Answered my own question. Here are the listings for all games, in case anyone's interested. Formatting is terrible, but basically the TV stations follow each game. Thur - 5/23/2013 9:00 AM Big 12 Baseball Championship Game #1 Oklahoma vs Baylor FCS Central FOX Sports Southwest Plus FOX Sports Midwest Plus Thur - 5/23/2013 12:30 PM Big 12 Baseball Championship Game #2 Kansas State vs Texas Tech FCS Central FOX Sports Southwest Plus FOX Sports Midwest Plus Thur - 5/23/2013 4:00 PM Big 12 Baseball Championship Game #3 West Virginia vs Kansas FCS Central FOX Sports Southwest Plus FOX Sports Midwest Plus Root Sports Pittsburgh Thur - 5/23/2013 7:30 PM Big 12 Baseball Championship Game #4 Oklahoma State vs TCU FCS Central FOX Sports Southwest Plus FOX Sports Midwest Plus Root Sports Pittsburgh Fri - 5/23/2013 9:00 AM Big 12 Baseball Championship Game #5 Oklahoma vs Texas Tech FCS Central FOX Sports Southwest Plus FOX Sports Midwest Plus Fri - 5/23/2013 12:30 PM Big 12 Baseball Championship Game #6 Kansas State vs Baylor FCS Central FOX Sports Southwest Plus FOX Sports Midwest Plus Root Sports Pittsburgh Fri - 5/23/2013 4:00 PM Big 12 Baseball Championship Game #7 West Virginia vs TCU FCS Central FOX Sports Southwest Plus FOX Sports Midwest Plus Root Sports Pittsburgh(delay at 11pm CT/12am ET) Fri - 5/23/2013 7:30 PM Big 12 Baseball Championship Game #8 Oklahoma State vs Kansas FCS Central FOX Sports Southwest Plus FOX Sports Midwest Plus Sat - 5/25/2013 9:00 AM Big 12 Baseball Championship Game #9 Baylor vs Texas Tech FCS Central FOX Sports Southwest Plus FOX Sports Midwest Plus Sat - 5/25/2013 12:30 PM Big 12 Baseball Championship Game #10 Oklahoma vs Kansas State FCS Central FOX Sports Southwest Plus FOX Sports Midwest Plus Sat - 5/25/2013 4:00 PM Big 12 Baseball Championship Game #11 West Virginia vs Oklahoma State FCS Central FOX Sports Southwest Plus FOX Sports Midwest Plus Root Sports Pittsburgh(delay at 11pm CT/12am ET) Sat - 5/25/2013 7:30 PM Big 12 Baseball Championship Game #12 Kansas vs TCU FCS Central FOX Sports Southwest Plus FOX Sports Midwest Plus Root Sports Pittsburgh
You will want hs rhp Touki Toussaint badly next draft. If we end up at second overall, I bet he will be one of our top options.
The Pirates tried to do this mainly in '09. They took a position player up high (Tony Sanchez) over arms like Wheeler, Minor, and Leake and then took a bunch of high upside hs pitching which they signed overslot (Brooks Pounders, Colton Cain, Zack Dodson, Zack Von Rosenberg). That is just one year but it doesn't like look that was a smart decision in hindsight. I think going in that direction and succeeding depends on a lot of different factors. They then ditched this philosophy and took Taillon third overall in 2010 and Cole number one overall in 2011.
Ehh...the previous regime took Lyles in the supplemental first, Bushue in the second, Folty in the first, Velasquez in the second, and Houser in the second. So they definitely valued pitching up high.
The failure rate of elite pitching prospects is much higher than for elite position players. There have been countless busts among pitching prospects picked in the top 5. That's why I generally favor drafting a position player over a pitcher when drafting this high, unless the pitching prospect is head and shoulders the best player available ( think prior or strasburg). This year may be one of those exceptions though.
That actually makes my point rather than discredit it. As I mentioned in the other post, the trio of either Gray, Appel, or Kohl Stewart, based on talent and projection, are heads and shoulders above any of the pitchers you just listed. The top tier of the Grays, Appels, Stewarts, Taillons, Zimmers, and Gausmans of the world is simply better than mid-1st to 2nd round talent. There will always be exceptions of course, but this is generally the case. That is why the thinking of "well we can just use the other 40 rounds to draft pitchers" is flawed in my opinion. And if we hopefully ever turn it around and get to the playoffs, you certainly need 2-3 guys that you can depend on to carry you. Gray can hopefully be an ace like that.
It's a numbers game. See : Risky Business: The MLB Draft, Part 1 Risky Business: The MLB Draft, Part 2 Risky Business: The MLB Draft, Part 3 Summarized by A top 10 college position players has about a 21.5% chance of being an all-star. A top 10 college pitcher has about a 2.0% chance of being an all-star. Roll the dice. If the team draft a college pitcher and he becomes an all-star, congrats to them. But don't be fooled into believing their process/strategy trumped luck.
As an aside, pretend that all college/HS pitchers/hitters picked in the top ten had a 20% change of becoming an all-star. 10 years after any draft it will be painfully obvious which 2 of the top 10 were "destined" to be all-stars. In the year of the draft, not so much. The Astros have a one in five chance of landing an all-star with their first pick in this draft. Despite their best intentions, they are likely to fail. That is pretty sobering. The Astros will be rolling a five sided die. Wish them luck.
The previous regime never had a top five pick so we don't really know what they would've done that high up (Heck was still SD last year, but Luhnow was the guy in charge). All we know is that they valued pitching as shown by Folty, Lyles, etc.
Also, I'm not sure that Gray, Appel, and Stewart are head and shoulders above a guy like Foltynewicz presently or even Velasquez to be honest. It's hard to even say they have higher upside than a guy like Folty who is sitting in the mid-to-high 90s and succeeding in AA.
Another point of view: "There's more to MLB Draft than luck" http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/...ooked-in-mlb-draft-more-than-just-luck-060312
At the time of their respective drafts, there is no doubt this year's trio is regarded more highly than Folty and Velasquez. You even said Folty "presently," after he as added a few mph's to his fastball. So it wouldn't really be fair to compare pitchers that have had a few years of development (I know we have to take a year out for Velasquez due to his TJ surgery) to pitchers that are just going to be drafted. Comparing apples to apples, this draft's trio has higher upside than Folty and Velasquez. And don't get me wrong, I like both of them, but there is little doubt to me that as draft prospects, and compared on a level playing field, this trio is simply better and has more talent.
Yes, I was just sticking up for Foltynewicz because I think he is another one of those guys along with McCullers who could be at the TOR. Guys like him who are highly drafted out of hs and continue to develop well allow you to go with the BPA approach in future drafts instead of saying we have to have so-and-so. I just want the Astros to trust their scouts and go with the guy who they think will be the best player in the future, whether that be a pitcher or a position player and whether that be a high schooler or a collegian.
Mike Foltynewicz, Age: 21, DOB: 10/07/1991 Vincent Velasquez, Age: 20, DOB: 06/07/1992 Mark Appel,Age: 21, DOB: 07/15/1991 Jonathan Gray, Age 21, DOB: 11/05/1991 Foltynewicz is in AA and is having success. Appel and Gray would likely not have the same success in they pitched in AA after the draft. Appel and Gray have a better shot at matching Velasquez numbers in low A after the draft, though that is not a given. I for one would not be surprised to see both Foltynewicz and Velasquez being higher ranked prospects than Appel and Gray, after the 2014 season.
Wow that's a pretty sick line. Makes me wonder how good the Baylor lineup is too though. IMO, it would come down to Bryant vs Gray and specifically whether or not Bryant can hit for average.
