Looking Ahead At the Draft 04/11
In the third episode of our weekly look ahead at the 2009 MLB First Year Player Draft, we find that Arizona State’s Mike Leake continues to dominate the competition. With each passing week, he is the guy I believe the St. Louis Cardinals take if he is still left on the board at number 19.
The Missouri Tigers Kyle Gibson (why do I always want to call him Josh?) was the tough luck loser against Oklahoma this past weekend. He struck out 15 while walking only one but the Sooners were able to get two runs off of the junior right-hander.
Jacksonville State’s Ben Tootle was rated as one of the top college arms in the nation coming to 2009 season. The Southeast Redhawks must have not believed the hype because they put a hurting on the pitcher. The Redhawks plated seven runs chasing Tootle after only four innings.
At Safeco Field in Seattle, ASU’s Mike Leake continued his dominance, this time over Washington. Leake struck out 10 while allowing only one earned in 7.1 innings. He is now 7-1 with a 1.29 ERA in 55.2 innings to go along with his 62 strikeouts.
USC’s Brad Boxberger gave up four runs on five hits in seven innings of work against Pac-10 rival Arizona.
Baylor’s Kendal Volz got knocked around by a surprising Kansas team. The Jayhawks roughed him up for six runs in 4.2 innings. Volz didn’t help himself any with seven free passes.
Vanderbilt’s Mike Minor is losing some his luster according to Baseball America. That would be fine with me if he did and fell to the Cardinals. He beat the Cubans twice last summer and he would immediately give the team a left-handed difference maker on the hill. As pointed out in the BA piece, he is on his fourth catcher of the spring and you can’t tell me that doesn’t have an affect. I believe in Minor’s stuff and would be thrilled if he fell to St. Louis.
The University of Kentucky’s James Paxton is making scouts take notice. A southpaw that can touch 97 is hard to ignore. He has an ERA over six but has racked up 55 strikeouts compared to only eight walks in 37 innings.
Dustin Mattison
dustin@whiteyball.com
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Filed Under: College Baseball • MLB Draft
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