Aiken is the closest thing to an elite prospect in my eyes. He's only 17 but he's got the stuff to move quickly through the system.
So what's the timeline on a guy like Aiken? High school pitchers are such a crapshoot...I wish we would go with a more known commodity at 1-1. There is a reason why teams just stay the F away from high school pitchers at the #1 spot, so this makes me a little nervous. It could easily just be like tearing the pick up and throwing it into the trash. In fact, there is a very big chance that it is exactly what will happen. I dont like taking a guy #1 and then crossing fingers and toes in the hopes that he might actually be good. I understand that there's always risk involved...but a high school pitcher at 1-1 is about as risky as it gets. Im weary of Rodon, but if we arent going to go in that direction, then give me a bat.
That's exactly where I was for most of the past week, now I just don't care. Jackson doesn't blow me out of the water if he does stick at catcher, and, if he doesn't, I have zero interest in him. An OF comparison that I read was Allen Craig. If that's his ceiling, I'll pass. I'm not going to fault them no matter who they take, even if they reach and take somebody who isn't on our radar. This draft is looking like a big-time crapshoot.
I was reading through the draft comments on the Crawfish Boxes earlier and one poster said the Aiken has had a professional pitching coach since he was 12 and that he's always on strict pitch count limits. He seems more prepared and more polished than your average high schooler. The homer in me is curious about Kolek, and Alex Jackson is sounding like a sure thing, offensively. Of course there's still Rodon, but it's concerning how they ran his arm into the ground at times.
Look at Clayton Kershaw. Drafted in 2006 and in the majors in 2008 even though he wasn't as polished from a command perspective, they let him figure it out in the big leagues because his stuff was still enough to get hitters out. I don't think Aiken's fastball/curveball combo is as deadly as Kershaw's. Here's the thing. To be an elite pitcher, you have to have an out pitch. Velocity doesn't matter quite as much, as long as you have a pitch you can go to when you need the strikeout. Kershaw has one of the best curveballs in the game. Is Aiken's as sharp with as much tilt? Sure, he has a changeup that's advanced for his age, but can he get people out with it? Rodon has the out pitch to be a #2. That's been the issue wih all of our pitching prospect, most notably Jordan Lyles. 91-94mph which is above average, but he just didn't have an out pitch. It's what hs been hindering Appel as well. Scouts said he had a wipeout slider in college, but he hasn't shown it thus far.
Aiken is very similar to Dylan Bundy as a prospect in terms of polish. Difference is that Bundy was never on a pitch count in HS.
Wow, thats really unfortunate, because from what I heard prior to the college season, he was like the 2nd coming or something. What a waste of potential.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>The best draft dope comes in the next 18 hrs starting now as meetings are breaking for the night. Lots of buzz that Kolek is sliding.</p>— Kiley McDaniel (@kileymcd) <a href="https://twitter.com/kileymcd/statuses/474363538551496705">June 5, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
anyone know how many many rounds are drafted tomorrow? ? We have picks 1, 37 (comp. round), and 42 (2nd rounder). Will we get to the second or 3rd round tomorrow?
Day one will be the first 2 rounds (top 74 picks); Day two will be rounds 3-10; Day three will be rounds 11-40
I feel like the general consensus is nobody gives much of a crap who we draft 1st tomorrow. Accurate?
Except tellitlikeitis, who will then proceed to cover the remaining seventy-nine rounds. Or thirty-nine; whatever.
Since Rodon faltered a bit and Appel is well who the F knows I think we're all just frustrated that again there is not a clear consensus # 1 guy to get excited about.
Appel most definately was the consensus #1 last year. Anyone who has given up on him after one professional season is being ridiculous.
