caulfield12

Just glad it's over. Let's start to work on getting that fastball back to a plus pitch, and improving the change-up. Cuban Connection adds #5.

Holmes sounds like Gordon Beckham... Dylan Bundy comp? I don't think his stuff is that electric, time will tell.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 01:55 PM) I'm not fond of Nola's arm slot, not a stretch to see him having trouble getting lefties out. Thanks Ptac.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 08:46 AM) Almost every time fathom makes a post about how bad Davidson is hitting, he hits a home run. Keep it coming! I should get at least some credit for badmouthing Leury and comparing him and Saladino unfavorably with Eduardo Escobar. What does he do? Hits his first MLB homer over the CF wall in Dodger Stadium. And another hit.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 09:34 AM) There is something to be said for the still good stuff, with better command and proven against more advanced competition. It's also one of the reasons it was difficult to judge Hawkins as a Texas prep hitter... http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2086538...-draft-prospect You read this and you can understand why Aiken is Cooper's #1 guy. I always had the idea that Aiken was low 90's, but comfortable 92-93 at his age, with that frame....impressive kid. Driven/determined. According to this article, he's touched 98 before. Plus, he's going to fill out even more, one would think.

This thread will be fun to revisit 3-5 years from now.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 09:02 AM) Mike Leake, Nola is said to have higher upside than Leake. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2082398...ry=Aaron%20Nola

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 07:45 AM) Houston is taking a lot of heat for pushing their prospects to sign extensions before they bring them up. And the fact that one of those guys who didn't agree to an extension was subsequently sent to the minors is also a possible form of intimidation/career sabotage. Impossible to prove in a court of law, but word gets around quickly.

It's a bit premature to anoint Kolek as Strasburg/Clemens/Wood/Beckett rolled into one perfect package. There has to be a lot of red flags with a high schooler throwing 103 MPH. It's simply human nature to not trust those numbers at that age (holding up) three to five years from now. Let's just put it this way, there are a lot more hits than misses with pitching high in the draft. The fact is that only Longoria and Machado have been "good" picks there over a long time period should tell you something about the odds going more and more against you with each subsequent pick downwards from 1-1.

After a slow indoctrination in 2012, Nola emerged as a weekend starter after a dazzling eight-inning effort against Tulane 13 games into his freshman season when he limited the Green Wave to three hits and fired 25 consecutive strikes in one stretch. He was just getting warmed up. Eventually Nola climbed into the weekend rotation and finished with a 7-4 record, providing the foundation for one of the most dominant two-year stretches for a pitcher in LSU history. As a sophomore Nola was 12-1, not suffering a loss until the College World Series. This season he was 11-1, the lone blemish coming when he allowed a pair of solo home runs in a 2-1 loss at Florida. With the dust settling on his three-year run at LSU, Nola finished 30-6 (tied for fifth in career wins) with 345 strikeouts (third) and a 2.09 ERA (tied for fourth). Nola walked only 52 batters in 332 innings, logged seven complete games and was a part of 13 shutouts. "I've never played with a pitcher as dominant as he has been," said LSU junior Tyler Moore, a fellow Baton Rouge native who has played with or against Nola for over 10 years. "There was never a time when he went out there that we didn't feel like we were going to win the game." Which started with Nola's personality, approach and the way he was raised, Tigers' coach Paul Mainieri said. Like his older brother Austin Nola, a four-year starter at shortstop for LSU (playing in AA ball for the Marlins), the kid brother never took anything for granted. Always lauded as one of the hardest workers on the pitching staff, Nola set a follow-my-example tone from the time he stepped into the shoes as a leader last season. "Those guys know I'm not a big rah-rah guy who's going to say a lot," Nola said. "If I have something to say to somebody, it's usually just me and him." Don't mistake Nola's quiet nature and low-key, business-like style for not being competitive, though. Far from it. Tigers pitching coach Alan Dunn has been with Nola from Day 1 at LSU. Dunn was hired following the 2011 season and arrived on campus full-time a few weeks after Nola enrolled. From the beginning, the two clicked. And Dunn, maybe better than anyone else, sees a different level of intensity from the talented right-hander. "You'd better believe he's as competitive as he can be," Dunn said. "You can't be as good as he is and not want to win every pitch and every at-bat. He knows how to keep it in check, and that's one of the reasons he's been so good. He doesn't get too high or too low." That also ties into Nola's readiness for whatever level he winds up at next and beyond. Dunn spent 22 years as a pitching coach and roving instructor for major league franchises and has worked with pitchers on the rise at all levels. When he talks about Nola, he ticks off the list of items the 6-foot-1 fireballer already possesses. The raw skill -- "stuff" in the baseball vernacular -- has been there for years. Pitchability, or the skill of throwing any pitch he wants in any count has been mastered. Velocity, check. Curveball, check. Changeup, check. Perhaps as much as anything else, coachability is also in place for Nola. The relationship between he and Dunn blossomed from the beginning because when Dunn suggested something, Nola absorbed it, was willing to try it and then talk about whether it worked well or not. LSU pitching coach Alan Dunn (right) didn't make too many visits to the mound in Aaron Nola's three years, because the two were almost always on the same page. The urban legend of Nola never once shaking off a pitch Dunn called? "That is true," Dunn said with a smile. "But that's not because he was worried about upsetting me. It's because we think so much alike." .... Former LSU star Ben McDonald, a No. 1 pick in the 1989 draft, agrees. He has watched Nola blossom into arguably the Tigers' best since he starred for them. "Nola has been the best pitcher in college baseball the last two years," McDonald said. "His ability to command the strike zone has been unmatched. He will be talked about at LSU for many years to come. I think he will be a quick mover in pro ball and would not surprise me if he was in the big leagues next year." Another scout said earlier this season that Nola was good enough to step into the back of a big league rotation. Right now. That's not a notion Nola is ready to embrace. He won't run away from it either, though. ........ The thing that separates him from most is a humility that tempers that competitive drive Dunn has seen up close and personal. "I've got a lot of work to do before I'm ready for anything past this level," Nola said. "When you get up there, the strike zone is a lot different -- a lot smaller. And everybody you face can hit and hurt you if you make a mistake." http://www.nola.com/lsu/index.ssf/2014/06/...ml#incart_river

Well, it's easy in the sense that the White Sox "stole" Quintana from the Yankees for nothing. And stole Contreras for next to nothing in a fading Loiaza. I still think of Aiken and Nola as guys who MOST LIKELY will be 2/3 starters and Rodon and Kolek as potential aces. In this situation, you have to roll the dice on whichever of them you prefer. The Astros believe Kolek could contribute as early as 2016, fwiw.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 07:16 AM) I wouldn't mind Nola, but I would not be happy paying him slot. If the Sox can save the equivalent of a third rounder by going with Nola, I would be OK with it. I am just worried that Nola's 94-95 MPH suddenly becomes 91-92 ala Erik Johnson. Try 88-90. Well, that's exactly what happened with Colt Griffin and the Royals a decade ago, they tried to change his motion, he never threw 100 MPH again and wound up blowing out his shoulder/labrum and disappearing from baseball altogether.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/video/mlb...rtsillustrated/

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 07:11 AM) So you missed the beginning of the play, where it got messed up to begin with. Beckham put Abreu in a bad spot, he didnt really force the runner back, and gave it to Abreu and forced him to come up the line after the runner. Of course he was hesitant, he shouldnt have been there to begin with Fair enough. I'm sure Balta got a kick out of it, though.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 07:03 AM) Did you actually see the play? Because Abreu really wasnt at fault for what happened. The runner froze in front of Gordon and forced Abreu to chase him to begin the rundown after Gordon threw the ball The MLB.com highlight picks up at the time that Abreu first has the ball, and before Ramirez ends up throwing to 3B to try to pick off Gonzalez (and that's only because the initial call was reversed that it was a highlight in the first place). So all I'm seeing is a very hesitant Abreu running the baserunner a long ways in the wrong direction and seeming very indecisive about how long to hold onto the ball....hot potato feeling.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 06:57 AM) Yeah, if only the Sox had a guy with a track record of teaching things to pitchers. If you're facing hitters and the crowd's cheering when someone can actually foul-tip your fastball, why are you going to throw 2-3 other pitches to get him out? Just for the scouts? Everyone across the board says he shows flashes of above average curve/fastball/slider...he just has rarely had to use those pitches. Certainly hasn't had to master or perfect them at the high school level, especially pitching for a smaller school without as much competition as the AAAA/AAAAA schools. Also, he wasn't even really on the map until this year because he broke his arm last year...so it would take a little getting used to having every single pitch scrutinized like what Rodon's been going through for the past 18 months. How many times has Rodon been on ESPN 2/3? Kolek was elated just to meet Nolan Ryan for the first time.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 06:56 AM) Nola is the kind of talent you can acquire out of another organization at the AA/AAA level in a trade. We could get a similar or better player out of Alexei and probably another piece. What a massive waste it would be to use the #3 to get the type of talent you already have the pieces for. 1 of Aiken, Kolek, Rodon will be there for sure, and if Jackson goes to MIA then 2 will be there. There is zero reason to take Nola, that's just punting the pick. Upside, upside, upside all day, and "ceiling of #2" when it's all said and done probably means "#3/#4." God damn it Sox don't f*** this thing up. We're not going to be picking this high again for a while, maybe not in a very long time. And that's what they said about Wacha as well, which is why he fell so far. If you read the New Orleans Times-Picayune in-depth story about him (Nola), you would feel a lot better. The odds are just as high that Kolek becomes a reliever, Aiken never makes it to the majors and Rodon blows out his elbow. It's a crapshoot, nobody really knows anything with certainty. FWIW, Cooper picked Aiken as the one he liked the most.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 06:42 AM) Abreu? Everyone looked shaky there, starting with Beckham and ending with Alexei inexplicably throwing to third Well, yeah. Baseball 101. Run the baserunner back towards the base he came from, and don't give it up too early. And simultaneously watch the runner at 3rd from the corner of your eye and make sure he doesn't break for home. Should always be no more than 2 throws and a tag. Abreu shouldn't have kept following the runner while meandering in slow motion towards 2B, but Beckham and Ramirez are veterans and need to set the example for the rest of the team to follow.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 06:42 AM) Happy draft day to everyone. Haven't been so excited about the draft since my high school/university days back when we selected McDowell, Ventura, Thomas and Alex Fernandez.

QUOTE (oneofthemikes @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 06:31 AM) That's sorta what I was wondering. Why now? Don't get me wrong, I am fine with whoever gets selected, because I trust what the front office is doing right now, I just don't get what could have caused the 11th hour slide. Signability concerns? Any pitcher in this day and age who's going to be picked in the first 3-5 selections would have no logical reason to risk an injury...if Kolek were to risk going to TCU for two seasons, especially after watching Hoffman and Fedde go down in the last six weeks, it would be insane. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mlb/news/...ction=si_latest With Kolek, it has to be more than this inauspicious article coming out, you'd HOPE. (Shouldn't there be a "reverse SI jinx" in these cases?) It might be nerves coming back, reminding every front office about the Colt Griffin story, and David Clyde almost 30 years before that.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 06:20 AM) Crawford's final mock. Corroborates Kolek falling. White Sox take Nola instead. http://mlbdraftinsider.com/2014/06/the-final-mock-ever/ Pretty much okay with this if it happens. Especially if he's underslotted. As long as they don't start trying to sell or spin it as a "bargain" at #3. For the 19th pick and his MLB results so far, Michael Wacha qualifies in every sense of the word. I think it would be pretty unrealistic to expect Nola to be even better than Wacha, and especially so quickly.

QUOTE (Springfield SoxFan @ Jun 5, 2014 -> 05:59 AM) Does anyone think that all this confirmation from the Sox brass about taking a pitcher is a smoke screen? I keep reading that the Sox are in on five pitchers and one position player. That position player seems to be Gordon and not Jackson. If seems like a foregone conclusion that Tim Anderson will not stay at SS, that is why it keeps coming to me that maybe Gordon is in the mix for tonight's pick. For now, Anderson is a SS. We can argue about his timeline, and the possibility of Semien, Johnson and Anderson all being shifted to the outfield at some point in the near future, but Anderson has the ability/tools/range for the position...his arm isn't great for a SS, but he will have the remainder of 2014 and at least half of 2015 before they switch him (if that actually is going to happen in the future). As I argued before, they might stick him at DH a few times if his error total at SS climbs above 50, we'll see. It's also possible they'll promote him to Birmingham in July or August to prevent him from having a huge error total at one place. Sox brass want to see how well he'll do on a better-maintained infield where there aren't so many bad hops, like you typically see on an A Ball infield. At any rate, I seriously doubt they'd forgo pitching for another athletic/toolsy infielder when that's their ONE area of strength right now. And nobody's making the argument that Gordon is the best player available at 3.

The biggest problem bringing up Bryant is starting the arbitration clock/Super 2. It's the same situation as Polanco and the Pirates. With Boras as his agent, they're not going to submit to any hometown discount deals like the proposed Springer deal or the one that Singleton eventually signed with the Stros. They're kind of between a rock and a hard place, you can certainly understand both sides. So they have to maximize his six years with the Cubs. Would having Bryant start the year struggling with Chicago at the MLB level have helped their revenues for this season? But yeah, with Baez, Manny Ramirez and soon Bryant, the AAA Iowa Cubs are a heckuva lot more entertaining and a much better value for fans.

http://www.nola.com/lsu/index.ssf/2014/06/...ml#incart_river Very long but informative article on Nola. Seems like the kind of kid who would fit in very well with the Sox. And his last name Nola...same as New Orleans LA, didn't realize that the Times-Picayune website had that acronym. Let's just hope he's better than the last LSU first rounder the Sox took, or Ben McDonald.

http://www.csnchicago.com/white-sox/white-...&ocid=yahoo Don Cooper comes out in favor of Aiken of the top four pitching prospects. Astros looking at the four pitchers, Gordon, Jackson http://www.chron.com/sports/astros/article...n-t-5529991.php No high school righthander has ever gone first overall in the baseball draft. Only two high school lefthanders have been picked first. "I can tell you this is the strongest consideration that we have given to a high school righthander in our three years of having our No. 1 pick," Elias said without specifically addressing Kolek. Ryan, who was 324-292 over a major league-record 27-year career, made a three-hour drive to Jasper to scout Kolek's last start of the season for Shepherd. "I enjoyed being around the scouts because it gives you an opportunity to visit with them," Ryan said. "That group of people are so important to an organization, and they're so dedicated to what they do. They're kind of the unsung heroes to the organization. "I enjoy being around them because of their passion for the game of baseball." The Hall of Fame righthander has said the 18-year-old Kolek is further along than he was at a similar stage. The fact no high school righthander has gone No. 1 is a testament to the inherent risk in picking a teenage pitcher. They're younger and further away from reaching the majors, leaving a greater window to have their road to the majors derailed by an injury or unfulfilled potential. Field trip to see Kolek Despite the risk, the Astros view Kolek as a promising righthander who might be worth the perceived risk. Moreover, he's the only player Ryan scouted personally for Elias. Ryan picked up Astros manager Bo Porter and bench coach Dave Trembley at a local hotel and drove to see Kolek on May 1. They talked baseball the entire trip. "I think what he has is a feel for what it takes in order to be successful at the major league level," Trembley said of baseball's all-time strikeout leader. "Two, he can look at the big picture and project and see what a guy could be, not what he is right now. I think that's what Nolan looks at. "He looks at tools, looks at what a guy now has, and then looks if a guy is made right, if he has the right work ethic and if he's coachable. That's a valuable resource to have someone who puts it in a way that's really easy, real simple." Aiken also is entrenched firmly in the discussion for the top pick, which is why several mock drafts have him going first overall. Rodon was at the top of most mock drafts two months ago. Special deliveries Whatever the decision, Ryan has helped Elias and the Astros' amateur scouting staff dissect the top pitching candidates and many others who will go later in the draft. Astros pro scouting director Kevin Goldstein and director of decision sciences Sig Mejdal also are crucial evaluators who have been brought in for the draft, even though their focus isn't amateur scouting. Club icon Craig Biggio and former Astro Enos Cabell have scouted some of the top prospects for Elias this year. Farm director Quinton McCracken and minor league field coordinator Paul Runge also are in town for the draft. Ultimately, though, Ryan is the pitching expert. "We've looked over video of all the top candidates, hitters and pitchers," Elias said. "(Ryan) is a delivery expert. He makes insights on the delivery. He's still making insights about deliveries that I don't think we've gotten anywhere else."