March 2, 20242 yr It's way to early to mock what should be a deep but not top-heavy draft to the Sox, but here are some guys who probably fall into the range for 1-5: JJ Wetherholt, 2b Travis Bazzana, 2b Nick Kurtz, 1b Charlie Condon, 1b Jac Cagliamone,1b/rf, lhp Vance Honeycutt, cf Konnor Griffin, ss/cf Seaver King, ss/cf Braden Montgomery, of Mike Sirota, ss,cf Josh Hartle, lhp PJ Morlando, 1b Hagen Smith, lhp Chase Burns, rhp Brody Brecht, rhp Tommy White, 1b/3b I am out-out on Tommy White, and don't particularly want Kurtz, Condon, or Morlando because of the first base-only profile. Harold has me more curious about Caglianone and Brecht, but both are super high risk. I like Montgomery's pedigree as he was a top guy out of high school, and I like Konnor Griffin. Should anyone else be added to this follow group? And how do other people feel?
March 2, 20242 yr Author 2 hours ago, Timmy U said: It's way to early to mock what should be a deep but not top-heavy draft to the Sox, but here are some guys who probably fall into the range for 1-5: JJ Wetherholt, 2b Travis Bazzana, 2b Nick Kurtz, 1b Charlie Condon, 1b Jac Cagliamone,1b/rf, lhp Vance Honeycutt, cf Konnor Griffin, ss/cf Seaver King, ss/cf Braden Montgomery, of Mike Sirota, ss,cf Josh Hartle, lhp PJ Morlando, 1b Hagen Smith, lhp Chase Burns, rhp Brody Brecht, rhp Tommy White, 1b/3b I am out-out on Tommy White, and don't particularly want Kurtz, Condon, or Morlando because of the first base-only profile. Harold has me more curious about Caglianone and Brecht, but both are super high risk. I like Montgomery's pedigree as he was a top guy out of high school, and I like Konnor Griffin. Should anyone else be added to this follow group? And how do other people feel? I feel like Caleb Bonemer could be a part of the mix with Griffin from a prep standpoint. Hard for us to assess high school guys though. I think if Santucci keeps this up he could be another college arm to consider. He seems to be trending up. I might like him more than Hartle. Edited March 2, 20242 yr by DirtySox
March 3, 20242 yr 9 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said: Any chance he does both? If he finds a consistent release point, he is gonna be nasty as a pitcher. I am concerned about the K rate as a hitter, but the power is for real.
March 3, 20242 yr 21 minutes ago, Timmy U said: Any chance he does both? If he finds a consistent release point, he is gonna be nasty as a pitcher. I am concerned about the K rate as a hitter, but the power is for real. If I'm drafting him I'm absolutely sending him out as a 2 way guy and giving him every opportunity to prove he can do both. If he settles in as a power hitting 1B/DH and late inning reliever you have a very special player.
March 4, 20242 yr God damn, I want Cags to fall to the Sox but if he keeps this up I don't know if it happens.
March 4, 20242 yr My top 5 as of today: 1. Cags 2. Hagen Smith 3. Brody Brecht 4. Braden Montgomery 5. Konnor Griffin
March 5, 20242 yr On 3/4/2024 at 9:24 AM, Harold's Leg Lift said: My top 5 as of today: 1. Cags 2. Hagen Smith 3. Brody Brecht 4. Braden Montgomery 5. Konnor Griffin How do you think your top 5 compares to the Sox list? Do you think you see things similar to Mike Shirley and Garrett Guest?
March 5, 20242 yr Author Some Keith Law takes today on Brecht and Braden Montgomery. https://theathletic.com/5316512/2024/03/05/mlb-draft-scouting-2024-braden-montgomery/ Quote For college opening weekend, I went to Charleston to check out Iowa right-hander Brody Brecht, who probably has the top velocity among college starters this year, having reached triple digits last spring for the Hawkeyes. Brecht was a two-sport player until this year, serving as a wide receiver at Iowa when not playing the national pastime, which earns some natural comps to another wide receiver/starting pitcher, Jeff Samardzija (who played both for Notre Dame before choosing pro baseball). Brecht was 96-99 mph the day I saw him with a slider that was anywhere from average to plus, best at 88-90 and slurvier at 86-87, throwing just a couple of changeups with good tumbling action. His arm is incredibly fast, although its path is so long that his timing isn’t consistent pitch to pitch, which may be part of why he’s had some command and control issues. I love the big stride he takes towards the plate, and with his 6-foot-5 frame he gets solid extension out front. Against Seton Hall, he struck out 11 of 21 batters faced, walking six and hitting one. For two innings he was really wild, then for two innings he was utterly dominant, and then in his last inning of work he started to lose the zone again. He’s now at 33 strikeouts in 71 batters faced on the season (46 percent), and since that first outing he’s walked six batters total in two more starts, so he’s trending in the right direction. I don’t think he’s the top college starter in the class, but he has pretty high upside with the arm strength and athleticism. He’ll just take more time to get to his peak than the typical college starter. Quote Braden Montgomery was a first-round talent out of high school in 2021, a two-way player at the time with more pro potential as an outfielder, but he made it clear to teams that he intended to go to Stanford instead of signing. After a very strong sophomore season for the Cardinal last year, he announced the surprising decision to transfer to Texas A&M, where he’s off to a tremendous start for the Aggies. Texas A&M was at Globe Life Field this past weekend for a four-team series that also featured TCU, USC, and Arizona State. Montgomery was the best prospect in the series and showed it with a monster home run on Sunday while batting right-handed. He’s a switch-hitter who has produced quite a bit more from the left side in his college career to date, but over the weekend he looked much better from the right side, with much faster hand acceleration and better contact quality. His left-handed swing is fine in itself, with a short path to the ball and excellent hip rotation, but his front foot opens up hard and it kept sliding forward, leaving him off-balance through contact more often than not. He didn’t have the same issue from the right side, where he’s also very rotational and hit that home run at 113 mph, a grand slam that put the Aggies up 7-0 in the second inning against ASU. Montgomery can definitely hit a fastball, but he had particular trouble with changeups in this series, commensurate with his time at Stanford, where his highest whiff rates against any pitch types came against changeups, missing over 40 percent of the time he swung at pitches classified as changeups. He’s definitely hunting fastballs to drive, which is fine to a point, but he’s going to have to work on picking up changeups — and to a lesser extent all off-speed stuff — to hit even when he gets to Double A. He’s a strong defender in right with a cannon of an arm, although he never got the chance to air it out in the two games I saw. He threw 14 innings as a pitcher for Stanford last year, with a 12.21 ERA (not a typo), and I’m hopeful that the Aggies will just let him hit, with only one inning pitched so far for him this year. There’s no reason to risk him getting hurt when his pro future is entirely as a position player. He’s got the upside to be a top-10 pick this year, in a weak draft class, although last year he would have been in the 21-30 range because there’s definitely some risk around the hit tool. Edited March 5, 20242 yr by DirtySox
March 5, 20242 yr https://x.com/joedoylemilb/status/1764065651021451444?s=46&t=KJHMvUNQGLy7TbJoeC9iGA An option for the comp pick
March 5, 20242 yr Author If we are throwing out names for comp picks/second rounders we like, I'm into these two so far. Strictly based on write-ups and one being an Iowa guy. Quote 41. Joey Oakie RHP Ht: 6'3" | Wt: 195 | B-T: R-R School: Ankeny (Iowa) Centennial HS Commit/Drafted: Iowa Age At Draft: 18.2 Previous Rank:39 Oakie is a 6-foot-3, 207-pound righthander who has trended up over the last two years with velocity and is now one of the most electric pitchers in the prep class. He has an athletic frame with room for more strength and throws from a low three-quarters arm slot that gets to fully sidearm at times and pumps mid-90s fastballs into the zone with tons of arm-side running life. He has some of the best fastball movement in the class and has also flashed a plus slider in the 83-86 mph range that has huge spin and hard and late biting action. He can get around the pitch at times given his arm slot, but when he’s ripping off a good one it’s a real out pitch. Oakie primarily uses his fastball/slider combo but has flashed a firm, upper-80s changeup that needs more work. He has a chance for average control and is committed to Iowa, though he’s viewed as a day one draft talent. Quote 75. Theodore Gillen SS Ht: 6'3" | Wt: 200 | B-T: L-R School: Westlake HS, Austin, Tex. Commit/Drafted: Texas Age At Draft: 18.9 Previous Rank:72 Gillen stood out from an early age as one of the most talented players in the 2024 class, though he had right shoulder surgery in April 2022, so he missed much of the year. Gillen has long been an impressive athlete, but he has added more size and strength to his 6-foot-3 frame, with his tools taking another jump too. He has a strong offensive track record, using a line-drive stroke with a knack for going the opposite way. He’s still learning to fully tap into his power, but he has fast bat speed and is driving the ball with more extra-base damage now than he was before. Still working his way back from his shoulder injury, Gillen previously has shown good agility, body control and actions at shortstop. Depending on what happens with his arm, his athleticism and plus-plus speed would translate well in center field too. He is committed to Texas. Edited March 5, 20242 yr by DirtySox
March 6, 20242 yr 16 hours ago, Boopa1219 said: https://x.com/joedoylemilb/status/1764065651021451444?s=46&t=KJHMvUNQGLy7TbJoeC9iGA An option for the comp pick Hard pass
March 6, 20242 yr 2 hours ago, Springfield Soxfan said: Griffin or bust for me (if he is there at 5)! ⚾️ Me too.
March 7, 20242 yr Keith Law has his list out. Interesting rankings. Konner Griffin is #19. Disagree with that one.
March 7, 20242 yr Author Top 10 for Law: Quote 1.) Charlie Condon 2.) Jac Caglianone 3.) Travis Bazzana 4.) JJ Wetherholt 5.) Hagen Smith 6.) Nick Kurtz 7.) Chase Burns 8.) Braden Montgomery 9.) Brody Brecht 10.) Tommy White Edited March 7, 20242 yr by DirtySox
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