2017 Draft Pick Discussion, Rounds 1-5

[And That]

A high school lefty!!!

[JDBrewCrew]

Nathan Rode‏ @NathanRode 32s32 seconds ago

LHP Brendan Murphy is No. 70 on the #PBRDraft100.

 

Brian Sakowski‏ @B_Sakowski_PG 48s48 seconds ago

#Brewers select Brendan Murphy, prep LHP. Advanced CH that will be plus; mostly 88-93 mph this spring. We ran him up on #PGDraft500

[MrTPlush]

Brendan Murphy a local kid. Not far across the border to the south.

 

Not sure on the signability though. If he does sign great get in my opinion.

[WV Brew]

Chicago Trib on Murphy

[MilwaukeeBeers]

Brendan Murphy a local kid. Not far across the border to the south.

 

Not sure on the signability though. If he does sign great get in my opinion.

A draft expert once told me on twitter to always expect players drafted on day 1 and day 2 to sign.

[colbyjack]

MilwaukeeBeers, you're absolutely right. I'm surprised by how many people are concerned about signability. If they're drafted in the top 10 rounds it is a much, much,much larger shock if they don't sign than if they do. The changes to the draft pool a few years back changed that significantly.

 

So far I really like the Brewers picks. They're taking some good, proven players. Here's the report on Murphy:

 

88. Brendan Murphy, lhp, Mundelein HS

L/L, 6-4/210, Mundelein, Ill.

College Commitment: Arizona State

 

Murphy has been on the prospect radar for a good while now, having participated in the prestigious Perfect Game National Showcase last summer and followed that up with an appearance at the Area Codes in August. Always lauded as a projectable, athletic lefthander with good size and a good changeup; Murphy retains that profile, but has taken several steps forward this spring regardless.

 

Now working consistently in the 88-93 mph range with his fastball, Murphy creates good angles to the plate and and both his body and ease of operation lead scouts to believe that he has some projection remaining in terms of velocity. His changeup is still his out pitch, flashing plus pretty often this spring and doing enough to earn consistent 55 (on the 20-80 scale) grades from scouts. The change has late, bottom-falling-out action at the plate with good deception and velocity differential; and projects to miss bats consistently for the rest of his career. His slider still lags behind the fastball/changeup combo at this point; but has flashed enough sharpness and spin this spring to earn some average projections from scouts. With a good body, projection remaining, and potentially three average-or-better pitches; Murphy is a bit of wildcard in the Midwest. Some scouts believe he could come off the board as early as the top of the 3rd round.

[MrTPlush]

Brendan Murphy a local kid. Not far across the border to the south.

 

Not sure on the signability though. If he does sign great get in my opinion.

A draft expert once told me on twitter to always expect players drafted on day 1 and day 2 to sign.

 

I tend to argree, but he is a lefty. Doesn't take much for him to shoot up and be a first rounder. Pretty projectable lefty who will grow a lot in the next three years. Though in my financial opinion you are probably better off taking the half mil now and getting a 3 year head start on your career. I don't usually agree with players who can get drafted in the first 5 rounds, but opt to pursue their college career.

[And That]

The Brewers are not punting on any of these early picks. If they didn't think they could sign them, they wouldn't have picked them.

[Madhawk23]

Yeah, I'm not sure why everyone is so concerned about signability with some of these HS picks. There's no way our front office would make these selections in these early rounds if they didn't feel really good about their chances of signing these guys. Could there be a big surprise in one of these guys going to college? I guess.....but, I'd put my money on all of these HS kids in the first 8 rounds signing with the Brewers.

[homer]

How many times have the Brewers been unable to sign a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd round pick? Covey (and that wasn't a money issue) is the only one that comes to mind in recent years although I know there have been a handful over the last 30 years.

[MrTPlush]

The Brewers are not punting on any of these early picks. If they didn't think they could sign them, they wouldn't have picked them.

 

Bit of a brain fart on my part. For a second I was thinking one could offer a portion of slot and even if the player rejected keep the slot money for their pool. Which is definitely not the case and the Brewers definitely would not want to be blowing 4th round slot money down the toilet. I was in "saving pool money" mindset in the wrong situation. 5 hours of sleep already showin its worth today.

[StearnsFTW]

Gimme about 5 more pitchers in a row here please.

 

I like taking bats high, but I would really like to see more pitchers now. Love the Murphy pick.

[Harry Doyles JD]

Brendan Murphy a local kid. Not far across the border to the south.

 

Not sure on the signability though. If he does sign great get in my opinion.

A draft expert once told me on twitter to always expect players drafted on day 1 and day 2 to sign.

Callis was getting sick of getting asked last night if there were signability issues with this guy and that. He just kept repeating, two guys in the first 10 rounds in last years draft didn't sign. Chances are, they'll sign.

[Boomer5]

So we have drafted a second basemen who can't play second, some dude named Lutz that we can't sign, a pitcher that is too tall to pitch and a catcher that can't catch. Do I have that about right?

 

Hiura can hit though you're right, he doesn't have a position at least until they can evaluate his injury and the proper medical evaluation.

 

Lutz will sign. No way the Brewers draft him if they don't think he can sign.

 

I agree about Lemons. Seems like a big project and we don't do well with those in the past.

 

KJ is a hitter pure and simple. Much like Hiura, they are drafting bats and finding places to put them.

 

 

You did note the blue, right?

 

I actually have very little concern over whether he can handle second

 

I am nearly certain Lutz will sign

 

Lemons may be a project but we have plenty of candidates for the middle and back end of a rotation. I have no issue with going after what hey believe is a TOR arm in the future at that spot. Even if that means its a project.

 

I have no issue with finding a position for a good bat.

 

It wasn't blue when I responded.

[JDBrewCrew]

MLB Draft Tracker‏Verified account @MLBDraftTracker 29s29 seconds ago

More

5 (144): @Brewers select Immaculata HS 3B Nick Egnatuk. http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/210960834/v1479700983 … #MLBDraft

[StearnsFTW]

Nick Egnatuk. HS 3b.

 

Don't know anything about him.

[homer]

Some of these kids weren't even 3 years old when Prince Fielder was drafted.

[JDBrewCrew]

Frankie Piliere‏Verified account @FPiliereD1 8s8 seconds ago

#Brewers take Nick Egnatuk. I thought after last summer he would be a top 50 pick. Tall, athletic, big time power potential. Excellent pick

 

Christopher Crawford‏Verified account @Crawford_MILB 32s33 seconds ago

Brewers pick Egnatuk has "big man who needs a big cereal" power. Only plus tool, but it's a good plus tool to have.

 

Nathan Rode‏ @NathanRode 21s22 seconds ago

Nathan Rode Retweeted Frankie Piliere

Really struggled offensively this spring. Upside for sure. Just has to find it again.

[MrTPlush]

Egnatuk, Nick Immaculata HS 3B R/R HS

 

"A high school infielder, Egnatuk wows scouts in batting practice with 60-grade raw power" MLB.com

 

Sounds like a piece of work though so don't expect to see him any time soon. Drafted for the power.

[colbyjack]

Here's the report on Egnatuk. Again, another bat, and what's interesting is that these have all been righthanded hitters after loading up on so many lefthanded hitters in recent years.

 

188. Nicholas Egnatuk, 3b, Immaculata HS

R-R, 6-2/185, Basking Ridge, N.J.

College Commitment: Pittsburgh

 

Egnatuk wasn't on most scout's radars before last August but was very impressive, especially offensively, in the East Coast Pro Showcase and the Area Code Games that month to establish himself as perhaps a late rising Northeast hitting prospect.

 

Egnatuk's best tool is unquestionably his right handed bat. He has a crisp and strong swing that is high on line drive contact and enough strength to drive the gaps. He also runs from 4.2 to 4.3 from the right side and will be able to beat out some infield hits and stretch some singles into doubles. Defensively, Egnatuk has shown the ability to make the athletic play, especially with his athletic quickness, but will need more repetitions to get consistent on the routine plays. His arm has big league average strength but his lower release slot tends to make some throws tail.

[trwi7]

Egnatuk, Nick Immaculata HS 3B R/R HS

 

"A high school infielder, Egnatuk wows scouts in batting practice with 60-grade raw power" MLB.com

 

Sounds like a piece of work though so don't expect to see him any time soon. Drafted for the power.

 

Why not put the rest of it up there?

 

but he hits a lot of ground balls during games. He's struggled against good pitching, and a bulky body might require him to move to left field at the next level. But the potential to put the ball out of the ballpark is there.

 

Takes a ton of shine off of the pick.

[homer]

Egnatuk, Nick Immaculata HS 3B R/R HS

 

"A high school infielder, Egnatuk wows scouts in batting practice with 60-grade raw power" MLB.com

 

Sounds like a piece of work though so don't expect to see him any time soon. Drafted for the power.

 

Why not put the rest of it up there?

 

but he hits a lot of ground balls during games. He's struggled against good pitching, and a bulky body might require him to move to left field at the next level. But the potential to put the ball out of the ballpark is there.

 

Takes a ton of shine off of the pick.

 

 

If you put all your faith in a single scouting report.

[82brewcrew82]

Egnatuk, Nick Immaculata HS 3B R/R HS

 

"A high school infielder, Egnatuk wows scouts in batting practice with 60-grade raw power" MLB.com

 

Sounds like a piece of work though so don't expect to see him any time soon. Drafted for the power.

 

Why not put the rest of it up there?

 

but he hits a lot of ground balls during games. He's struggled against good pitching, and a bulky body might require him to move to left field at the next level. But the potential to put the ball out of the ballpark is there.

 

Takes a ton of shine off of the pick.

 

 

Not for me, not in the fifth round.

[trwi7]

If you put all your faith in a single scouting report.

 

Well sure but the single scouting report that he put up was a single sentence that only praises the player while leaving out the part that actually has legitimate concerns about the player. Why not just put the whole thing up instead of just the sunshine and puppies part?

[Jenkins5]

I don't understand all the worries about signability. Teams are well aware of what each players numbers are. They understand chances of them signing. Too much to lose as Plush said if you aren't able to. Money is just gone. Once we get to round 11, that's were teams start to grab some of those guys with strong commitment & hope they saved enough pool money to sign them away as we did last year with McClanahan.

 

I'd expect a few seniors coming in the near rounds to collect more savings. Harrison should receive close to slot.