5/5/10

DRAFT: - Christian Yelich, Burch Smith, David Lutz, Kevin Ziomek... and Justin O’Connor

Christian Yelich:

5-1 from: http://www.minorleagueball.com/2010/4/30/1452824/interesting-high-school-hitters#storyjump  - Christian Yelich, 1B, Westlake High School, Thousand Oaks, California - A University of Miami signee, the 6-4, 185 pound Yelich is more athletic than the typical high school first baseman. He has decent speed and enough athleticism to have played shortstop in the past, though in pro ball he'll be a first baseman and likely an excellent one with the glove. Offensively, he's considered a pure hitter type with above average power potential, though whether he settles in as a 20-homer type or a 30-homer type will depend on how much he fills out his body and how his swing matures. On talent alone he would be a good pick for someone in the second or third round, but if he slips too far down the list, he could head to Miami and improve his draft position with good play for the Hurricanes by '13

Burch Smith:

4-30 from: - http://www.mlbbonusbaby.com/2010/4/30/1451211/casing-the-states-texas-part-four#storyjump  - As you can tell by now, junior college pitching is a strength of the Texas class this year. RHP Smith, though, is at the head of the class of all the names already mentioned. Smith came to Howard last year as an under-recruited right-handed pitcher with potential, but little command of a slightly above-average arsenal. However, after an erratic year that concluded with the Indians spending a 49th round pick on him, Smith took a big step forward in the fall, showing improved stuff and command. He now features a 91-93 mph fastball which touches 94-95 a few times in most outings, and he's commanding it to either side of the plate with ease. He's being more economical with his pitch counts as well, which has led scouts to think he really projects as an innings-eating #3 starter with above-average stuff and above-average command. He pitches almost exclusively off his fastball, but his secondaries, a breaking ball and change, are close to being average pitches. Those pitches limit his ultimate ceiling, but he's a very attractive option in the early rounds. He has some time left to prove his worth in the remainder of the season, and it's likely that he pitches his way out of his Oklahoma commitment and is signed quickly this summer. Projected Draft Range: Late 2nd-5th Round

David Lutz:

5-10 from: - http://thecollegebaseballblog.com/2010/05/03/big-ten-players-of-the-week-11  - Sr., LHP, West Chester, Pa./West Chester East - Lutz earns Penn State’s first Pitcher of the Week accolade in almost three years, propelling the Nittany Lions to a series sweep against Michigan State over the weekend. The left-hander picked up two wins in the series, one in relief on Friday and the other in his first career start on Sunday. Lutz tossed two scoreless innings in the series opener, allowing just one hit while fanning two. In the finale, the senior threw a complete game, surrendering just one run while scattering nine hits without walking a batter and striking out four. Lutz accounted for 40 percent of Penn State’s innings pitched last weekend and set a new school record for career appearances (78), also tying the program’s single-season record (29) in the same category. His nine-inning complete game was Penn State’s first since 2008, and he now leads his team with 56.1 innings pitched this year.

Kevin Ziomek:

5-3 from: - http://baseballbeginnings.com/2010/05/03/kevin-ziomek-video/#more-6027  - Kevin Ziomek is regarded as the best guy in Western Massachusetts in the 2010 draft. I saw him in the Summer and this video comes from Fall, 2009. I saw room for physical projection, which would mean additional velocity in the future, though I don’t expect to ever classify him as a power arm. For me, he profiles to develop as a fastball-slider-change-up type. I would see his weapons as fastball movement, followed by the slider, and enough of a change to keep the right-handers honest.

Justin O’Connor:

5-3 from: - http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/MLB_Draft  - I talked to one AL West scout who's seen Cowan (Ind.) high schooler Justin O'Conner several times and said he felt that the 6-1, 190-pound swingman has his best shot at maximizing his tools as a catcher. "No, he's not really a catcher," the scout said. "But back there he's still put up 1.7, 1.8 pop times. Because he got quick enough feet to play the middle infield, that's helped him behind the plate." Indeed, with an arm rated a 70 on the scouting 20-80 scale, O'Conner's got the cannon for it. But as we discussed earlier His bat plays well anywhere, however.

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