College Monday wrap-up Cinco de Mayo
Another rough weekend for the top college pitchers, but Christian Friedrich took advantage and fired a great game. I don’t know if the Cardinals will look at relievers early, but this week I decided to add a few of them in the report. The bats continue to roll as Yonder Alonso and Brett Wallace show off their power stroke. Check it all out inside this special Cinco de Mayo edition of the wrap. I don’t really know what you are supposed to do for Cinco de Mayo, but I wouldn’t mind a few margaritas or i heard azru likes the Bud Light Lime.
Batters
Pedro Alvarez Vanderbilt 4-15, 4 R, 2 RBI—–solid, but not spectacular since return
Gordon Beckham Georgia 2-11, 2 HR (22), 3 R, 4 RBI, 2 BB—–doing what he can to hold off Smoak for national home run lead
Buster Posey Florida St. 3-10, 2 HR (14), 2 R, 2 RBI
Justin Smoak South Carolina 5-10, 2B (17), HR (19), 3 R, 4 RBI, 4 BB, SB (1)—–continues his big hot streak
Yonder Alonso Miami (FL) 4-6, 2 HR (14), 6 R, 6 RBI, 3 BB, SB (8)——absolute on base machine
Jemile Weeks Miami (FL) 4-10, 3B (4), 4 R, RBI, 2 BB, 2 SB (16)
Brett Wallace Arizona St. 7-14, 2B (8), 3 HR (15), 7 R, 5 RBI—-one of the best pure hitters in college baseball, probably doesn’t get the credit he desereves
Dennis Raben Miami (FL) 7-13, 2B (10), HR (5), 5 R, 6 RBI—-showing some signs
James Darnell South Carolina 5-13, 2B (11), 2 HR (15), 2 R, 7 RBI——doesn’t hit for great average, but has a ton of power
Petey Paramore Arizona St. 7-13, 2 HR (6), 3 R, 4 RBI——one of the better catching prospects in draft
Pitchers
Brian Matusz San Diego 6 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 9 K
Aaron Crow Mizzou 5.1 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 8 K—-still trying to regain that form
Shooter Hunt Tulane 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K—–a couple more like this and we might not have to worry about him making it to us
Tanner Scheppers Fresno St. 7.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 6 BB, 12 K—–.2 IP came in relief on Friday, and the rest in a start on Saturday. They are riding him hard, and he is starting to wear out as evidenced by the major jump in walks over the last few weeks.
Christian Friedrich Eastern Kentucky 8 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K—–while the other top arms struggle, he throws an absolute gem
Joshua Fields Georgia 2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K—-first ER allowed all season
Zach Putnam Michigan 9 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K—-not many strikeouts, but you can bet he had that sinker working
Lance Lynn Mississippi 6.1 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K—-stock is slipping
Tim Murphy UCLA 7 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 10 K—–have to like that K:BB ratio especially against Arizona St.
Scott Gorgen UC Irvine 8.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 10 K
Aaron Shafer Wichita St. 8 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 11 K——college pitcher? check. righty? check. sinkerballer? check. keep an eye on this guy. btw, he’s from St. Louis
Aaron Weatherford Mississippi St. 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K—-22.2 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 7 BB, 46 K for the season. one of the nastiest closers in college baseball.
Ryan Perry Arizona 3.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K—–great arm and has thrown strikes this year
Dan Schlereth Arizona 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K—–dominating lefty reliever, yeah its Mark’s son
Filed under: 2008 MLB draft
erik
azruavatar
fewgoodcards
roarke49
“Son of Stink” Sounds like a foul serial killer. I’ve heard some speculation that SF could consider Smoak. I also heard on the BA podcast that they don’t think a high school player will be drafted with the first 3 picks. So does that mean the Rays will take Alvarez? Hmmm…. I think it’s time for another mock draft.
i’m pretty busy this week, but i can get a mock up next week.
the hot new rumor with the rays has them going for posey.
as for beckham, i don’t see him getting past the royals, but that’s just me.
smoak would be a perfect fit for the giants. they need a middle of the order bat that can move fast, and smoak is that kind of guy. i could also see him going to the pirates at 2 if they don’t want to pay for alvarez, but i think you are looking at the giants or marlins with him.
what kind of SB numbers does Week project for in the majors?
he’s got great speed. i honestly believe he can steal as many bases as he wants to. it obviously depends on what kind of lineup he is in, but i can see him stealing 30 bases a year. the comp i have made with him is brian roberts, and if he decided he wanted to i think he could have a 40 or 50 steal season.
his coaches probably don’t want him running a whole lot in front of alonso, so he doesn’t have many attempts this year, but he has only been caught once.
Angel Villalona is the Giants top prospect according to BP and got moved to 1B this year. Most reports I’ve heard have said the Giants will likely not draft a 1B because of him. He’s only 17, though, so I don’t know.
I saw a mock draft somewhere, I don’t recall where, that had the Cardinals taking Kyle Skipworth at 13. Evidently he is really moving up draft boards. According to a Marc Lancaster article linked at mlbtraderumors, the Rays are considering most of the usual suspects + Skipworth as the top pick.
Sorry I don’t know how to make hyper links, but here is the article:
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/may/04/sp-who-will-rays-draft-let-the-guessing-begin/?sports-rays
Just thought I’d share this, because obviously the Cards like them some sroundballs.
“The nation’s premier sinkerballer among starting pitchers is Michigan’s Zach Putnam, who not only throws a heavy 92-93 mph fastball but also has a devastating splitter. Clemson righthander D.J. Mitchell has less velocity on his fastball–he works in the 88-91 range–but even more sink, though he hasn’t been as effective as Putnam this spring.
There are a number of hard-throwing relievers with very good sink. Miami closer Carlos Gutierrez stands out for an 89-90 mph two-seamer that Hurricanes coach Jim Morris says has the best sink of any pitcher he’s coached since Kevin Brown. Gutierrez can reach 92-93 with his four-seamer, but he’s most effective when throwing around 90 with his sinker.
Texas Tech closer Zach Stewart might be even nastier–one area scout said his fastball is “92-96 with serious sink.” Rice reliever Bryan Price works in the same range with a sinking two-seamer. And Purdue closer Zach Lindblom throws a 94-95 mph fastball with heavy life, though not as much movement as those others.”
http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/college/?p=396
villalona is a long way away, and he hasn’t played very well so far this year. i know they dumped a lot of money on him, but if they pass on a top bat b/c of him they are pretty dumb. if they have gordon beckham and smoak rated equally and decide to go with beckham b/c of villalona that is fine, but if smoak is their top guy they better take him.
Shafer scares the hell out of me. He’s got great stuff, but he can’t stay healthy, despite reports of ‘effortless’ mechanics. That particular combination really worries me.
He does have a great name, though.
crow struggled this weekend in part t=due to back spasams, fyi