Sox Machine featured some top names they have
targeted fir the first round of the June draft. One is:
D1Baseball.com’s David Seifert is
a former Philadelphia Phillies cross-checker who has developed methods on
ranking the best college players from an analytic standpoint. He grades
pitchers based on three categories: Zone Control, Pitch Ability, and
Durability.
“Zone Control (ZC) is how well the pitcher controls the
strike zone with strikeouts, walks, wild pitches and hit by pitch. Pitch
Ability (PA) refers to a pitcher’s ability to pitch using statistics like WHIP,
FIP and OppSLG. Durability (DR) is largely based on innings pitched as college
starting pitchers have shown greater success in professional baseball than
college relievers.”
Based on Seifert’s findings, the top-ranked college starting
pitcher entering the season is Louisville’s, Reid
Detmers.
For a league that is pushing more technology and advanced
development methods, why isn’t Detmers a consideration for the top pick? To
start, he has a 50-grade fastball that sits at 92-93 mph. He also doesn’t have
a four-pitch mix like Emerson Hancock.
What Detmers does have is excellent command. His curveball
might be his only plus-pitch, but Detmers had a 37.6 K% last year striking out
167 batters in 113.1 innings by just pounding the strike zone. When it comes to
durability, Detmers had eight starts pitching more than seven innings and
averaged 96 pitches thrown per start. He took a big step forward from his
freshman to sophomore year, reducing his walk rate from 13.4 BB% to 7.4 BB%.
Fish Stripes targeted three players on the
Florida International University (FIU) that may land big in the June draft. One
is:
José García is a junior and starting catcher for the FIU Panthers.
Out of high school, García was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 38th round.
He’s one of the best pure power hitters in the Conference USA. García has also
been a starter since he arrived on FIU’s campus. As a freshman, García batted
.285 with six doubles, eleven home runs, 43 RBIs and had a .936 OPS. García was
named C-USA Freshman of the Year and named Freshman All-American on Perfect
Game, Collegiate Baseball and NCBWA. As a sophomore, he batted .264 with eight
doubles, 13 home runs, 38 RBIs and had a .886 OPS.
Over the summer, José García didn’t play for any teams and
prepared for the 2020 season.
García could be another power hitter the Miami Marlins grab
from FIU. In the 2019 MLB Draft, the Marlins selected Lorenzo Hampton Jr. from
FIU in the 28th round. Hampton batted .280 with seven doubles and two home runs
in the Gulf Coast League.
José García would be a nice addition to the Marlins farm
system. Besides power, he has a good arm behind the plate and can hit for contact.
If the Marlins do take him, García probably projects to be a late day two or
early day three pick.
Talking Chop featured 20 names to know coming up
to the draft. One was:
C J Van Eyk, RHP, Florida State - Florida State’s beef pitching prospect
in a number of years is CJ Van Eyk. A promising hard throwing right hander who
turned the corner for the Noles last spring. Unlike most other first rounders,
it is a plus curve that stands out as his best pitch instead of his fastball-
though the fastball can reach 95 MPH.
The first
weekend is in the books for the NCAA college teams and let’s look at some of
the results of the top starters projected for the draft:
University of Georgia’s ‘Friday starter’, junior Emerson Hancock, wishes he could have a do-over after
a miserable start against small school Richmond: 4-IP, 6-ER, only 4-K.
Georgia’s Saturday starter, Cole
Wilcox, fared much better: 5-IP, 1-ER, 8-K, Win (1-0).
Auburn’s Friday starter, Tanner Burns,
pitched 5.0-IP, 3-ER, 7-K, Win (1-0) against Illinois-Chicago.
Mississippi State’s J.T. Ginn dipped
his foot in the pond of Friday against Wright State: 3-IP, 2-ER, 4-K, 2-BB.
Florida State’s CJ Van Eky may
have had the best start of all the prospects on Friday vs. Niagara: 5-IP, 0-R, 8-K.
TAMU’s Asa Lacy pitched well
on Friday vs. Miami: 6-IP, 1-ER, 8-K
Sodo Mojo
had a feature on this top draft prospect –
Garrett Crochet is a hard-throwing, left-handed
pitcher from the University of Tennesee. Crochet is well put together, standing
at 6’6″, 220 lbs. But if pitching success was tied directly to how impressive
your physique was, CC Sabathia is just a guy you’ve never heard of.
But Crochet not only backs up the impressive size, but his
stuff has the potential to land him in the “Ace” tier of pitchers in a handful
of years. Crochet’s fastball sat between 92-95 last spring, with reports that
he sat at 96-100 for most of fall ball. Crochet also has the ability to spin his
fastball at near-elite spin rates, making his already impressive pitch play up
even more.
With a potential 80-grade fastball, Crochet doesn’t need much
more than a couple of average offerings to make him at least a solid #3 type of
starter. And as luck would have it, Crochet has just that. In fact, his
changeup is already considered well-above-average, and some believe it can
become his second plus offering.
5 comments:
Oddly, for a team that's usually struggled to find hitting, the offense is pretty good. Still, I'd feel much better with some hitting in the minors just in case.
That Garret Crochet dude looks compelling
One thing...
I know these draft posts don't leave much rook for comments, but PLEASE... let me know what kind of info you want in these posts so I can make the draft more friendly for you.
Mack, all your Draft previews are great. Thank you for posting these.
I confess my ignorance when I see pitchers who have 4.00+ ERAs in the schoolyard being touted as best-in-class draft picks. I'm naive enough to think if you can't retire your peers, what are the odds you'll do better against superior hitters?
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