6/2/10

DRAFT: - Bryce Harper, Jake Thompson, Joe Leonard, Levon Washington... and Christian Colon

Bryce Harper:


6-1 from: - http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/?p=2228  - Scott Boras, says it all: Harper is looking at four years of minor league ball if he catches, and perhaps half of that if he plays the outfield. Boras doesn't want him catching. "No baseball person in his right mind will have the guy catch," says Boras, who believes that catching puts a valuable hitter at too great a risk of wear and tear.








Jake Thompson:

6-1 from: - http://baseballbeginnings.com/2010/06/01/jake-thompson-repor t - RHP 6-3, 225 Long Beach State Games Seen: 3, Innings: 20 (Spring 2010) - PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Powerfully built across the chest, shoulders, hips and thighs. Thick and strong quads and calves, durable power build. STRENGTHS: Above-average FB velocity and movement. 4-seam FB 94-96 (94), hard late life up in zone. 2-seam FB 91-93 (92) with tail and plane, excellent command and movement when fresh. Can make FB dive with pitchability and power. Hard SL with slicing 11/7 tilt, 86-88 (88), ML put-away pitch. CH 83-85, more show-me now, average across board, should suffice as fourth pitch. WEAKNESSES: Too many deep counts hurts him too many times. Needs to improve stamina and conditioning to keep delivery intact. Tends to fly open and lose closed wind-up. SUMMARY: Aggressive and durable starter. Plus stuff across the board. Doesn’t back down from a fight. Not afraid to push batters back. Three plus ML weapons. GRADES (Present/Future) Fastball 70/70 Slider 60/60 Change-up 50/50 Control 40/50 Command 40/50 Overall Future Potential: 56

Joe Leonard:

5-28 from: - http://baseballdraftreport.com/  - Top 30 College Third Base Prospects - 4. Pittsburgh JR 3B Joe Leonard - Leonard has gotten a ton of positive press over the past few weeks, all of it well earned. He came into the season as one of the best college hitting prospects and one of the few collegiate position players projected to be productive enough both at the plate and in the field to start every day in the big leagues. The one question that scouts had about his game was his power upside. Leonard has answered the bell by hitting for over 30 extra base hits and slugging well over .600. He’s a good athlete with a plus arm and great big league size for a third baseman. Defensively he’s presently skilled enough to be considered big league average at the position, and continued development ought to get him up above-average during his best defensive seasons. Neither his offense nor his defense will ever quite approach the level of peak years Scott Rolen (a really underrated player by many, I think), but if you squint really hard you can begin to see Leonard as perhaps developing into that type of player – exciting defenders, strong physiques, and often mischaracterized as power hitters first and foremost. In fact, after looking at the numbers some, I’d compare Leonard’s upside as a hitter to something around what Rolen did his rookie season (.283/.377/.469) with the Phillies. That kind of upside is substantial, clearly, so it may very well be that Leonard’s placement on this list is a mistake that I’ll have to rectify before June 7th hits.

Levon Washington:

5-31 from: - http://www.deepleagues.com/?p=1733  - Washington enrolled in a Junior College this season after being unable to reach an agreement with the Rays last season. He is the fastest player in this year’s draft, and is capable of being an incredible stolen base threat. He also has quick wrists and plenty of athleticism. Some of been critical of Washington’s junior college performance, which has indicated he is slightly slower than expected, and there are issues with his throwing arising from a shoulder injury. But, on the flip side, he has also shown the ability to hit for a little power, albeit against lesser competition.






Christian Colon:

6-1 from: - http://www.baseballrumormill.com/2010/06/conference-tournaments-conclude-christian-colon-asher-wojciechow/#more  - Cal State Fullerton, SS - Two more hits for Colon bring his season totals to .347/.436/.606 with 14 home runs. After a really tough start to the season, Colon has rebounded nicely and his defense has always been a selling point. He'll likely be a first round pick regardless of how he performs in the College World Series Regionals, but he could bump himself up a few slots with increased offense.

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