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2009 MLB Draft: Top 15 College Righthanded Pitchers (10-6)

3 Mar 2009 5:30 AM / 6 Comments on 2009 MLB Draft: Top 15 College Righthanded Pitchers (10-6)

And we’re back. We started the countdown of the top 15 draft-eligible righthanded college pitchers yesterday with 15 through 11. One thing I forgot to mention when players 15-11 were unveiled yesterday was that the list is restricted only to righthanded college starting pitching prospects – it’s a no reliever zone here. The bullpen guys will get their own special ranking at a later date. The top 10 through 6 draft-eligible college righthanded starting pitching prospects right after a very special picture. See, the young woman pictured below isn’t just making an appearance because showing pretty girls is an easy way to increase traffic; no, I’m far too classy a gent to stoop to that level. She is actually the significant other of the player used as a comparison to the sixth ranked player on the list. Hmm…

Photo Credit: DramaWiki

Photo Credit: DramaWiki

10 through 6 after the jump… (more…)

2009 MLB Draft: Top 15 College Righthanded Pitchers (15-11)

2 Mar 2009 2:54 AM / 7 Comments on 2009 MLB Draft: Top 15 College Righthanded Pitchers (15-11)

Ahhh, actual content. Get your work week off started off right by perusing the first third of the 2009 Rule 4 Draft’s finest draft-eligible college righthanded pitchers. Make sure to check back throughout the week as we count down to the number one spot. I won’t reveal too much information about our number one college righty, except to say that he could potentially be referred to as S. Strasburg. No, wait – too obvious. Let’s just call him Stephen S. Yeah, that’s much better. College righthanders 15 through 11 right after this stunning picture our 11th ranked righty…

Photo Credit: Juan Blas/The Daily Gamecock

Photo Credit: Juan Blas/The Daily Gamecock

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2009 MLB Draft: Top High School Righthanded Pitching Cheatsheet

10 Feb 2009 12:04 AM / 3 Comments on 2009 MLB Draft: Top High School Righthanded Pitching Cheatsheet

To make organization around these parts a little bit easier, here is a list of 32 high school righthanded pitchers worth knowing so far. Players already covered appear both in bold and in parentheses. Each player’s info is displayed using the following basic format:

Name, height, weight, fastball velocity, other pitches — slider, curveball, changeup, etc., miscelleaneous information

The list of players to watch will surely grow between now and June, but this ought to serve as a decent resource for the time being.

  1. (Mark Appel, 6-4, 185, FB: peak 92, SL, CU)
  2. Jake Barrett, 6-3, 225, FB: peak 91, sits upper-80s, CB, CU, good young power hitter
  3. Justin Bellez, 6-1, 180, FB: peak 92, SL: 10/4, CU, repeatable easy mechanics
  4. Bryan Berglund, 6-3, 175, FB: 89-91, SL: [+] 81-86, CU
  5. (Ethan Carter, 6-5, 205, FB: peak 90-91, SL: mid-70s, CU: low-80s, cut fastball)
  6. (Brody Colvin, 6-4, 190, FB: 90-93, CB: 10/4, CU)
  7. (Jordan Cooper, 6-1, 195, FB: peak 91, CB/SL: [+] potential, injury history)
  8. Michael Dedrick, 6-3, 185, FB: low-90s, CB: [+]
  9. Dylan Floro, 6-1, 175, FB: peak 92, CB, SL, CU, four average or above pitch guy
  10. (Mychal Givens, 6-1, 185, FB: peak 96-98, SL, CU, excellent sinker)
  11. Garrett Gould, 6-4, 195, FB: 88-91, CB: 12/6, 81, spike, CU: 78-80, above average command and pitchability
  12. (Matt Graham, 6-3, 195, FB: peak 94, CB)
  13. (Scott Griggs, 6-2, 185, FB: sits low-90s, peak 95, plus command and makeup)
  14. Brooks Hall, 6-5, 200, FB: 90-92, SL, CU, sound delivery
  15. (Michael Heller, 6-2, 180, FB: sits 90-93, peak 95, CB, CU: 75)
  16. Matt Hobgood, 6-4, 240, FB: sits 91-93, peak 95, good hitter
  17. (Chris Jenkins, 6-7, 235, FB: sits 91-93, peak 94, SL: [+] potential, command issues, high effort delivery)
  18. Matt Koch, 6-3, 185, FB: 88-91, SL, CB, CU, raw mechanics
  19. (Shelby Miller, 6-3, 195, FB: sits 91-93, peak 94, CB: mid-70s, CU: 80, SL, holds velocity late, exceptional balance, heavy fastball)
  20. James Needy, 6-6, 195, FB: low-90s, CB, SL, CU
  21. Keifer Nuncio, 6-2, 195, FB: peak 91, CB, CU
  22. (Brooks Pounders, 6-5, 220, FB: peak 94, CB: [+] potential, plus hitter)
  23. David Renfroe, 6-3, 180, FB: 88-92, CB: 12/6, clean and easy mechanics, plus athlete
  24. Felix Roque, 6-5, 200, FB: 88-91, SL: [+], CU, heavy sinker
  25. (Keyvius Sampson, 6-1, 185,FB: low-90s, peak 95, CB: low-80s, CU: potential [+], clean delivery, plus athlete)
  26. Trent Stevenson, 6-6, 165, FB: 86-90, SL: 73-78,
  27. Chad Thompson, 6-8, 215, FB: sits 90-93, peak 94, CB, CU, SF: potential [+]
  28. (Jacob Turner, 6-4, 205, FB: peak 93/94, CB: [+] pitch in mid-70s, CU: circle change, clean mechanics, good command)
  29. (Daniel Tuttle, 6-2, 185, FB: sits 90-93, peak 94, SL: 10/4 [+] pitch, sinker)
  30. (Zack Wheeler, 6-4, 180, FB: peak 95, SL: potential [+], low-80s, CB, splitter)
  31. Zack Von Rosenberg, 6-5, 200, FB: 88-91, CB: mid-70s, CU: high-70s, good mechanics
  32. Madison Younginer, 6-3, 185, FB: low-90s, peak 94, CU: sinking action, CB

2009 MLB Draft: Top 15 High School Righthanded Pitchers (Number 1)

9 Feb 2009 1:36 AM / 4 Comments on 2009 MLB Draft: Top 15 High School Righthanded Pitchers (Number 1)

Finally, the top high school righthanded pitcher in the 2009 draft class. Because we’ve already spoiled the surprise in the title, let’s get right down to it. Before we do that, here’s the rest of the list:

Top 15 High School Righthanded Pitchers (15 thru 11)
Top 15 High School Righthanded Pitchers (10 thru 6)
Top 15 High School Righthanded Pitchers (5 thru 2)

1. Shelby Miller – Brownwood HS (Texas)

Miller has established himself as the premier high school righthanded pitcher of the 2009 draft class. While Miller is an outstanding prospect who carries a no doubt about it first round grade, the distinction as best high school righthanded pitcher doesn’t carry quite the same weight this year as it may have carried in years past. Unlike the gargantuan distance between the top two high school lefthanders and the rest of the prep lefty field, there is very little that separates the “elite” group of high school righties from the rest of the group. I wonder if that’s a byproduct of the very nature of what makes up a “high school righthanded pitching prospect.” Or maybe this particular class of high school righthanders just so happens to have a whole bunch of similarly talented players. I don’t know. What I do know is that the 2009 high school righthanders are a talented bunch headed up by a pretty exciting young player in Shelby Miller. Miller is just one of five high school righthanders that currently carry near-consensus first round grades, a list that also includes Jacob Turner, Mychal Givens, Zack Wheeler, and Scott Griggs. Miller is also one of a whopping seven pitchers that I personally consider first round caliber talents out of this group – the five aforementioned arms, plus Keyvius Sampson and Brooks Pounders, should be first rounders come June when it all comes together for them this spring.

No picture before the jump, but instead words of empirically juiced up wisdom from a man much smarter than I. The three groups referred to here are high school pitchers, college pitchers, and college hitters, by the way. Read, ponder, and then kindly check out more on the top prep righty after the jump…

Draft Rule #8: There is virtually no difference whatsoever in the value of the other three groups of draft picks. In particular, it is no longer apparent that high school pitchers, even in the first round, are significantly riskier than either high school hitters or college pitchers.

From 1992 to 1999, pitchers out of college returned 14.6% less value than expected. Pitchers drafted out of high school were at -14.9%. High school hitters checked in at -20.9%.

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2009 MLB Draft: Top 15 High School Righthanded Pitchers (5-2)

7 Feb 2009 3:12 AM / 5 Comments on 2009 MLB Draft: Top 15 High School Righthanded Pitchers (5-2)

We’ll jump right in and keep rolling with the fifth, fourth, third, and second ranked high school righthanded pitchers in the 2009 draft class. We’ve covered a good bit so far, but not enough to be intimidated at the prospect of catching up. All the cool kids are doing it!

Top 15 High School Righthanded Pitchers (15 thru 11)
Top 15 High School Righthanded Pitchers (10 thru 6)
Mock Draft 1.0 (or everybody’s favorite feature)
A Method to the Madness (or what we are all about…or everybody’s least favorite feature)

Enough of that. High school righties ranked five thru 2 below the shameless attempt at increased traffic picture of Jessica Simpson that, yes, is tied into the rankings. Find out how below the jump…

Freshnews.in

Photo Credit: Freshnews.in

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2009 MLB Draft: Top 15 High School Righthanded Pitchers (10-6)

6 Feb 2009 12:24 AM / 4 Comments on 2009 MLB Draft: Top 15 High School Righthanded Pitchers (10-6)

Today we continue with our look at the top 15 draft-eligible high school righthanded pitchers in the country. Yesterday, we met Jordan Cooper, Ethan Carter, Chris Jenkins, Brody Colvin, and Michael Heller. In case you missed it and can’t be bothered to look down the page, here’s what we’ve done so far:

Top 15 High School Righthanded Pitchers (15 thru 11)
Mock Draft 1.0 (or everybody’s favorite feature)
A Method to the Madness (or what we are all about)

We haven’t done a whole lot just yet, so there’s still time to catch up. Do it! Do it now! I’ll wait…

Anyway, players 10 thru 6 are next up. For a hint at one of the names on the list, check out the video below. Now I know what you’re thinking – I’m good like that. You’re thinking, come on man, this is nothing more than a transparent attempt to try out embedding a video for the first time. Well, congratulations – you’ve got me all figured out. But, honestly, it’s a good video and it does reveal the top name on today’s part of the list…and I know you are just dying to know who it is.

A new batch of names, including the young man featured in the video above, after the jump… (more…)

2009 MLB Draft: Top 15 High School Righthanded Pitchers (15-11)

5 Feb 2009 12:43 AM / 5 Comments on 2009 MLB Draft: Top 15 High School Righthanded Pitchers (15-11)

We’ll begin with our early look at the 2009 draft class by taking a position by position gander at the names, college and prep, you’ll be hearing plenty about this spring. It seems only fitting to start with the strongest position in this year’s draft – righthanded pitchers. As in most years the depth of high school arms is impressive on paper, but so much can change between now and draft day that trying to sort through the names is a fool’s errand. Luckily, there is no denying the fact that, yes, I am a fool, so it looks like we are going to try to sort these players out after all.

Here’s the schedule for the next few days –

  • Today: High School RHSPs 15 through 11
  • Tomorrow: High School RHSPs 10-6
  • Friday: High School RHSPs 5-1

The bottom third of the top fifteen high school righthanded pitchers coming up right after the jump…

No, not that Michael Heller...

Photo Credit: Philosophy of Science Portal

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