5/29/12

Draft Notes 5-30-12 – Victor Roache, Kevin Plawecki, Tim Cooney, Tucker Frawley



Victor Roache OF Georgia Southern -> Roache entered the season with the reputation as one of the top power hitters in college baseball after hitting 30 home runs last year as a sophomore, then went to the Cape Cod league last summer and was quite impressive outside of a late season slump.  Unfortunately Roache broke his left wrist early this season, leaving teams to question how this injury will affect him going forward.  Roache is an interesting name amongst the scouting community, as his supporters see him as a power slugging corner outfielder (he reminds me of former Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Greg Vaughn), while his detractors fear his swing-and-miss tendencies and profile as a right-handed hitting left fielder.  The team that drafts him will believe in his power translating to professional baseball and will have scouted him heavily last year.



Aside from Mike Zunino, there isn’t much to get excited about when looking at the crop of college catchers. The second tier (Zunino is the sole member of the first) is comprised of a group that is spearheaded by Purdue backstop Kevin Plawecki, arguably the top performer this season after the Gators highly regarded catcher. Whereas Plawecki doesn’t have any one trait that paints him as a future superstar, few have doubts that he has the polish to go along with the offensive ability and defensive chops to be an everyday catcher in the big-leagues. For starters, he guided the Boilermakers to their first-ever Big Ten Championship, and along with it, their first No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Plawecki was the team’s top offensive playmaker, hitting .365/.454/.567, racking up a team-leading 20 doubles and six homers along the way.



                        Player: Tim Cooney - College: Wake Forest University Position: Starting Pitcher  Bats/Throws: L/L  Height/Weight: 6'3" / 195 lbs  Class: Junior  Draft Year: 2012 
Good height; thin, athletic frame; thin legs; some moderate projection in frame
Delivery doesn't have great smoothness; a bit slot with a high leg kick and some leg whip in his finish
Live arm from a 3/4 arm slot; clean arm action, releasing the ball with good extension
Fastball has some late arm side run; 86-90, touching 91 throughout the outing (via TV gun)
Fastball looks bigger than radar is indicating; good late life and can be blown past hitters up in zone
Cut fastball with nice glove side action; 85-89 (via TV gun)
Cutter has good depth and late life that can miss bats
1-7 big, steep breaking ball with a ton of depth; good sharpness; 69-74 (via TV gun)
Curve ball has heavy spin and even the slow variety have fairly sharp break
Change with hard fading and diving action; 76-79 (via TV gun)
Throws the change with conviction and got good consistent action on pitch throughout the game
2-8 slider with some late tilt; 79-83 (via TV gun)
Slider does not have a ton of depth but the break is decently late with some sharpness
Slider works well as a back door offering and works effectively as a chase pitch to LH batters
Shows good control of his stuff and commands them at times
Command was a problem in the third inning, leaving pitches in poor locations and having inefficient at bats
Works quickly and does a good job of attacking hitters
Mixes pitches well and generally keeps the hitter off-balance
Good deception on his pick-off move




Tucker Frawley, C, Coastal Carolina, Senior Frawley is an excellent defensive catcher.  He moves well behind the plate.  He has a strong, accurate arm and a quick release.  Frawley does not project well offensively, but has shown a more patient approach as a senior and put up better numbers than he has previously.




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