Andy Wilkins
Rumors

Unfortunately for teams, scouts, players and fans of baseball's amateur draft, the College World Series does not conclude until after June 7th draft.  However, we will be treated to a number of fun match ups this weekend in the College World Series Regionals.  Here's a look at some fun match-ups and top players to watch, broken down by region.

Tempe Region

If the higher teams advance, #1 Arizona State will face #2 San Diego.  That means Arizona State will face either Sammy Solis or Kyle Blair from San Diego.  Seth Blair will throw for Arizona State, but likely in their opening game against Milwaukee

Fayetteville Region

Top seeded Arkansas sports a likely Top 10 pick, Zack Cox, a likely first day pick, Brett Eibner, and a likely second round pick, Andy Wilkins.  Those three will dominate the conversation in this region

Auburn Region

Jimmy Nelson from Auburn faces off against Todd Cunningham from Jacksonville State in the opening round game.  Both could be Day 2 picks.  Other Day 2 picks include Auburn second baseman Brian Fletcher and first baseman Hunter Morris.

Atlanta Region

Possible Top 5 pick Deck McGuire and possible Day 1 pick Derek Dietrich will pace the Georgia Tech yellow jackets while Josh Rutledge hopes to keep Alabama's title hopes alive.

Charlottesville Region

Virginia is one of the best teams in the country and is headed by draft prospect Jarrett Parker.  Mississippi has possibly the top college pitcher in the country in Drew Pomeranz, someone expected to go in the Top 5.  St. John's sports a possible Day 2 pick, Daniel Burawa.

Norman Region

UNC's Matt Harvey seems likely to go in the first round while California's Dixon Anderson figures to be in the mix on Day 2.

Columbia Region

Pitching prospect Sam Dyson leads the top seeded South Carolina Gamecocks.  Likely first round picks Austin Wates and Asher Wojciechowksi lead Virginia Tech and The Citadel, respectively.

Continue Reading...

The cream of the college pitching class had another rough Friday this past weekend, following up a less than inspiring Friday the previous week.  Jason Churchill of espn.com runs down the performances of the big names.

Drew Pomeranz, Ole Miss, LHP

Coming off of a solid outing last week, Pomeranz could not keep the momentum going against Arkansas and their trio of big bats (Zack Cox, Brett Eibner and Andy Wilkins).  He struggled, allowing four earned runs on nine hits and two walks over 6.2IP.  According to Churchill, "His command was occasionally good, but he could not put away enough hitters once he reached two strikes, and he fell behind too many of them."

Deck McGuire, Georgia Tech, RHP

McGuire has not been terrible recently, but he hasn't been good either and continued that stretch of mediocrity this weekend.  His pitching line was ok, 6IP, 7H, BB, 3ER, 6K against Illinois-Chicago.  A line that will work in the majors, but not when you're supposed to be a top pitching prospect. 

Anthony Ranaudo, LSU, RHP

Ranaudo wishes he could "struggle" as well as McGuire has.  Speculation continues to rise about Ranaudo's health as he was horrible yet again against Vanderbilt.  Ranaudo lasted just 2.2IP giving up six earned runs on five hits and four walks with just one strikeout.

Asher Wojciechowski, The Citadel, RHP

Even pitching for a small school, Asher could not avoid the big name malaise that's running through college baseball.  Wojciechowski equally as bad, giving up six earned runs on seven hits and four walks in five innings pitched while striking out four.

Continue Reading...

Although the much anticipated match up of Ole Miss's Drew Pomeranz against LSU's Anthony Ranaudo was delayed a day because of rain, a number of other top college prospects were in action Friday night.  Jason Churchill of espn.com provided his notes from the action.

• Virginia Tech's Austin Wates hit a home run off of fellow top prospect Deck McGuire from Georgia Tech, but otherwise McGuire pitched very well.  The right handed pitcher went seven innings, giving up just one run on four hits and a walk while striking out eight.  The Yellow Jackets lost, however, in extra innings, 3-1.
• Georgia Tech shortstop Derek Dietrich struggled for Georgia Tech, going 0-for-4.
• Arkansas's draft prospect trio of Zack Cox, Brett Eibner and Andy Wilkins combined to go 3-for-13 with Cox doing most of the heavy lifting, going 2-for-5.

• Drew Smyly from Arkansas put his name on the map with a solid outing: 7IP, 8H, 1BB, 3ER, 10K.  According to Churchill "Smyly lacks front-line stuff but flashes an above-average fastball in the low 90s and uses a lot of cutter-style sliders and a changeup to keep hitters off balance."
• Phil Wonderlich from Louisville continued his solid season at the plate with two more doubles.  He's now hitting 362/439/716 with twelve home runs.
• Texas A&M's Barrett Loux continues to pitch well giving up just four hits and a walk in seven innings against Oklahoma.

Continue Reading...

A plethora of top college and high school hitters were at the dish Friday night.  Below is a recap of their performances from Friday night compiled from reports by Jason Churchill at espn.com, Baseball America and media reports from various athletic departments.

The big three at Arkansas - Brett Eibner, Zack Cox and Andy Wilkins - roughed up Georgia's Justin Grimm.  The trio combined to go six for ten with six RBI while Eibner and Wilkins hit home runs ten and eleven, respectively.

Recovering from injury, Bryce Brentz from Middle Tennessee State started and played his first full game, albeit from DH.  The potential top pick had just one hit, but it was a home run in his first at bat.

Christian Colon continues to rebound from a horrible start to the season, hitting his ninth and tenth home runs of the year for Cal State-Fullerton.  According to one scout "He's shown some weaknesses at the plate, but he's also showing he can get himself a fastball to turn on, and his power is real."

Continue Reading...

We've already given you a full recap of the weekend's best battle, Ole Miss's Drew Pomeranz vs. Georgia's Justin Grimm.  Pomeranz came out on top in that duel - both on the scoreboard and in the pitching line - but his wasn't the only marquee performance of the weekend or the only hot duel.  

Below is a recap of the weekend compiled from reports by Jason Churchill at espn.com, Baseball America and media reports from various athletic departments.

Although Pomeranz vs. Grimm put on the best show, Virginia's Danny Hultzen faced off against Georgia Tech's Deck McGuire in another high octane match up over the weekend.  Much like with Pomeranz, Hultzen got the best of McGuire as #4 Virginia defated #2 Georgia Tech 7-4 in the opener of their series.  Although Hultzen's line - 7IP, 6H, 2BB, 4ER does not seem too impressive, he managed to strikeout eleven batters. 

McGuire's peripherals were impressive - maintained his 92-94 velocity into the seventh and threw an above-average curve and slider - but his pitching line was a bit more pedestrian - 6.2IP, 6H, 4BB, 6ER, 6K.

Although Georgia Tech's Derek Dietrich went 0-for-4 against Hultzen on Friday, he rebounded with a 2-for-5 with a HR (10) performance on Saturday and a 2-for-3 with a HR (11) performance on Sunday, providing his team's only offense in a 9-1 loss to Virginia in the rubber game of the series.

Anthony Ranaudo was solid if not unspectacular for LSU giving up 3 runs in five innings pitched, but most importantly was able to throw pain free for 86 pitches.  Ranaudo came away with the win as LSU held off Auburn, 14-10.  

Continue Reading...

One common theme among draft discussions for 2010 is the lack of quality collegiate hitters.  Of the few names that seem to be getting any buzz for 2010, a majority seem to be located in the Southeastern portion of the United States.

Baseball America's Connor Glassey spoke with a scout that covers the southeast to get his take on some of the best hitting prospects from that region.

In no particular order:

Zack Cox, Arkansas, 3B: "Cox is one who's going to have to hit. He's certainly not your prototype at second base or third base.  His hands are fine, balls hit to him are OK, he's got slow feet, his range should be good enough for third base, [but] his arm strength has gone a little backwards.  Either he's going to hit for power or he's going to hit for average and I'm not certain that he can do both.

Bryce Brentz, Middle Tennessee State, OF: "He's so aggressive that he gets himself into trouble at times.  He doesn't need to be that aggressive to hit the ball out. He has tremendous bat speed and a good swing and he gets himself out when he gets too aggressive.  He's got very good hand-eye coordination and he's very strong.  He's got a plus arm and it might even be a little bit better than that. I think he profiles in right field better than center field, but I would certainly send him out there in center and let him play off the position. He's going to go really good, I think."

Continue Reading...

Hitting is considered one of the weaknesses of the 2010 MLB draft and power hitters, in particular, are in short supply.  Some prognosticators predict that we'll see eight pitchers taken in the Top 10 picks with only Bryce Harper and Bryce Brentz joining that parade.

Nevertheless, hitters pose less risk to clubs when making draft picks, so we could see a few more names slip into the first day draft picks than expected.  Jason Churchill of espn.com recently polled a few talent evaluators to see what power bats they were looking at. 

First Base: Andy Wilkins, Arkansas; Christian Yelich, Westlake, HS; Hunter Morris, Auburn; Cody Hawn, Tennessee

Third Base: Zack Cox, Arkansas; Nick Castellanos, Archbishop McCarthy HS; Jedd Gyorko, West Virginia; Chad Lewis, Marina HS; Kris Bryant, Bonanza HS; Stetson Allie, St. Edward HS; Derek Dietrich, Georgia Tech; Ross Wilson, Alabama; Rick Hague, Rice

Continue Reading...

Plenty of baseball action this past Saturday, Mar 6.  Let's take a look at the highlights from the draft prospects:

• Jedd Gyorko continues to hit.  His numbers are up to 361/452/639 with six walks vs. four strikeouts in his first nine games.
• Houston's Michael Goodnight out dueled Texas's Brandon Workman in a 1-0 win for the Cougars.  Despite walking four hitters, Goodnight struck out nine over 7IP and allowed just two hits.  Workman was equally as impressive, yielding just a walk, four hits and one earned run over 8IP with seven strikeouts.
• Cal State Fullerton's Christian Colon continues to struggle going 0-for-5 against Arizona.  The shortstop is hitting 194/310/306 through the first nine games of the season.  After having a 971 OPS last year, no one expects his struggles to continue long, but the lapse allows other shortstops like Josh Rutledge to close the gap on draft boards.

Christian Colon needs to snap out of his funk soon

• Alabama's Jimmy Nelson fanned eleven batters over six innings without giving up a walk.  Though considered a second-day pick heading into the season, he has a 19-1 K/BB ratio over the first 16 innings of his season and is moving up draft boards.

Continue Reading...

Here's a review of on-field hitting performances by notable 2010 draft prospects for February 28th through March 5th.

Tyler Holt: The outfielder from Florida State walked twice, stole his second base and scored against Hofstra on 2/28.  Holt finally struck out on 3/2, three times, but also added two hits.

Cameron Rupp: Texas' first baseman had a single and a walk vs. Stanford on 2/28 to raise his numbers to .364/.533/.455.  Cameron finally hit his first home run of the season on Tuesday.

Micah Gibbs: The LSU catcher hit a double and three singles, walked, had a RBI and stole a base in Sunday's Game 1 win over William & Mary.  Went 0-fer in Game 2.

Micah Gibbs

Leon Landry: Gibbs' outfield teammate at LSU went 3-for-7 in the double header with five stolen bases on the day. 

Andy Wilkins: Arkansas' first baseman had two hits prompting a scout to say "I learned...this weekend [that] Wilkins can hit."  On Tuesday, Wilkins had two doubles in three at-bats, raising his batting average to .435.  On Friday, Wilkins went 2-for-4 with a homerun against Cal.

Continue Reading...

Though the 2010 college baseball season has only just begun, the early performances of a few players will only help their draft stock. Here's a look at some of the top performers so far:

Jedd Gyorko: He's hitting .370/.485/.741 with six extra-base hits and a 6 to 1 BB/K ratio in his first seven games.  While he's glove at shortstop is not professional quality, some team will find a place for his bat in their organization.

Tyler Holt: Sports an impressive .545 OBP through his first seven games.  Though he struck out three times in his last game, it was the first time he had struck out all season.

Andy Wilkins: So far he has hit three home runs and three doubles while walking ten times and hitting .435.  "He can hit the fastball, that's for sure," said an area scout. "But I think anyone will tell you that he's got to prove himself in the SEC to make a move (up the draft boards)."

Andy Wilkins hopes his early season performance will move him up draft boards

Cameron Rupp: He has reached base in 17 of his 34 plate appearances for an impressive .500 OBP, but hit just his first home run the other day and has nine strikeouts already.

Continue Reading...