Mack Ade – Chris Rivera, Lee Mazilli Jr., NKOTB, Reese McGuire, Hunter Hayes

Tracking baseball prospects does have areas that are pretty predictable. One is looking up a high school senior’s stats from previous years and being impressed with what has been reported to sites like MaxPreps.

I hate high school baseball statistics. I have no idea the quality of opponent these kids have played against.

I’m always reminded of one of my local high schools here in Hardeeville, South Carolina, the Abundant Life Academy. It was a private school that allowed its coach to recruit home schooled travel team veterans in a three county radius, something no public school could do. The result was ALA won the State Championship for, like, six years in a row.

All of this sounds very impressive until you get a look at the lack of quality on the teams they played against. Some had less than 15 total players on their team. Their pitchers threw in the high 70s and there was some years that the vast majority of the games were ended early due to the lopsided scores at the time. Every ALA starter hit well over .300. Pitchers K/9 stats were off the charts. It was a statistic smorgasbord.

So, naturally, I expected to see the same thing when I went to MaxPreps to get Chris Rivera’s stats for this portion of my weekly column. I first looked up his sophomore year:

          .359/.490, 28-H, 18-RBI, 21-R

Sounds normal… next came last season:

          .194/.283, 18-H, 14-RBI, 19-R, .909-FP

Was I missing something here? This is the guy that Matt Garrioch says is the number one pick overall and The Bleacher Report has at #4.

No one questions Rivera’s ability to play the position. The comparisons quickly go to the likes of Christian Colon, though his speed is slower. The interesting part of his game was the success he had last year as a pitcher, sitting in the 91-92 range.

I had talked to him early this year about his 2012 stats:

Mack – Chris, I want to jump ahead to the 2011-2012 season at El Dorado. Tell us about what went right and what went wrong last season?

Rivera – “Well what went wrong was I didn’t hit the way I wanted to, but  did play the defense I knew how to play and I pitched well for my team. As a team, we did a lot of things right, and I couldn’t have been any more proud to be a part of the team.”

I checked back in with him this week to see how the team was preparing for the new season:

for the rest...  click here... http://bigleaguefutures.net/1/2013/02/02/mack-ade-chris-rivera-lee-mazilli-jr-nkotb-reese-mcguire-hunter-hayes/  

2013 Draft/D1 Notes – PG National Showcase, Sean Bowman, Chris Rivera, YARMOUTH-DENNIS RED SOX

Florida Gator junior catcher Mike Zunino has been announced as Florida's first-ever recipient of the Dick Howser Trophy

Jonathan Mayo:

Best batting practice power: Garrett Williams, 1B/OF, Calvary Baptist HS, Shreveport, La.

Fastest runner: Carlos Williams, OF, Covington HS, Tenn.

Top velocity (92 mph): Robert Tyler, RHP, Crisp Count HS, Cordele, Ga.; Bryce Welborn, Northland Christian HS, The Woodlands, Texas; Mark Ecker, RHP, Sandra Day O’Connor HS, Helotes, Texas

Best pitching performance: Austin Sexton, RHP, Sparkman HS, Madison, Ala.

Best hitting performance: Dalton Dulin, SS, Memphis University School, Tenn. 

Todd Gold‏ -

Just overheard a scout drop a Huston Street comp on Chris Rivera as a pitcher. Sitting 91-92

Andrew Hartwell -

My Hitter of the Night in the Northwoods League from June 14th is Sean Borman of the Waterloo Bucks by way of St. Cloud State University. Sean went 3 for 5, with a home run and 3 runs scored. He also drove in two and is now hitting .333 this season.

Yarmouth-Dennis Red Soxs

YARMOUTH-DENNIS RED SOX    Manager: Scott Pickler (15th season)  Last season: 19-21-4; fourth place in East. Lost to Harwich in semifinals. Outlook: If all of the arms the Red Sox have on their early season roster arrive, this could be one of the most impressive pitching staffs of the summer. Florida sophomore right-hander Jonathan Crawford threw the seventh no-hitter in NCAA tournament history, first in 21 years, on June 1 against Bethune-Cookman. The Gators advanced to the CWS but Crawford's numbers so far include a 3.13 ERA with 70 strikeouts and 26 walks in 74 2/3 innings. Meanwhile, Indiana sophomore LHP Joey Denato had a 3.22 ERA in 15 starts, striking out 76 in 92 1/3 innings. Ricky Knapp, a sophomore RHP from Florida Gulf Coast, threw four complete games this season, posting a 2.34 ERA in 111 1/3 innings, striking out 61 and walking only 19. UC Irvine sophomore RHP Andrew Thurman, who played for Y-D last summer making four starts, also threw four complete games this season. He threw 98 innings, with 69Ks, 23 walks and a 2.66 ERA. Another standout arm, Oregon RHP Jake Reed was named to the Louisville Slugger Freshmen All-American team. Reed had a 2.92 ERA through 114 innings, striking out 67. Stanford sophomore RHP AJ Vanegas had five saves in 20 appearances for the Cardinals, compiling a 2.64 ERA. To supplement all of that pitching, the Red Sox have a slew of hefty bats. Indiana freshman third baseman Sam Travis was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and garnered Louisville Slugger Freshmen All-American first team status. He batted .319 with nine homers and 50 RBIs and had a .397 OBP. Stanford freshman shortstop Alex Blandino also was awarded the Louisville Slugger freshman first team. He hit .294 with eight homers and 40 RBIs.