I wonder if Luhnow will surprise fans with his draft picks, much like his cross town rival Daryl Morey.
I'm no baseball expert, but I'm trying to be more involved with the sport. Is his injury a red flag for the future? Would this sort of thing eventually lead to surgery if he strains it again?
There are a number of factors that go into it. IE. Throwing motion, arm slot, etc.. I haven't watched any video on Giolito, but any arm injury at that age you'd have to label as cause for concern.
Sucks for him, but good for us: 1) Injured now rather than possibly after we drafted him #1 2) May be available lower in the draft Ultimately he probably goes to college now.
Yeah, I think he doesn't sign now. Not much chance of him pulling a Matt Purke under the new draft rules. Quite a shame. Looks like it's down to Gausman, Zunino, Appel, Buxton, Marrero.
Kyle Zimmer is having a meteoric rise with his draft stock in the early going starting, and he is beginning to draw comparisons to Stephen Strasburg. Scouts are saying he is "way better than Appel" and has jumped up to consideration for 1-1. http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog...iscos-kyle-zimmer-generates-early-draft-buzz/
While appel does seem somewhat unimpressive, Zimmer seems like a project pick. He does seem to show that he will be very good with the Cods. But the No. 1 pick for a guy who has not pitched for very long seems like somewhat of a risky move.
Apparently he threw 22 straight strikes to begin his debut start this season, and has cleaned up his mechanics considerably. It depends how he shows for the rest of the season, but even though he just converted to starter, he doesn't sound like much of a project to me Seems like he's taking to pitching like a fish to water.
Also keep in mind that the draft is not until June (or is it July). That will be plenty of time to evaluate him during the season.
From late first rounder/sandwich round to possible 1st overall on 40 pitches? That would speak to the lack of an expected generational talent. Of course Appel still probably remains the front runner, and this guy would have to produce over the course of the season in order to be considered #1.
We already knew that though... no Strasburg or Harper in this draft class. I'm not sure Appel is even the frontrunner anymore. A lot of people have soured on him. The field is wide open right now. I hope Zimmer does keep this up all year and shows himself to be a big step above all the others.
Keith Law (@keithlaw) tweets from today: Mark Appel's line vs. Rice tonight: http://www.gostanford.com/sports/m-basebl/stats/2011-2012/stanbb13.html 9 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 14 K, 1 hit batter, 8 flyouts, 5 groundouts, no decision. He faced 34 batters. Stanford won 4-2 in 10. Kyle Zimmer took the mound for San Francisco against Fresno State. Here's his line: http://usfdons.com/sports/m-basebl/2011-12/boxscores/20120309_w3ld.xml 6 IP, 9 H (1 HR), 6 ER, BB, 10 K, facing 29 batters. He took the loss as his team fell 6-2. Zimmer allowed 3 in the bottom of the 2nd and 3 more in the 5th.
Also, in other top pitching prospect news, Kevin Gausman got the start for LSU against Michigan. One word: electric. Allowed 2 hits in 8 shutout innings and struck out 11 as the Tigers blanked the Wolverines 6-0. 8 groundouts to 5 flyouts. Took 100 pitches for him to log his 8 innings. Retired 19 straight at one point. Apparently this happened. Kurt McCune (@kcune39)
If Gausman is hitting 102 he could easily be a #1 starter, not a #2 like people have been saying. Zimmer's start looks bad on the surface but I like that he struck out 10 and only walked 1. That means 25 strikeouts and only 1 walk this season Appel dominating is good too... but I wish one guy would just step up and separate himself from the pack damn it! All three guys could become aces at the ML level.
