Steven Matz Rumors

Jason Churchill of espn.com discussed three northeastern prospects in his posting Saturday

• Mike Trout: The Millville High School (NJ) product has been a late bloomer this spring and is quickly becoming one of the top high school position players. He is not particularly special in any one physical trait, but above average at all of them. While his professional position is a bit of a mystery (he's played 2B and CF this season) he is not likely to get past the top 20. The Tigers are rumored to be interested with the 9th pick, but Churchill notes that they've been heavily linked to Wil Myers. The Diamondbacks, Angels and Mariners will not let him fall past them with their picks in the 2009 MLB Draft.
• Steven Matz: The LHP out of Ward Melville High School (East Setauket, NY) has produced "average" velocity consistently ranging from 88-92, but has touched 94 and scouts believe he can get stronger and thus throw faster. His curveball is projected to be above-average due to good spin and arm speed and he's also thrown a change-up on occassion, but with little consistency. Matz will be heading to Coastal Carolina.
• Ryan Buch: The Monmouth University product has been throwing 91-93 consistently and has an average curveball which shows flashes of being very good and a decent change up. The inconsistency of Buch's curveball prevents him from rising on draft boards, but Churchill still projects him in between the 3rd and 5th rounds.

Jason Churchill of espn.com has a huge review of 2009 MLB draft prospects for us:

• OF Mike Trout (discussed yesterday) and LHP Steven Matz have drawn the attention of plenty of scouts this spring.
• Chad James, LHP from Yukon, Oklahoma, continues to pitch well, consistently throwing 90-93 and hit 94.  One scout preferred James at the end of the first round to some of the underwhelming collegiate pitchers.
• The (poor) state of major league catching has coincided with a strong draft class of catchers for 2009, even after the injury to Luke Bailey.  High school catchers that are expected to be taken in the first 100 picks include Bailey, Austin Maddox, Geno Escalante, Andrew Susac, Jonathan Walsh and Max Stassi. 
• Considered a top 50 selection, Jared Mitchell from LSU had a nice double header vs. Alabama.
• Rich Poythress is a very difficult analysis for scouts.  "He's safer than some of the prep power bats, but that can be seen as a negative, too. Maybe he is what he is now without much development remaining," said one southeast area scout. 
• If Alex Wilson can return to the starting rotation, his draft stock should rise considerably. 
• Churchill believs that Ben Paulson, much like Poythress, will be drafted higher than he should be come June.
• Angel Songco and Ryan Wheeler both play for Loyola Marymount, but most scouts prefer Wheeler to Songco.