Stuff – Vincente Lupo, Danny Muno, Jack Leathersich, Lance McCullers Jr., John Henry

Vincente Lupo

The Mets have an actual, positively genuine outfield prospect. The problem he’s at least four years away. Vincente Lupo is an 18-year old hitting machine that is ranked in just about every top five offensive categories anyone has come up with. We all know far too little about these kids playing way down south and I give the Mets a lot of credit not rushing him; however, I do expect to see him play with Savannah next year for a full season. He’s second in the league in homers (nobody hits home runs down there) and his stat line Tuesday was: .349/.492/.629/1.121. Really? 

Danny Muno

Frankly, I’m very impressed here. I was never that excited about his big numbers in Brooklyn (2011 - .355) because of the age he played there. Then came the stupid 50-game suspension and I thought we had seen the last of this guy. Well, we haven’t. He’s still playing SS, hit his 6^th home run of the season and going into Tuesday’s game with a stat line of: .274/.369/.406/.775. I especially love the 35-BB in 234-official at bats and only 39-K. For the hell of it, he produced four hits tonight while I was writing this (up to .286).

I can’t see Muno having any future with the Mets at short, though there is no one in his way next spring there or at second base in AA. I’m adding Muno to my ‘blue’ list and admitting I had this kid wrong.  

Jack Leathersich

We got a live one in St. Lucie. 5-11, 205, 22-year old Jack Leathersich has now thrown… get ready… 106 strikeouts in 66.1 innings. ‘Leather’ totally dominated Savannah in the spring 0.75, 24.0-IP, 37-K, but the strikeout machine is continuing at the A+ level, with an additional 64-K in 40.1-IP. I’ve met Jack and seen him pitch and he’s quite the bully on the mound. He comes off much older and I can’t see him having any trouble getting to Queens before the 2013 season ends. Once again… 106 strikeouts in 66.1 innings. This is very special folks and Jack is definitely a member of the ‘red’ list.

Lance McCullers Jr.

I saw this on a Houston blog this morning:

RHP Lance McCullers - At 18, supplemental first round pick McCullers is the youngest of the group and he has yet to win his first professional game, but with a 1.42 ERA and a 1.053 WHIP, it's only a matter of time. After four starts with the GCL team, McCullers was promoted to Greeneville where he's made two additional starts. Batters are hitting only .186 against him.

(The Mets drafted BOTH Cecchini and Plawecki with McCullers still available)

The Mets drafted BOTH SS Gavin Cecchini and C Kevin Plawecki with McCullers still on the board. By the way, McCulllers high school ERA in his senior year: 0.18. Cecchini is ready impressing no one in Kingsport and, while Plawecki is showing some promise, one has to wonder how a sure fire pick like this was passed over.

John Henry

I worked for a guy like Boston Red Sox owner John Henry. The holder of the major note for two Savannah radio stations ‘hired’ me to turnaround a situation in which the broadcast-minority owner, had run the stations into the ground under an incompetent General Manager. I had to fly to Boston and meet with both of them and the broadcast dude, Bill McCormick, wanted nothing to do with me; however, it wasn’t his call. In return, McCormick made me address to the staff on the first day at the radio stations my dependency problems, even though I had been sober for 16 years. Nice way to start a job (note: turned stations around in 2.5 years, produced $440K PCF, and sold stations to Dick Verne (ex-President of NBC who hired Howard Stern) and I remained for three more years as minority partner). Bobby V should tell these guys to go fuck themselves at the end of the year and go replace Fareed Zakaria on CNN.

Draft Notes 5-16-12 – Albert Almora, Duane Underwood, Nick Travieso, Lance McCullers Jr.

Doc Silvey – http://www.prospectnation.com/blog/?p=1710

Albert Almora, Mater Academy (Hialeah Gardens, Fla.), OF, Senior - Almora had a phenomenal regular season, hitting .603 with six homers, 34 RBIs, 42 runs scored and 27 stolen bases. But a shocking loss to Hialeah-Miami Lakes (Hialeah, Fla.) in the Class 8A district playoffs ended the season of Mater Academy, which failed to qualify for the regional tournament. Meanwhile, the rest of The Starting Nine was still in postseason play through Sunday.

John Manuel - http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/2012/05/what-to-do-with-duane-underwood/

And then there's Duane Underwood. The athletic 6-foot-2, 185-pound righthander at Marietta's Pope High has had an up-and-down spring, mostly on the down side. A late uptick produced buzz that Underwood could put himself back into first-round consideration, as he reportedly hit 96-97 mph as Pope High approached the playoffs.

MLB Draft 2012 – http://mlbdraftcountdown.wordpress.com/category/mlb-draft-2012/

Nick Travieso is one of just a handful of pitchers who have consistently been clocked in the mid-to-high 90s, and that’s a primary reason that he has so much helium headed into the final month before the draft.

ESPN HS -

Lance McCullers Jr., RHP, Jesuit (Tampa, Fla.) - McCullers’ domination – he didn’t allow an earned run during the regular season -- has continued during the postseason as he went all seven, fanning 13 and allowing just four hits. Amazingly, those were the most hits he’s allowed in a start all season. As one scout in attendance opined, “We got to see him really focus, and bow his neck today, and the results speak for themselves.”

North Carolina sophomore pitcher, Shane Taylor, named ACC Pitcher of the Week.

LSU Kevin Gausman named SEC Pitcher of the Week.

Mack –

“How’s the recovery process. Are you 100%?”

Alex Bregman -

One hundred percent. Really excited to move forward with my baseball career.

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 Slugger All-American, and ranked as the No. 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.

Draft 2012: - Lance McCullers Jr., Kevin Gausman, Brett Knief

7-19-11: - http://www.mlbbonusbaby.com/2011/6/29/2250656/early-look-at-2012#comments - Lance McCullers, Jesuit HS, Tampa FL, 6’1 185, R/R, max effort with some pitchability, fb up to 97, most are 93-94, same as in 2010, has hard breaking slider up to 87 that can be overpowering, throws strikes, jerks head some in delivery causing eratic command/control, can get better in time, has good bloodlines, type of physique to get bigger in time, potential starter, long term is as a short man out of pen. Definite type of arm strength to be considered top 10 in first round for 2012.

9-8-11: - http://www.gacksports.com/65590/2012-mlb-mock-draft-update - 12. Colorado Rockies Kevin Gausman Pitcher LSU Gausman led the team innings pitched for LSU last season.  Kevin Gausman managed to pitch 89.2 innings for the LSU Tigers in 15 starts.  With an improvement of his mechanics and change up pitch Kevin Gausman has the tools to be a top 10 pick now.

9-12-11: - http://www.collegesummerbaseball.net/2011/09/top-20-position-players-in-florida.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter - In the six-team Florida Collegiate Summer League this summer, the Sanford River Rats downed the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs to earn them the title of FCSL Champions. Individually, there were at least 25 position players that turned in great seasons. Unfortunately, I had to narrow the list down to the top 20.- 8.   Brett Knief   OF  DeLand--Seminole State College - Brett is 6-1/195 pounds and is a recent transfer from UNC. He hit .359 in 64 at-bats for the Suns. He scored 9 runs and drove in 12 this summer. He was ranked as the 14th best prospect in the league by Perfect Game.

Draft 2012: - Jeremy Baltz, Lance McCullers Jr., Mike Zunino, Ted Blackman, Nelson Rodriguez

7-19-11: - http://www.mlbbonusbaby.com/2011/6/29/2250656/early-look-at-2012#comments   - Jeremy Baltz, St John’s, 6’3 205, R/R, one of better hitters on paper with tools, didn’t have great 2011 as he did in 2010, adjusted to new bats, but came on late this year. Shows ability to play either OF corner and has strong enough arm for RF, runs well underway, not a base stealing threat, 8-15 type HR power frequency, 4-7 type round candidate for 2012.

9-8-11: - http://www.gacksports.com/65590/2012-mlb-mock-draft-update  - 3. Minnesota Twins Lance McCullers Jr. Pitcher Tampa Jesuit High School Florida Even though were beginning to see pitchers like Mark Appel and Lucas Giolito slowly separate themselves as the #1 and #2 overall prospects at this point, Lance McCullers Jr. is still a top 3 overall talent. You would be a fool to dismiss what Lance brings to the table in terms of pitching potential down the road.

9-12-11: - http://www.collegebaseballdaily.com/2011/09/12/sec-baseball-questions-for-2011  - Mike Zunino will look to return to his sophomore form as he was named 2011 SEC Player of the Year after hitting .371 with 19 homers and 67 RBI in a breakout season. Zunino made an interesting decision to not play for Team USA this summer and only appeared in eleven games with Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox before heading home for the summer

9-12-11: - http://www.collegesummerbaseball.net/2011/09/top-20-position-players-in-florida.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter  - In the six-team Florida Collegiate Summer League this summer, the Sanford River Rats downed the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs to earn them the title of FCSL Champions. Individually, there were at least 25 position players that turned in great seasons. Unfortunately, I had to narrow the list down to the top 20. - 1. Ted Blackman OF Winter Park--Coastal Carolina - Ted, a 6-0/190 pound switch-hitter really made a name for himself this summer while patrolling the Diamond Dawgs outfield. He led the league with a .425 batting average and had an unreal .582 on base percentage. He also led the league with 37 walks. Ted was second in the league with 38 runs scored and 28 stolen bases as well. He showed some pop at the plate (3 hr's) and he hit 10 home runs on the season. During a 10-game stretch in late June/early July, he went 16/35 and drove in 9 runners. He was named the MVP of the league and Perfect Game named him to their Third Team-All American List. Perfect Game ranked him as the 5th best prospect in the league, and Baseball America tabbed him as the 2nd best prospect in the league.

7-19-11: - http://www.mlbbonusbaby.com/2011/6/29/2250656/early-look-at-2012#comments  - Nelson Rodriguez, George Washington HS, Brooklyn NY, 6’1 230 R/R, strong body, huge legs, good bat speed with power potential, stands to throw and has ML arm strength, not real quick in his actions behind the plate, played mostly 1b at TOS event, put the bat on the ball which is his trademark, runs better than he showed out of the box but is not going to be a base running threat. 13-20 round type.