Trae Turner, Jeff Hoffman, Brady Aiken, Trea Turner, Aramis Garcia, Grant Holmes

5-12-14  -  Trea Turner, SS, North Carolina State - Turner has been showing all the tools that had him projected as a top-five pick before the season started. Over his last 15 games, he is hitting .407/.527/.678 with five doubles, a triple, three home runs and 15 walks. He also has stolen 10 bases, showing off his plus/plus speed and great instincts on the base paths. For the season, he is up to .330/.424/.523 with nine doubles, seven home runs, 21 stolen bases and 30 walks to 21 strikeouts. He has the speed, an advanced approach and now has started to show the power everyone has been waiting for. Some scouts still question his hit tool. I think a team is going to get a steal if he lands in the 8-12 range. http://throughthefencebaseball.com/2014-mlb-draft-20-college-players-rise-extended-version/42827#fT3rk0vlpqPHPiFi.99

3-15-14 - East Carolina’s Jeff Hoffman, struggled for the second straight week in a 7-2 loss to Tulane. I was on hand for that one getting my first look at Hoffman this year, and it was not a great look. Hoffman’s defense did him no favors, struggling in the outfield and behind the plate, but he was hardly overpowering anyway, allowing six runs (five earned) on seven hits and two walks over 6 1/3 innings, while striking out five. Hoffman did not have his best velocity, working mostly at 93-94 mph and reaching back for 97 in the first and once in the fifth. He did a good job jamming righthanded hitters with his 91-92 mph two-seamer, which had good arm-side run, but he left too many four-seamers out over the plate, and Tulane squared a handful of them up. His curveball ranged from 74-80 and showed some sharp bite, but it did not have the kind of power it had in the Cape Cod League, where we heard reports of it ranging from 79-84. Even in his season debut, he threw some curveballs at 80-83. He mixed in a short slider at 84-86, but his most impressive secondary pitch Friday was his 84-86 changeup, which he threw effectively against righthanded hitters to get multiple swing-throughs. http://www.baseballamerica.com/college/friday-roundup-nola-weaver-win-marquee-showdowns/

3-26-14 – MaxiPreps – Brady Aiken, Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) - In two outings, Aiken has given up just one hit and no runs in posting a 2-0 record. He has struck out 20 batters in 8.2 innings pitched while walking only two. He struck out 12 in 4.2 innings against La Costa Canyon. http://www.maxpreps.com/news/kRbRSgP8z06XdyYf0_JnPg/tyler-kolek,-michael-gettys,-brady-aiken-among-senior-baseball-prospects-off-to-strong-starts.htm 

3-11-14 – TTF -  Aramis Garcia, C, Florida International (NR) - Over his last five games, Garcia has gone 8-for-21 (.381) with two doubles, four home runs, nine RBI and has drawn four walks to one strikeout. Over 16 games, he is now hitting .424/.521/.763 with five home runs, ranking among the leaders in all four categories. At 6’-2” and 220 pounds, the right-hander has an easy swing with plenty of power behind it. As a sophomore, he hit .321/.378/.522 with 11 home runs. Scouts love the bat more than his defense right now, but with a canon arm and very good footwork, he has a chance to stick behind the plate. http://throughthefencebaseball.com/2014-mlb-draft-10-college-players-rise-week-4/41715#PjStmsQ7UB5h8BYU.99

3-12-14 – 10 High School Players on the Rise –  Grant Holmes, RHP, Conway HS (SC) - In his first start of the season on March 7, Holmes struck out 12 to one walk over five innings. He has been reported to be hitting 97 mph with his fastball, and he adds a plus curveball to go with a change-up that projects to above-average. With three quality pitches in his arsenal, and that type of velocity, he doesn’t need much projection — the one knock on him as many believe he has maxed out physically at 6’-2” and 200 pounds. He has great mound presence and commands his stuff well. Should be a first-round pick and he seems to keep climbing draft boards. Committed to Florida. http://throughthefencebaseball.com/2014-mlb-draft-10-high-school-players-rise/41773#oFu0m6JRyhOHXIwD.99

Jeff Hoffman, Aramis Garcia, Skyler Ewing, Sean Reid-Foley, Alex Jackson

2-21-14 – Project Insider - Jeff Hoffman, RHP — East Carolina - Hoffman, who was solid yet unspectacular last Friday, will be tested versus a strong Virginia lineup that includes potential first-round pick Derek Fisher, as well as Day 2 and 3 prospects Mike Papi, Nick Howard, Branden Cogswell and Brandon Downes. Let’s see how well Fisher, a left-handed bat, can handle Hoffman, whose changeup needs work and is an offering he hasn’t used a lot just yet. Hoffman will use the fastball up in the zone to get swings and misses, however, so Fisher will need to lay off and force Hoffman to throw him strikes. This is a terrific test for Fisher, who is adept at using the left-center field gap. http://prospectinsider.com/draft-prospect-watch-hoffman-vs-fisher

3-25-14 – 5. Aramis Garcia, Florida International Height 6'2", Weight: 200 DOB: 1/12/1993 R/R - Big time riser, here is his bio, here is a riser article and here is BA raving.  He has plus arm strength, decent speed for a catcher, great intangible sixth tool, can communicate well with pitchers.  He might go pretty well.  The Cardinals drafted him before, and those guys are never wrong about anything.  And as the guy has great pop times that would stick in pro ball right now, they might just be right. http://www.yougottalikethesekids.com/2014/03/ten-catchers-in-2014-mlb-draft.html

2-27-14 – TTF - 10 college players on the rise - Skyler Ewing, 1B/C, Rice (NR) - The 6’-1”, 220 pound right-hander hit just .226/.347/.342 over 57 games as a sophomore. He did show a good approach at the plate, however, drawing 23 walks to 30 strikeouts. After making some adjustments to his swing, he was impressive at the Cape Cod League, hitting .287/.374/.496 over 34 games for Hyannis with 14 extra-base hits. He then led the team in nearly every offensive category this fall and was set for a big year. Through his first eight games, he has been a monster for the Owls. He has gone 16-for-33 (.485) with two doubles, three home runs and 17 RBI. He has drawn four walks to three strikeouts, showing a continued progression in his approach while being more aggressive at the plate. He is most likely relegated to first base, putting a lot of pressure on his bat to produce, although he can fill in at catcher if needed. http://throughthefencebaseball.com/2014-mlb-draft-10-college-players-rise-2/41299#ldBBF8hRKzmaiy5H.99

2-11-14 – PG/Florida HS Dream Team – P – Sean Reid-Foley, Sr. Sandalwood - Reid-Foley had a strong summer, throwing well at most of the major events this year. Of the six events he threw at this summer, he touched at least 93 mph at five of them, topping at 95 at the East Coast Pro. On top of the big velocity, the fastball shows heavy arm-side run action, and it is his off-speed that sets him apart from some of the other power arms in this year's class. He works his slider into the mid-80s, a true slider with late bite, and he also owns a fading changeup which he can bring in on righthanded hitters, a devastating pitch against hitters at this level. When everything is working, Reid-Foley dominates the opposition and gets many empty swings. http://perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=9372

3-2-14 - I saw [Alex] Jackson in person twice this summer and way more than that on TV/video. With the everlasting caveat that I’m not a scout, I walked away each time surprised — well, surprised the first time and more confused thereafter — that everybody had hyped up his bat while downplaying his glove. Not doing the Charlie Contrarian shtick, but I was more impressed with his glove than I thought and not really wowed by the bat. It’s still a really impressive, first round quality stick, especially since I think he could stick at catcher, but not the Bryce Harper (not a comparison, just mentioning him as the most recent high profile catcher to outfielder conversion) kind of hit/power/approach combination that makes you want to rush him to the big leagues as a right fielder. I’d draft him with high confidence as a mid-first round pick — could rise to top ten, easily — as a catcher, obviously a little bit lower as an outfielder (where there’s way more competition in this draft class, both prep and college). Lots of rumblings that he wants to move to the outfield ASAP to speed up his developmental timeline. That’s a fun twist on the usual team-first approach to that kind of thing. http://baseballdraftreport.com/2014/02/27/emails/