5/25/10

DRAFT: - Mitch Blackburn, Yasmani Grandal, Kyle Petter, Chason Choate... and Kyle Livingstone

Mitch Blackburn:

5-24 from: - http://www.themwc.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/052410aab.html  - San Diego State senior Mitch Blackburn has been named Mountain West Conference Player of the Week. Blackburn went 11-for-14 (.786) in San Diego State's three-game sweep of MWC opponent UNLV last week. The Temecula, Calif., product hit four doubles and one triple while driving in six runs and scoring four more in the series. In Thursday's 8-4 decision, he opened with a sacrifice bunt and then had four hits in four more plate appearances, finishing with two doubles, two RBI and one run scored. On Friday, Blackburn aided the Aztecs' 12-6 win with a career-high five hits in six at-bats, hitting another double while driving in four runs and scoring two more. In Saturday's 6-4 series finale victory, Blackburn hit a triple and a double while scoring once as part of a 2-for-4 performance at the plate. For the week, he tallied a 1.214 slugging percentage and .800 on-base percentage. Defensively, he was perfect in the field, recording four putouts and nine assists in 13 chances at second base.

Yasmani Grandal:

5-24 from: - http://thecollegebaseballblog.com/2010/05/24/miamis-grandal-virginias-hultzen-lead-2010-all-acc-baseball-team  - Miami junior catcher Yasmani Grandal has been named the 2010 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Player of the Year. Miami’s Grandal leads the ACC in batting with a .428 average, along with 13 home runs and 54 RBIs. In conference games only, Grandal is hitting an even more torrid .463 with an .833 slugging percentage. Thirty-five of his 80 hits have gone for extra bases. Recently named a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award that goes to the nation’s top catcher, Grandal was the catalyst as the Hurricanes posted a 38-15 overall record and remained ranked among the nation’s top 15 teams throughout the regular season.

5-25 from: - http://www.mlbbonusbaby.com/2010/5/25/1486642/top-5-by-position-catchers#storyjump  - Yasmani Grandal has been a big name on the prospect scene for quite some time, and he would have been an early pick out of high school in 2007 had it not been for a strong commitment to Miami. After two years of flashing big potential, but not fully realizing it, he has broken out in a big way this spring, cementing his status as the best four year college catcher in this draft class. A switch-hitter, Grandal’s much better from the left side, and he flashes plus raw power and good hitting tools, and even though he’s a well below-average runner, he’s a decent baserunner and won’t clog the bases as a pro. Before his big breakout season this spring, Grandal was considered a defense-first catcher. He flashes a plus arm, good catching skills, and even though he’s fairly big behind the plate, he looks like a natural leader and handles a pitching staff well. He shouldn’t have to go through a major adjustment behind the plate as a pro, and there’s speculation that he could be ready to suit up for a Major League team after just one full year in the minor leagues, which is reminiscent of how quickly 2008 first round pick Buster Posey was deemed ready for the Majors. Grandal could go as early as fourth overall to the Royals, and he shouldn’t last past the Reds with the twelfth pick.

Kyle Petter:

http://baseballbeginnings.com/2010/05/20/kyle-petter-update  - In a recent look, the left-handed Petter was 87-88 with some 90s. In another look, he was 85-88. He has a slow curveball that will need additional power for him to hang around professional baseball and fight his way to the big leagues. He also had no real change-up in the looks I saw. He dominated the junior college level this spring and he will get a look as an organizational left-hander. He has more power than he had in high school, which is a good sign. As I have noted before, players from the South Bay region of Los Angeles tend to be late bloomers. As a minor league pitcher, Petter will have to develop a breaking ball with more power and find a consistent change-up so he can better attack right-handed hitters. These are corrections he will need to show minor league instructors that he has the aptitude to absorb. He was better than when I last saw him and has certainly pitched his way back into the draft, but he is not what I would consider a premium left-hander at this time. Creating an improved breaking ball and speed separation and deception between his second and third pitches will also help him maximize his pro potential

Chason Choate:

5-24: - http://www.ovcsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=6200&ATCLID=204950563  - Chason Choate, LHP • Jr., 6-0, 160 • Murfreesboro, Tenn. • Tennessee Tech - Choate pitched seven scoreless innings in Saturday’s 11-1 victory over Murray State as Tennessee Tech completed the sweep of the Thoroughbreds and claimed its seventh OVC Championship and first since the 1997 season with the victory. The junior allowed just two hits (one each in the first and second innings) and walked only two batters while striking out three. Choate did not allow a Murray State base runner past first base and retired 12 of 14 batters at one point of the game. Although the game was his 17th appearance of the season, it marked only the third start for the lefty who is now 3-3 on the season.

Kyle Livingstone:

5-24 from: - link  - Texas State first baseman Kyle Livingstone has been named the Southland Conference Hitter of the Week. In four games last week, Livingstone batted .444 (8-for-18), hit two home runs, drove in 11 runs and scored three times in leading the Bobcats to a 3-1 week with a pair of wins against UT Arlington and a non-conference victory over Prairie View A&M. The senior from Fort Worth, Texas (Arlington Heights), was 4-for-5, hit a three-run home run and finished with a season-high five RBI against Prairie View last Tuesday. Livingstone again had five RBI in the series opener Thursday against the Mavericks. He knocked in what proved to be the game-winning run with a two-run single in the first and concluded his 3-for-5 effort with a three-run homer in the sixth to aid the 10-0 run-rule victory. The home run was his team-leading 10th of the season. In the final game against UT Arlington, Livingstone drove in the first run of the game, was intentionally walked in the final inning to score a run in the 8-6 victory that clinched the Bobcats' second consecutive regular-season conference title.

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