5/16/11

Matt Barnes, Bubba Starling, Dwight Smith, Noe Ramirez, Kyle Winkler


Matt Barnes, RHP – Connecticut - Once again, Barnes showed good velocity deep into his start, hitting 95 mph in the seventh inning and 94 in the eighth. He struck out nine, and induced several swings and misses with his fastball-curveball combination. Barnes walked only two batters, yielded six hits -- all singles -- and may have pulled away from a few of the other college arms over the weekend. "That is what we have seen from him all season," said an area scout of AL club. "I've seen him better but he settles in right there somewhere bordering dominant." That consistency could be the separating factor. http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/blog?name=mlb_draft&id=6555549&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fmlb%2fblog%3fname%3dmlb_draft%26id%3d6555549


Overall, (Bubba) Starling displayed outstanding raw talent. He flashed five-tool potential, though his weakest tool is currently his hit tool. He didn’t show the ability to use the whole field and still needs some refinement mechanically with his swing. Starling expanded his strike-zone quite a bit (up), but that is a common occurrence with young hitters. Starling is your classic high-ceiling/low-floor type of guy. His overall skill set will make it very hard for organizations to pass on him. Having dedicated a lot of his time and efforts to football, Starling does show natural baseball instincts on the field, which is a huge plus. He makes everything look very easy, due to his natural, God-given talent. Starling is also revered for his hard work and exceptional make-up. http://projectprospect.com/article/2011/05/12/bubba-starling-scouting-report  


Dwight Smith: Smith is essentially a physically-stronger baseball version of his father, Dwight, who played eight years in the major leagues with Cubs, Angels, Orioles and Braves from 1989-96. Dwight Sr.’s career peaked during his rookie year, when he hit .324-9-52 for the Cubs. He later established himself as a valuable fourth outfielder and reliable lefthanded bat off the bench. Because he spent his last two years in the big leagues as primarily a pinch-hitter for the Braves, Smith and his family remained in the Atlanta area and his son has been a standout in the nearby East Cobb youth program for the past three years. Dwight Jr. is a hitting machine with a very advanced ability to square up any type of pitch and drive it hard to all fields. He has exceptional balance in the batter’s box and is one of the few hitters at the high-school level in this draft who can line a breaking ball on the outer half of the plate up the left-center-field gap in one at-bat and then turn on a high-velocity fastball on the inner half in his next at-bat. http://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=5645


Noe Ramirez: Noe Ramirez faced only three batters over the minimum as he pitched eight innings giving up only one run on two hits while striking out seven batters in a 4-2 victory over Long Beach State. His record was upped to 8-2 with the win. Nick Ramirez picked up the save for the Titans by pitching the ninth inning where he gave up a run but was able to squad the threat to get his 13th save of the year. http://www.collegebaseballdaily.com/2011/05/14/35649  



Kyle Winkler: Texas Christian's staff ace Kyle Winkler, who has stepped up in the absence of Matt Purke, will be skipped this week to give him some much needed rest. He doesn't have the prettiest delivery in the world, but is consistently 92-95 with his fastball and enough secondary stuff to merit consideration in the supplemental round. http://www.mlbbonusbaby.com/  


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