12/18/11

Draft 2012: - Lance McCullers Jr., Tyler Kane, Sam Stafford, Christian Walker


12-2-11: - http://mlbdraftcountdown.wordpress.com/2011/12/02/2012-mlb-mock-draft-updated-top-15-with-final-mlb-standings - 5) Kansas City Royals: Lance McCullers, RHP, Tampa Jesuit Prep (FL)  McCullers has all the tools of a potential top-overall selection.  His fastball is one of the best in the class, his command looked better than ever this past season and he’s made impressive strides with his secondary pitchers. The reason he ranks ninth overall on Baseball America’s high school top 100, and the same reason he’ll likely slide on draft day is due to the uncertainty surrounding how long he’s going to remain a starter.  Few teams feel comfortable taking chances on risky players like that, but the Royals aren’t one of them. They have consistently thrown caution to the wind and ended up reaping the benefits of the blossoming of some guys who were considered “risky.”

12-9-11: - http://www.collegesummerbaseball.net/2011/12/top-20-pitchers-in-perfect-game.html  -   Tyler Kane   RHP   Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs---Washington -  Tyler had a great summer, but his most outstanding stat was that he walked just one batter in his 28 innings of work. He went 1-1, had an era of 1.93 and fanned 33 batters for the Diamond Dawgs. He was named a rising star by the league and Baseball America ranked him as the 4th best prospect in the league.

12-14-11: - http://ht.ly/1gaHyz  - We continue the countdown today at number 42 with Texas senior LHP Sam Stafford. The 6’4 190 pounder is from Spring, Texas and attended Klein Collins High School. He was a three-year letterwinner as a pitcher for Coach Kent Meador. As a senior, he was named second-team All-District 16-5A , a preseason Louisville SluggerAll-American, and ranked as theNo. 6 recruit in the state on Inside Prep Baseball’s Texas Top 25 list. The Boston Red Sox selected him in the 40th round of the 2008 MLB First-Year Player Draft but he decided to head to college to play at Texas. He saw limited action as a freshman in 2009 appearing in only three games without recording a decision with an ERA of 10.12 and one strikeout in 2.2 innings. In 2010, he made eight appearances, including seven starts, where he didn’t record a decision with a 2.61 ERA and 29 strikeouts (13 walks) in 20.2 innings of work.

12-15-11: - http://ht.ly/1gbS1F  - We continue the countdown today at number 41 with South Carolina junior infielder Christian Walker. The Limerick, Pennsylvania native attended Kennedy-Kenrick High School. As a senior, he hit .588 while being named to the 2009 Philadelphia Inquirer All-S.E. Pennsylvania team. He ended up drafted in the 2009 MLB Draft in the 49th Round by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He decided to spurn the Dodgers offer and head to South Carolina. Walker stepped right into the South Carolina as a freshman becoming an everyday starter appearing in 61 games (51 starts) while hitting .327 with nine homers and 51 RBI. He was named a Freshman All-American by Baseball America, College World Series All-Tournament Team and to the SEC All-Freshman Team.

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