Draft 13 – Riley Unroe, Dominic Smith, Clinton Hollon, Ryan Eades, Braden Shipley

Riley Unroe, SS, Desert Ridge HS (AZ) - With the defensive abilities to stick at shortstop, including plus speed (6.4/60) and a strong arm (91 mph), the 6’-1” switch-hitter is seeing his stock soar. His bat, however, remains his best tool. Over 31 games for one of the best programs in the country, he is hitting .565 with 14 doubles, five triples, 10 home runs and has driven in 59 runs. He has drawn 17 walks to just four strikeouts for a .642 OBP/1.152 SLG. He has also added 25 stolen bases. His father, Tim Unroe, spent five years in the majors with three different teams. Riley is an impressive talent who could be available at 77. Committed to USC. LINK

Dominic Smith, OF, Serra HS (CA) - The owner of one of the prettiest swings in the draft, Smith is a 6’-1” left-hander with an advanced approach at the plate. Over his last four games, he has gone 5-for-7 with a double, triple, three home runs and seven RBI. He has also drawn five walks and has been hit by a pitch three times, meaning he has reached base 15 of his last 17 plate appearances. On the season, he is now hitting .490/.614/1.059 over 20 games with five doubles, six home runs, 27 RBI and has drawn 14 walks to just five strikeouts. Aside from his hitting abilities, he also has a canon arm and can touch 94 mph on the mound. Committed to USC. LINK

Dan Kirby ‏@DanMKirby

Woodford County HS (KY) RHP Clinton Hollon: 7 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 13 K/3 BB. Has allowed just 19 H over 54 IP w/ 80 K/14 BB

           The rise of right-handed starting pitcher Ryan Eades might just be the difference for LSU as the NCAA postseason draws nearer. Eades has always had the potential to be a dominant weekend starting pitcher. He showed glimpses of greatness last season. But he also showed glimpses of a pitcher who had much work to do in terms of refining his stuff becoming more consistent. Even with those two things holding him back last season, he still managed to tally a respectable 3.83 ERA in 94 innings of work, along with 63 strikeouts and 28 walks. LINK

Perhaps I am overstating just how much Braden Shipley has moved, because he was already one of the top college pitchers on the board, but it is also a testament to how high I am on him. Shipley has added a half-grade to his fastball, which now sits in the 92-95 mph range, and his command of the pitch has gotten much better. He can spot it where he wants and it explodes out of his hand. He complements that with a changeup that is above-average right now and has the potential to be plus if he can consistently command it. Shipley also throws a hard slider that projects as an above-average pitch. LINK

Draft 13 – Austin Wilson, Andrew Knapp, Ryan Eades, Matt McPhearson, Preston Palmeiro

Austin Wilson, OF, Stanford - In his nine games since returning from an elbow injury he suffered in the first game of the season, the 6’-5” right-hander has gone 13-for-31 (.419) with five doubles, a home run, nine RBI and has drawn five walks to just two strikeouts for a .526 OBP/.677 SLG. His upside of a power hitting corner outfielder with speed should land him among the top-20 picks in the 2013 MLB draft. link

Andrew Knapp, California - Arguably the best college catcher available in the 2013 MLB draft, the switch-hitting Knapp has a lot of potential at the plate but is still inconsistent behind it. He does have a strong arm and is a good athlete, he just needs to settle down and rely on his instincts rather than trying to rush everything. He has a nice stroke from both sides of the plate and makes consistent, hard contact. Over 43 games this season, he is hitting .344 with 11 doubles, six home runs, 34 RBI and has drawn 19 walks for a .421 OBP/.521 SLG. I wouldn’t use a second-round pick on him, but if he is there the third time around, he could be a good value pick. -  link

When Ryan Eades was a sophomore in high school, scouts in Louisiana thought he would become a first-round pick. It turns out, they might be right—it just took a little longer than they expected for him to get there. As a junior at Louisiana State, the hard-throwing righthander is learning to harness the talent that spawned those bold prophecies five years ago. link

Dan Kirby‏  @DanMKirby

Another guy is 6'-0" L/L CF Matt McPhearson. Has +/+ speed (88 SB over last 55 G) Hit .476/.603/.677 this season

Preston Palmeiro, 3B/OF, Heritage HS (TX) - The son of the Cubs 1985 first-round pick (22nd overall), and 3,000-hit member, Rafael Palmeiro, Preston is a 6’-1”, 195-pound left-hander just like his pops. He also is a teammate of Cody Thomas. He makes great contact like his dad, and he also has a great approach at the plate. Over 33 games this season, he is hitting .385 with 12 extra-base hits and has drawn 26 walks for a .524 OBP/.594 SLG. An average runner, he relies more on his athleticism and instincts to steal bases and defend his position. He has a strong enough arm to remain at third but will probably end up in a corner outfield position. His bat is his best asset and he also has the bloodlines thing going for him. Could be a nice mid-round selection

   link

Building 2012 Rosters Prospects First - Picks 51-55:

51: - SP Steve Matz – The best at thing I can say about Steve at this point in his professional career is he gives a great interview. Oh yeah, he’s from New York too. That’s two things. I had very little on him when the Mets drafted him and a lot of the fans have forgotten he’s still in the system. Hopefully, he will heal up this winter and we’ll see him in the spring. No sense in printing old velo stats; the kid is basically starting over here. He’ll start with baby steps. I have him in K-Port. ETA: ???

52: - 3B Elvis Sanchez – No, I’m not going to say that Elvis is in the house. Oh, shit. Sanchez was signed last year as a 16-year old and was hyped with having similar power as Aderlin Rodriguez. You can’t ask for more when he went yard on opening night for the DSL2 team. He wound up having one of the strangest seasons and might go down in history as the most patient teenager in baseball: 198-AB… 73-K… .157-BA… but, 62-BB! That translates to an OBP of .367 with a slugging percentage of .222. The Mets plan on working on removing his bat from his shoulder, and if they are smart, they’d leave im in the DR for another season. ETA: ???

53: - RP Jose De La Torre – The 25-year old had a banner year in 2010, relieving in 51-games for Binghamton and Buffalo and combining for a 3-2, 2.69 record. This included 80Ks in 70.1-IP. This year, most of the year was spent on and off the DL, but he did get in 20 games for GCL/Clones/Bisons and has a stat line of: 2-2, 1.09, 25-K, 24.2-IP.ome April 2012, but I might change that before this report is done. He really deserves to be in Queens. ETA: - Queens pen sometime in 2012.



photo by Allan Greene

 54: - SP Domingo Tapia – I probably have Tapia too low. He’s making quite a name for himself this season, throwing at 100 for K-Port. 2012 will be the 5th year in the Mets system for Dom, who will play 2012 as a 21-year old. I have him starting for Savannah next season, but this is a closer in waiting. You give him one more season throwing 100+ heat, plus control on some pitch with sink, and you watch how fast this kid moves. ETA: Projected Mets closer 2014.

55: - SP Ryan Fraser – I can’t wait for the off-season so I can have another interview with Ryan. This is a career reliever that was pumped at the end of 2010 when he was told he was going to start for the Sand Gnats in 2011. I thought it was just a way of getting him more innings so he can be evaluated in the future. Let’s face it, the kid just hasn’t thrown a lot in his career and his arm could use a good, seasonal test. Well, he got what he wanted, and did a good job, earning him another starting slot next spring, this time with Lucy. ETA: Mets pen 2015


Rosters So Far:


Buffalo: (14) –SP Chris Schwinden, Collin McHugh, Brandon Moore, RP Robert Carson, Eric Beaulac, Jose De La Torre, IF Alan Dykstra, Reese Havens, Jordany Valdespin, Zach Lutz, OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Fernando Martinez, Mike Baxter, Juan Lagarus


Binghamton: (9) – SP: Mike Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Jeurys Familia, Darin Gorski, RP Josh Edgin, Brad Holt, IF Jefry Marte, OF Matt den Dekker, Cesar Puello


St. Lucie: (13) – SP Greg Peavey, Taylor Whitenton, Angel Cuan, Tyler Pill, Ryan Fraser, RP Cory Mazzoni, Jack Leathersich, Chase Huchingson, IF Wilmer Flores, Aderlin Rodriguez, OF Cory Vaughn, Gilbert Gomez, Darrell Cecilliani


Savannah: (6) – SP Akeel Morris, Alex Panteliodis, Erik Goeddel, Logan Verrett, RP T.J. Chism, IF Cam Maron


Brooklyn: (5) – SP: Michael Fulmer, Juan Urbina, Domingo Tapia, IF Phillip Evans, OF: Brandon Nimmo


Kingsport: (4) – SP Luis Mateo, Christian Montgomery, Steve Matz, OF Vincente Lupo


GCL: (0) –


DSL: (1) – IF Elvis Sanchez,

2012 Draft: - Steve Nyisztor, Mark Hermes, Ryan Eades, Michael Wacha, Teddy Stankiewicz

Steve Nyisztor:


7-21-11: - http://www.mockdraftmania.com/  - 13. Cincinnati Reds Steve Nyisztor 2B Rutgers Nyisztor appeared in all 56 games and started all, but one game at 2nd base. Nyisztor posted a .410 batting average along with 4 home runs, 51 RBI’s, 11 stolen bases, and 17 doubles. Nyisztor is a project, but has the tools to be a 5 tool player if his home run ability improves.


Mark Hermes:


7-19-11: - http://www.mlbbonusbaby.com/2011/6/29/2250656/early-look-at-2012#comments  – Mark Hermes, North Dakota St, 6’4 195, needs to get ahead of hitters more, does challenge but gets behind a lot, often throwing tons of pitches, has good arm strength and build to get better, touches 93-94 on occ as well, most fb are true and 88-91, breaking ball still developing.


Ryan Eades:


8-2-11: - http://www.collegebaseballdaily.com/2011/08/02/cape-cod-baseball-league-all-star-pitchers-trevor-gott-carter-capps-bobby-wahl-ryan-eades-austin-voth/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CollegeBaseballDaily+%28College+Baseball+Daily%29&utm_content=Twitter  - Ryan Eades (LSU)- He had an up and down season with the LSU Tigers making 18 appearances (six starts) while going 4-1 with a 4.81 ERA. He gave up 49 hits in only 41 innings pitched while striking out 31 batters while walking 18. Eades has improved this summer going a perfect 3-0 with an ERA of 0.84 in his seven appearances (six starts). He was able to pitch a perfect first inning in the Cape All-Star game, forcing two weak groundouts and striking out a batter.


Michael Wacha:


8-2-11: - http://bullpenbanter.com/  - I saw Texas A&M's Michael Wacha pitch in Newport against the NECBL's Gulls for the Team USA Collegiate National Team. Wacha is entering his Jr. season in the spring. Very impressive pitcher. Big kid (6'6", 195 lbs). Righthander. Works low 90's with a 2 seam FB that has a little arm side run... and his size gives reason to think he'll end up a few ticks higher. Best pitch is a diving CU. The grip looks like a circle change to me but action is down and tumbling with little/no screwball movement. He throws some filthy CUs in his pre game pen on this video. Wacha's breaking balls were sometimes loopy/slurvy, but he commanded the CB fairly well and can throw it for strikes. He keeps the ball in the strikezone and on the ground. Wacha is probably a 1st rounder in the 2012 MLB Draft and with a strong season I wouldn't be surprised to see him end up in the top 10.


Teddy Stankiewicz:


7-19-11: - http://www.mlbbonusbaby.com/2011/6/29/2250656/early-look-at-2012#comments   - Teddy Stankiewicz, Southwest Christian HS, Ft Worth Tex 6’3 190, loose arm that touches 92 on occ, most were 90 with sink when down, fb up hittable, control is ok and has good rotation and bite on cb, both pitches fb & cb from H 3/4 arm slot and delivery is easy to project more velocity to develop later.