Kris Bryant
Rumors

Jason Churchill of espn.com recently polled a number of talent evaluators to "rank the areas of depth in this year's class, weighing the impact talents within four categories: college bats, college pitching, high school pitching, high school bats."  Here's what Churchill found out:

• From one responder: "It's kind of even, including at the very top of the draft, but the first day may be filled with these high school arms, but I'm not sure a lot of them go early."
• Another criticized the available hitters "it seems all of these guys have pretty major questions, aside from [Bryce] Harper, who is basically a high school kid for us. [Arkansas' Zack] Cox may or may not play third, he strikes out, and [Virginia Tech's Austin] Wates ... I'd like to get the chance to see if he can play center, he's played everywhere but there so we haven't got the look we want yet. There's no safe bet this year [in terms of college hitters]."

Can Zack Cox improve his draft stock by proving he can play third base professionally?

• College hitters could be the weakest portion of the draft, especially if Harper is not included because he's basically a high school player at 17 years old anyway.  

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Jason Churchill of espn.com recently took a look at the top high school players that could end up first-round draft picks when MLB amateur draft gets started in June.  Previously we reviewed Jason's analysis of collegiate first rounders.

• Jameson Taillon figures to be the top high school player, pitcher or hitter, taken in the draft.  He could likely go as high as the #1 overall pick depending upon how his spring goes.
• AJ Cole (Ovideo HS, FL) and Karsten Whitson (Chipley HS, FL) both made Keith Law's Top 50 and will go in the first round.
• Other high school pitchers expected to be selected in the first round include Kaleb Cowart (Cook County HS, GA), Andrew Smith (Rosewell HS, GA), Kevin Gausman (Grandview HS, CO) and Justin O'Connor (Cowan HS, IN).

Kevin Gausman figures to be a first round draft pick in June

• Stetson Allie (St. Edwards HS, OH) will likely go in the first round, the question is whether a team will select him as a pitcher or a hitter.
• Kris Bryant (Bonanza HS, NV) and Josh Sale (Bishop Blanchett HS) both figure to be taken in the top half of the first round.
• Nick Castellanos (Archbishop Mccarthy HS, FL), Manny Machado (Brito HS, FL), Marcus Littlewood (Pineview HS, UT) and Chad Lewis (Marina HS, CA) are all possibilities for the first round

Keith Law of espn.com has an update from the Area Code Games

• The two best pitchers of the games were from Oklahoma: Archie Bradley and Dylan Bundy. Bradley threw 93-95 initially, slowing to 89-93 as his outing went on and also threw a sharp breaking ball. Bundy ranged from 89-94 with his fastball with a "good changeup in the low 80s, a tight, two-plane curveball at 73-74 and a hard slider with a lot of horizontal break up to 80 mph."
• Kris Bryant from Bonanza High School from Las Vegas demonstrated easy power during batting practice and was likely the best hitter at the games. He wasn't able to display his power during player, however, as he was walked twice.
• Josh Sale from Bishop Blanchett HS, WA slammed a home run during the first game on Wednesday and showed great bat speed despite some extracurriculars in his swing.
• The Northwest team that Sale played for was one of the best teams from that area in a while and featured a number of prospects. Shortstop Trace Tam Sing, 2B/CF Ryan Brett, OF Drew Vettleson and Spencer O'Neil all impressed.
• Jordan Shipers from Bethany, MO is a very intriguing case in that his high school doesn't have a team and he does not have certain plans as to where he's going to play this spring despite being a very good pitcher.

USA Baseball's Tournament of Stars had plenty of 2010 draft talent in attendance and Keith Law of espn.com gives us a review of how they played.

• Bryce Harper lived up to his recent scouting report and struck out twice by not being patient with the pitchers attempting to pitch around him.
• Jameson Taillon from the Woodlands HS in Texas was tracking at 90-94mph on his fastball and a good slider. His curveball and changeup were also decent.
• Kris Bryant from Bonanza HS in Las Vegas showed plenty of power from the right side of the plate along with an arm to throw from third base.
• Brian Ragira out of Martin HS in Texas showed great wrists and the ability to stay inside the ball to generate power with his swing.
• Marcus Littlewood from Pineview HS in Utah was very deft at the shortstop position, demonstrating very smooth hands.
• Nick Castellanos out of Archbishop McCarthy HS in Florida had great power on anything below mid-thigh, but struggled with pitches up in the zone.
• Sam Wilson from El Dorado HS in New Mexico uses an upper cut swing to generate good power, but needs to adjust that to hit higher quality pitching and can do so without sacrificing power.
• Yordy Cabrera from Lakeland HS in Florida is very athletic, playing both thirdbase and RHP. While he has nice power he needs to improve his plate discipline.
• Justin O'Connor plays infield and pitches for Cowan HS in Muncie, IN and while considered more of a prospect as a pitcher, did not throw at the tournament. Nevertheless, he demonstrated one of the most disciplined swings at the tournament. "He is, in the words of one scout who has seen him aI few times, 'obnoxiously talented.'"

The 2010 MLB Draft class might not have the star power at the top that the 2009 MLB Draft class did (Stephen Strasburg, Dustin Ackley) or be as loaded as the 2011 draft class (Sports Illustrated coverboy Bryce Harper, Sonny Gray, Alex Meyer, Anthony Rendon, Gerrit Cole and Danny Hultzen) but there's plenty of talent to track.

College Bats

• Bryce Brentz, OF, Middle Tennessee State
• Christian Colon, SS, Cal-State Fullerton
• Derek Dietrich, SS/3B, Georgia Tech
• Yasmani Grandal, C, Miami
• Josh Rutledge, SS, Albama
• Ross Wilson, 3B, Albama
• Blake Forsythe, C, Tennessee
• Leon Landry, OF, LSU
• Andy Wilkins, 1B, Arkansas
• Micah Gibbs, C, LSU

College Arms

• Anthony Ranaudo, RHP, LSU
• Justin Grimm, RHP, Georgia
• Drew Pomeranz, LHP, Mississippi
• Nick Tepesch, RHP, Missouri
• Matt Harvey, RHP, UNC
• Kevin Rhoderick, RHP, Oregon State
• Josh Osich, LHP, Oregon State
• Kyle Blair, RHP, San Diego
• Chris Hernandez, LHP, Miami
• Brandon Workman, RHP, Texas
• Chad Bettis, RHP, Texas
• Alex Wimmers, RHP, Ohio State

High School Bats

• Trey Griffin, OF, Martin Luther King HS, GA
• Austin Wilson, Harvard-Westlake School, CA
• Kris Bryant, SS/3B, Bonanza HS, NV
• Krey Bratsen, OF, Bryan HS, TX
• Nick Castellanos, 3B, Archbishop McCarthy HS, FL
• Yordy Cabrera, SS/RHP, Lakeland HS, FL
• Reggie Golden, Wetumpka HS, AL
• Taylor Lindsay, OF, Desert Mountain HS, AZ
• Marcus Littlewood, SS, Pineview HS, UT

High School Arms

• AJ Cole, RHP, Oveida HS, FL
• Jameson Taillon, RHP, The Woodlands HS, TX
• Stetson Allie, RHP/SS, St. Edward HS, OH
• Zach Lee, RHP, McKinney HS, TX
• Justin O'Connor, RHP/SS, Cowan HS, IN
• Kevin Gausman, RHP, Grandview HS, CO
• Rudy Acosta, RHP, Mt. Miguel HS, CA
• Cam Bedrosian, RHP, East Coweta HS, GA