colbyjack

It doesn't look good for LaPorta, who injured his ankle and is expected to be out for quite some time despite being listed as day-to-day. www.alligator.org/pt2/070225base.php

Here's BA's top 25 tracker: www.baseballamerica.com/t...63431.html Plus, a picture of David Newmann (who took a no-no into the 7th inning yesterday), who was drafted by the Brewers last year but didn't sign. Now healthy, his fastball reportedly is back in the 89-93 range with a very sharp curveball. He could sneak up into the first round, and along with Jake Arrieta, the Brewers have two notable unsigned draftees from past years. Newmann on the year: 1-0, 2.65 ERA, 17 IP, 9 H, 20 K, 7 BB, .158 BAA Arrieta on the year: 2-1, 2.57 ERA, 14 IP, 13 H, 16 K, 5 BB, .232 BAA David Newmann http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/dnewmann07428309sof.jpg

Are there any regular draft forum readers/lurkers out there? A couple of years ago Katuluu was kind enough to attend the Golden Gophers DQ Classic at the Metrodome, where he was able to see both Glen Perkins and Alex Gordon. While I plan on being at this Friday's Ole Miss vs. Arkansas game as part of the DQ Classic, I'm even more interested in seeing the Missouri State vs. Minnesota game the following Friday (March 9th). However, I won't be able to attend that game, and I was wondering if anyone would be interested in attending that game to supply a report to me on Missouri State LHP Ross Detwiler, who should be starting the Friday game of that series. Drop me a line if you're interested. I'll try to think of a way to compensate you, as this is work related for me, so I would be happy to pick up the tab for the price of the ticket, gas and lunch. pebert@brewerfan.net

He must have done something to himself during Friday's game, as he appeared in Friday's box score, but there are notes of injury in the postgame stories or notes. I'm sure BA or PGCC will have some note of what happened within the next day or two.

Thanks for the report fewgoodcards. The Simmons vs. Hume matchup was definitely on my radar this evening. A few more notable performances from this evening: David Price 5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 10 K, 2 BB vs. Pitt. A good start for Price based on the K's, not so great based on the runs. Casey Weathers Season: 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 13 K, 0 BB A bonus addition this week, Vanderbilt's closer has been untouchable so far this year. Nick Schmidt 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 K, 2 BB vs. Illinois State I was hoping Schmidt would have been a little more light's out in this game, despite not giving up a run. Sean Doolittle 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 8 K, 0 BB Doolittle now 3-0 with a 0.53 ERA, 19:2 K:BB ratio in 17 IP. Bryan Augenstein 7 IP, 7 H, 6 R (4 ER), 11 K, 2 BB Bad defense led to to many unearned runs, and made Augenstein work harder than he should have. Jake Arrieta 3 IP, 5 H, 4 R (3 ER), 3 K, 1 BB vs. Coastal Carolina No excuses for Arrieta, who like Price has been good so far, but not spectacular. Ross Detwiler 7 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 13 K, 1 BB vs. Dallas Baptist (Thursday) Amazing debut for Detwiler, whose name seems to get frequently missed when it comes to discussing top draft possibilities. Wes Roemer 7 IP, 12 H, 4 R (3 ER), 12 K, 0 BB vs. UCLA CSF is currently losing this game, but Roemer has been pulled, and despite giving up a lot of hits to a good Bruins ballclub, he now has a 36 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio over 29 innings of work. Wow. There are no cupcakes on Fullerton's schedule. Aaron Poreda 8 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 7 K I add Poreda's name since he's the pitcher that faces James Simmons a week ago. Poreda, a LHP, was reportedly throwing his heater in the 93-94 range a week ago, and could be rising quickly. Name to watch: Will Kline I hope to catch Kline face off vs. Nick Schmidt next Friday at the DQ Classic up at the Metrodome. Kline doesn't have spectacular stuff, but he does command the strike zone extremely well as a red-shirt junior. So far this year he is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA over 3 starts. In 20 IP he has allowed 12 hits and 7 seven walks while striking out 29. Remember Steven Wright from a year ago? Kline is this year's version. Onto Saturday... Andrew Brackman 7.1 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 7 K, 1 BB vs. Coastal Carolina Another nice start for Brackman, who is showing very good command despite being considered relatively raw as a pitcher. One thing that does bug me is the fact that he has been allowed to rack up lofty pitch totals in his appearances, reaching 113 in Saturday's contest. Andrew Brackman http://www.nmnathletics.com.edgesuite.net/pics/400/RQ/RQARWOBIRLFUSPZ.20070221021759.jpg Sunday... Joe Savery 5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 4 K, 2 BB vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi A good start, but similar to both Price and Arrieta, I think everyone is waiting for that one can't miss, complete domination game. Savery is still building up arm strength, as I believe this is the first game he pitched past the 4th inning, so that game may be coming soon.

Here's BA's college weekend preview: www.baseballamerica.com/t...63388.html Only one really good matchup this weekend between ranked teams, UCLA vs. Cal State Fullerton. No games on TV this weekend, at least not for TW Cable in Milwaukee.

David Rawnsley, my associate at PGCC, adds his thoughts on the Indoor Showcase, as well as some other draft tidbits from around the nation: www.pgcrosschecker.com/20...22207.aspx Bummer to hear about UW-SP RHP Jordan Zimmerman being out, but thankfully its just his jaw that's injured, and no anything that has to do with his throwing arm.

Here my most recent column, focusing on the talented crop of prep players from Illinois eligible for the '07 draft, as well as comments from last weekend's PG Indoor Showcase: PG Crack of the Bat: Illinois Preps

Perhaps the Angels learned their lesson of hording prospects after the Dallas fiasco and Mathis' demise. You can only start one pitcher and eight position players per game... What an odd statement. Sam already said everything I could in response to this comment, but I'll had that the Angels had real, future plans with both McPherson and Mathis. It's not like they were just holding onto them, or "hording" them for kicks and giggles. I would just like to point out that Ervin Santana isn't even a prospect anymore. He's one of the better, younger up and coming stars in baseball IMO, and if he were on my team I wouldn't trade him for a package of Garcia and Crede, much less including Figgins into the deal. You just don't deal away talented young pitching like that unless the deal is a no-brainer, which usually means it will never happen.

What makes you say that?

Rye is a good all-around player. Not a great player, as nothing in his game stands out, but he's a good hitter, makes very good contact with a little bit of power, plays well enough in RF and has a sound arm. He profiles more as a 4th OF at this point in time, but if he keeps on hitting he could evolve into more than that. Also, FSU 2B Tony Thomas looked pretty good as well, much more refined than a year ago, and smacked a few balls pretty well despite his smallish stature. He's a guy to watch for in '08, and could give the ACC a pair of solid 2B to go along with Jemile Weeks.

Crede being a FA after the '08 season and having his agent as Scott Boras may actually make him more easily available. Probably not right now, as vacin8r mentioned, there have been some pretty notable names involved with Crede rumors, far too much for what the Brewers should give up to get a guy like him. He's good, but not good to the point where you go out of your way to acquire him. Although I'm not sure I believe the Santana/Figgins for Crede/Garcia rumor, since you would have to be crazy to turn down that deal IMO.

I was just about to comment on you jinxing LaPorta fewgoodcards, but I just lost my post as my browser unexpectedly quit on me. So, here are my condensed thoughts from tonights 14-6 FSU victory over Florida. Matt LaPorta did strike out for the first time on the season tonight, swingining at a breaking ball in the dirt in an AB in which LaPorta did a great job staying alive by once again fouling balls off. His double in the 7th was a booming shot over the head of FSU CF D'Vontrey Richardson. LaPorta continues to remind me of Pat Burrell. Speaking of Richardson, who has a bright future as FSU's QB, he hit a mammoth three-run HR in the 8th as FSU blew the game wide open. With so many two-sport players, you don't see many that clearly have a knack for baseball as Richardson does. He plays a very shallow CF, trusting his speed and instincts to chase down fly balls. No one would have caught the ball LaPorta hit. Florida 2B Cole Figueroa reminds me a lot of Delino DeShields with a low waist and his socks pulled up to his knees. Figueroa hit a solo shot tonight, and plays with an evident flair for the game. FSU catcher Buster Posey is the next Brandon Inge (before the Tigers moved him from behind the plate to the hot corner) or Michael Barrett as an offensive-minded catcher. He had a couple of nice looking singles in tonight's game, and proved his offensive prowess last summer on the Cape. FSU SS Mark Hallberg was the one player I wanted to see the most, since he's a Wisconsin native. Think David Eckstein, as he's very short, yet he makes excellent contact, never strikes out, makes every play at SS he can get to, makes solid throws on the move, and has a strong enough arm. FSU is rolling. They hit a couple of HRs tonight, but for the most part they have been scoring a ton of runs by getting on base and stringing a bunch of walks and singles together. Florida is a resilient ballclub, and if they don't succeed this year they're going to make some noise in the years to come.

BA is reporting that Tennessee will likely be without catcher JP Arencibia this weekend and probably the following weekend due to a strained muscle in his back. Apparently the injury was initially triggered in their series vs. FSU to open the season. The Vols are already missing All-American CF Julio Borbon who broke his ankle before the season started.

The lack of Ks so far is very impressive for LaPorta, who prior to this year was striking out at an alarming rate. I noted his one AB in my notes just above about him fouling off pitches because it was clear he understood the importance of making contact in certain situations (even making contact to foul pitches off to continue to give himself a chance to get a pitch to drive). He didn't have ABs like that last year from what I saw of him. The strikeouts were by far his biggest concern IMO, and hopefully he keeps those ratios down.

Here are some thoughts of mine from Sunday's Miami - Florida game. Miami Hurricanes Jemile Weeks Weeks continues to bat leadoff for the Hurricanes, and is more of a prototypical leadoff hitter than his big brother Rickie. While he looks very, very small, there is some pop in his bat. He's a switch hitter, makes good contact and shows a very disciplined eye at the plate. In this game he went 4 for 5 with a walk and a stolen base. As a left-handed batter he hit a triple to leadoff the game, a booming shot off of a high fastball from Bullock to center field that bounced off the fence on the fly. As a right-handed batter, he out-ran a high chopper to 2B in the 5th, and bounced a high chopped over the third baseman's head in the 7th for a double. He hit an opposite field single in the 9th. His speed is very evident, and he runs the bases extremely well. I know others have commented on this before, but I think Jemile is a much more natural second baseman than his older brother is, even if Jemile doesn't have the same kind of high ceiling offensive potential that Rickie does. He looks better as a left-handed batter than as a right-handed batter, and I'm guessing he hits for more power from that side. His speed out of the right-hand batter's box to out-run an infield single in the 5th was impressive. Yonder Alonso Remember this name for the 2008 draft. While Pedro Alvarez and Justin Smoak typically are considered the two top prospects for '08, I think Alonso will be in the same conversation as those two. He has a great hitting base, a patient, disciplined approach, a big, athletic frame and easy power to all parts of the field. His picture perfect swing reminded me of David Justice's. He employs a wide and open stance. He hit an opposite field HR off of Bullock on a letter-high fastball in the first inning. His swing was just so easy and the ball took off. He pulled an inside fastball for a two-run single in the first and blasted a double to left-center field off of a relatively tough left in the eighth. Alonso was fun to follow a year ago as a freshman, and so far so good as a sophomore. Dennis Raben Raben plays right field and pitches for the Hurricanes. He has a similar wide, slightly open stance as Alonso, although he doesn't crouch over as much. He also has a very disciplined and patient approach at the plate, as the entire Hurricanes lineup does. He's not near the same level of a prospect as Alonso is, but he has a good bat and decent power and could be taken in the top 10 rounds in '08. Ryan Jackson The best defensive SS available in last year's draft, questions about Jackson's bat caused him to slip and he attended Miami, where he's starting as a freshman despite those questions with his stick. He ditched switch-hitting, hitting right-handed only now. There isn't much power in his bat but he waits for his pitch and makes solid contact. He's not particularly fast despite his smooth defense, but he runs well once on the basepaths. He and 3B Mark Sobolewski could form one of the better left-sides in all of college baseball the next 2-3 years, complementing Alonso and Weeks well. Mark Sobolewski Another talented freshman. Sobolewski has the perfect baseball body and looks like a big-league hitter with sloped shoulders and big forearms. He has a very nice approach with quick, strong hands, and has already drawn a few unfair comparisons to Ryan Braun. Sobolewski isn't quite that good of an athlete, but he may be a better pure hitter. He had a really nice AB against Bullock in which he hit a RBI single right up the middle to centerfield on an inside fastball. He added a opposite field two-run single in the fourth on an outside fastball, showing his willingness to go with the pitch and swat it the other way to drive in runs. Another name to watch in '09. Blake Tekotte I enjoyed watching Tekotte a year ago, who is a high energy, speedy player that has taken over CF now that Jon Jay has moved onto the pro ranks. Another extremely selective player at the plate, almost too selective. There isn't much power to Tekotte's game, although I did see him hit some decent shots a year ago. His speed and defense will allow him to be drafted, but he may struggle to hit with a wood bat. David DiNatale DiNatale transferred from Central Florida this past year, and he's a former Aflac All-American. He hardly pulled the bat off of his shoulder in this game, but had a really good AB in the 9th, working the count and fouling off several pitches before walking with the bases loaded. Manny MIguelez I saw MIguelez a few times a year ago, and I reallly like the way he pitches. He had an extremely short outing, and gave up a booming HR to Matt LaPorta (although its questionable whether or not it would have been a HR with a wood bat). He has a very nice and repeatable low-3/4 delivery. His fastball has some dip to it, and it looks as though he's working on a cutter, which would fit his profile perfectly. His curveball is loopy but it works and draws some awkward swings. He also throws a good changeup. He works the outer half well before busting hitters inside, and if nothing else I think he could be successful vs. LH hitters at the big-league level. Nothing stands out for Miguelez, but I think he could be more than serviceable upon entering the pro ranks. Enrique Garcia Miami's closer, he transferred from Potomac State (WV) this past year after a couple of really good seasons serving as a starter. His power arm has prompted a move to the bullpen, and that may be a good fit for him as he has a high-effort delivery that places a lot of strain on his pitching arm/shoulder. He has a strong lower half. His fastball has a little dive to it, and he reportedly throws a split-fingered fastball, of which I didn't see. He has a good looking curveball as well. In the game he got Matt LaPorta to put an awkward swing on a diving curveball that LaPorta got out in front of and chopped to third base that started a game-ending 5-4-3 DP. Florida Gators Josh Bullock Bullock is built almost exactly like Gators Friday ace Bryan Augenstein. He's very tall with a strong base and lower half, and his body looks somewhat awkward as if he just got through with a growth spurt but he hasn't filled out yet. He has a very good curveball, that he can hook into the strike zone or dive into the dirt. His fastball doesn't appear to have velocity to it, but when he was composed he spotted it well. To start the game though he didn't spot his fastball well, and Weeks and Alonso in particular got some pretty big hits off of him. No one could touch his curve, and since his fastball wasn't working for him he relied on his breaking pitch a little too much. He is going to need to correct that. He did settle down in the 2nd and 3rd before getting yanked in the 4th, and looked good when he was cruising. Matt LaPorta The first thing that I noticed with LaPorta was how much better he looks at first base. He just seems to be determined to improve his game after such a tremendously disappointing season a year ago. He hit an opposite field 3-run HR off of Miguelez in the 1t off of a low, outside fastball. He just flicked his wrists and the pitch was gone (as I mentioned above, with a wood bat this is probably a lazy fly to RF). He had a nice AB in the 5th, fouling off pitches to stay alive, and added another HR in the 7th. This one was a mammoth 2-run blast to straight away CF. Keep in mind, I had LaPorta ranked in the top 10 when he was a juinor a year ago. If he has a really good year he could jump right back up draft boards this spring and find himself selected in the first half of the first round. Miami definitely has more draft-eligible position players than Florida does. The Gators do have a nice looking, scrappy 2B by the name of Cole Figueroa who is a freshman that has a nice slashing bat. The Hurricanes have started a little bit slow, as they did a year ago before surprising people with a CWS appearance. I picked Miami as my preseason #1 team, and while they have the starting lineup to out-hit anyone, their pitching needs to come together for them to live up to that lofty ranking. Florida was a team I picked to surprise some people after their disappointing 2006 season which followed their own surprising run in Omaha in 2005. Don't forget, FSU vs. Florida tonight at 5:30 pm CST.

CCSN has added their stats to their webpage, and while that gives us a chance to see how Chad Robinson is faring so far this season, there is still no sign of Terrell Alliman. Here's a quick update on how some of the Brewers DFEs are faring so far. Keep in mind, this is really, really early, and a few of the players haven't even started their seasons yet. Chad Robinson 0-1, 2.51 ERA, 4 games (2 starts), 2 saves, 14.1 IP, 16 H, 17 K, 5 BB, .281 BAA No word if Robinson is the team's closer or if he remains a starter. Aaron Tullo 1-1, 1.42 ERA, 2 games, 6.1 IP, 3 H, 2 K, 7 BB Tullo might be injured, as several of his pitching mates have 5-6 appearances so far. T.J. Macy 0-1, 3.00 ERA, 3 games, 12 IP, 21 K, 5 BB Macy was part of a no-hitter early this season, and you've gotta love that K rate. Rob Bryson 1-1, 1.46 ERA, 2 games (both starts), 12.1 IP, 5 H, 16 K, 4 BB, .119 BAA A very nice start all around for Bryson. Nick Tyson 1-2, 7.40 ERA, 5 games (all starts), 21 IP, 28 H, 19 K, 6 BB, 3 HR Not a very nice start all around for Tyson. The 3 dingers allowed stand out. Bryan Crosby .250/.471/.250, 12 AB, 4 BB, 4 K, 2 for 3 stolen bases, 4 Es Only 12 ABs, but nice to see him walking despite not hitting. Matt Coburn 2-0, 3.72 ERA, 5 games, 9.2 IP, 6 H, 11 K, 5 BB Still a little wild, but he's one of the better San Jacinto pitchers among some big names so far this year. Nicolas Spears .167/.268/.250, 36 AB, 3 2B, 5 BB, 2 K Like Crosby, its nice to see him drawing walks despite not getting many hits. Ricky Alvernaz .250/.400/.250, 20 AB, 0 BB, 1 K, 5 HBP How do you have a .400 OBP when you're batting .250 and you haven't even drawn a single walk? Get plunked 5 times in 20 ABs. Here's hoping that more schools start to add their stats in the coming weeks.

It's possible that the D-Rays might lose their patience with Upton. He's not one of the top prospects in the game only because he has more than 130 big-league ABs, and despite his big-league struggles he still has the talent to explode. I agree that Upton would be a perfect long-term fit in CF for the Brewers, and he is somewhat without a position in Tampa Bay. Every spot in the OF is already taken (unless they move one of Crawford or Baldelli) and the IF is starting to get rather crowded as well, particularly when they picked up Akinori Iwamura this offseason. If Longoria opens the season at the big-league level, that would squeeze another IF spot away from Upton, and last year's Cal League MVP, Reid Brignac, could reach AAA by the end of the year. I'm not sure if Turnbow would get it done (and I thought the same thing about Phillips), maybe if he bounces back, but as far as I know the D-Rays are committed to young fireballer Seth McClung to be their closer of the present and future.

That's a very good call DHonks, as I too remember the Cards fan complaining about the number of college pitchers that have broken down for them. Taking a college pitcher isn't as safe as many think it is.

I commented on this in another thread, but Rice was throwing 85-87 this past weekend at the PG Indoor Showcase in Cedar Rapids. A name that hasn't been brought up before if Barron, WI native Mark Hallberg, who transferred to Florida State this past season after spending his first two years at UIC. seminoles.cstv.com/sports...ark00.html Hallberg's presence allowed the Seminoles to convert former Aflac All-American Buster Posey to a catcher, where he has received high praise for his rapid conversion. Hallberg is pretty slick with the glove, has a nice approach at the plate, hits for contact and is extremely hard to strike out (one of the hardest players to strike out in the nation the past couple of years, and he didn't strike out at all his junior and senior years in high school). You have the chance to watch Hallberg and the Seminoles tomorrow night (Tuesday) on FCSP, I believe at 5:30 PM against the Florida Gators.

Don't forget, you can watch college baseball, Florida vs. Miami, at 10:30 this evening CST on FCSA. If it's today's game, you will be pleased by the offensive fireworks, particularly from one Jemile Weeks. A quick rundown on this weekend's action from notable prospects. I'm not a huge fan of following the results too closely this early in the season, given so many of the unbalanced matchups. But hey, that's what this thread is for. David Price 6.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 12 K, 0 BB vs. Ohio Andrew Brackman 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 8 K, 2 BB vs. Gardner-Webb Joe Savery 4 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 K, 0 BB vs. Long Beach State Sean Doolittle 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 5 K, 1 BB vs. George Washington Jake Arrieta 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 8 K, 1 BB vs. Oral Roberts Bryan Augenstein 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R (0 ER), 7 K, 3 BB vs. Miami Nick Schmidt 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 K, 4 BB vs. UW-Milwaukee As I hinted at above, Madison native Ryan Zink did indeed make an appearance this weekend for the UIC Flames. He started Saturday's game, tossing 75 pitches over 3 innings of work, giving up 6 hits, 3 ER, 3 walks with one strikeout. While it wasn't a pretty outing, it was his first since having TJ surgery last year, and UIC managed to win in come from behind fashion late in the game. GT took the other two games of the series. Speaking of Georgia Tech, how about some offensive numbers... Matt Wieters .240/.355/.560 in 25 AB, 2 2B, 2 HR, 5:3 BB:K ratio J.P. Arencibia .174/.387/.348 in 23 AB, 5:4 BB:K, 3 HBP Of course, way too early and far too small of a sample to draw any kind of a conclusion on either catcher that is frequently discussed around these parts. Wieters has had some big hits despite hitting only .240, while it doesn't look as though Arencibia has gotten many pitches to hit given his walk and hit by pitch numbers (and low strikeout totals). IIRC, both started slow last season as well. EDIT: I forgot to mention Wes Roemer, whose Titans took two of three from the surprising Arizona Wildcats this weekend, even if they they took the loss on Friday for Roemer's start in a 2-1 ballgame. 8 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 9 K, 0 BB (114 pitches, way too many this early in the year) BTW, Arizona's closer, Daniel Schlereth, is the son of former NFL OG and current ESPN NFL analyst Mark Schlereth.

Jim Callis from BA reports in the prospect blog that Brad Lincoln, the fourth overall pick from last year's draft, has "a forearm strain and irritation in his right elbow." Callis notes that this is often an early sign of ligament damage, which would of course mean TJ surgery for Lincoln. www.baseballamerica.com/b...ects/?p=58 Not good news for the Pirates, who have been hit hard by injuries in recent years to their top pitching prospects, of which you can read a little bit about in some of the replies in the blog. See, the Brewers aren't the only ones whose top pitching prospects have a knack for having their careers derailed by injuries. Tough luck, and while I won't shed a tear for the Pirates, it is a shame to see one of my favorite draft eligible prospects from a year ago face this latest setback.

Baseball America has an update on unsigned RHP Max Scherzer and his negotiations with the D-Backs, which apprently aren't going so well. www.baseballamerica.com/t...63367.html BA beat me to the punch, as my PG column this week was going to focus on how Scherzer is likely to be a wild card to this year's draft class. Fellow Boras client Luke Hochevar may have set a precedent in how Scherzer decides to proceed. It doesn't help that the D-Backs have a new scouting director (former Brewers crosschecker Tom Allison) leading the negotiations instead of former scouting director Mike Rizzo, who is now the assistant GM and VP of baseball operations for the Nationals. Max Scherzer http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/mscherzer06428309.jpg

Regarding McGeary, how high would he have to be drafted to forego his committment to Stanford? I'll put it this way: Stanford almost never loses their top commits. He will have to be selected in the first round, possibly the first half of the first round, possibly top 10. My trip to Cedar Rapids, Iowa was cut short due to my son having a fever and not feeling very well at all, but I was able to catch most of the top players that were in attendance at today's PG Pitcher/Catcher Indoor Showcase. Here are notes on some of of the more notable players in attendance (I will have more detailed write-ups in my Crack of the Bat columns in the next few weeks). Illinois is loaded for '07, and almost every single high-profile prep Illini was at this event (Brett Zawacki was scheduled to pitch tomorrow (Sunday), while Seth Blair reportedly had his wisdom teeth removed on Friday). All players are draft eligible this June unless otherwise noted. Tony Zych I just missed Zych, an '08 from IL, but he hit 91 on the gun and had some very good rips as a hitter. Jon Gilmore An Aflac All-American, Gilmore has the evident swagger that future big-leaguers carry. His size and stature reminded me of Chipper Jones, although a more recent and fair comparison may be of Scott Moore, a former first-round pick of the Tigers that is now in the Cubs organization. Very good bat speed and a tremendous athlete. Gilmore did seem to be pressing a little bit at the plate, showing a little impatience and displeasure with a few of his hacks, but he's a potential first-rounder. Jake Smolinski Built more strongly and stocky than the tall and rangy Gilmore, Smolinski showed that he knew exactly what pitches he wanted to swing at, and jumped all over the pitches he wanted whether it was the first or the eighth. He made very good hard contact, and looked like a very good, natural hitter. Eric Lavoie Florida '08. Great bat, horrible body. Everything he hit he hit very, very hard. I'd love to see this kid play some more, as he made the kind of contact that drew your attention just by the sound of it. I didn't stay long enough to see him catch. Cody Scarpetta Big, strong frame. Worked in the 88-92 range and hit 93. Showed a decent 74 mph curveball. Chris Wakefield Peppered the strike zone with 88-90 mph fastballs (hit 91 last weekend at Blazer's event at Carroll College). Also continued to show a very sharp 73-75 curveball. Not quite as sharp as he was last weekend, but he's an '08 from Green Bay that is going to draw quite a bit of interest between now and June 2008. Not the greatest of baseball bodies. Michael Kaczmarek Pitched at 87-88 comfortably. Very nice arm action, slow windup, doesn't overthrow, and everything was in the strike zone. Showed a nice 75 curveball and what looked liked a 79 mph slider. Looking at his profile, he is also a very good student. Leslie Williams The #2 rated '07 prospect from Canada (to Phillipe Aumont, a potential first-rounder). Great athlete, high waist, great proportions. Threw 88-91 with a sharp 74 mph curve. Throws from a 3/4 arm slot, although that slot seems to raise slightly when he throws his curve. He'll need to correct that so he doesn't tip his pitches as much. Also looked good in the batting cage. Justin Grimm Watch out for this kid, as I found out from my PG boss that he just got cleared to pitch a week ago after missing most of his junior year due to injury. He pitched comfortably at 88-91, hitting 92, with a low to no effort delivery. High, angular leg kick. 75 mph curve, 84 mph change. A huge sleeper to watch that made the trek from Virginia for this event. Kyle Ayers Big, strong kid with very good athletic proportions. Almost every fastball he threw was 88 mph, and reports have him in the low-90s at other events. 75 mph sweeping breaking ball. Casey Crosby Blazer tipped me on Crosby after the Jupiter tourney last fall. Nice-sized, athletic lefty that worked 88-91, hitting 93. Showed a nice repertoire with a 67-69 slow curve, a 80-82 slider and a changeup in the 71-74 range. A scout with the Mariners asked me if I had seen Crosby before, somewhat surprised by the radar gun readings. The Ms have taken a few midwesterners early in recent years (Jeff Clement, 1st round '05, Tony Butler, 4th round '06) if that means anything. Nick Rice Tall, lanky Kenosha lefty. Threw 85-87 after reports that he was in the 90-92 range a week or two ago. 85-87 seems to be more consistent with what he has thrown in the past. Slurvy looking 78 mph breaking ball.

Thanks Blazer. PG has returned their popular "Who's Hot?" list: www.pgcrosschecker.com/20...52007.aspx Just a few names to sort through this early in the season. Chris Turner, who was brought up in the draft resource thread is mentioned, as are a couple of pitchers I plan to see on Saturday, RHP Kyle Ayers from IL and LHP Nick Rice from Kenosha.