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Post by The Duke on Mar 24, 2017 14:01:26 GMT -5
Royce Lewis had a double and an RBI last night, haven't been able to find his final line though.
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Post by The Duke on Mar 24, 2017 16:15:51 GMT -5
Just saw Buskauskas throw an 88 mph slider that had huge break. I've said it before and i'll say it again, best pitch in the draft.
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Post by The Duke on Mar 27, 2017 7:46:14 GMT -5
JB Buskauskas was facing a Miami team that has been struggling this year without 2016 1st rd pick Zack Collins. They continued to struggle against Bukauskas, whose slider is starting to the some 80 grades thrown around on it. Not only does it have plus velocity and break, he also manipulates it to get more lateral movement on one pitch and then more vertical movement on another. His changeup has been getting more consistent with each start as well. At it's best, it's a plus pitch, giving Bukauskas three plus pitches and scouts are saying that his delivery has improved to where it shouldn't hinder him from starting. On Friday he went 7 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 9 K to move his record to 4-0. He did have a few wild pitches where he spiked his slider a bit, albeit on two of those a better catcher blocks it in the dirt.
Brendan McKay had his worst start of the year, which is saying something about his year because he still went 7 IP with 14 K vs 1 BB. He did, however, give up 3 runs on 6 H with a couple wild pitches. 4 of the 6 hits were hard hits for 3 2B and a HR given up, but even in his worst start of the year, he was fairly dominant. He also struggled a little at the plate going 1-10 on the weekend, albeit with 4 BB as well, so he still managed a .357 OBP, but the 1-10 did lower his average to .414 on the year.
Alex Faedo had a helluva pitchers dual with Alex Lange on Friday night with Faedo and the Gators coming out the victor in the 1-0 game. Faedo went 7 IP, 7 H, 0 BB, 0 R, 7 K on 114 pitches. His velo is still down from last year, sitting mostly 89-91 with his fastball, ramping it up to 92-93 for a few pitches. Unlike last week his control with all 3 pitches was back and he was putting the ball anywhere he wanted in the strikezone or just outside to get guys to chase. His changeup is still about 10 mph slower than his fastball with good break, and his slider has good movement in the low 80's.
JSerra, Royce Lewis' high school in California doesn't report their team stats to Maxpreps, so it's been tough to get his results over the last week. I do know he doubled Thursday, and hit a home run on Saturday. His team won both ends of a double header Saturday 11-3 and 22-5 and had a 7-3 win on Thursday.
Hunter Greene's team won a double header on Friday 12-0 and 7-1. It looks like Greene didn't pitch in either game, and only played SS in 1 going 1-2 with a 2B, BB, SF, and 3 RBI. It looks like they were saving him to pitch one of their 3 game set against national power and league rival Harvard-Westlake whom they play Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Austin Beck's team won 7-4 on Friday and 3-0 on Saturday. However, no one reported the box score for his team for either game and Twitter/Google has come up empty so far. The North Carolina native was pumped about North Carolina's last second win over Kentucky to get to the Final Four.
Hopefully some more information about the high school kids comes out over the next few days, but for now I just go forward with the information I have. As of now, my draft board would be:
Royce Lewis JB Buskauskas Hunter Greene Austin Beck Brendan McKay Alex Faedo
Any of the top 3 and i'll be pretty happy on draft day, any of the bottom 3 and i'll be a little skeptical but could see the reasoning.
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Post by kinsm on Mar 28, 2017 15:37:43 GMT -5
North Oldham High (Goshen, Ky.) senior Joe Boyle has officially opted out of the 2017 draft, sources told Baseball America today. Boyle is the first player to officially opt out of draft eligibility. The newest Collective Bargaining Agreement added the following condition: If a player wishes to be excluded from the draft, he must notify the Commissioner’s Office in writing by the May 1 immediately preceding the draft. Previously, the top 200 players in the draft (as determined by the Major League Scouting Bureau) could remove themselves from the draft by declining to participate in drug testing. This was the case for Brewers prospect Nathan Kirby back in 2012. Boyle and his family had made it clear to clubs early on that he had no interest in playing professionally. He is committed to Notre Dame, and he intends to honor that commitment. Read more at www.baseballamerica.com/draft/joe-boyle-opts-out-of-draft/#Dz4av1sVoj4Jephv.99
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Post by kinsm on Mar 28, 2017 16:04:00 GMT -5
The Top Three Picks In The 2018 Draft Will Belong To?John Manuel: Padres, White Sox, Reds. J.J. Cooper: Padres, Twins, White Sox. Matt Eddy: Padres, Reds, Athletics. Kyle Glaser: Padres, Athletics, Brewers. Ben Badler: Padres, Reds, Athletics. Vince Lara: Padres, Reds, Twins. Josh Norris: Padres, Reds, Twins. Teddy Cahill: Padres, Reds, Athletics. Read more at www.baseballamerica.com/majors/2017-major-league-preview/#YSFjz4bxgRBwrtF4.99
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Post by redsfanman on Mar 28, 2017 21:54:47 GMT -5
I saw that earlier... JJ Cooper covers the Reds' system for Baseball America and he alone thinks they won't get a top 3 pick. Interesting....
All 8 think the Padres will have the worst record, that's a lot of agreement.
John Manuel chose the Twins as the biggest surprise of 2017, saying they'll win closer to 83 (2015 total) than 59 (2016 total), but 3 of the 8 writers picked them for another top 3 draft pick.
I already got 3 of their breakout star candidates (Benintendi, Swanson, Gausman) for my fantasy team. I'm happy to see that Matt Eddy chose Jon Gray, also on my team, as the MLB strikeout leader.
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Post by The Duke on Mar 29, 2017 9:52:27 GMT -5
Still not a fan of him as a pick, but worth mentioning that Jeren Kendall has been en fuego over the last few weeks. Hit his 8th HR of the year last night. Hitting .324/.417/.639 on the year with 16 BB vs 27 K, 4 2B, 3 3B, 8 HR, 25 RBI, 30 R, and 9 SB.
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Post by floydgator on Mar 29, 2017 14:24:09 GMT -5
Faedo rebounded from a crappy start vs. Auburn to dominate LSU (yet we still couldn't hit) then Singer was even better on Saturday. Should have been a sweep after Kowar staked us to a 5-0 lead through 5 innings, but the bullpen collapsed and gave up 10 runs in 2 innings. That's basically the same guys who have now given up 1 run in 18 innings against FSU.
This team is young and still playing like it, but the bats might be improving a little and the weekend starters are ridiculous. I expect the bullpen to become more consistent and bats to make their way to average. If that happens, we will be a threat to win it all. In the meantime, we will continue to be inconsistent.
1-7 vs. JU, UCF, FGCU and Auburn, 5-0 vs. Miami and FSU. Totally worth it.
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Post by floydgator on Mar 29, 2017 14:25:02 GMT -5
JB Buskauskas was facing a Miami team that has been struggling this year without 2016 1st rd pick Zack Collins. They continued to struggle against Bukauskas, whose slider is starting to the some 80 grades thrown around on it. Not only does it have plus velocity and break, he also manipulates it to get more lateral movement on one pitch and then more vertical movement on another. His changeup has been getting more consistent with each start as well. At it's best, it's a plus pitch, giving Bukauskas three plus pitches and scouts are saying that his delivery has improved to where it shouldn't hinder him from starting. On Friday he went 7 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 9 K to move his record to 4-0. He did have a few wild pitches where he spiked his slider a bit, albeit on two of those a better catcher blocks it in the dirt. Brendan McKay had his worst start of the year, which is saying something about his year because he still went 7 IP with 14 K vs 1 BB. He did, however, give up 3 runs on 6 H with a couple wild pitches. 4 of the 6 hits were hard hits for 3 2B and a HR given up, but even in his worst start of the year, he was fairly dominant. He also struggled a little at the plate going 1-10 on the weekend, albeit with 4 BB as well, so he still managed a .357 OBP, but the 1-10 did lower his average to .414 on the year. Alex Faedo had a helluva pitchers dual with Alex Lange on Friday night with Faedo and the Gators coming out the victor in the 1-0 game. Faedo went 7 IP, 7 H, 0 BB, 0 R, 7 K on 114 pitches. His velo is still down from last year, sitting mostly 89-91 with his fastball, ramping it up to 92-93 for a few pitches. Unlike last week his control with all 3 pitches was back and he was putting the ball anywhere he wanted in the strikezone or just outside to get guys to chase. His changeup is still about 10 mph slower than his fastball with good break, and his slider has good movement in the low 80's. JSerra, Royce Lewis' high school in California doesn't report their team stats to Maxpreps, so it's been tough to get his results over the last week. I do know he doubled Thursday, and hit a home run on Saturday. His team won both ends of a double header Saturday 11-3 and 22-5 and had a 7-3 win on Thursday. Hunter Greene's team won a double header on Friday 12-0 and 7-1. It looks like Greene didn't pitch in either game, and only played SS in 1 going 1-2 with a 2B, BB, SF, and 3 RBI. It looks like they were saving him to pitch one of their 3 game set against national power and league rival Harvard-Westlake whom they play Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Austin Beck's team won 7-4 on Friday and 3-0 on Saturday. However, no one reported the box score for his team for either game and Twitter/Google has come up empty so far. The North Carolina native was pumped about North Carolina's last second win over Kentucky to get to the Final Four. Hopefully some more information about the high school kids comes out over the next few days, but for now I just go forward with the information I have. As of now, my draft board would be: Royce Lewis JB Buskauskas Hunter Greene Austin Beck Brendan McKay Alex Faedo Any of the top 3 and i'll be pretty happy on draft day, any of the bottom 3 and i'll be a little skeptical but could see the reasoning. Miami is starting to turn the corner as well. Impressive outing for buskafoasdfuas. Still want one of the 2 HS kids.
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Post by The Duke on Mar 30, 2017 7:35:17 GMT -5
A college hitter we may want to start paying attention to is Virginia CF Adam Haseley. I saw him play against JB Buskauskas and he had quality at bats and I just dug into him a little more and he is straight up mashing so far this year. He's hitting .409/.509/.753 with 8 HR, 6 2B, 1 3B, 18 BB vs 10 K, and 4 SB so far. In BA's latest draft update he was number 18, but was also listed in the Helium section. If he keeps showing this kind of power against a tough ACC schedule then I wonder how high his helium could go. BA Top 100 Draft Prospects 3/23
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Post by kinsm on Mar 30, 2017 11:14:06 GMT -5
Pass on the 2 way college talents, I want someone who has been completely focused on one or the other.
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Post by The Duke on Mar 30, 2017 12:36:32 GMT -5
Pass on the 2 way college talents, I want someone who has been completely focused on one or the other. That would make sense if their was a deficiency in their game that not focusing on one has caused, except guys like McKay and Haseley both have good plate discipline, contact skills, and power potential. Haseley is a good CF too, so that gives him more positional value. I wonder if his pre-draft ranking is still in the teens and the Reds aren't sold on any of the top guys (I doubt it, I think the top 5-6 is pretty good) if they would consider someone like Haseley on a cheaper deal and then try to oversign at 32. I don't advocate that if they think a clear better talent is available, but it matters what they think, not what I think.
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Post by The Duke on Mar 31, 2017 10:15:36 GMT -5
JB Buskauskas faces a big test today as UNC faces #10 Florida State. It's a 6pm game and is available to see on the WatchESPN app
Brendan McKay faces #10 Virginia, led by Adam Haseley and Pavin Smith. Buskauskas dominated Virginia a couple weeks back. This is also at 6pm and available on the WatchESPN app. Haseley will face a good pitching staff all weekend in Virginia and has been very impressive the few times I've seen him play.
Alex Faedo faces unranked Missouri at 7:30 and it too appears to be on the WatchESPN schedule
Hunter Greene has only pitched in 3 games this season so far out of his teams 12, and hasn't pitched in over 10 days. They face national power Harvard-Westlake in a game I have to imagine he is finally pitching again in. If he doesn't pitch, I'm going to start wondering if he is having some sort of issue. He is still playing the field in all these games.
Royce Lewis plays tonight and so far he has been pitched around a lot and is drawing a ton of walks, but he has hit at least 1 home run that I am aware of a several doubles. I have read on Twitter that scouts have been pretty positive about his defense at SS so far this season and that more are beginning to think he can stick there.
Austin Beck plays today, but stats for his team are damn near impossible to find, and relying on Twitter has yielded little so far.
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Post by The Duke on Mar 31, 2017 13:25:04 GMT -5
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Post by The Duke on Apr 1, 2017 23:25:58 GMT -5
I watched a lot of college baseball Friday night. JB Bukauskas didn't have his best stuff Friday night, but he was still able to dominate one of the better offenses in the country. His fastball command wasn't it's best and his slider was only very good and not just dominant. Surprisingly enough, his changeup was his best pitch -on Friday. He got plenty of swing and misses with it as well as several ground outs. I saw just about his entire start and with only 1 of his 3 pitches going, the one generally regarded as the least of his pitches (still a 60 pitch imo), he went out and put up a 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 3 HBP (honestly 2 of them leaned into an inside fastball and got grazed), 10 K line in 112 pitches with 8 GO vs 2 FO. He got into a jam in the first and was cool as ice getting out of it. He wouldn't have even given up the 1 run if UNC's catcher could block balls in the dirt worth a damn. The fastball wasn't getting the corners and he wasn't getting them from the ump either, but he still did a good job using it to change the hitters eye level and working both sides of the plate. The slider was still good, he just wasn't able to manipulate it for different movement like he did in his last start. Whenever he tried to go for more vertical movement he was missing low (which is preferable to missing over the plate) and that requires a catcher who can zip that up. The changeup was the best i've seen it. It was a plus pitch and why he was able to dominate Florida State even with his primary weapons not being their best. On a side note, he was still hitting 97 in the 7th, and hit 98 on the night. Slider and changeup were both working in the 84-86 range. On another side note, Florida State's announcers were terrible. They didn't know what pitches Bukauskas threw, kept saying he routinely breaks 100 (he's done it maybe twice in his career), and used just one announcer cliche after another. I was able to see about 2/3 of Brendan McKay's start against a very good Virginia offense. It was my first time seeing him pitch this year beyond clips and highlights, and my earlier comparison to Mike Leake is even stronger now. Fastball control is excellent, albeit not a ton of movement on the pitch. He generally sits 90-93, but every so often reaches back and gets 94-95. The curve was his best pitch and he was able to bury it to try to get hitters to chase it and throw it for strikes. I think it's his best pitch, with the changeup looking average to above average. McKay has amassed a ton of K's this year, but Virginia was getting a lot of contact on him. He was able to work around it and was helped by some stellar defense behind him. 6 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 ER on 109 pitches with 7 GO vs 9 FO. His stuff is good, and he may be the safest pitcher in the draft, but it just screams mid rotation pitcher to me. Adam Haseley had a lot of good at bats and drove in the 1 run off of McKay in a 1-4 night. He also made a few nice running grabs in CF. Just takes professional at bats working counts and making a ton of contact. Alex Faedo seems to be getting some of his velo back. I saw the latter half of his start and he was sitting a lot more 92-93 with his fastball. I didn't see his 8th inning when he got the 2 unearned runs though. He was 7.2 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 3 R, 1 ER, 7 K, 3 HBP, 117 pitches with 9 GO vs 6 FO. The slider and changeup were both looking pretty good and both seemed to be in the 79-83 range. He was setting up hitters nicely and keeping them off balance. Probably the best i've seen Faedo this year, but I haven't seen all of his starts. Hunter Greene got a big win against Harvard-Westlake in his return to the mound. He went the distance for 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 7 K and pitched through constant heckling from the HW student section. Greene only needed 81 pitches (58 for strikes) to get through the game. As you can see in the video below, Greene was fired up throughout the game, and was still hitting 97 in the 7th. Here's an interview on Twitter, we'll see if this embedding code works Love the confidence.
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