Prospects Plus: Cole Tucker

Name: Cole Tucker

Position: Shortstop 

Team: West Virginia Power

Organization: Pittsburgh Pirates

Organizational Rank: eighth ranked prospect in the Pirates system, according to Baseball America 

Last Friday vs the Blueclaws: 2 for 4 with a double. 

Positives: Tucker looks the part of a middle infielder. He showed many of the skills that made him a first rounder back in 2014. He has great baseball IQ, including saving a run by gunning a guy at home. Sure he is going to take time but it may be worth it in the end. He looked like the best player on the field on Friday night. 

Negatives: Tucker is never going to be a big time offensive player. His baseball IQ is going to play at any position if he has to be moved off shortstop. 

Fore: One of the best I've played

Every time we come down to Williamsburg to visit my aunt and uncle I make it a point to play golf with my uncle. So on Monday the two of us played the Goldenhorse Gold course and it did not disappoint. My uncle is a member at the Golden Horseshoe. 

I would agree with the sign below. 

The 16th hole is the photogenic hole of the two. 

While the 17th is a beast of a hole. One of the hardest I played. 

The Golden Horseshoe Gold Coures is one of the best I've played. In my top five. I broke a 100 so I'm happy. 

I wish the Great Outdoors Games where still around

I've been on the earth for nearly 38 years and one thing I haven't done was shoot a gun but at that all changed today as my buddy took me to Range 14

First we went skeet shooting and that was awesome. 

They even make pink shell casings.

After skeet shooting, we went to the pistol range and that was fun but not as fun as skeet shootings. 

When all is said and done I really enjoyed it and would go back. 

Prospects Plus: Josh Morgan

Name: Josh Morgan

Position: SS

Team: Hickory Crawdads

Organization: Texas Rangers

Ranking: 10th overall prospect in Rangers organization, according to Baseball America

Friday vs Lakewood Blueclaws: 2 for 5 with 3 RBI

Positives: Of all of the players that I saw on the field last night, Morgan, a former third round draft pick, was by far the most impressive. He looked really good at the plate and looked solid in the field. In the bottom of the seventh, Morgan made a really good back handed stop to prevent a run. Morgan's upside is as a high-OBP SS or 2B who doesn't steal a lot of bases or hit for much power, but who is solid defensively while getting on base at a solid clip.

Negatives: Morgan is going to have to continue to hit as he moves up the ladder, particularly when he gets to higher levels where pitchers can throw strikes more consistently, and will be more likely to challenge him due to his lack of power.  Morgan will have success if he can maintain his good approach at the plate while making solid contact enough to keep pitchers from overpowering him.

I tried but I just don't care

Few people watch as much soccer as I do. During the soccer season I watch: the Premier League, the Championship, the French league, Spanish league, Italian league, Portuguese league and the Russian league. So no one can question my love for the beautiful game. 

But there is one thing that I have had a hard time watching: the Women's World Cup. I tried to watch the final 45 minutes of the United States vs Germany but I found it unwatchable. While the pace of the game was ok the game lacked tackling. At no point in the second half did I see anyone flying in for a Roy Keane like tackle. 

Some might call me sexist for not being into the United States run to the final but honestly I care very little about it, wake me up when club friendlies start. The women's game does very little for me. 

U.S. Open done the Fox Way

I've held off on passing judgement on Fox's first attempt at covering my favorite major: the U.S. Open. Until now.

Joe Buck is a pain and I've never liked him and during the open my disliked for him grew. During the four rounds, Buck drove me nuts but talking over shots the whole time. Listening to Buck for four days make me yern for the days of Dan Hicks. 

Greg Norman was ok, not great. Norman gave some good insight on Jason Day's issues but beyond that he was not great.

The one thing I did like was the time they gave golf course designers to talk about all for the issues regarding fescue grass and the way it dominates the course. 

For a first major championship, Fox did an ok job but there is a ton of improvement that has to be made next year at Oakmont, my favorite US Open venue.  

Prospect Plus: Best Class Ever

In honor of this years rookie class Baseball America posted this epic photo on their Instagram. The four hotshots all on their cover. 

Prospects Plus: My MLB Mock Draft

Doing a MLB Mock Draft is probably the hardest thing in sports to do, but over the last couple of years I've given it a shot and I will again this year. So Here we go: 

1. Diamondbacks: Dansby Swanson,SS, Vanderbilt    
2. Astros: Alex Bregman, SS, LSU
3. Rockies: Dillion Tate, RHP, UCSB
4. Rangers: Brandan Rodgers, SS, California HS
5. Astros: Carson Fulmer, RHP, Vanderbilt
6. Twins: Tyler Jay, RHP, Illinois
7. Red Sox: Daz Cameron, OF, Georgia HS
8. White Sox: Kyle Funkhouser, RHP, Louisville
9. Cubs: Garrett Whitley, OF, New York HS
10. Phillies: Kyle Tucker, OF, Florida HS
11. Reds: Walker Buehler, RHP, Vanderbilt
12. Marlins: Trenton Clark, OF, Texas HS          
13. Rays: Andrew Benintendi, OF, Arkansas
14. Braves: Carnelius Randolph, SS, Georgia HS
15. Brewers: Ian Happ, OF, Cincinnati
16. Yankees: Tyler Stephenson, C, Georgia HS
17. Indians: Nick Plummer, OF, Michigan HS
18. Giants: Alex Young, LHP, TCU
19. Pirates: Mike Nikorak, RHP, Pennsylvania HS
20. Athletics: James Kapriellian, RHP, UCLA
21. Royals: Brady Aiken, LHP, IMG
22. Tigers: Ashe Russell, RHP, Indianapolis HS
23. Cardinals: Jon Harris, RHP, Missouri State
24. Dodgers: Kolby Allard, LHP, California HS
25. Orioles: Beau Burrows, RHP, Texas HS
26. Angels: Phil Bickford, RHP, JC of Southern Nevada
27. Rockies: Nathan Kirby, LHP, Virginia      
28. Braves: Dakota Chalmers, RHP, Georgia HS
29. Blue Jays: Michael Matuella, RHP, Duke
30. Yankees: Donny Everett, RHP, Tennessee HS
31. Giants: DJ Stewart, OF, Florida State
32. Pirates: Kevin Newman, SS, Arizona
33. Royals: Cody Ponce, RHP, Cal Poly Pomona
34. Tigers: Jacob Nix, RHP, IMG
35. Dodgers: Chris Shaw, OF/1b, Boston College
36. Orioles: Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3b, Texas HS
37. Astros: Donnie Dewees, OF, North Florida
38. Rockies: Justin Hooper, LHP, De La Salle HS
39. Cardinals: Kyle Holder, SS, San Diego
40. Brewers: David Hill, RHP, San Diego
41. Padres: Juan Hillman, LHP, Canada HS
42. Indians: Scott Kingery, 2B, Arizona

There was a time these guy matters.

It seems so long ago that some of the people below mattered in the sports world. 

Prospects Plus: UCSB Dillion Tate

Name: Dillon Tate

Position: pitcher

Team: UCSB

Ranking: Fifth overall prospect in the 2015 MLB Draft Class

Friday vs San Diego State: 8 innings, 6 hits, 4 runs, 4 earned runs, and 11 strikeouts. 

Positives: He has really good stuff. The late action on his slider was amazing. He settled down after struggling in the first inning.  Noting Tate's projectable frame and easy arm action when he was working in the upper 80s as a high school senior in 2012, scouts figured he could make a big velocity jump after moving on to UC Santa Barbara. He pitched just three innings as a freshman before taking that huge step forward in 2014, putting him in position to become the first Gaucho ever drafted in the top two rounds. His stock took another leap in 2015 as Santa Barbara's ace, becoming one of the best college arms in the Draft class.

Negatives: Looked rattled during the first inning, had a wild pitch. If I was a MLB executive his delivery would really worry me. He has a reliever delivery for me. 

Getting sick of John Tillman

A couple of years ago, the university of Maryland hired John Tillman to turn around their lacrosse program. After a couple of years in starting to think that Tillman is part of the reasons why the Terps fail to win on the games biggest stage. Tillman's slow it down offensive game doomed them against Denver in the National Title game.

During the game yesterday, Tillman's offense looked out of step. The hold the ball for a 45 seconds game made the Terps look terrible on offense. There where several different chances that the Terps could have gotten out and run but instead they pulled the ball out and ran lack luster offensive sets. This is a team that has Matt Rambo in attack and they couldn't find a way to get him a good look. 

I'm not saying Tillman needs to go, but a chance in offensive style is needed. If not it could another four decades until Maryland wins the title. 

Professional Tailgating: lacrosse goes west

The NCAA Lacrosse championships have been on Philly before and I decided to not to go but this year that changed. My son and I headed up and loved it and saw Denver become the first team west of the Mississippi to win the National Title. 

Prospects Plus: North Carolina's J.B. Bukauskas

 
Name: J.B. Bukauskas

Team: North Carolina 

Position: Pitcher

Rank:  #2 ranked college player for the 2017 draft

Friday vs Clemson: 5 + innings, 5 hits, 2 earned runs, no walks,  7 strikeouts.

Positives: During the 2014 MLB Draft, Bukauskas was one of my favorite players. He had a live arm and was going to be a top round draft pick. But instead of heading to the draft out of high school, JB told teams not to draft him so he could head to North Carolina. During the game on Friday afternoon, Bukauskas showed a great fastball as well as a wipe out change up. During the game he topped out at 95 mph, his change, which showed great movement was around 84 mph. Looked extremely polished for a young college pitcher. 

Negative: He's got a reliever's delivery with a lot of effort and inconsistent command; small frame inhibits ability to drive with the leg, putting more stress on the arm, and lack of finish could cause problems in the future. Big effort in the delivery will always limit the command upside, but there are flashes that he can at least be average placing the ball where he needs to against advanced hitters.

The WWE Network is perfect for a boring night

BA couple of nights ago after everyone left the house, I went downstairs and was looking for something to watch and put on the WWE Network. I searched for about 5 minutes and decided on SuperBrawl IV feature Flair vs Vader in a cage.

It's fun to sometime take a look back at what wrestling was like before the Monday Night Wars. The thing about watching an old show is you forget the story lines. 

One of the matches on the card is The Equalizer vs. jungle Jim Steel. Yes this was a match and it was boring as anything. The Jungle Jim character was terrible complete with ring music that featured monkey calls, yes monkey calls. 

Just look at this character this would never be allowed to happen today. Shaking my head at this character was one of the highlights of the show. 

The one thing I did really like was stage walkway that WCW used. It made it feel like a big event despite the fact the card was terrible. 

One thing I saw made me really upset was seeing Rick Rude. I was always a huge fan of his work. His mic work was amazing and his in ring skills where just as good. 

Tee Ball for beginners

For those who have never seen a tee ball game this text from a friend sums it up perfectly. 

"So Louie was on second when the last batter was up. When I say on second I mean he was a runner. The ball was hit and he fielded the ball and then proceeded to have a discussion with the other team. Then after tons of screaming at him by all the coaches and the hitter and the guy on first passed him. He finally ran home, with the ball in his hand."

Picture this and you will be laughing for days. 

Prospects Plus: Cord Sandberg

NAME: Cord Sandberg 

TEAM: Blueclaws 

POSITION: Outfield

PROSPECT RANKING: 21st ranked player in the Phillies system, according to Baseball America. 

FRIDAY VS. AUGUSTA: 1-5 with an RBI and run scored. 

POSITIVES: the former Mississippi State QB commit is a plus athlete. Right now is best tool is his speed. He has a body that could put on more muscle as he gets older. When developed he could be a 20-25 HR type of player. 

NEGATIVES: Still incredibly raw. Right now he is a athlete playing baseball, not a baseball player. During the game against Augusta he looked bad a couple of change ups. With any two sports star it's going to take time for them to develop just ask the Royals when it comes to Bubba Starling. 

Playing a piece of history

On Sunday I had the honor of playing Atlantic City Country Club and it was well worth it. The classic design has hosted several USGA Championships and playing you can see why. 

Here are some sights from my round. 

It was such an amazing track despite the fact I shot 96. 

Professional Tailgating: It's supposed to be a spring game

Spring games are supposed to be a sign that warmer weather is here but that was not the case during Rutgers spring game Friday night. Here are some of the sights and sounds from a chilly Rutgers Stadium.

Overall it was another fun night. 

An Interesting list of golf do's and don'ts

This list of the The 36 Most Common Mistakes in Golf  sums up many issues with golf around the country. The one that I take most exception to is that people with over a 36 waist shouldn't wear a white belt. I'm a huge fan of the white belt.

Prospects Plus: Carlos Tocci

Two weeks ago, I went and saw the Lakewood Blueclaws twice in a matter of five days and one thing stood out to me: OF Carlos Tocci looks like a totally different player.

For the last couple of years, Tocci has been the youngest player in the South Atlantic League but this years it looks like it's all paying off. Through nine games, Tocci was heading .361 while slugging .565. 

While it's never good for a prospect to repeat a level, it might have been needed for Tocci. When Tocci got to Lakewoof late three seasons ago he looked like a kid. This year he looks like more put together. With Tocci you have to remember that he is still only 20 years old. Despite being sent back to Lakewood this year, talent evaluators still hold Tocci in high regard and that will continue as he continues to develop.