College Notes and the Raz
Colby Rasmus (Photo by Dustin Mattison)
Before I get to a look at College Baseball, I wanted to touch on St. Louis Cardinals uber prospect, Colby Rasmus. The number 3 ranked prospect in all of baseball according to Baseball America and number 5 according to John Sickels is struggling early in the spring training schedule.
The Raz has a team high 26 at bats but his hitting a paltry .192/.276/.231. He has eight strikeouts compared to three walks and he has a stolen base. Joe Strauss put it like this in his chat on Wednesday: “there’s no question Raz’ appears to be playing tight. TLR said as much on Tuesday. No one doubts Rasmus’ talent. He just needs to let it go and play. Last year he successfully worked counts and ended up leading the Grapefruit League in walks. However, his manager wants to see him hack. Raz’ is taking lots of first-pitch strikes and finding it difficult to get himself out of holes. He’s playing like a guy trying not to lose a job rather than trying to win one.”
The same sort of thing happened Rasmus early last season when he was digging himself a hole in Memphis. Pitchers knew he was looking to work the count so they would get ahead in the count early with a first pitch strike. Unless your Albert Pujols, it is hard to be successful if you are always behind in the count.
A look around campus
The University of Missouri stopped its slide at seven games with a 5-2 victory over Arizona State this past weekend. Super Sophomore Nick Tepesch allowed only one run over 6.1 innings while striking out a career high eight. If the Tigers are to going to right the ship, Tepesch will have to continue to put up consistent outings such as this.
LSU is the new number one over at Baseball America. The Bayou Bengals are a perfect 7-0 led by strong pitching and super shortstop D.J. LeMahieu. Texas looks strong again and moved into the number 2 spot. Longhorn sophomore Brandon Workman turned in the best of UT’s four strong starts this weekend, racking up 10 strikeouts and walking just two in a complete-game no-hitter Sunday. With the likes of Workman, North Carolina’s Matt Harvey,Texas A & M’s Barret Loux, and Kyle Blair and Sammy Solis of San Diego, the 2010 MLB First Year Player Draft should be rich in pitching talent.
Southeast Missouri State continues to slug with the best of them but the team is going to have to find some starting pitching. My Redhawk to watch, Jim Klocke is slugging .676 in 34 at bats. The Redhawks host Northern Iowa starting on Friday.
Draft Watch:
Mike Minor (Vanderbilt) LHP Allowed two runs on six hits with four strikeouts and three walks in 7.2 innings of work against Vermont. On the season, he has posted a disappointing 10-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 13.1 innings.
D.J. LeMahieu (LSU) SS The highly productive 6′4″ draft eligible sophomore is positioning himself as this season’s Gordon Beckham. In the early going, he has posted a video game line of .615/.667/1.154 in 26 at bats. WOW!
Mike Leake (Arizona St.) RHP In a duel with projected first round pick Kyle Gibson of Missouri, he carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning before giving up a hit to lead off the inning. He would retire the next three hitters in order to end his night. Leake finished with 10 strikeouts to only one walk while throwing his fastball in the low 90’s.
Ryan Jackson (Miami) SS Though off to a slow start, he is reaching base at a .424 clip.
Kyle Heckathorn (Kennesaw St.) RHP So far the hype is not matching the performance. After two starts, he has an ERA of six to go along with a 10-to-5 strikeout to walk ratio.
Tyler Lyons (Oklahoma St.) LHP Did not pitch over the weekend.
Kendal Volz (Baylor) RHP The 6’5 hurler touched 91 mph but sat 88-90 with excellent command 77-80 MPH slider along with a changeup. Against UCLA over the weekend, he spun seven shutout innings six strikeouts. Volz outdueled the New York Yankees 2008 first round pick, Gerrit Cole.
Ryan Berry (Rice) RHP The junior capped off a dominating weekend by being named National Player of the Week after winning the Houston College Classic’s Most Outstanding Player. Berry threw a two-hit, twelve strikeout shutout against the number one ranked Texas A & M Aggies.
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Dustin Mattison
Filed Under: Baseball • College Baseball
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