4/6/10

4-6 DRAFT: - Hayden Simpson, Barret Loux, Kevin Walter, Dixon Anderson... and P.J. Polk

Hayden Simpson -

4-2 from: - http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/?p=2050  - Hayden Simpson, rhp, Southern Arkansas - "He's putting together about as good of a college career as you can. I think he's 28-1 or 29-1 in college now. I'm not sure what year he lost a game, I know it wasn't this one. I haven't seen him a second time, but I saw his first start of the year and. . . they left him in a little longer than you'd like to see—I think he threw 115 pitches in his first start—but he was sitting 92-94 and touching 96 for the first couple innings. It fell off a little bit but he can spin a curveball too. He's not a big guy—I would say he's about 5-11, 175—but he's got a good arm and his numbers are backing it up. His delivery gets out of whack every once in a while and he struggles throwing strikes, but he can usually put it back together. His stuff is just overpowering at that level. I think he's striking out 13 or 14 per nine and guys aren't making solid contact off of him at all. I think he's a bullpen guy. That first outing, he fell back down to 90-92 late in the game. He never dipped below 90 on my gun and he reached back a couple times when he saw the finish line. I know his second start of the year, his velocity did fall a little bit—I think he was 88-93, working much more with an average fastball, so I'm interested to see him when I get back in there a second time and see how he's holding up over the course of the year. I heard last year he finished the season as strong as he started it, but it seems this year there's a little bit more variation in the velocity."

Barret Loux:

4-4 from: http://www.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?topic_id=8080130&content_id=7243405  - Scouting Report - Fastball: Loux threw his fastball in the 91-94 mph range. Fastball movement: He throws it with good plane, and it has some light sink. Curve: It's an average pitch, thrown 75-77 mph. Slider: It's slurvy, and it's his fourth pitch. Changeup: His best pitch -- it's a plus offering. Control: He has plus command of his four-pitch arsenal. Poise: He has outstanding mound presence. Physical Description: Loux is large and lumbering, with long levers, kind of with a Chris Carpenter-type build. Medical Update: Healthy. Strengths: Four pitches, three of which are average to plus, complete with excellent command. Weaknesses: His breaking stuff is fringy and will need some work at the next level. Summary: With his performances this spring, Loux is quickly moving up draft charts. The big right-hander has four pitches he uses, though it's his fastball and plus changeup that really stand out. His breaking stuff needs some tightening, but with his command, mound presence and easy delivery, there's reason to believe he can improve that part of his game as well. Before the season began, most Texas college pitching buzz went to Brandon Workman, but Loux has forced his way to the top of that conversation and likely into the first couple of rounds.

Kevin Walter:

Legacy High School, CO, RHP - 4-4 from: - http://www.baseballrumormill.com/  - Threw 85-90 in front of a number of scouts in an outing in Goodyear, Ariz., on Friday, but he's intriguing due to his size. He's easily 6-foot-5 and probably 210-220 pounds. He's been more 89-92 in the past and was pitching for the second time in five days, which is unusual for a high school kid. He's committed to Boston College and would be an interesting name for 2013 if he doesn't sign this year, as every once in a while a big, raw kid with a fringe-average fastball like Walter turns into an Anthony Ranaudo

Dixon Anderson:

California, RHP - 4-4 from: http://www.baseballrumormill.com/2010/04/mlb-draft-notes-dixon-anderson-and-other-updated-scouting-report/#more  - In a recent outing against Arizona State, Dixon allowed just two runs over eight innings, with both runs coming in the eighth. Anderson worked at 89-93 with some sinking tail and held that velocity into the eighth inning. His slider flashed above-average, 79-83, sometimes flattening out, but he threw plenty of effective ones down and away to right-handers. His low-80s changeup was fringy and often finished up in the zone. A pitcher who can hold that velocity for 90-100 pitches and has movement on the fastball has to project as a starter, and Anderson also has the potential for an above-average second pitch in the slider.

P.J. Polk:

4-5 from: - http://thecollegebaseballblog.com/2010/04/05/sec-players-of-the-week-8  - PLAYER OF THE WEEK - P.J. Polk • Tennessee Junior • OF • Murfreesboro, Tenn. • UT top offensive performer during a week in which it posted a 4-1 record, including back-to-back victories on the road against No. 11 Ole Miss to claim its first SEC series victory of the season…Hit at a .524 clip with a team-high 11 hits in 24 at-bats…Also posted a squad best nine runs while blasting out four longballs, including the first two home run performance of his career against the Rebels on Saturday. • Had four home runs in the first four games of the week to give him a team-leading six on the season…Had at least one hit in all five games during the week to extend his season-long hitting streak to 10 games…Slugged at an incredible 1.095 rate.

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