line, but about as bad as you're going to find next to Kennedy's name.

 

Jared Hughes vs. Illinois-Chicago: 8.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 9 K, 0 BB. Hughes entered the 9th having pitched to just two over the minimum. All of the damage against him came in that 9th inning. He threw 102 pitches, 68 for strikes.

 

Nebraska decided to save their best pitcher, Joba Chamberlain, vs. the top opponent they are facing, Rice (and Joe Savery) for Saturday's game of their weekend tourney. EDIT: It turns out Savery didn't go today, but Eddie Degerman, a senior RHP that has a good chance of being drafted in the top 5 rounds. Chamberlain took sthe loss today, but pitched well, going 6.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 10 K, 1 BB.

 

Kyle McCulloch continues his up & down season, this weekend on the up: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R (0 ER), 4 K, 2 BB.

 

Lefty David Huff with another strong outing, today against mighty Cal State Fullerton. He did give up 3 runs, but they came on a 2-out RBI single, a groundout and a wild pitch. BA reported heading into the weekend that Huff has been pitching 88-90 this spring, and has been turning a lot of heads in the scouting community. I have compared him to Barry Zito before. Huff doesn't have a curve like Zito's, but he does have a very good changeup, and is a master of changing speeds and recording outs, and like Zito could see himself taken much earlier in the draft than where his kind of stuff would usually warrant. The rest of today's line: 7.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 5 K, 3 BB.

 

Gagne already noted Andrew Miller's start below. He went 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 9 K, 1 BB. His teammate, RHP Daniel Bard went 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 9 K, 1 BB.

 

Long Beach State had an even more impressive performance from their Saturday starter, Andrew Carpenter, a slider-splitter specialist with a low-90s heater. He tossed a CG 1-hit shutout, allowing only 1 BB while striking out 8 on 94 pitches.

 

Andrew Carpenter

http://www.baseballamerica.com/images2005/acarpenter450350.jpg

[Oldcity]

I watched Chamberlain pitch last year against Texas. He is a really big guy, but he was impressive.

[GagneCY03]

CSTV.com (Great source for live scoring) had an article up on a kid named Matt Mangini. He's a Soph 3B for NC State and is presently hitting .690/.741/.1.119 through 11 games. I know he's not draft eligible but he's definitely worth keeping an eye on. Here's the article:

 

www.cstv.com/sports/m-bas...06aap.html

[GagneCY03]

Another dominant outing for Andrew Miller today:

 

7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 11 K's

 

In 2 starts (13 IP) he's struck out 20 and walked 2.

[colbyjack]

It's hard not seeing Andrew Miller going first overall to the Royals (if they do open up their checkbook that is). Of course, UNC's first two opponents haven't exactly been the most opposing, and Miller did start strong last year before fading as the spring progressed. I still would like to see him pitch on Fridays against the opposing team's best starters, regardless of the strength of their opponents.

[templeUsox]

If you are looking for one player who hasn''t received a lot of hype, but will end up being a first-rounder come June, look no further than Stanford pitcher Greg Reynolds. Reynolds has pitched four games this seasons, each against quality opponents (Fullerton, Kansas, Texas, Fresno State). His YTD line is 26.3 IP, 29 K, 3 BB, 1 HRA, 26 HA. Reynolds isn't just a fluke without any pedigree however. He was highly touted coming out of high school. However he had not lived up to the hype his previous two years. He had a good enough appearance in the CCL to earn the title of the 8th best prospect in the league courtesy of BA. He has a fastball that ranges in between 90-95 mph and a hammer curveball. He has drawn some comparisons to Aaron Harang because he stands a menacing 6'7" above the mound. He is a first-rounder IMO.