Some tidbits from Jason Churchill in the ESPN MLB Draft Blog:
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Duke right-hander Marcus Stroman was strong again Friday, lasting eight innings and allowing one earned run on four hits. He struck out eight and walked one and is now 3-3 with a 2.05 ERA on the season. In 66 innings, the 5-foot-9 Stroman has compiled a 99/13 K/BB ratio.
Oklahoma State left-hander Andrew Heaney has put himself in the conversation for the first round and went nine innings at Texas Friday, earning a no-decision but giving up just one earned run on six hits and a walk. The 6-foot-2 Heaney, who has been clocked in the 91-94 mph range this season, struck out nine and threw 77 of 117 pitches for strikes.
Florida southpaw Brian Johnson needed just 85 pitches to cruise through six frames, and as a low-risk college pitcher could sneak into the first round thanks to good control and an above-average curveball-changeup combination.
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Fontana, who stands 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, bats left-handed and has shown a terrific approach and some surprising power. If Arizona State's Deven Marrero isn't careful, Fontana could challenge the Sun Devils shortstop as the top college option in the class at the position. Marrero has struggled this season, but did have a solid weekend, adding his third long ball and ninth extra-base hit of the season.
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Jesuit (Fla.) High School right-hander Lance McCullers, Jr. extended his season-long scoreless innings streak with 5 1/3 shutout innings in his last start, improving to 9-0 in the process. McCullers, whose stock is directly linked to his command and delivery as his raw stuff is among the best in the entire class, has whiffed 85 batters in 47 2/3 innings on the year.
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2006 2:57 pm Posts: 57848 Location: New York, NY
Kyle Zimmer
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Zimmer is built in the power pitcher mold at 6'4", 220 LBS and has the fastball to go along with it. Sitting 92-96 and reportedly reaching triple digits on occasion. He is this year's biggest riser essentially coming out of nowhere within the last year. He pitched very little his freshman year, and some last season. He has done well both of the last two years in summer leagues, especially last year in Cape Cod. He is an athletic pitcher who was a solid hitter prior to going to the mound full time and making himself into a top of the draft talent.
Star-divide
Along with this hard fastball, he has a power slider that is very good at times but is inconsistent. It can be near un-hittable when low in the zone but he has a hard time pin pointing it. His changeup is rudimentary and will need time to develop as well. His command has potential but is inconsistent. His athleticism should help it come along quicker but he is a project.
I am always skeptical of fast risers like this. I believe he is for real but needs to be looked at as if he is a good high school pitcher more than a polished college pitcher. I think he will need more development time than many college arms and it would not shock me to see him end up in the back of a bullpen with two plus pitches.
That said, he has been talked about as a 1-1 candidate. I would place him at the back of the top 10.
I initially thought there was a chance, albeit pretty slight, that he fell outside of the top 10, but I'd be pretty stunned if that happened now, barring injury.
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2006 2:57 pm Posts: 57848 Location: New York, NY
Zimmer isn't falling to 12. No chance. His stuff is too good, his stats are too good and compared to some other guys he's "safe". He's not a realistic option for us barring him falling apart... at which point... would we even want him?
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Pierce Johnson says he’s nearing 100 percent health after missing two starts with a strained muscle in his right forearm.
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Johnson, who led the nation in strikeouts with 71 through his last appearance on March 30 at Dallas Baptist, is a possibility to start Sunday. He threw a bullpen session on Wednesday and felt good.
“It’s getting better every day,” Johnson said. “Maybe I’ll pitch Sunday. We’re not sure yet. It’s all up in the air.”
Johnson said there is no structural damage and that the forearm strain is something he’s dealt with before, in high school and as an MSU freshman.
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Projected a high-round professional draft choice in June — with perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake — Johnson admits he has to be smart.
“That’s another reason we’re taking it slow,” he said, adding that his frustration has been tempered by the staff’s ability to perform without him. MSU has a league-leading 2.57 team ERA.
I don't know if we'll fall to the supplemental round, but Mississippi State RHP Chris Stratton could be an interesting target. He pitched last night and ESPNU will be airing the replay later this afternoon. I'll see what he's about; Law, who ranked him 25th in his latest rankings, said his slider is above average and he mixes in 3 other pitches.
Unfortunately, due to time constraints, ESPNU skipped over the top of the 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 7th, which really limited my view of Stratton. Of what I saw: he came out firing 92-94 in the first but settled more in the low-90's as the game progressed. Unsurprisingly, Mississippi State road him hard (ah, gotta love college pitcher abuse) and he was still pumping 90-91 with his pitch count over 110.
Anyway, his slider is clearly his go-to strikeout pitch. Hew threw it anywhere from 80-84 mph; it's a little slurvy and can run flat at times but when it's right, the pitch has very late bite and almost acts like a hard curveball. He can get it over for strikes and he threw the nastiest one of the game (that I saw) at 80 mph for a strikeout on a RHB that got away from the catcher in the 8th inning. Due to the limited look, I couldn't say how the slider would work for him against southpaws in pro ball. At times it looked fine -- he did whiff at least one lefty on a nasty slider in the dirt and he likes to throw it backdoor for a strike against them too -- and other times he didn't locate it well (the lone run he gave up was on a hit on a poorly located 79 mph backdoor slider to a lefty).
I saw a couple of changeups in the mid-80's but he seemed to go after hitters mostly with the fastball/slider combo, both pitches appearing to be above average, as has been previously reported. Overall, I do like his arm, but I'd like to see more of him. The fastball and slider are clearly there, but he's had pretty terrible results prior to this year and I don't know much about his other offspeed weapons.
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Ironically, Stratton matched up against Zach Godley, the Mets' 50th round choice in 2009. I didn't pay as much attention to him but he sat 90-91 early with some arm-side run and flashed a sharp, low-80's breaking ball and a changeup that he threw for strikes. His velocity dipped into the 88-90 range as the game went on.
I wonder where teams are targeting former UNC pitcher Cody Stiles. He was dismissed before the season started to due to something like underage drinking and resisting arrest. He had a good sophomore year and I believe was slated to be in the Tar Heel rotation this season.
I've read FB reports as high as the mid 90s to go with his two plus-potential breaking pitches and a changeup.
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Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2006 2:57 pm Posts: 57848 Location: New York, NY
I watched FSU vs. Miami tonight. One of the seniors on FSU caught my eye. CF James Ramsey. His swing looks a lot like Chipper from the left side. On the year- 397/514/721 9 homers 5 triples 7 doubles. Reminded me a lot of a smaller Kirk.
_________________ Twit-@Wexlerrules http://stlucietoflushing.com/ W.L.W- We Love Wheeler NYFS Top 30 list... starting 10/1 Staunch anti-BADP (Batting average dependent players) Pronounced "Dar-No"
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