My early thoughts are that I hope Sox take prep outfielders with first two picks. Last year’s strategy again but with outfielders. 

Man not gonna lie the draft postponement by 6 weeks really put a dent into following this class (last year I was just happy to suck in all baseball)

 

New BA Stock Watch today. On it is none other than Noah Schultz. Will post that blurb in particular.

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Noah Schultz, LHP, Oswego (Ill.) East HS (No. 30)

If you check back at our first-round to-do list for Schultz, his two areas to improve were 1) add physicality and power and 2) refine his changeup.

Early feedback from scouts who’ve seen the 6-foot-9 southpaw indicate he has checked off both of those items with a flourish. Schultz mostly pitched in the low 90s last summer, but early in the season this year he has been pitching above 93 mph and touching 97-98 at peak. That’s a significant improvement in velocity and with it he’s also increased the power of a breaking ball that was in the mid 70s last summer and was recently in the 80-84 mph range.

That power alone would be enough to shoot Schultz up draft boards, but he also showed a mid-80s changeup with surprisingly good feel, considering he rarely threw the pitch over the circuit.

If Schultz is able to maintain this sort of velocity over the course of his season, while continuing to show the advanced feel for pitching he’s long had, he has a real chance to be the first lefthander selected in the draft—ahead of prep pitchers like Jackson Ferris (Fla.), Brandon Barriera (Fla.) and Tristan Smith (S.C.) and college lefties Hunter Barco (Florida) and Carson Whisenhunt (East Carolina).

Some other up arrow guys.

Jackson Cox, RHP, Toutle Lake HS, Toutle, Wash. (No. 71)

Jacob Melton, OF, Oregon State (NR)

Trystan Vrieling, RHP, Gonzaga (NR)

Colby Holcombe, RHP, Northeast Mississippi JC (NR)

Also an interesting sounding prep OF:

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Payton Brennan, OF, Rocklin (Calif.) HS

It’s shaping up to be quite a strong year for Northern California, with college hitters like OF Brock Jones (Stanford) and OF Dylan Beavers (California) as well as high school hitters OF Henry Bolte and C Malcolm Moore.

Brennan went into the year unranked, but it sounds like there are scouts who could like him better than both of the other high school hitters mentioned above and potentially as the top NorCal prospect in the country.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pound outfielder dealt with injuries last summer and wasn’t seen as frequently as other top high school players in the country, but scouts raved about his tool set and body and figured he had a chance to shoot up boards if he was healthy.

It seems like that’s been exactly the case. He is an easy plus runner who can play center field and has a chance for an above-average arm. On top of that he’s shown power from the left side with impressive bat speed and leverage. It sounds like the UCLA commit is a real five-tool prospect who is turning plenty of heads.

He could be a tricky signing, however, as UCLA has done a tremendous job getting its top recruits to campus in recent years.

 

Edited March 24, 20223 yr by DirtySox

97-98??  What game were they at?

I think Brother Rice faced Ferris tonight  Rice won in extras

Jack Lausch hit an oppo game winner in the 9th.  There's nothing in this world that kid can't do.

Barco was really good again last night against one of the best offenses in the country.  He's a dude.

Jonathan Cannon was really good too.  Dude's walked 1 guy in 41.1 IP (43 K's).    

Edited March 26, 20223 yr by Harold's Leg Lift

On 3/24/2022 at 6:20 AM, Y2Jimmy0 said:

My early thoughts are that I hope Sox take prep outfielders with first two picks. Last year’s strategy again but with outfielders. 

I second this, this would add more premium talent and athletes into the system. Give me Justin Crawford and another toolsy prep OF

On 3/24/2022 at 6:20 AM, Y2Jimmy0 said:

My early thoughts are that I hope Sox take prep outfielders with first two picks. Last year’s strategy again but with outfielders. 

I think the worst thing they can do is draft for demographic or position.  This system needs impact players.  It needs athletes with plus tools and high ceilings.  If the best/highest ceiling player on their board is a HS outfielder great but if he's a HS/college infielder or HS/college pitcher they have to take that player.  I don't think it's a good strategy for the worst system in baseball to pigeon hole themselves by drafting a certain "type" of player.  They drafted a "type" of player during the rebuild and that's why they're in the awful situation they're in now.  Taking the highest impact player is always the best way to go regardless of demographic or position.

13 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

I think the worst thing they can do is draft for demographic or position.  This system needs impact players.  It needs athletes with plus tools and high ceilings.  If the best/highest ceiling player on their board is a HS outfielder great but if he's a HS/college infielder or HS/college pitcher they have to take that player.  I don't think it's a good strategy for the worst system in baseball to pigeon hole themselves by drafting a certain "type" of player.  They drafted a "type" of player during the rebuild and that's why they're in the awful situation they're in now.  Taking the highest impact player is always the best way to go regardless of demographic or position.

Yes of course but I factored that into my thinking. With this college pitching class, I hope they continue to take younger players. They generally have more upside, are more tradeable and have a lot more margin for error. If a college position player is the top guy on their board, that's probably who they should take but I think the best way to sustain success is to continue getting younger in general. 

Hopefully Shirley was down the line.

 

Jud Fabian just hit one to the god damn moon to put the Gators up in t9.  

35 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

Jud Fabian just hit one to the god damn moon to put the Gators up in t9.  

 

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26. White Sox — Landon Sims, RHP, Mississippi State 

Carlos’ Take: I do think there are going to be a few injured college pitchers who go in the back half of the first round given their talent, and Sims was pitching like a top-of-the-first sort of arm before he went down with a UCL injury that required Tommy John. This pick would be reminiscent of the Garrett Crochet selection that has looked quite good for the White Sox, and on talent and stuff alone, Sims could move to the big leagues as quickly as anyone in this class. His health obviously changes that timeline, but he should still be an impact arm when he comes back.

V 1.0 to V 2.0 change: -12

 

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26. White Sox — Landon Sims, RHP, Mississippi State 

Carlos’ Take: I do think there are going to be a few injured college pitchers who go in the back half of the first round given their talent, and Sims was pitching like a top-of-the-first sort of arm before he went down with a UCL injury that required Tommy John. This pick would be reminiscent of the Garrett Crochet selection that has looked quite good for the White Sox, and on talent and stuff alone, Sims could move to the big leagues as quickly as anyone in this class. His health obviously changes that timeline, but he should still be an impact arm when he comes back.

Good timing. ?

Edited April 1, 20223 yr by DirtySox

Also for some of the talked about players/favorites on this board.

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11.) Mets - Noah Schultz

13.) Angels - Jackson Ferris

16.) Guardians - Cam Collier

18.) Reds - Hunter Barco

30.) Dodgers - Justin Crawford

31.) Giants - Jud Fabian

 

Edited April 1, 20223 yr by DirtySox

Where did they have the college catchers?

30 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

Where did they have the college catchers?

6.) Marlins - Kevin Parada

7.) Cubs - Daniel Susac

 

Thanks.  Those two are going to be long gone.  

Aaron Rowand clone.

 

20 hours ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

Aaron Rowand clone.

 

Had to look him up.

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Ryan Cermak

Illinois State OF

Notes:

HT: 6-1 | Wt: 205 | B-T: R-R
Commit/Drafted: Never Drafted
Age At Draft: 21.1
A strong, physical center fielder, Cermak led Illinois State with 11 home runs during the 2021 season, where he hit .284/.349/.553. Cermak has plenty of strength in a muscular, 6-foot-1, 205-pound frame and plus bat speed, which has translated mostly to pull-side game power throughout his collegiate career. That power has come with some swing-and-miss issues (25% strikeout rate in 2021) and Cermak will expand the zone frequently, but a hot start early in the 2022 season has him trending up on draft boards. He has a compact and level stroke and shows the ability to drive the ball the other way. He’s a plus runner with a chance to stick in center field at the next level. Cermak will pitch at times and has easy plus arm strength and a fastball that’s been up in the mid 90s.

 

Edited April 3, 20223 yr by DirtySox

Cermak is a dude.  He's a Dude dude.  The internet guys will start catching up soon.  He's a tremendous athlete. Plus raw, plus run, plus plus arm, plus future defense.  His swing is a little unorthodox but he makes it work and he has the athleticism to make the necessary adjustments as he moves along. He also has incredible makeup and work ethic.  I'm all in.  

They're catching up.

 

Was just going through BA's Mock from last week, and the first college pitcher taken is Barco at 18. This college pitching class is wrecked.