unlike the 2012 and 2013 drafts, the 2014 draft has a sure-fire, can't miss prospect... his name is carlos rodon, lefty pitcher from NC State... looks like we'll be neck and neck with the marlins all year to lock up the #1 pick, anyone think we will/ won't get it? marlins are pretty bad... i do hope we lock it up though...would be a shame to "rebuild" and not get the only sure-fire guy in 3 years..
That's for the 2013 draft though. I'm not sure about the Marlins farm system but I have a feeling we'll end up with a better record than them unless we trade off Norris or Altuve. We'll see though.
http://sbb.scout.com/2/1291189.html Given what I know right now, Rodon and Beede would both rank behind Stanford RHP Mark Appel and Oklahoma RHP Jonathan Gray, the top two prospects in this year's draft, and be in the same range as Nevada RHP Braden Shipley, a projected top 10 pick in my most recent mock draft. As you can read below, Rodon has the upside to be in the class of Appel and Gray if he regains the form of his freshman year. The depth of the 2013 and 2014 college pitching crops look pretty similar, but what makes 2014 a superior overall draft class is the high ceiling prep talent (breakdown coming soon). Rodon was the big name entering the spring but he told me after I watched a disappointing start that he's had soreness in the muscles around his throwing shoulder all spring and his velocity has been down. In the game I saw, he flashed a 94-96 mph heater with a plus slider in the first and was 89-92 mph with a solid-average slider and diminished command the rest of the game. I'm told this has happened most of the season and he acknowledged as much. Rodon flashes two 65 or 70 pitches when he's right but his fringy changeup, height, lack of projection, lack of standout athleticism and vanishing stuff all are big hurdles to consistently showing and commanding that knockout stuff that could make him the #1 overall pick. Rodon is still the top college pitcher in the class right now, but he may not be if his stuff doesn't rebound soon.
I watched a couple of innings Saturday of Rodon's start, and DVR'd it. He threw as high as 96, but mostly stayed in the low 90s, and only threw in the mid-90s when going for punchout.
yeah Rodon has lost some of his luster from his freshman year. My guess is he'll work his ass off in the offseason to get back to form.
