Minor League Ball

2012 Minor League Ball Community Mock Draft begins at NOON CENTRAL

2012-05-26T15:58:08Z

The 2012 Minor League Ball Community Mock Draft begins at Noon CDT. All scouting directors need to show up by noon promptly, at which time a new thread will be created for the draft itself. We will go through the first round, first round supplemental, second, and third rounds.

Each round will have its own thread, and you should post your picks in the comment section when it is your turn. Each team will have two minutes to make their pick. It usually works pretty smoothly.

Minor League Ball Gameday Discussion, MiLB 5/26

2012-05-26T15:04:50Z

Today's minor league baseball notable starting pitchers include - Anthony Ranaudo, Brandon Workman vs. Dylan Bundy (High-A Debut), Casey Crosby, Asher Wojciechowski....

Mike Montgomery, Rafael Montero, Greg Peavey, Brody Colvin, Jose Fernandez, Aaron Sanchez, Shelby Miller, Nate Eovaldi....

Sean Gilmartin vs. Daniel Corcino, Gerardo Concepcion, Barret Loux vs. Chris Dwyer, Alex Colome,Garrett Gould David Holmberg

Good matchup: Trey McNutt vs. Tyler Skaggs

Randomness:

Rymer Liriano has 8-for-8 streak ended in sixth inning but raises his average to .281

Rumor: Cardinals expected to recall reliever Chuckie Fick (3.86 ERA, 21 IP, 19 H, 7 BB, 10 K in AAA).

The Indians aparantly were the last team to have a player make his MLB debut this season.

2012 Minor League Ball Community Mock Draft Begins at NOON CDT

2012-05-26T12:01:03Z

The 2012 Minor League Ball Community Mock Draft begins at NOON, Central time!

Use this thread to exchange ideas, trash talk, or whathaveyou. I will have a post up at 11 AM laying out the ground rules, and we will begin at noon sharp.

REMINDER: Minor League Ball Community Mock Draft

2012-05-25T20:00:44Z

REMINDER: The 2012 Minor League Ball Community Mock Draft begins SATURDAY May 26th at 12:00 NOON Central time.

High School Pitchers in the Major Leagues

2012-05-25T18:00:47Z

Following up my recent series of posts regarding the apparently poor rate of return for first-round high school pitchers from Florida, Texas, and California, here is a list of major league pitchers who were drafted out of high schools, who posted WAR values of 2.0 or higher in 2011.

I have organized this by round. I'm not drawing any conclusions here, but some of you have expressed interest in the data.

Origins of 2011 Major League Pitchers Drafted from High Schools

Roy Halladay, 8.2 WAR First round, Colorado high school
CC Sabathia, 7.1 WAR First round, California high school
Clayton Kershaw, 6.8 WAR First round, Texas high school
Madison Bumgarner, 5.5 WAR First round, North Carolina high school
Matt Cain, 5.2 WAR First round, Tennessee high school
Chris Carpenter, 5.0 WAR First round, New Hampshire high school
Cole Hamels, 4.9 WAR First round, California high school
Josh Beckett, 4.3 WAR First round, Texas high school
Zack Greinke, 3.9 WAR First round, Florida high school
Gavin Floyd, 3.6 WAR First round, Maryland high school
John Danks, 3.2 WAR First round, Texas high school
Rick Porcello, 2.7 WAR First round, New Jersey high school
Chad Billingsley, 2.1 WAR First round, Ohio high school

Gio Gonzalez, 3.5 WAR Supplemental first round, Florida high school

Jon Lester, 3.7 WAR Second round, Washington state high school
Yovani Gallardo, 3.1 WAR Second round, Texas high school
Trevor Cahill, 2.5 WAR Second round, California high school

Matt Harrison, 4.2 WAR Third round, North Carolina high school
Ryan Dempster, 2.8 WAR Third round, British Columbia high school
Charlie Morton, 2.2 WAR Third round, Connecticut high school

Ricky Nolasco, 3.5 WAR Fourth round, California high school
Javier Vazquez, 3.2 WAR Fifth round, Puerto Rico high school
Edwin Jackson, 3.8 WAR Sixth round, Georgia high school
Jon Niese, 2.7 WAR, Seventh round, Ohio high school
Derek Lowe, 2.5 WAR Eighth round, Michigan high school

Carl Pavano, 2.9 WAR 13^th round, Connecticut high school
James Shields, 4.9 WAR 16^th round, California high school
Jaime Garcia, 3.6 WAR 22^nd round, Texas high school

One thing that stands out: the almost total absence of supplemental first-round picks on this list.

Minor League Ball Gameday, 5/25 MILB

2012-05-25T16:21:00Z

Here is the minor league gameday thread for Friday May 25th.

One game is currently in progress. In Low-A action, West Virginia leads Kannapolis 2-0 in the third inning.

Full Minor League Baseball Scoreboard

Current probables include -

TRIPLE A: Dellin Betances, Jeurys Familia, Jacob Turner, and Garrett Richards

DOUBLE A: Stolmy Pimentel, Kyle Lotzkar, James Paxton, Keyvius Sampson, and Chris Withrow

HIGH A: Drake Britton and Tyler Matzek

LOW A: Michael Fulmer, Kyle Crick, Adys Portillo, and Archie Bradley.

Looking ahead to tomorrow, Dylan Bundy debuts for High-A Frederick.

2012 MLB Draft: Players With Signability Questions

2012-05-25T15:01:18Z

Every year some players opt to go the college route instead of signing. I've listed 29 names that could make that decision and be eligible in 2015 or 2014 where listed. The % chance is based on what I have heard or how other players have decided. I have no personal insight on this with any player, just my hypothesis and a short reason why I feel that way.

% Chance to College	Name	POS	Commit	Reason
100	Nathan Kirby	P	Virginia	Already opted out of draft
95	Jameis Winston	OF	Florida State	Quarterback at FSU
95	Anthony Alford	OF	Southern Miss	Two sports at So. Miss is the plan
90	Freddy Avis	P	Stanford	Very smart individual values education highly.
80	CJ Hinojosa	SS	Texas	Shoulder injury and strong commit
70	Dansby Swanson	SS	Vanderbilt	Very good student and tough school to sign players from
70	Nick Williams	OF	Texas	May even go JuCo with stock sliding
70	Drew Jackson	SS	Stanford	Very good student and tough school to sign players from
60	Alex Bregman	C	LSU	Strong commitment and injury
60	Taylore Cherry	P	North Carolina	Sliding stock
50	Lucas Giolito	P	UCLA	Elbow injury and high bonus demands
50	Tucker Simpson	P	Florida	Could be in 2014 draft as sophomore
40	Trey Williams	3B	Pepperdine	Sliding stock and great school
40	Duane Underwood	P	Georgia	Sliding stock and very raw
40	Xavier Turner	3B	Vanderbilt	May be under drafted and going to a great school
30	Lance McCullers	P	Florida	Doesn't need to sign. Could be top 5 in 2015.
30	Walker Weickel	P	Miami	Sliding stock. Could be high pick in 2015.
30	Stryker Trahan	C	Ole Miss	All depends on where he is drafted.
30	Rio Ruiz	3B	USC	Injury may cause slide
30	Clate Schmidt	P	Clemson	Sliding stock
30	Fernelys Sanchez	OF	Central Arizona CC	Injury may cause slide
30	Ty Moore	OF/P	UCLA	UCLA is a strong school, could be a two way player
30	Walker Buehler	P	Vanderbilt	Vandy is hard to sign people away from.
30	James Marvel	P	Duke	Could improve a lot in college.
30	Chase Mullins	P	Kentucky	Could improve a lot in college.
30	Hunter Virant	P	UCLA	UCLA should get at least one very good arm.
30	Daniel Robertson	3B	UCLA	Depending on where he's drafted.
30	Tyler Gonzales	P	Texas	Could be in 2014 draft, could be 1st rounder then
30	Rock Rucker	P/1B	Auburn	Could be in 2014 draft, could be two way guy

California High School Pitchers Drafted in the First Round, 1981-2011

2012-05-25T13:00:59Z

This week, we looked at Texas high school pitchers drafted in the first round over the last 30 years, followed by a similar look at high school pitchers from Florida.

Today we'll finish up the big-population warm-weather states with a look at first-rounders who were drafted and signed out of high school in California from '81 through '11.

Johnny Abrego, 1981, Phillies 24 innings, 6.38 ERA, 63 ERA+, 0.1 WAR
Bob Parkins, 1982, Red Sox Did not pitch in majors
Wade Wilson, 1983, Orioles Did not pitch in majors
Ryan Bowen, 1986, Astros 326 innings, 5.30 ERA, 76 ERA+, 1.0 WAR

Roger Salkeld, 1989, Mariners 189 innings, 5.61 ERA, 79 ERA+, 0.9 WAR
Kurt Miller, 1990, Pirates 81 innings, 7.48 ERA, 57 ERA+, -0.6 WAR
Ty Hill, 1991, Brewers Did not pitch in majors
Dan Serafini, 1992, Twins 264 innings, 6.04 ERA, 76 ERA+, 0.7 WAR

Jaret Wright, 1994, Indians 973 innings, 5.09 ERA, 90 ERA+, 12.8 WAR
Nick Bierbrodt, 1996, Diamondbacks 145 innings, 6.66 ERA, 69 ERA+, -0.7 WAR
Jon Garland, 1997, Cubs 2083 innings, 4.32 ERA, 104 ERA+, 23.3 WAR
C.C. Sabathia, 1998, Indians 2429 innings, 3.52 ERA, 125 ERA+, 58.2 WAR

Mike Stodolka, 2000, Royals Did not pitch in majors
Matt Wheatland, 2000, Tigers Did not pitch in majors
Dan Denham, 2001, Indians Did not pitch in majors
Chris Gruler, 2002, Reds Did not pitch in majors

Cole Hamels, 2002, Phillies 1224 innings, 3.33 ERA, 127 ERA+, 24.8 WAR
Phil Hughes, 2004, Yankees 491 innings, 4.51 ERA, 98 ERA+, 7.4 WAR
Matt Hobgood, 2009, Orioles Injured

Tyler Matzek, 2009, Rockies Pitching in High-A
Joe Ross, 2011, Padres On DL in Low-A
Robert Stephenson, 2011, Reds Extended spring training

Note that the two best pitchers on the list (Sabathia and Hamels) are both lefties. The right-handers have a pretty bad track record, with only Jon Garland effective over a long period of time.