Posts belonging to Category MLB Draft

This Saturday I was able to see Josh Bell’s Jesuit Prep take on Richardson High at Jesuit, which is an absolutely immaculate baseball facility with a full turf playing surface, covered hitting tunnels, and a press box.  Clearly the tuition to attend the school must be through the roof.  I’m glad to see they are allocating funds appropriately.

While Texas 5A baseball is regarded as some of the finest high school ball in the country, aside from Bell, there was not a whole lot of interesting baseball being played, but I kind of figured that was going to be the case considering Jesuit was 23-5 and Richardson was 8-12 going into the game.  Nevertheless, Bell barreled up on three pitches, flying out to center in his first AB, grounding out sharply to short in his next, and lining through the right side for a single before drawing a bases-juiced BB.  He received no action defensively, but played center and was clearly the best athlete on the field today.  Bell is a product of the Dallas Patriots club system, so he has been raised in an environment capable of training a talent of this caliber.

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Kaleb Cowart entered the draft in 2010 as a guy who was perceived differently between organizations.  As is the case with all exceptional two-way guys, the question ultimately comes down to which spot will allow the player to reach the big leagues faster.  Here’s why: if the player can reach the bigs fast enough but then fails, the other option now becomes the only option.  Rick Ankiel, Tim Wakefield, Joe Savery, Matt Bush, and Mike Dunn all share a common history, they tried and failed to stick with the role their organizations drafted them to fill.  Now they all are seeing varying levels of success at roles the organizations did not initially feel fit the player or team best.

Cowart currently is trying his luck at third with the Angels and is likely to start the year in Single A.  As an 18-year-old, Cowart was one of the youngest players in his draft class and has terrific power and arm tools.  His hands at third play at average and his feet are good enough, but he is never moving back to a MIF position.  His hit tool grading lags behind the power, but he is athletic and has a chance to pick it up quickly now that he is a baseball player every day and not a student-athlete.

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The Los Angeles Angels drafted Kaleb Cowart with the eighteenth overall pick in the first round of the 2010 MLB Draft.  In his senior year at Cook High School in Georgia, the 18-year-old put together a phenomenal season, both at the plate and on the bump, and was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year.

A switch-hitter, Cowart hit .654 (second highest in state history) with 11 home runs, 59 RBI, and 55 runs.  Futhermore, he posted a 1.206 slugging percentage and .721 on-base percentage — that’s right, a 1.927 OPS — while swiping 36/36 bags.

On the mound, the 6-foot-3 right-hander went 10-1 with a 1.05 ERA in 71 innings, amassing 116 strikeouts and recording a save.

As I mentioned a couple of pieces ago, my 1B in the Denslow Cup this season is Billy Butler.  I currently am using the Towel’s account to watch MLB TV during afternoon and evening lab, so I have been watching a little bit of the middle of the Royals’ order, since Butler is hitting cleanup for KC currently with sparkling results.  The Royals have been hitting Alex Gordon third, and he too has been crushing, starting the season with a 1.000+ OPS in his first 30 or so AB’s of 2011 after a torrential spring in which he slashed .343/.459/.729 in around 90 PA’s.  I am a huge supporter of statistical analysis and its role within player evaluation in baseball, so obviously this month of success does little to help us forget the last few years of Gordon’s career.  Still, something tells me that Gordon might be getting close to reminding us what it was about him, before he was drafted second overall in the 2005 MLB Draft, that made us believe that he was the messiah for which Kansas City had prayed for 20 years.

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Franco is the mastermind behind Next Level Ballplayer, a website designed to help turn guys who play baseball into ballplayers who play the game the right way. During his four-year career as a scholarship player at Miami University (OH), they won the league division three times, the overall league championship once, and participated in the NCAA Regionals (and were knocked out by the eventual National Champion Texas Longhorns). He has been teammates with over 25 guys who have been selected in the MLB draft (three of whom have made their MLB debuts) and has played against numerous guys that are currently playing in the big leagues.

We are officially less than 24 hours away from one of the best weekdays of the year. The first two rounds of March Madness, the first round of the MLB playoffs, and MLB Opening Day. Are there any other weekdays throughout the year that offer multiple, energy filled games during the work/school day? If so, please remind me in the comments section. Onto my top 10 reasons opening day can’t get here soon enough…

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