Draft Notes 5-22-12 – Chadd Krist, Nick Travieso, Aaron West, Preston Morrison

Chadd Krist  -

Californa (27-24) senior catcher, went 2—4, 2-R, 2-RBI Sunday and led the Golden Bears to an unexpected 6-5 victory over 12^th ranked UCLA (38-14). Seasonal stats: .282//310/.411, 4-HR, 33-RBI, 6-E, .982. Has caught 3 0f 12 runners… drafted last year in the 13t round by the White Sox, but didn’t sign.

Mack Projection: easy to run on… gave up five stolen bases in one inning earlier this season… came back toschool to improve his draft status, but doesn’t look like he has. Projection – 12-15^th round

West Virginia (23-31) fired their coach, Greg Van Zant, minutes after their season ending loss to South Florida (33-20).

 Nick Travieso

RHP - Archbishop McCarthy HS, Florida  -  90-94 FB, 96-97 peak with rumors as high as 99; FB moves a ton, especially when he takes some off (90-92), so it is really hard to square up on; works low in zone with FB; command is iffy, too many hittable strikes; really encouraged by quick progression of good 80-87 SL that has plus upside; for being relatively new to throwing anything but a fastball, he commands his SL really well; new 82 CU – have also heard he’ll throw a hard CU (87-88) with decent tumble, but haven’t seen it yet; whatever you think of the CU, it is such a raw offering that it could go in any number of ways, positively or negatively; has been tagged with the “throws like a reliever” stigma, but I don’t see it; there are enough questions about Travieso (starter or reliever, improved yet still very inconsistent slider, no firsthand look by majority of scouts that says much on whether or not his nascent change will work against live bats) that I’d understand teams that move him off their day one draft boards, but arm strength and the ability to spin a breaking ball (at least some of the time) are worth investing some money in; 6-3, 215 pounds

 Aaron West

Aaron West dominated the Far West League after going undrafted after his redshirt sophomore season.  He has followed that breakout campaign with a largely successful season in 2012. West lacks great stuff, but does show good control.  He uses a high 3/4 arm slot.  He also has a very good pickoff move. West’s fastball is typically 90-91 and gets up to 94.  He throws his change with good arm speed.  His slider projects well, but is still somewhat inconsistent.

Preston Morrison -

After dropping a contest to San Diego State, the Horned Frogs looked to the freshman (2014) righty to provide a spark on Saturday. Boy, did he accomplish that goal and more. Morrison struck out five batters and allowed just one hit in a complete game shutout over the Aztecs. He threw 74 of his 107 pitches for strikes PG