BB was a legit hitter at Tulane. It pisses me off that we weren't able to develop him as a major league pitcher, though. We can't afford to whiff on our first round picks like this
I remember when he came out I was surprised both were drafted as pitchers. Bogi was a lefty in the batters box with five tools, and I think he has the potential to be a solid fourth outfielder. The pick still goes down as a bust simply because off the guys they passed on (really talented draft), but he still has a chance to be a major leaguer.
They already did that with Jason Lane, who was a pretty good pitcher/outfielder in college. I think it's safe to say the plan backfired. They also did the opposite with Brandon Backe. We'll see how that turns out.
Lane was drafted as a hitter. Backe was a pitcher with the D-Rays. They are the ones that made him a pitcher.
The fact that they drafted Lane only as a hitter makes it even worse. And by they, I didn't necessarily mean the Astros (in regards to Backe). But yeah, you're right.
Best luck to Brian, but not everyone can pull a Rick Ankiel. In fact, it's very rare for a player to switch positions from a pitcher to a position player in his mid 20's and make it to the big league.
It is. Most people, including, it seems the previous posters in this thread, seem to forget how dominating of a pitcher Ankiel was (for a small amount of time). Then, all of a sudden, he couldn't throw a catchable ball.
That is so strange how all of a sudden he couldn't find home plate with a GPS system. Then there was Chuck Knoblock not being able to throw to 1st base and who was the catcher that couldn't throw the ball back to the pitcher. Weird!!
