2-11 from http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/ - Like lefties? The 2011 draft has those to offer as well, from fire-balling Matt Purke to the crafty, two-way talents of Danny Hultzen. Purke may be considered a bonus to the ’11 draft class as a draft-eligible sophomore. He was once thought to be signed by the Texas Rangers as their first-round pick in last year’s draft, only to honor his commitment to TCU. Built lean and wiry strong, Purke offers command of a solid overall repertoire. While you always have to temper your expectations with freshmen, the Horned Frogs are confident that Purke will hit the ground running.
3-13 from http://thecollegebaseballblog.com/2010/03/13/cbb-visit-no-8-tcu-6-texas-tech-1-3-13-10/#more-24361 - Matt Purke threw a complete game, his first outing over 5.1 innings on the year, giving up only four hits, one run, and striking out eight Red Raiders. Purke’s victory moves him to 2-0 on the year. The Horned Frogs finished the game with a 9-1 victory, moving to 11-2 on the year while Texas Tech fell to 8-8. TCU has won all three games against Tech in 2010, with one remaining tomorrow
3-17 from: - http://pnrscouting.com/articles_2010_houstoncollegeclassic_day2_03102010.html - Purke was easily the best I’ve seen him in the last 18 months, with the largest improvements coming from the quality of his secondaries and the arm slot for his curve (which I thought was a little higher than his other pitches in the past). The lefty was 91-93 mph on Saturday, which is right around where I’ve seen him in the past. He was low-80s with his sweeping slider and upper-70s, touching 80, with a two-plane curve that had absolutely dirty late bite. His change (which he throws with a split, or “vulcan” grip, pictured) showed its usual quality tumble and average command. He was consistent with his secondaries and most impressively used them to set up his fastball on more than a couple occasions -- generally coming in to righties with his curve or change and following it with well placed running fastballs away.
Purke was also much better at hitting his low-3/4 arm slot with all four pitches, coming across his body and giving some deception. I have slight concerns about the plane of his fastball, as it lacks drop to go along with the run. Since his slot is so low, the ball ends -up sitting in the hit zone for a long time. Still, I wouldn’t try to change anything at this point, given the current quality of his offerings. Further, if his secondaries continue to improve, they should be more than enough to keep hitters honest. As a final note, Purke had an excellent presence on the mound, coming right at hitters and showing poise with runners on and behind in the count. He ended a couple of innings with big first pumps after strikeouts, which in and of itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but he also was well late in covering first on a jam shot to first baseman Matt Curry (2010). His competitive mentality will be an asset, but he’ll need to make sure that asset doesn’t come at the expense of in-game focus. It's almost certain to be a non-issue, but I think worth noting at this point. His final line sat at a solid 5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 7 SO and 1 ER. Also notable on the mound for TCU was sophomore closer Kaleb Merck (2011). Merck pitched the final 2.2 innings, allowing just two batters to reach (a double scoring an inherited run and a single) while striking out three. He sat 89-91, touching 92 mph, with his fastball and paired the pitch with an effective 78-80 slider. He also showed a fine pick-off move that he set-up by continually altering his hold time in the set.
From www.mlb.com: Fastball: Purke showed velocity a tick above average, sitting at 92-93 mph. He topped out at 95 mph.
Fastball movement: It has tailing life to the arm side.
Curve: It's kind of between a curve and a slider. It has more of a curve break, with good rotation and depth. He thew it about 78 mph with late break to it.
Changeup: Has a good changeup.
Control: He has good command and moves the ball around the zone well.
Poise: He's pitched in big games and rises to the occasion.
Physical Description: Purke is a lean, wiry, thin-waisted left-hander. He's projectable, but needs to add some strength.
Medical Update: Healthy.
Strengths: Three average to above-average pitches. Good command, projectable body.
Weaknesses: He's a little too slender, leading some to worry about durabilty.
Summary: When conversations arise about the top prep lefties in the class, Purke is on the short list. With three excellent offerings and command of them, to go along with a projectable frame, Purke's name comes up early and often. There might be a small concern about his durabilty because he's a little too slender, but that won't be enough to keep him from being taken high up on Draft day
3-15-10 from http://pnrscouting.com/rankings_2010_houstoncollegeclassic.html - Top 10 Players (2011 Draft Class) - Matt Purke (Freshman), LHP, Texas Christian Univ. - Along with Rendon and Jungmann, Purke fills-out the top 3 talents on the weekend, regardless of class, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see these three make-up the top three picks in the 2011 draft when all is said and done; best line of Purke's year -- 5.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB and 7 SO -- and best look from his secondaries, though he needs more economy, taking 99 pitches to record 16 outs.
4-9-10 from: - http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/college/on-campus/2010/269792.html - Top Freshman - Matt Purke, lhp, Texas Christian - Expectations could not have been higher for Purke from the day he set foot on TCU's campus. An unsigned first-round pick who turned down at least $2 million from the Rangers to attend school, Purke was expected to be a dominant ace from the start of his collegiate career. Through seven weeks, Purke has managed not to disappoint, despite the massive hype surrounding him. He stepped into TCU's weekend rotation immediately and has emerged as the Horned Frogs' Friday starter over the last few weeks. He is 3-0, 3.52 with 48 strikeouts and nine walks in 38 innings.
4-7-10 from: http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/articles/DisplayArticle.aspx?article=2253 - LHP Matthew Purke (Texas Christian) turned down high first-round money from the Texas Rangers last year, but hasn’t missed a beat as a freshman, going 3-0, 3.52 with 48 K’s in 38 innings. He will be a draft-eligible sophomore in 2011.
4-21-10 from: - http://collegebaseball360.com/2010/04/21/tcus-purke-invited-to-usa-baseball-trials - TCU pitcher Matt Purke has accepted an invitation to participate in the 2010 National Team Trials. Purke will join Kyle Winkler, who accepted an early invite in January, at the trials, which take place in Cary, N.C. The trials are set to begin on July 5 and run through July 11 when the final roster will be announced. Purke has enjoyed success in his freshman campaign. The freshman is 5-0 in nine starts this season. He has posted a 3.47 ERA in 49 1/3 innings pitched. Purke ranks second in the Mountain West with 60 strikeouts and is limiting opponents to a .233 batting average.
2. Danny Hultzen – Virginia – 2009: 9-1, 2.17, 17 appearances, 16 starts… SP1… 107-K in 95.1-IP…
11-25 from www.collegebaseballblog.com: - named the 56th top college player for the 2010 season
2-11 from http://www.pgcrosschecker.com - You wouldn’t know that two-way talent Danny Hultzen was a freshman a year ago by looking at his stats. He led the starting staff in ERA (2.17), innings (95.1), starts (16) and strikeouts (107), and shared the team lead in wins (9) while hitting .327. He played a big role in the Cavaliers’ College World Series run and is also a big reason why Virginia opens the season as one of the top teams in the nation. With good command of an upper-80s to low-90s fastball, as well as a good overhand curve, scouts currently project Hultzen’s professional future brighter as a pitcher than as a hitter.
3-4 from Keith Law of espn.com: - •Danny Hultzen: Very athletic lefty. Throws upper 80s will touch low 90s occasionally. Real nice breaking ball and can hit his spots. He's a legit pitcher with a deceptive motion. His curve was also an above-average second pitch. He spins a tight breaking pitch, and also mixes in a changeup and a split finger pitch as well.
3-16 from http://www.prospectjunkies.com: - Danny Hultzen - LHP - UVA. 6IP 2H 0ER 0BB 6K (W). Impressive in handing #2 FSU their 1st loss of the season.
3-16 from: http://baseballdraftreport.com - Speaking of Virginia pitching, it’ll be very interesting to see where Danny Hultzen, the Cavaliers’ ace who is no danger of being leapfrogged anytime soon, fits alongside some of the other big name college pitchers in the 2011 Draft. Comparisons with former Virginia LHP/1B Sean Doolittle are inevitable, but, having seen both players in person, I’d take Hultzen on the mound over Doolittle at the plate.
4-7-10 from: http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/articles/DisplayArticle.aspx?article=2253 - LHP Danny Hultzen (Virginia) doesn’t have mid- to upper-90’s stuff to warrant being an early first-rounder like the other prospects on the preferred list for 2011, but his 90-92 mph heater is plenty firm enough and he might be the best “pitcher” in college baseball. His Virginia team has spent plenty of time in the No. 1 spot in the national rankings this spring, in large part because of Hultzen’s work on Friday nights (4-1, 1.57, 46 IP/8 BB/55 K).
5-3-10 from: - http://thecollegebaseballblog.com/2010/05/03/acc-players-of-the-week-22 - Top-ranked Virginia, which currently owns a 10-game winning streak, swept ACC Baseball honors for the week ending May 2. Sophomore Danny Hultzen claimed Pitcher of the Week honors. Hultzen tossed his first career complete game in dominating fashion, facing just five batters over the minimum in Friday’s 12-3 road win at Duke. Hultzen held Duke to its second-lowest hit total of the year while retiring the last 10 hitters and 21 of the final 22 batters that he faced. Ten of those final 21 outs came by strikeout. During that stretch, only five balls left the infield. Overall, the ACC’s strikeout leader tied a career high with 13 Ks while not walking a batter. The Bethesda, Md., native went to a three-ball count to just two of the 32 batters he faced. One of his earned runs was a result of double caused by a lost fly ball in the sun.
5-24-10 from: - http://thecollegebaseballblog.com/2010/05/24/miamis-grandal-virginias-hultzen-lead-2010-all-acc-baseball-team - Virginia sophomore Danny Hultzen has received the nod as 2010 ACC Pitcher of the Year. Hultzen, the ACC Freshman of the Year in 2009, currently owns an 8-1 record to go with an ACC-low 2.08 ERA. The Bethesda, Md., native has struck out a conference-high 106 batters in 86.2 innings while limiting opposing hitters to a collective .179 average – another ACC low. Hultzen is among the contenders for several national awards, including the Dick Howser Trophy.
3. Jed Bradley:
4-7-10 from: http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/articles/DisplayArticle.aspx?article=2253 - LHP Jed Bradley (Georgia Tech): The 6-4, 210-pound Bradley has followed a classic projection curve since being a slender mid-80s southpaw as a high-school junior. He now overpowers hitters (4-1, 3.46, 39 IP/10 BB/50 K) with a low-90s fastball and effective curve/changeup combination.
4. Adam Conley:
4-7-10 from: http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/articles/DisplayArticle.aspx?article=2253 - LHP Adam Conley (Washington State): The 6-3, 170-pound Conley garnered attention last summer by posting a 0.00 ERA in 34 innings in the New England Collegiate League. He did that while pitching in the 86-88 mph range with an outstanding changeup and workable slurve. Reports out of the Northwest this spring say that Conley is now touching 94 mph while dominating hitters as Washington State’s closer (2-1, 0.84, 5 SV). Loose, projectable southpaws who can touch 94 and have a dominating secondary pitch usually get drafted very high.
5. Henry Owens – Edison HS (CA.) – 6-5
11-27: from www.baseballamerica.com: - Re: 2009 World Wood Bat Association World Championship - 6-foot-5 lefthander Henry Owens from Edison High in Huntington Beach, Calif., who was named the tournament’s most valuable pitcher –
6. Jake Cave -
11-2 from www.thehardballtimes.com: - Jake Cave, LHP/OF, 2011, Hampton, Va., Canes - Now here’s a really interesting guy. Look at Cave, and he’s very unassuming physically; 6-foot-1 quite skinny, slim hips, does not look so athletic. Then you put him on a mound and watch him throw an easy 88-91 with plus command and a curve that makes you think Zito. Then, you can take him off the mound, put a bat in his hand, and watch him take simply vicious hacks and display some pretty incredible raw power. For icing on the cake, he’s a plus runner straightaway (4.09 through first) and cuts bags quite well. He’s a little more advanced on the mound right now than at the plate, in my opinion. He was a bit hack-heavy, and swung and missed more than you’d like to see (mostly on bad balls). It’s hard to tell if that’s a real trait or just a guy at a showcase trying to get his money’s worth. Either way, this is an incredibly talented kid for the ’11 class. Shades of Nick Markakis at the plate, and something like a more powerful Zito on the mound. If the draft were tomorrow, he might be a supplemental-round pick. But he’s got another year to grow. Look out.
7. Taylor Wall -
3-15-10 from http://pnrscouting.com/rankings_2010_houstoncollegeclassic.html - Top 10 Players (2011 Draft Class) - Taylor Wall, LHP, Rice Univ. - Kept up with Jungmann in Friday's nightcap, notching 8 SO while allowing 5 H, 3 BB and 2 ER over 7.1 IP; mid-70s change-up with good deception was his most effective weapon and helped a mid-80s fastball play well above its velocity.
8. Sean Gilmartin
3/8 from: http://baseballdraftreport.com - Florida State SO LHP Sean Gilmartin (7 IP 6 H 0 ER 0 BB 9 K) got the best of Georgia JR RHP Justin Grimm (4 IP 11 H 7 ER 2 BB 7 K). Not a good outing for Grimm’s first round draft hopes, assuming he looked as out of sorts as his line would indicate. His peak stuff – a four-pitch mix featuring a sitting 92-93 with fastball that peaks at 96, potential plus upper-70s curve, good low- to mid-70s CU, and a mid-80s cutter — is up there with any college pitcher in his class, but his inconsistent mechanics and steady stream of nagging injuries have kept him from showing off that elite stuff as often as a team drafting high in the first round typically likes to see. I get the feeling Grimm could be this year’s Andy Oliver.
9. Nick Maronde -
2-11 from http://www.pgcrosschecker.com - Nick Maronde was considered a premium talent coming out of high school, eligible for the 2008 draft, but once again, agent affiliation and his commitment to Florida caused him to drop to the 43rd round. He showed the ability to both miss bats (59 strikeouts) and command the strike zone (18 walks) in 61 innings as he was used in a versatile swing role for the Gators. He has a good build and a solid repertoire, with an upper-80s to low-90s fastball, curveball and advanced changeup. Unlike Mooneyham and Carpenter, Maronde already shows considerable pitching guile, with the ability to change speeds while commanding the strike zone to get ahead early in counts.
10. Andrew Hedrick:
4-6-10 from: - http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/articles/DisplayArticle.aspx?article=2248 - The most impressive performer for me the first two games was LHP Andrew Hedrick, a 2011 southpaw from Ankeny High School in the Des Moines area. I saw Hedrick pitch at the Pitcher/Catcher Indoor Showcase and he was impressive then, getting a PG 9 grade. He was better outdoors, especially in keeping his delivery directional to the plate. Hedrick pitched under control and pounded the strike zone with an 84-87 mph fastball that seemed to jump on hitters, a hard-spinning mid 70’s curveball and a nice changeup. He struck out 8 hitters in 3 innings of work. One of the best things about the 6-0, 165 lb Hedrick is that there’s little question he’s going to get better over the next couple of years. He is very young in the face and hasn’t started to physically mature much yet. He shows his athleticism in the way he repeats his delivery and moves around the field, and it was instructive to find out that both his parents were college athletes (dad in baseball, mom in basketball), so he has athleticism in his background as well.
11. Ryan Carpenter – Gonzaga… 2009: 6-4, 5.26, in 15 appearances, 12 starts, 68-K, 65.0-IP.
11-22-9 from www.collegebaseballblog.com: - named the 59th top college player for the 2010 season
2-11 from http://www.pgcrosschecker.com - From a relatively smaller school comes Gonzaga’s Ryan Carpenter, who like Mooneyham offers a tall, intimidating presence on the mound at 6-foot-5. Carpenter’s fastball sits in the low-90s, and his overall command and the bite on his slider saw significant improvement last summer in the Alaska League, where he led the circuit in ERA (0.67).
4-7-10 from: http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/articles/DisplayArticle.aspx?article=2253 - Not every college player in the 2011 draft class has performed to expectations this spring. Here are five that may need to pick up their pace to preserve their high standing: LHP Ryan Carpenter (Gonzaga): The 6-foot-5 Carpenter just needs to start matching results with his ability. He had a passable freshman year (6-4, 5.26 in 65 IP) and was dominant during the summer in the Alaska League (2-2, 0.67, 54 K’s in 40 IP). But he has been very hittable this spring (2-3, 7.20 in 7 starts) with no firm explanation why.
12. Brett Mooneyham –
1-9-10 from www.jjscouting.com: - Brett Mooneyham: A lefty from the University of Stanford, the 6'5 235 Mooneyham towers over the opposing batters. He had a nice spring this past year, recording a 6-3 record, second most wins on the team behind Drew Storen, a first round pick by Washington. He appeared in 67 1/3 innings, which were the most on the pitching staff and had 72 strike outs. The only problem was his control, where he walked 54 batters this spring. But with a great pitching frame, being a lefty, throwing mid 90's and having a good breaking ball and an above average change up, Brett Mooneyham will the ace of Stanford this year and will be followed very closely here at JJScouting
2-11 from http://www.pgcrosschecker.com - Big-bodied lefty Brett Mooneyham was considered to be one of the top prep lefties available for the 2008 draft, but agent affiliation and a strong academic commitment to Stanford made him nearly unsignable. During his freshman season he continued to show that he had swing-and-miss stuff (72 strikeouts in 67 innings of work), but also showed that he had a long ways to go with his control (54 walks). If he harnesses his power three-pitch arsenal between now and the 2011 draft he may be considered among the top three to five overall selections.
4-7-10 from: http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/articles/DisplayArticle.aspx?article=2253 - Not every college player in the 2011 draft class has performed to expectations this spring. Here are five that may need to pick up their pace to preserve their high standing: - LHP Brett Mooneyham (Stanford): Mooneyham still shows top-level raw stuff and might have been a first-rounder out of high school if it weren’t for his strong commitment to Stanford. His command has not come close to matching his stuff, though, and he has struggled to an unimpressive 0-4, 7.52 record with 32 walks in 26 innings over seven starts this spring.
13. Daniel Camarena - LHP OF Cathedral Catholic Bonita CA
14. Daniel Norris - LHP Science Hill Johnson City TN
15. Dillon Peters - LHP OF Cathedral Fishers IN
16. Philip Pfeifer - LHP 1B Farragut Knoxville TN
17. Andrew Suarez - LHP Columbus Miami FL
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