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Prospect GIF: Kevin Gausman’s Changeup

Gausman-Bautista-CH

Top 50 Prospects: #3 – Dylan Bundy

#3 Dylan Bundy

Baltimore Orioles

DOB: 11/15/1992

Previous Rank: N/A

ETA: 2014

Bundy is without a doubt the best prep pitcher to come along in a very long time, if ever.  Based on a purely statistical measure, he is without equal, striking out more than two hitters per inning playing for a school that spent most of the year with the No. 1 national ranking.  High school stats are next to meaningless…unless they are that astoundingly dominant.  He naturally was awarded the Gatorade National Player of the Year award across all sports.  The Orioles must have peed themselves when they saw him there at No. 4, and Bundy would not be at No. 4 in any of the last 10 drafts either, but the 2011 class was exceptional.

Bundy is the kind of arm that really makes you wonder how he can be just a teenager and without a day of collegiate experience.  His mechanics are smooth and repeatable.  His athleticism is through the roof.  He trains extremely hard and has outstanding makeup, and we haven’t even begun to talk about his stuff.

Bundy features a mid- to high-90s fastball that has reached triple digits, a plus curveball with good shape and consistency, a cutter that routinely gets 70 grades, and a solid average changeup with a high likelihood of giving Bundy his fourth plus or better pitch down the road.  We expect Bundy to start the year in Easy A and totally blow it away.  The Orioles recently have been criticized harshly for rushing their young starters up too quickly without allowing them to refine mechanics and secondary stuff.  Bundy, however, needs no refinement, so we expect him to spend three years at most in the farm.  He very well could finish the 2012 season with a couple of appearances in Double-A if everything goes the way we think it can.  Dylan Bundy has a chance to be the best pitcher alive for several years.


Top 50 Prospects: #9 – Manny Machado

#9 Manny Machado

Baltimore Orioles

DOB: 7/6/1992

Previous Rank: 23

ETA: 2014

Machado is the top middle infield prospect in the Minors today, unless we are counting Anthony Rendon.  The Florida-native failed at the plate upon a promotion to the Carolina League, but he torched the Sally League, posting an .859 OPS and walking nearly as many times as he struck out.  His posted a slash line of .245/.308/.384 on the year, went deep 11 times, and stole 11 bases, but needs to make more consistent contact as well as develop some discipline in the box.

Year Age Tm Lg Lev G PA AB R 2B 3B HR RBI BA
2010 17 2 Teams 2 Lgs A–Rk 9 39 36 3 1 1 1 5 .306
2010 17 Orioles GULF Rk 2 7 7 1 0 0 1 2 .143
2010 17 Aberdeen NYPL A- 7 32 29 2 1 1 0 3 .345
2011 18 2 Teams 2 Lgs A+-A 101 430 382 48 20 5 11 50 .257
2011 18 Delmarva SALL A 38 170 145 24 8 2 6 24 .276
2011 18 Frederick CARL A+ 63 260 237 24 12 3 5 26 .245
2 Seasons 110 469 418 51 21 6 12 55 .261
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/20/2012.
Year Age Tm Lg Lev G PA AB HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
2010 17 2 Teams 2 Lgs A–Rk 9 39 36 1 5 0 0 3 3 .306 .359 .472 .831
2010 17 Orioles GULF Rk 2 7 7 1 2 0 0 0 1 .143 .143 .571 .714
2010 17 Aberdeen NYPL A- 7 32 29 0 3 0 0 3 2 .345 .406 .448 .855
2011 18 2 Teams 2 Lgs A+-A 101 430 382 11 50 11 6 45 73 .257 .335 .421 .756
2011 18 Delmarva SALL A 38 170 145 6 24 3 1 23 25 .276 .376 .483 .859
2011 18 Frederick CARL A+ 63 260 237 5 26 8 5 22 48 .245 .308 .384 .692
2 Seasons 110 469 418 12 55 11 6 48 76 .261 .337 .426 .763
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/20/2012.
Year Age Tm Lg Lev Aff G Ch PO A E DP Fld% RF/G
2010 17 Aberdeen NYPL A- BAL SS 5 22 7 14 1 2 .955 4.20
2011 18 2 Teams 2 Lgs A+-A BAL SS 94 448 139 290 19 53 .958 4.56
2011 18 Delmarva SALL A BAL SS 33 178 51 120 7 23 .961 5.18
2011 18 Frederick CARL A+ BAL SS 61 270 88 170 12 30 .956 4.23
2 Seasons 99 470 146 304 20 55 .957 4.55
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/20/2012.

Machado has elite tools and no real weaknesses, and should develop into one of the truly special shortstops in the game.  Scouts see him as a plus-hit/plus-power offensive player with enough range and more than enough arm for short.  His hands are not consistent in the field and his footwork can get sloppy, but a teenager at short in the Carolina League is given the benefit of the doubt every time.  If he is forced to shift positions, which we are skeptical of (at least for the rest of this decade), he will have plenty of bat to stick at third.  Machado is as toolsy as they come, and when he grows into his 6-foot-3 frame a bit, he will light up whatever league he finds himself in.

GIF of the Moment: The Manny Ramirez Cutoff

Golden Sombrero: Jason Varitek

Bottom 2: Jason Varitek walked against Chris Jakubauskas

Bottom 3: struck out swinging against Brad Berken

Bottom 4: struck out swinging against Berken

Bottom 6: struck out swinging against Jeremy Accardo

Bottom 7: struck out swinging against Brad Bergesen

Final Line: 0-for-4, BB, R, 4 K

Notes: In a game where the Red Sox scored 18 runs on 20 hits, Varitek was the only starter without a hit in Game 2 of the double-dip against the Orioles on Monday.  As a team, they struck out six times, and ‘Tek accounted for four of them. Although 39-year-old has appeared in only 67 games this season, he’s managed to drop 11 bombs while posting a .205 ISO – his career ISO is .179.

Total 2011 Sombreros: 119