#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.

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Gerrit Cole: This is a tougher call than one might expect, as Jameson Taillon is also a power righty in Pittsburgh’s system that arguably had the finest pitch of his draft class too.  Cole’s fastball is bigger and he is more polished than Taillon and probably closer to the Show.

Danny Hultzen: Hultzen is not really competing against anyone here and was the most polished guy in the ’11 class with excellent command and secondary stuff to go with a plus fastball from the left side.

Trevor Bauer: This is another tough one to call because he probably does not have the limitless projection that Archie Bradley possesses.  Nevertheless, he will arrive very quickly and will succeed from the second he shows up.  He has the unshakable poise that will allow him to immediately adapt to the Major League environment.

Dylan Bundy: Manny Machado is awesome and quite clearly the top infield prospect today, but Bundy would have been my first overall selection if I was Pittsburgh.  I personally believe that no other high school pitcher in history has been on the same level as Dylan Bundy.

Bubba Starling: Starling might take a little while to get there, but his tools are without rival in the Royals’ system and quite possibly the Minors today.  He needs time and patience from the organization because he is not remotely close to a finished product.  KC must remember that this is a good thing.

Francisco Lindor: The Tribe dismantled their system to get Ubaldo, so this is a no-brainer.  Nevertheless, Lindor has tremendous upside and tools.  I was not as high on him as many, but I think I am a little slow to accept the fact that the SS landscape is far from what it once was.  The way prospects are evaluated must adapt with the Major League landscape, and I personally have a difficult time assessing premium positions like SS.

George Springer: He has tools to drool over but lacks zone judgment and has his share of mechanical flaws.  I think he will take longer than other guys who were available, but this was far from the typical botched Houston pick.

Taylor Jungmann: Milwaukee made the smart pick here by going with the polished big-conference collegiate superstar.  Jungmann is already close and should arrive quickly.  After blowing the system up over the winter, this was the kind of draft they needed in Milwaukee as they collected two high profile collegiate aces in Jungmann and Jed Bradley.

Matt Barnes: Oh what it must be like to be the Red Sox during a draft like this.  With unlimited funds they were able to take 3 guys I had in the top 20 in Barnes, Blake Swihart, and Jackie Bradley Jr., and Henry Owens who I had immediately outside of it.  Their top guy prior to this week was Will Middlebrooks, and I just don’t see the same kind of upside in him that I do in Barnes.  Barnes certainly needs to improve his secondary stuff as well as command of all of his pitches, but he can work at 95 mph for 70 pitches and is very comfortable throwing in the cold New England air.  Oh, and I see him as a starter.  Duh.

Other teams that totally killed the draft were Washington and Tampa who have the Minor Leagues’ best hitting and pitching prospects respectively.  It should be noted that no one drafted this year would land in front of Bryce Harper or Matt Moore in any ranking of mine.

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Last year’s Connie Mack World Series featured perhaps the finest collection of amateur pitching the tournament has ever featured.  This group of horses included Lucas Jackson of the Florida Legends (Rangers-supplemental round, 2010), Jake McCasland of the Strike Zone Cardinals (UNM, offered and turned down 2^nd round money), Adrian Houser of the Strike Zone Cardinals (Astros-2^nd round, 2011), Dylan Bundy of the DBAT Mustangs (Orioles-4^th overall, 2011), Dillon Howard of Midland (Indians-2^nd round, 2011), Archie Bradley of DBAT (Diamondbacks-7^th overall, 2011), and Daniel Norris of the East Cobb Yankees (Blue Jays-2^nd round, 2011).  Last year’s pitcher heavy CMWS produced plenty of low-scoring games and a disproportionately high amount of strikeouts.  It was very exciting as a coach and fan to witness these talented arms knowing that a finer group of prep pitchers had likely never been in Farmington before.  Which players have the highest ceiling at this year’s CMWS?

As mentioned previously, the Legends return with new management and a new financial situation, but the talent level is still through the roof led by Albert Almora and David Thompson, both 2012 HS grads and both committed to Miami.  Almora is an easy plus hitter with terrific speed and an arm capable of a RF job professionally, where his foot speed will play up a bit.  Almora has a projectable frame and enough loft in his swing currently to hit for plus power in the future.  Long story short, I highly doubt he falls out of the first round come June.  Thompson is a tougher player to call because he likely will be a 3B in the pros despite playing a number of innings at both left-side infield spots as a prep player.  He may not have the arm to be on the left side of the infield professionally, but his hit and power tools are both good enough to slide to left.  Personally, I’d prefer that he gets a shot to stay at short until he absolutely must move, but that’s how I feel about just about everyone who has even a semblance of a shot to stay at short.  Thompson is easily one of the best rising seniors in the United States.

Midland is bringing a pair of giants who both project as top of the draft arms in 6’8” lefty Matt Smoral (committed to UNC) and 6’10” righty Taylore Cherry (also committed to UNC).  Cherry and Smoral can both reach the mid-90s with live fastballs with good bite on breaking pitches.  Cherry throws more of a 10/4 or 11/5 true curveball while Smoral throws a low to mid-80s slider due to a lower slot.  Both are good athletes who repeat their deliveries well, and those bodies are worth millions in signing bonus dollars, although Smoral has the more projectable build. Both pitchers will be heavily scouted this year prior to the draft, and Farmington is sure to appreciate their quality arms.

DBAT righty Jack Moffitt can reach the low-90s with his fastball with great arm-side action and good command.  His delivery is clean and consistent with an athletic ¾ slot.  His curveball is tight and more of the 11 to 5 variety.  His changeup is behind the breaker, and he tends to slow his delivery a bit with it, but it has a chance to be an effective third pitch.  Rising junior infielder Niko Buentello is also an exciting young player with a lot of upside in the field and with the bat.  He is the only 16-year old on the DBAT club and one of the few in the entire tournament.

The Strike Zone Cardinals possess a potential helium guy in Shilo McCall. McCall turned a lot of heads when he ran a 6.6 60 at the Perfect Game Nationals as a 6’1”, 205 lb. 16-year old.  He will be one of the youngest draft eligible players at the CMWS and nationwide.  His hit tool and power tool are very strong with a lot of projection.  Shilo’s arm is at least a 50 now with a chance at a 55-60 in the future, which means he could slide to right as well.  Shilo has quality makeup and the talent and head to achieve a lot in the game.  He is without question the best position player Farmington has produced since Casey Andrews (FHS 2001) and quite possibly the best yet.

The CMWS has helped launch the careers of a lot of young players as they attempt to take their games beyond the prep ranks, and 2011’s tourney will surely be no different.  The Series is not typical of national recruiting events because the scores of the game actually matter.  The national showcase circuit has its pros and cons, but the biggest con is the fact that there exists no team atmosphere at many of these events.  Baseball is a sport to be won and lost as a team beyond anything else, and the CMWS reflects this more than any other club tournament in the United States, year after year.  These are just a handful of the most highly regarded participants in 2011’s Series with likely dozens of other top recruits and draft prospects also gearing up for the week ahead.  I’m psyched.

With the Connie Mack World Series slated to begin Friday night at Ricketts Park, the city of Farmington is once again beginning to stir with baseball anticipation.  The tournament is again loaded with a collection of national powerhouse clubs including the Legends from Miami, the Midland Redskins, South Troy Dodgers, and Arizona Firebirds.  The Series is also welcoming several newcomers like the Murfreesboro Diamondbacks, who accomplished the near impossible last week in the Southeast regional when they knocked off both the East Cobb Yankees and Florida Bombers.

The East Cobb Yankees organization has a tremendous following in Farmington, a product of the tourney’s host family tradition, and the fact that they have been here practically every August since the mid-90’s.  They surely will be missed, but Farmington always welcomes talent regardless of what uniform it is wearing, and the town is very excited to watch the group of 17-year olds from Tennessee that were able to win one of the toughest regionals in the country.  Also headed to the Series for the first time are the Arecibo Lobos from Puerto Rico, who open up Friday in the nightcap against the host Strike Zone Cardinals from Farmington and Farmington’s own Dominic Moreno, who will be on the mound for the home squad.

Moreno is no stranger to the World Series spotlight as he took the ball last year for the Cards against the Firebirds in an elimination game.  Moreno, signed at 2009 JUCO national champion Howard College, features a fastball that reaches the low-90s and two quality secondary pitches in the form of a breaker and changeup – the latter of which is the pitch to get excited about.  While the Legends take on South Troy in the early game Friday, there is a realistic chance that the best arm of Friday night will belong to Moreno.  Saturday’s match ups include Midland vs. the Danville Hoots, Murfreesboro against Sam Carpenter’s D-BAT Mustangs, and the Firebirds taking on the Ann Arbor Travelers, a newcomer but with a coaching staff that is no stranger to Farmington.

Travelers’ coach Jordan Banfield was a member of the Ann Arbor Braves, the last group from Ann Arbor to make it to Farmington, in 2005.  That squad featured 2005 Gatorade Player of the Year Zach Putnam, currently a reliever in Triple-A for Cleveland.  This Ann Arbor bunch features similar talent and several major conference signees, including three early commits in Daniel McKinney, Travis Maezes, and Jason Gamble.  Of these three, Maezes has the highest ceiling featuring at least three average or better tools in the form of his bat, feet, and arm as a position player, and a low-90s fastball on the bump.

Sam Carpenter is once again on his way to Farmington for his zillionth CMWS appearance despite missing last year’s event.  Instead the top 17-year old DBAT squad was able to win the tough 2010 South Plains regional.  That group featured Dylan Bundy and Archie Bradley, the 4^th and 7^th players selected in June’s MLB draft.  Neither has signed yet, but they will both make well over $5 million.  This year’s DBAT Mustangs are essentially last year’s team minus those two arms.  They still feature premier talent like CF Adam Toth, who is signed at Baylor.  They will not, however, be featuring last year’s SS, Mike Bernal.  Bernal of El Paso instead is the SS for the host Cardinals.  Bernal (signed at OK State) hits third for the Cards in front of CF Shilo McCall, who could very well also commit to a major conference university in the next couple of months.

The Redskins again feature a tremendous pitching staff of nothing but flamethrowers; three pitchers 6’8” or over (Chase Mullins, Matt Smoral, Taylore Cherry), who feature fastballs that reach the mid-90s, as well as Dillon Howard, Cleveland’s 2^nd round pick.  Danville is making its second trip in three years after qualifying in 2009, the first time a team from northern California had done so in decades at the time.  Since winning the West in 2009, Danville has emerged as a premier national organization with appearances in many of the top club events.  Their lineup features lefty and University of San Diego commit Robert Martinez, who got the win in the regional final against the 2001 West regional champs, the Orange County Renegades.  Martinez features excellent command of a high-80s fastball with decent arm-side action as well as a tight bender, which also can command well to both sides of the plate.  His changeup lacks fade, but he maintains arm speed with it, and a commandable changeup is a must to win in the high elevation in northern New Mexico.  He very well could take the ball against Midland at noon on Saturday.

The Dodgers from South Troy have become the premier organization in the northeastern United States, as have the Arizona Firebirds in the desert southwest.  The Dodgers won a nail-biter in the regional finals against last year’s CMWS representatives, the Ontario Blue Jays, 5-4.  The Firebirds won one of two national qualifier events in Phoenix, thereby bypassing the formidable West regional.  The other national qualifier took place in New Jersey and was won by the Florida Legends, who bypassed the Southeast Regional in the process.  The Dodgers, Legends, and Firebirds all know what it takes to play deep into the week here in Farmington as Arizona won the CMWS in 2006, South Troy played for the title in 2000, and the Legends have played into the semifinals three times.  This year’s Legends group is under new management and has a new financial situation, but the talent is still there.  The 2011 Legends feature 3B David Thompson, who is headed to Miami, and CF Albert Almora, who has a chance at the 2012 first-round and is also headed to Miami.

This is going to be a tremendously exciting week of baseball as it always is.  I can’t wait.  We here at the Sombrero will certainly miss Griffin Phelps managing the host squad.  He led last year’s Cardinals to the finest showing a host team had produced in a decade, but hopefully the Cardinals can continue to succeed in the way they did under Griff.  With players like Bernal, Moreno, and Shilo McCall, they certainly have the talent.  Best of luck to all of the tournament’s participants!

Go Cards!

Recently I mentioned Archie Bradley’s current ranking as the third-best prep pitching prospect in this June’s draft, behind Dylan Bundy of Owasso (OK) and Taylor Guerrieri of South Carolina’s North Augusta.  Let’s look a little more closely at these two young flamethrowers as the prep season approaches the postseason.

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