Posts belonging to Category 2012 MLB Draft Preview

As the Super Regionals head toward a conclusion and the Omaha field is set, it seems appropriate to introduce to our readers to Arizona State shortstop Deven Marrero, who is likely to land in the first-round and perhaps even within the first 10 picks.  Yet, he is not even the top shortstop in his own conference that will be eligible for the 2012 draft.  That honor belongs to Stanford’s Kenny Diekroeger.

Marrero profiles as an above-average defender at short with a plus arm and a plus glove.  He has outstanding instincts for the position and should have no problem staying there as a professional.  At the plate, he fails to generate tremendous bat speed in large part due to a lack of lower body action.  He hits against a pretty quiet front, though, and keeps his hands inside well enough to be a 50 to 55 hit tool player.  He will never hit many bombs in the pros, but he runs well enough to at least have an isolated power.

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With Whitney graduating from U of A a couple of weeks ago, I thought I should write up the ace of that staff, sophomore Kurt Heyer.  Heyer had a truly remarkable season as the Friday-nighter for Arizona posting a 2.41 ERA in 130.2 IP with 128 K’s and only 25 BB.  His numbers were stellar, and Heyer will be one of the top arms in the PAC-10 in 2012 as well.  Heyer has terrific sink on his fastball, which allowed him to keep the ball in the yard quite well despite the thin Tucson air.  He only allowed 5 homers and 25 XBH’s in his 19 2011 starts.

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With the 2011 MLB draft very quickly approaching, I wanted to take a little bit of time to write about a New Mexican kid not named Blake Swihart.  Alex Bregman of Albuquerque Academy and the Albuquerque Baseball Academy, of which Swihart and Max Walla (2009 2^nd Round, Brewers) have helped make famous around club baseball circles, is already a 2-time All-State 1^st Teamer.  He likely will be selected to his third one in the next couple of weeks after a monstrous 2011 with Academy that ultimately ended in crushing defeat to Farmington’s Piedra Vista High in the title bout at Isotopes Park two Saturdays ago.  Bregman had a nice day at the plate with multiple XBH’s, but a costly error in the first inning which saw him turn an easy 2-ball into a 2-base throwing error.  Nevertheless, he was the best player in AAAA and will likely be in 2012 barring a meteoric rise from PVHS’s CF Shilo McCall.

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