The Minor League Baseball season is almost over. It's been a fun year for us at OTWT. We went to a bunch of Lakewood Blueclaws game as well as a Trenton Thunder. Here is a break down of the 10 best players I've seen this summer.
Nick Williams, OF, Reading: A key piece of the Hammels deal..He looks the part of the an offensive force. Saw him two years ago in the South Atlantic League and he looks like a different player now and I mean that in a good way. I'm a huge Nick Williams fan boy.
JP Crawford, SS Reading: I've seen a bunch of him the last couple of years and he looks the next Phillies SS for the next decade.
Josh Morgan, SS, Hickory: The Texas Rangers prospect looks the part.
Cole Tucker, SS, West Virginia: I really think him and Morgan where the best Single A players I saw all year.
Spencer Adams, P, Kannapolis: Sat between 92-94 with his fastball. Bad electric stuff when I saw him.
Carlos Tocci, OF, Lakewood: Tocci didn't spend much time in Lakewood this season but he showed that his bat is starting to develop.
Jake Thompson, P, Reading: Good fastball. Good Change up. Could develop into a good 3rd starter.
Jairo Beras, OF, Hickory: He looks the part of an outfielder.
Cord Sandberg, OF, Lakewood: The former Mississippi State football recruit looks like a player for the future.
A new baseball season is here and so is the return of Prospects Plus. During the course of the season , I will deliver scouting reports on some baseball's up and coming stars that I have the pleasure to watch on TV or see in person. I have a tickets package to the Lakewood BlueClaws, so you will see reports about prospects in the South Atlantic League as well as college games I watch on TV. So here is our first report on White Sox prospect Carlos Rodon, who pitched against the Royals last night on MLB Network.
Name: Carlos Rodon
Position: pitcher
Organization: White Sox
Organizational rank: top ranked player in the White Sox system, according to Baseball America.
Wednesday night vs. Royals: 4 innings, 4 hits, 0 earned runs, 9 strikeouts.
Positives: Rodon struck out the side on 12 pitches in the first inning. Looked so polished even against the regular lineup of the American League Champions. Touched 96 with his fastball at one point. The Sox have not yet announced whether Rodon, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 draft, will start the season with the major-league club or will go to Triple-A Charlotte for more minor-league seasoning.
Negatives: Rodon is still trying to harness his fastball and could use some time in the minors to smooth that out. While Rodon does repeat his delivery well, he did have a tendency last
year to lose command with his fastball and secondary offerings, putting
too many men on base via walk for a frontline starting pitcher.
Prospect Status: 10th ranked prospect in Orioles organization by Baseball America
Friday vs. Lakewood: 1-4 with an RBI
Positives: Marin has a great feel for the game and you could likely plug his glove anywhere on the field and he would perform well. He has a highly athletic body, and is very quick in game and very agile. He is either a shortstop or center fielder down the road. Marin is a plus runner with some quick-twitch actions that suggest he’s got more pop in his bat than his 170-pound frame would otherwise suggest. He’s drawn comparisons to former first-round pick and Florida product Nick Franklin along the way. Marin has a good shot to stick at shortstop and if a club believes he will mature physically and hit enough.
During the game Friday night against Lakewood, Marin showed great bat control in bunting for a hit in his first at bat, also made some good defensive plays but nothing that stands out.
Negatives: Probably won’t hit for much power going forward. Marin is a small-framed, wiry kid. He’ll get a little bit stronger, but doesn’t project as a real physical kid.
Name: Colin Moran School: North Carolina Prospect Status: 2013 draft eligible Position: 3B Monday night vs. Clemson: 1 for 4 with a home run and 3 RBI
Positives: Watched him during his game against Clemson on Monday night. During his first at bat Moran showed a good eye in drawing a walk. During his second at bat Moran hit an opposite field home run, nice powering going the other way. If a team drafts him, they are drafting a bat. Moran is one of the best pure hitters in his class and his bat has the potential to carry him a long way at the next level. While power development will eventually play a large role in how successful he is as a hitter, the pure hitting tools are evident and he has the statistics to back them up Weakness:Moran isn't exceptional defensively and he won't be anything more than average at third base at the next level.
With all that is going on in the world, the Washington Post has decided to voice their opinion on the most important issue, should Teddy finally win the Presidents Race during Nationals' home games. Seriously, Nats: It’s time for Teddy to win , , I'm all for taking a stand on something. I can't believe they wasted their space on this issue.
The first round of the MLB Draft was full of surprises and here is how OTWT say it.
• Surprised the Astros went with Correa. It's clear they went with the player with the largest upside. Stud middle infielders are hard to find.
• Mark Appel and Gerrit Cole that is not going to be a bad one two punch on the mound for the Pirates.
• MLB Network needs to stop putting Harold Reynolds on their draft coverage he adds nothing to the show.I hate the fact that he loves every pick.
• Love the fact that Courtney Hawkins did a back flip during the draft. Nice touch.
• Lucas Giolito is your typical Nationals pick high ceiling type player. Mike Rizzo is not scared of taking chances on players with issues. See Matt Purke.
• Nats last four first rounders: Strasburg, Harper, Rendon and Giolito. Not bad at all.
• Love when Gammons talks draft. Makes my day.
For the second year in a row the OTWT Scouting Staff has been locked up going over the top prospect in the MLB Draft. Here is our mock draft for the opening round of the Rule 4 Draft.
First round:
1. Houston Astros: Byron Buxton, OF, Georgia HS
2. Minnesota Twins: Mark Appel, RHP, Stanford
3. Seattle Mariners:Kyle Zimmerman, RHP, San Francisco
4. Baltimore Orioles: Kevin Gausman, RHP, LSU
5. Kansas City Royals: Mike Zunino, C, Florida
6. Chicago Cubs: Albert Almora, OF, Texas High School
7. San Diego Padres: Marcus Stroman, RHP, Duke
8. Pittsburgh Pirates: Carlos Correa, SS, Puerto Rico
9. Miami Marlins: David Dahl, OF, Oklahoma HS
10. Colorado Rockies: Micheal Wacha, RHP, Texas A&M
11. Oakland Athletics: Max Fried, LHP, California High School
12. New York Mets: Devin Marrero, SS, Arizona State
13. Chicago White Sox: Andrew Heaney, LHP, Oklahoma State
14. Cincinnati Reds: Chris Stratton, RHP, Mississippi State
15. Cleveland Indians: Richie Shaffer, 3B, Clemson
16. Washington Nationals: Lucas Giolito, RHP, California HS
17. Toronto Blue Jays: Courtney Hawkins, OF, Texas HS
18. Los Angeles Dodgers: Gavin Cecchini, SS, Lousianna HS
19. St. Louis Cardinals (A. Pujols – LAA): Lance McCullers Jr, RHP, Florida HS
20. San Francisco Giants: Nick Travieso, RHP, Florida HS
21. Atlanta Braves: DJ Davis, OF, Mississippi HS
22. Toronto Blue Jays (T. Beede – unsigned): Ty Hensley, RHP, Oklahoma HS
23. St. Louis Cardinals: Victor Roache, OF, Georgia Southern
24. Boston Red Sox: J.O. Berrios, RHP, Puerto Rico
25. Tampa Bay Rays: Matt Smoral, LHP, Ohio HS
26. Arizona Diamondbacks:Corey Seager, 3B, North Carolina HS
27. Milwaukee Brewers (P. Fielder – DET): Addison Russell, SS, Florida HS
28. Milwaukee Brewers: Stephen Piscotty, 3B, Stanford
29. Texas Rangers:Lucas Sims, RHP, Georgia HS
30. New York Yankees: Stryker Trahan, C, Lousianna HS
31. Boston Red Sox (J. Papelbon – PHI):Tyler Naquin, OF, Texas A&M
Stanford outfielder Austin Wilson has been know to prospect followers for the last couple of years. During the draft two years ago, Wilson turned down millions of dollars to play at Stanford. Wilson is expected to be one of the top picks in the 2013 MLB Draft. The OTWT Scouting Department took in his game against Oregon State on Sunday on FCS as part of our on going Prospect Plus series and here is our report
Stats against Oregon State on Saturday: 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Positives: Honorable mention All-Pac-10 as the team's starting right fielder, batting .311 over 55 games and 51 starts with 25 runs and 30 RBIs during his freshman. Runs well for a big guy was 5 for 5 on stolen bases, stole 25 bases during his senior year of high school. Has a quick stroke, reminds many of Dave Winfield. Has great power potential, could be a 35 home run guy in the majors.
Negatives: His size might be an issue, pitcher could find a couple of holes in his swing. Limited defensively will only be a corner outfielder.
Last night, we saw what Nationals-Phillies rivalry could turn into. Cole Hamels and Bryce Harper might prove to the people that set it off. Over the next two years, this rivalry figures to heat up and it could get nasty.
Clemson third basemen Richie Shaffer is expected to be one of the first college bats off the board during the upcoming MLB Draft. The OTWT Scouting Department took in his performance against Georgia Tech on Friday night on TV, as part of our ongoing Prospects Plus series. Here are our thoughts.
Stats against Georgia Tech on Friday night: 1 for 6 with 3 strikeouts
Positive: Team co-captain in 2012...corner infielder who has tremendous power...one of the best defensive first-basemen in Clemson history. Can either play first base or third base. Did show great patients waiting back on a change up and getting a hit on a 0-2 count, it was a nice piece of hitting. Should be a mid-first round pick.
Negatives: has a big swing and struggled with the off speed pitch during the game against Georgia Tech on Friday night. I know he is a power hitter but striking out three times is not good. Looked over match on some offspeed pitches thrown by Georgia Tech pitcher Buck Farmer.
Nothing beats your first baseball game of the year and on Saturday the crew headed to the Mets and Phillies game. Here are some of the sights and sounds from the game. The Mets beat the Phillies 5-0.
Buffalo Style Sunflower seeds what could be better
Everyone gathering before the game
After being a jerk, this Mets fan is escorted from his seat
The first and sandwich round of the MLB Draft are in the books and here a couple of quick thoughts on what happened.
Welcome to Major League Baseball in 2011, its all about pitching and that showed with the top four players selected all being pitching, including three college pitchers that are going to move fast through each of their systems.
I guess Gerrit Cole choice to turn down the Yankees after they selected him in the first round in 2008 turned out well for him. Cole was the number one overall pick in the draft.
At the start of the season Anthony Rendon was the number player on most people's board after a season that featured injuries Rendon dropped to the Nationals at six. It was a dream for the Nats front office.
MLB Network coverage of the draft is getting better each year they do it, love seeing Gammons on the show. He has always loved the drafted.
People are going to kill the Giants for taking St. John's SS Joe Panik, but they usually do some weird things in the draft and more times that not they turn out well.
Both Massachusetts high school pitcher Tyler Beede and Texas high school outfielder Josh Bell sent letters out saying that they were not signing and attending college, it worked out well for Beede who was drafted by Toronto in the first round, while Bell slid out of the first round.
The draft needs to get more players at the draft, it would make it g
It all started as a normal baseball game between the Reds and Phillies but little did I know that it would end well after I went to sleep
Nothing beats some trivia
Bull's BBQ
It all looked normal
We left in the ninth inning and after getting home I went to bed so I had no clue what happened until after I put on MLB Network and for one I was glad I did not stick around.
The OTWT Tailgating crew went to its first baseball playoff game on Wednesday night and boy did we strike gold as Doc Halladay threw a no-hitter. Here are some of the sites of the night.
So you have Jonathan Mayo and Peter Gammons, two of the biggest names in minor league and draft coverage, on your roster and what do you show on draft deadline signing day an hour before the deadline, show a program recapping the days games.
While MLB Network continues to grow last night it made a huge mistake in not doing some type of signing deadline specials. For a network that builds itself to be the home of baseball to treat the second biggest day in the prospects calendar, the draft being the first, like this is just not right.
Some years there are few story lines when it comes to signing day but this year there were a ton of them. From Harper and the Nats trying to get a deal done to Lee with the Dodgers to Parker and the Rockies. That does not count all of the sandwich round guys that signed for over slot.
Maybe next year MLB Network will step up and do a late night show tracking the signs. That would be nice for the network that says they have everything in baseball covered. Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
Yesterday was a big day in Washington DC politics with primaries all over the country, but what was the biggest story on the front pages of the some DC Daily Newspapers, Starsburg of Course. Stephen Strasburg made Nationals fans cry in happiness with his performance last night against the Pirates, 7 innings, 2 runs and 14 strikeouts, not bad for your first start.
