10/27/11

Draft 2012: - Austin Maddox, Travis Jankowski, Matt Smoral, Lewis Brinson, Dylan Floro


10-17-11: - http://mlbdraftguide.com/1  - Austin Maddox, C/IF, Florida - Maddox came out of high school as a catcher with a big arm and power potential.  He was one of my favorite prep prospects who made it to college. Arriving in Gainesville with Mike Zunino took catching away from Maddox’s profile, at least for the duration of his time in college.  He has played primarily the corner infield spots for the Gators while also spending time at DH. The big bat remained for Maddux in 2010.  He hit .333/.369/.587 with 17 home runs on his way to being named the SEC Freshman of the Year.  Maddox experienced a drop-off at the plate in 2011, falling to .280/.327/.368 with 6 home runs. A return to catcher will have to wait until Maddox reaches the next level, but a return to his freshman form as a batter could shoot him up draft boards.

10-22-11: - http://ht.ly/1fglCb - We continue the countdown today at number 83 with Stony Brook’s Travis Jankowski. In his sophomore season in 2011, he finished second on the squad with a .355 batting average with two homers and 38 RBI in 54 games. He led the squad with 30 stolen bases in 34 attempts while also not committing a single error in the outfield. Jankowski had a breakout summer in the Cape Cod Baseball League with the Bourne Braves. He played in 47 games hitting .326 with seven triples and 22 RBI. He continued his prowess on the basepaths with 15 stolen bases. He was named the 2011 CCBL MVP for his play over the summer

10-23-11: - http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/2011/10/smoral-stands-out-among-big-arms  - The World Wood Bat Association World Championship has long been a place where high school prospects can establish themselves as elite players against high-level competition. Matt Smoral, a lefthander from Solon (Ohio) High has always been considered to be among the top pitchers in the country, but he may have solidified himself as the top southpaw with an impressive outing on Friday. Smoral took the hill for the Midland Redskins/Royals Scout Team and lit up radar guns immediately, sitting 90-92 mph and touching 94 twice in the first inning. He remained in the low 90s for the first three innings before settling in at 88-91 in his final inning. He throws from a three-quarter arm slot and has a fairly easily delivery. His second-best pitch is a hard tilting slider in the low 80s.

10-22-11: - http://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=6347  - Having grown and matured into one of the nation’s top outfield prospects in the class of 2012, Lewis Brinson finds that he really isn’t overwhelmed by too much anymore. It’s just that there remain some scenes and situations that can be just a little bit more overwhelming than others, or at least trigger memories of the same. Brinson was at the Roger Dean Complex – the spring training home of the St. Louis Cardinals and the Florida Marlins – late Saturday morning in preparation of taking the field for the Red Sox Scout Team/Elite Squad at this year’s Perfect Game WWBA World Championship.

10-23-11: - http://ht.ly/1fhxpn  - Dylan Floro will be the anchor for the Titan pitching staff. Having watched him several times over the summer on the Cape, I’m pretty comfortable saying that. In Game 1, the junior pitched four innings, allowing only one run, unearned, on one hit, and he struck out three. It wasn’t until he left the game that Vanderbilt managed to get their momentum in what turned out to be a 10-8 Fullerton win.

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