Season 23 - Amateur Draft - First Round Review

Courtesy of hurricane384...thanks for putting this together!

1.            2B Bill Fick – Fargo Bison
Solid range and glove. Weak arm. A true leadoff type who won’t strike out much, but can get on base. Not outstanding at driving the ball. Very fast.

2.            RHP George Priddy – Louisville Cardinals
Solid control. Solid combination of pitches. Decent splits. Solid stamina/durability. A little lacking for the #2 pick, but should be a solid contributor.

3.            RHP Charles Dean – Chicago Blue Demons
Tremendous splits. Solid control. Great stamina. Only 3 pitches and below average durability. Might struggle as a starter.

4.            CF Bill Palmer – Kansas City Wildcats
Remains unsigned as of press time.

5.            RHP Anthony Painter – Detroit Wolverines
Great control. Solid splits. Doesn’t throw hard. Average GB pitcher. Good pitches. Typically don’t like relievers this high, but knowing what the draft looked like, this was a solid pick.

6.            LF Lance Owens – Memphis Tigers
Solid power. Will strike out. Good range. Good arm. Great speed. Dominates RHP. Average eye.

mh17 says: It will be interesting to see Owens develop. Lance has good power and ability hitting lefties and rights, but seeing the ball and making contact may hinder his production, great speed but base running is questionable, and he’ll be very durable if he can avoid injuries. Would like to see him develop his defense a little more. Overall we are content with our selection.

7.            C Pedro Rosario – Boise Broncos

Tremendous defensive catcher. Great durability. Will struggle against RHP but should dominate LHP and won’t strike out much. Can definitely reach base. Fast for a C.
abesmem says: Boise was very happy to grab C, Pedro Rosario with the 7th overall pick. Pedro projects to be an “every day” backstop with solid defensive and pitch calling skills. He is no slouch at the place either with average power, good contact projections and a better than average eye at the plate. Pedro is already fairly well along in his development and is starting out in the organization at AA. He could be up with the big club in 2 years or less.

8.            RHP P.T. Durazo – Iowa City Hawkeyes

Tremendous stamina/durability. Solid control. Good splits. Keeps ball down. Underwhelming pitches.

9.            SS Fred Josephs – Huntington Thundering Herd

10.        P Deacon Ball – Helena Grizzlies
Remains unsigned as of press time.

11.        LF Al Brandt – Cincinnati Bearcats

Great power and dominant against RHP. Will struggles against LHP. Won’t strike out much. Average eye. Not much on defense.

allright says: Al Brandt has numbers that suggest that he will be a power hitter. He does not pull enough to be a 50 homer/year type; but he projects to be a solid 30+ homer hitter. He should handle RHP and maintain a high OBP. A solid prospect who should make The Show in 3 or 4 seasons. No HOF in his future, maybe not even an all-star; but, a solid ML contributor as a # 5 or #6 in the lineup.

12.        2B Luis Morlan – New Orleans Bayou Bengals

Dominates LHP. Will struggle against RHP. Great speed. Lacks durability. Solid defender who could fill in at several positions. Solid contact. Solid eye. Decent power.

13.        CF Gregg Wells – Philadelphia Owls

Tremendous power. Solid eye. Solid splits. Lacks top-end range, but good enough to be an everyday CF. Great glove. Great speed. Will strike out some.

14.        C Pepe Zurbaran – Texas Tech Red Raiders

Doesn’t call a great game but has a solid arm. Good power. Won’t strike out too much. Solid splits. Not good with the strike zone.

15.        RHP Roger Urich – Jackson Rebels

Lacks any semblance of control. Solid stamina & durability. Better against RHP than LHP. Great pitches and keeps the ball down.

16.        P Joey Camili – Oakland Golden Bears
Unsigned as of press time.

17.        RHP Rob Ray – Anaheim Trojans

Tremendous stamina/durability combination. Solid control. Only 3 pitches. Solid velocity & splits.

18.        3B Damon Wells – Nashville Commodores

Solid defensively. Average power and contact. Dominates LHP. Average against RHP. Average eye. Average pick here.

19.        3B Ahmad Russell – Little Rock Razorbacks

Lacks ideal range, but has a solid glove and good arm. Drives the ball well. Can work the count. Decent power. Strikes out a lot. Not durable.

20.        3B Lonny Lyles – Portland Ducks

Tremendous power. Drives the ball extremely well. Good range, great arm. Lacks ideal glove. Will strike out. Might be the steal of the draft.

21.        RHP Lou Jamison – Columbus Buckeyes

Tremendous control. Will get pounded on the ML level due to his inability to keep the ball out of hitting zone. Decent pitches. Doesn’t throw hard. Somewhat of a head-scratcher.

22.        RHP Dwight May – Seattle Huskies

Unsigned as of press time.

mcgupp says: He is projected as a lock down closer prospect. Unsure at this point if we will get him signed.

23.        RHP Buddy Swann – Buffalo Bulls

Great control. Throws hard. Solid stamina. Decent at keeping the ball out of hitting zone. Solid pitches. Keeps ball down.

24.        LHP Randy Montana – New York Red Storm

Average control. Can go deep into games. Solid splits. Throws hard. Flyball pitcher. Great pitches.

mamidu says: He decided to sign. I feel lucky to have landed him at #24. Has decent control and his splits project to be very good vL and above average vR with very good velocity. I have him projected to have 2 great pitches with the 3rd being average. I think he'll be a decent #3 SP.

25.        RF Erick Wright – Dover Fightin Blue Hens

Great arm. Really struggles against RHP. Average all around. Fast and a great baserunner.

26.        P Yonder Rodriguez – Charleston Cougars

Unsigned as of press time.

dgtrache says: Charleston would prefer that Yonder Rodriguez pursue his hockey career rather than accept the team's qualifying offer. Should he decide to play baseball, he has the potential to be a decent set-up man.

27.        RHP Manuel Quentin – Louisville Cardinals

Lacks ideal control. Throws hard and keeps the ball down in the zone. Keeps ball out of hitting zone. Great stamina/durability. Only 3 pitches. Could be a good one.

28.        RHP Derrick Velandia – Seattle Huskies

Dominant against RHP. Throws softly but keeps ball down. Lacks good control. Bit of a ‘tweener. Decent pitches.

29.        RF Vernon Blake – Salem Beavers

Makes a ton of contact. Lacks power. Struggles against LHP but does well against RHP. Good eye. Good baserunner with speed. Definitely a COF defensively.

30.  LHP Buddy Counsell – Charlotte Tar Heels
Tremendous control. 3 good pitches. Keeps ball down. Solid at keeping it out of hitting zone. Decent durability & stamina. Doesn’t throw hard at all.
hopkinsheel says: Pretty happy getting Counsell so late in the first round. We think he can be a solid addition to our bullpen one day

31.  RF Cory Gabriel – Syracuse Orange

Tremendous glove with solid range. Decent at making contact. Drives the ball average. Average eye. Tremenous speed.

Evil Doers says: One of the drawbacks of having a very successful regular season is of course, the low draft pick the next year. Having said that, the Orange are optimistic with the pick of Cory Gabriel. Some scouts had him as an up-the-middle player early in their reports but it appears that's not the case. The speedster would be a great addition if he was. He might not have the power for a corner position but he'll still make a nice addition to the school, even as a higher profile role-player if nothing else.

32.        RHP Bruce Nielsen – Richmond Spiders

Great control. Solid stamina/durability. Good pitches. Doesn’t throw hard and is a flyball pitcher. Does a decent job keeping ball out of hitting zone.

33.  RHP Brian Barnum – Minnesota Golden Gophers

Unsigned as of press time.

bighead34 says: really happy with Brian Barnum considering the lack of talent in this draft. hoping he can be an above average LRA if he signs...had him ranked 4th overall, but with limited scouting not sure how accurate my projections are...regardless he seems destined to be a MLer.