1/14/12

Draft 2012 – Duane Underwood, Lance McCullers, Cullen Mahoney, Ty Hensley, Ronnie Freeman


 


Duane Underwood — 6’-2”, RHP, Pope HS (GA)  Duane Underwood is a hard-throwing righty whose fastball can hit 97 mph with ease. He also features a hard curve that projects to a plus pitch and a deceptive change-up that is still developing. His command can get away from him at times, but his strong arm, athleticism and high baseball IQ will have many teams flocking to Georgia to see his talents. http://www.throughthefencebaseball.com/top-50-draft-prospects-for-2012-50-thru-26/15621/

Lance McCullers Jr., RHP, Jesuit (Tampa, Fla.)  - The son of former MLB pitcher Lance McCullers Sr., McCullers has potential as a power bat, but his fastball has sniffed triple digits and he’s flashed an above-average breaking ball. Scouts are split on his future as the spring nears, but he’s a surefire first-round arm — and could break into the top 10 — for clubs that view him as a long-term starter. The Florida commit struck out 79 in 52 innings last year while hitting .422 with seven homers and 24 RBIs. http://espn.go.com/blog/high-school/baseball/post/_/id/940/mccullers-jr-is-top-florida-diamond-star

Cullen Mahoney was one of the best players in the Northwoods League this summer. The All-Star 2B spent this summer playing for the Thunder Bay Border Cats. He hit .347 in 213 at-bats, which placed him second in the league in batting average. He scored 33 runs, drove in 29 and he led the league with 5 triples. He also hit 7 doubles and smacked 4 home runs for TB.  His bb/k ratio of 27/47 and he stole 10 bases as well. He was named to play in the NWL All-Star Game and Perfect Game ranked him as the 66th best prospect in the league. In my rankings of the top position players in the league from 2011, I ranked Cullen as the 3rd best

This year, Oklahoma might not have the quantity of talent that Texas does, but the state is well represented by Sante Fe (Edmond, Okla.) right-hander Ty Hensley. Standing in at 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, Hensley is one of the most physically imposing pitchers in his class. Last season, he went 6-0 with a 2.26 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 31 innings. "He's got a power arm with a power delivery,” said Jason A. Churchill, who covers scouting, player development and the MLB Draft for ESPN Insider. “I had him up to 94 mph and sitting 91-92 at the Area Code Games and he used what appeared to be two different breaking balls — either a slider and a curve or a variation of one of them. He may end up in the bullpen, but I like to stay away from labeling a high school kid. You do have to dream on the command and off-speed stuff and hope he develops a changeup if he's to be a full-time starter, however.”  http://espn.go.com/blog/high-school/baseball/post/_/id/983/hensley-is-latest-oklahoma-star-hurler  

collegesummerbaseball   - 1.   Ronnie Freeman   C   Holyoke Blue Sox--Kennesaw State -  Ronnie was third in the league with a .373 batting average. He led the league with 56 hits and led the league with 12 doubles. Ronnie was second in the league with 32 runs scored and he also drove in 25 this season. To go along with his 12 doubles, he slammed 5 home runs and walked 17 times. He was given the leagues Sportsmanship Award this summer. PG ranked him as the 7th best prospect in the league while BA ranked him as the 2nd best in the league. On December 1st, I named  him one of my 2011 Top Performers.


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