DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
Bleacher Bums Forum
HTML https://bbf.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: Archives
*****************************************************
#Post#: 169374--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2014 Draft
DIR By: bitterman
Date: March 3, 2014, 6:01 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
I don't recall Turner having anything other than singles and
that's incredibly troubling. I'm not sure how you can use the
4th overall pick on an all glove not hit SS. You can usually
find those types on waivers.
#Post#: 169375--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2014 Draft
DIR By: guest61
Date: March 3, 2014, 6:07 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
All day.
#Post#: 169377--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2014 Draft
DIR By: Chris27
Date: March 3, 2014, 6:18 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Turner has one double.
#Post#: 169379--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2014 Draft
DIR By: craig
Date: March 3, 2014, 7:15 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
I think that double was a grounder that went past the 3B down
the line. Not sure if that's a problem, but you'd like to see
the power to drive it past the outfielders once in a while. Not
a lot of high-average guys these days who don't get a dozen hits
over the wall, and quite a few more that get past the
outfielders. Maybe he's the guy who'll be able to do that. Kind
of a Hak-Yu Lee prospect?
#Post#: 169380--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2014 Draft
DIR By: Deeg
Date: March 3, 2014, 7:19 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
He slugged. 553 last year and this season is two weeks old.
Don't overreact or anything.
#Post#: 169381--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2014 Draft
DIR By: Jes Beard
Date: March 3, 2014, 7:22 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
He had 5 HR as a freshman in 2012 and 7 last year. That doesn't
sound like someone who is ever going to lead the league in
slugging, but I haven't seen too many inside the park ground
ball HR.
HTML http://thebaseballcube.com/players/profile.asp?P=trea-turner
#Post#: 169459--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2014 Draft
DIR By: Reb
Date: March 4, 2014, 2:28 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Latest from ESPN's Christopher Crawford (discussion of Trea
Turner near end of piece):
We're officially into March now, and while there's still an
awful lot of baseball to be played, things are starting to take
shape and separation between players is starting to show.
"It's early, but you are starting to get a feel for what you're
going to see," an NL crosschecker said. "Particularly with
hitters because you're seeing them play two to four times a
week, but even with pitchers you are beginning to see how much
feel for pitching they have and how comfortable they are at
making adjustments. The results don't mean as much as they do in
April or May, but it's definitely a benefit for the player to do
well early."
This weekend we saw the top pitchers in the class all have solid
outings, a couple of well-known left-handed pitchers have their
worst outings of the year, and the best collegiate bats continue
to have inconsistency issues.
Top arms impress
After struggling to show top-five pick stuff against Virginia,
East Carolina right-hander Jeff Hoffman had his best start of
the young season on Friday, albeit against competition that was
nowhere close to the quality he had faced the week before.
Hoffman struck out nine in the first four innings, and ended up
with 14 strikeouts over his eight innings of work against
Western Kentucky; giving up just one unearned run and five hits
along the way. His fastball touched 97 mph and he showed more
consistency with his breaking-ball (Hoffman calls it a slider,
but every scout I've talked to calls the pitch a curveball) and
still had the quality change.
"What impressed me most was how efficient he was," an American
League scout said. "When you strike out that many guys and only
need 109 pitches to do it? That's awesome. Western Kentucky
didn't really stand a chance tonight even if Hoffman wasn't
good, but he would have gotten through most collegiate lineup
tonight."
Hoffman continues to be one of the top three collegiate pitchers
in the class, and more starts like yesterday's outing could make
him a lock for one of the top six picks.
• Carlos Rodon was moved to Saturday as N.C. State had a
highly-anticipated matchup with UCLA, and for the most part, the
left-handed ace didn't disappoint. Rodon gave up just three hits
and two runs -- with only one of them earned, though the
unearned run was due to an error he made -- while walking three
and striking out eight. The command of his off-speed pitches
still wasn't where it should be, but his fastball was up to 94
mph with life and there were flashes of brilliance against a
decent Bruin lineup.
• Pitchers often begin the year without their best velocity,
needing time to reestablish their arm strength after several
months off, but that hasn't been the case for Tyler Kolek of
Shepherd (Texas) HS.
Kolek was 92-98 in his outing against Lumberton HS, striking out
11 in six no-hit innings. His off-speed pitches were just
average, but the impressive arm-strength that was on display at
several events in August was clearly still there on Monday.
"Velocity isn't everything, but it's nice to see, especially
early on," an AL West crosschecker said. "It's no surprise,
[Kolek] was touching triple- digits this summer and he's a
massive kid who's gotten taller since we saw him in the summer.
He's going to dominate the competition he faces all year so the
stats are a little misleading, but he can absolutely bring it."
• While committed to TCU, Kolek is already drawing top-five pick
consideration, and could easily be a top-three selection if a
team believes that his breaking ball and change will continue to
develop.
College southpaws mediocre
• TCU left-hander Brandon Finnegan got off to a hot start in his
first two outings of the year, but wasn't nearly as impressive
on Friday against Sam Houston State.
Finnegan gave up 8 hits in 6 2/3 innings pitched in his outing,
giving up five runs in a 9-4 loss. He did strike out 11 hitters,
but he also walked two, hit another and threw a pair of wild
pitches.
"You don't like to see command problems, because (Finnegan) has
a lot of things going against him anyway," an NL Central scout
said. "Even when he was in the strike zone he was missing his
spots, which isn't something we're used to seeing from him.
"When you're 5-foot-11 and struggling to throw strikes even in
short spurts, it's definitely a red flag, however."
Finnegan is a late first-round target, and teams like the
Cleveland Indians and Oakland Athletics could show interest in
the left-hander in that range.
• It was only Sean Newcomb's second start of the year, and his
Friday start was pushed back to Saturday because of the blustery
weather. The Hartford hurler's results weren't subpar -- giving
up just one unearned run and striking out 6 in 5 2/3 innings --
but he walked three batters for the second straight start and
struggled to find command of both his fastball and off-speed
stuff.
"I think you're seeing some rust," an AL East scout said. "But
he's going to have to pitch better than this. The Newcomb I saw
over the summer was a guy who might have had the most
arm-strength and was consistently 93-95 touching 97. He got shut
down this summer with mono, so maybe he's just regaining what he
had. This isn't the guy I saw in the Cape Cod though."
Newcomb was seen as in the third tier of Keith Law's first-round
projects, so if he shows the same quality of stuff he did this
summer he could be a top-14 pick to teams like the Toronto Blue
Jays and the San Francisco Giants.
College bats continue still struggling
We've talked a lot about the quality -- or lack thereof -- in
terms of the collegiate hitters, and this weekend was a prime
example of why scouts are flummoxed by the inconsistent class.
• N.C. State shortstop Trea Turner had his work weekend of the
year, going 2-for-10 over the three-game series with two walks
and no stolen bases in the three-game series. The right-handed
hitting infielder has only one extra-base hit this year, and
some believe that his lack of power potential could
significantly hurt his draft stock.
"Speed is great, but it can only do so much," an NL East scout
said. "He has such a severe collapse on his back foot that it's
tough to imagine he's going to be able to hit for power,
particularly when he starts facing guys that are legit pitching
prospects like he saw on Saturday (UCLA sophomore Grant Watson).
His bat-to-ball skills are very good and I think he can get on
base, but if he can't give me some extra-base hits he can't be a
top-five pick."
• Michael Conforto is one of the more well-known members of the
collegiate class as an outfielder who has performed well for one
of the best programs in the country in Oregon State. This
weekend however, Conforto had mixed results over the weekend,
going 2-for-3 on Saturday but 0-for-8 the rest of the weekend
against Wright State.
"He's one of several guys eligible to be drafted this year who's
going to have to hit to go early," an American League scout
said. "He's a below-average runner who might have to move to
first as a professional, so the bat is going to have to carry
him. I like the approach at the plate a lot and there's raw
power there, but I need to see it more in games if I'm going to
play him there every day."
• Kennesaw State catcher Max Pentecost got off to a red-hot
start, but has been up and down over the past few weeks.
Pentecost went 2-for-5 on Friday, but didn't pick up a hit on
either Saturday or Sunday and struck out three times. The
right-hander did get on base via walk three times and twice by
hit-by-pitch, but scouts are expecting more considering KSU is
playing relatively weak competition.
Kennesaw is still considered the best overall catcher in the
class, and should go somewhere in the top 20 with clubs like the
Los Angeles Angels, Washington Nationals and Cincinnati Reds.
#Post#: 169879--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2014 Draft
DIR By: Chris27
Date: March 7, 2014, 9:09 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Beede: 7-6-1-1-0-9
Nola: 8-2-0-0-0-12
#Post#: 169886--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2014 Draft
DIR By: Dave23
Date: March 8, 2014, 12:02 am
---------------------------------------------------------
That's 53 innings for Nola without allowing an earned run.
#Post#: 169913--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2014 Draft
DIR By: papa smurf
Date: March 8, 2014, 12:13 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Dumb question. Who does Nola play for and who has he faced so
far
*****************************************************
Page 10 of 161
DIR Previous Page
DIR Next Page