Draft Notes 5-13-12 – Brian Johnson, Mathew Reckling, Spencer Kieboom, Ross Stripling

Keith Law –

Q - If healthy, you think Royals take Giolito over top three college arms?

A – “I would.

Florida LHP Brian Johnson –

5.0-IP, 4-H, 1-ER, 2-K, 1-BB, Loss (5-4) – season: 13-ST, 5-4, 4.29, 65.0-IP, 52-K, 13-BB – The 6-3 lefty started out the mock season as the top lefty in the draft. At times, GSU’s Chris Beck, Harvard-Westlake H.S. Max Fried, and Solon H.S. Matt Smoral have passed him, but, if the draft was right now, Oklahoma State’s Andrew Heaney would be the first lefty picked. Johnson has not had the banner year he had hoped for, especially for the banner team he plays for. Everybody loves a lefty, and a 6-3 lefty is like a 6-6 righty.  All the names mentioned will probably go in the first 31 picks, along with Camarillo HS Hunter Virant and Georgia’s Alex Wood. This is a pitchers draft. Projection: 25-31 range.

Rice RHP Matthew Reckling –

Reckling had an excellent outing Saturday, though there was a little wildness: 5.0-IP, 8H, 2-ER, 5-K, 4-BB, 8-1, 3-WP – vs. UAB  The talent pool in this draft falls off pretty quick past the top 90 and Reckling has worked himself back into contention for a first day pick. I see him going in the sup-1 round, even though a lot of scoutns are suspicious about the Rice jinx.    

Matt Grabusky –  Rice righthander Matthew Reckling has greatly improved his draft stock since being selected in the 22nd round last year.  He is a groundball pitcher who keeps the ball in the park. Reckling’s fastball sits in the low 90′s.  He throws primarily a 2 seam fastball that has good sink, using his 4 seam fastball sparingly.  He throws a 12/6 curve, 79-8,2 that is above average to plus.  His change is from 78-80

TAMU (36-14) Ross Stripling –

Can you think of a better day to throw a no-hitter than the day you graduate college? Stat line Saturday vs. San Diego State (22-29) - 9.0-IP, CG, 0-H, 0-R, 7-K, 1-BB, minimum 27 batters… it was interesting that he was drafted last year in the 9^th round but chose to return for his senior year in college. No one does that anymore. Seasonally: 12-ST, 8-2, 2.59, 94.0-IP, 90-K, 14-BB. It’s obvious that he won’t go before his teammate, Michael Wacha, though he’s right there stat-wise with Mike. The no-hitter will have people writing his name down again. Originally a reliever, he’s only  pitched for five years. Projection: 2^nd round.    

                   

Clemson C Spencer Kieboom –

Hitting a three-run homer against a D1 team is a big deal. Hitting one against the number one team in the nation is everything. Clemson junior C Spencer Kieboom may only be hitting .261 for the season, but he proved Saturday night that he can hit under pressure. He went 10-15 earlier this year in the weekend series with Georgia Tech. I guess you should draft this kid and just play him against teams leading their division. We all know that Florida’s Mike Zunino will go early on the first day, but the rest of the catcher situation is still undetermined. Miami’s Peter O’Brien, Union HS’s Clint Coulter, Accadania HS’s Stryker Trahan, Tcu’s Josh Elander, and Buffalo’s Tom Murphy could all go the first day of the draft.  This one game could elevate Spencer to a high second day pick. Projection:  4^th round

2012 Draft: - Spencer Kieboom, Sam Selman, Walker Weickel, Lance McCullers, Kent Emanuel



Photo by Mark Crammer

 Spencer Kieboom:


6-20-11: - http://baseballdraftreport.com/  - Clemson SO C Spencer Kieboom
.300/.382/.382 – 23 BB/12 K – 170 AB - There is a lot to like about Spencer Kieboom. First, he’s got a good approach at the plate. Next up, there is his even better defense behind the plate. Finally, and best of all, there is his name, Spencer Kieboom. The first two may be more important with respect to his future in baseball, but I’d say that last quality alone is more than enough to get him on every early 2012 watch list.

Sam Selman


6-17-11: - http://baseballdraftreport.com/  SO LHP Sam Selman (2012) - There are way too many teams and players for me to keep track of everybody and everything quite the way I’d like to. The case of Sam Selman exemplifies the limits of my coverage. In doing research for this very piece, I checked out Selman’s 2011 stats, excited to see what kind of numbers a player with a potential plus fastball (mid-90s peak), plus slider, and promising changeup (per my notes) put up. Selman threw a whopping 6.1 innings last year. Based on the reports I had on him from his high school/early Vanderbilt days, some major injury must have popped up for Selman in 2011 to limit his innings that drastically, I thought. Not so fast, my friend. Selman’s lack of work can be traced to an overcrowded (in the best possible way) Vanderbilt pitching staff and a somewhat disappointingly slow transition to the college game, most notably from a strength standpoint. His string bean 6-3, 170 pound physique has not yet proven to be reliable enough to handle any kind of real innings workload and his control has kept him from being able to effectively utilize his array of promising pitches.



Walker Weickel:


6-19-11: - http://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=5909  - Walker Weickel followed Fulmer, and was arguably the most impressive pitcher so far during the National Showcase. He has a tall, strong and still projectable frame. He threw 92-93 consistently touching 94, and threw two very effective secondary offerings in his mid-70s curveball and low-80s changeup. The speed differential and his ability to throw all of his pitches for strikes gives Weickel a near flawless repertoire.



Lance McCullers:


6-19-11: - Twitter - @PGPatrickEbert - 2012 #mlbdraft prospect Lance McCullers throws 97, 97 and 98 with his 1st 3 pitches here at the PG National, also throws nasty 86 curveball



Kent Emanuel:


6-20-11: - http://sebaseball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1233364  - With their season on the line, North Carolina turned to a freshman. Kent Emanuel got the ball against one of the most storied programs in college athletics. Nine innings later, he collected a complete game, four-hit shutout and kept his Tar Heels alive with a 3-0 victory. The southpaw allowed four hits, all singles, and was never seriously challenged by the Longhorns. Through it all, Emanuel kept a calm presence on a stage that is anything but. -