Marcus Littlewood - Baseball Rumor Mill

2010 MLB Draft Preview: High School First Round Possibilities

tiaradio@hotmail.com (Knuckles) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:19:18 EST

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

Garin Cecchini and Zach Alvord Highlight High School Pre-Season All-America Infielders

tiaradio@hotmail.com (Knuckles) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 21:04:55 EST

The Louisville Slugger 2010 Pre-Season High School All-America Team was announced on Friday. Twenty-three infielders were selected to the first team. The two biggest names on the list were Garin Cecchini and Zach Alvord.

Cecchini is a 6'2", 200 lb shortstop who plays for Barbe High School in Louisiana. He has a strong athletic build, classic lefthanded swing, creates excellent bat speed, serious home run juice, to go with a good arm that has carry. Alvord is another shortstop who at 6'0" and 180 lbs is a bit smaller than Ceccini. Playing at South Forsyth High School in Georgia, Alvord has very good compact strength for a middle infielder. Alvord's best tool is his bat and offensive potential as a middle of the field player.

Other noteable infielders selected include Marcus Littlewood, Nick Delmonico and Johnny Field.

Garin Cecchini was one of twenty-three infielders selected to the High School All-America team

2010 MLB Draft Preview: Harper, Taillon, Cabrera, O'Connor

tiaradio@hotmail.com (Knuckles) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:35:42 EST

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.'"

2010 MLB Draft Preview, 6/13

tiaradio@hotmail.com (Knuckles) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 10:59:38 EST

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