colbyjack

Jimmy Nelson's college season is over as Alabama got knocked out of the Super Regionals by Clemson. He tossed 110 innings this year, so he will be brought along slowly (similar to Arnett last year) when he does sign. I wouldn't be surprised if the Brewers had him lay off his slider the rest of this summer like they also did with Arnett last year. They may even take their time signing him because of that.

Greg Holle pitched for TCU on Saturday against Texas in mop-up duty, although don't feel bad for the Horned Frogs, as they're going to Omaha for the first time ever. Holle's a big fella, but doesn't throw as hard as you think he might for being 6-foot-8 or however tall he is and 230-250 pounds. He was throwing mostly soft stuff, between a low-80s change and a mid-70s curve while mixing in an upper-80s fastball that had a little dip to it. While he pitched 4 innings, it's not exactly what you would expect from a pitcher his size who is projected to pitch short relief. He could be a project as a starter.

Nelson definitely looked as though the heat was getting to him, as he wasn't as strong late as he had been in the other games I had seen him this year. His stuff wasn't the problem, as he seemed to be pumping his 4-seamer up there pretty well and was throwing a dynamite slider, but his command really was all over the place. Fortunately for him he was effectively wild at times, but I would have liked to have seen more of his 2-seamer. He threw a couple that actually looked and acted a little like a changeup, but with true downward dive. We of course know he's a big fella. While he's well proportioned there is a higher risk for him adding bad weight over the next 5-10 years.

The Brewers had Miller, Belfiore and Bashore at their pre-draft last year, so they were in the mix for the Brewers picks, but probably not 26.

Odorizzi was not very good tonight. Might have been the hour long delay but he couldn't locate at all. I'm curious how many people watched the game last night and if they saw the same thing I did. I wouldn't say he couldn't locate at all, but he certainly couldn't throw anything other than his fastball. When he tried to throw a curve it looked as though he had no grip on the ball, as if he learned the pitch the day before. He threw maybe 2-3 changeups, 2 of which actually looked pretty decent. In the first couple of innings he actually spotted his fastball quite well, particularly against left-handed hitters. I always appreciate a right-handed pitcher that has the natural sense of placing his fastball on the inside corner to such a hitter, instead of leaving it hanging out over the plate. He overthrew at times, and uncorked a few pitches, but that isn't uncommon for any player at that level. He also let far too many leadoff hitters on, although did a good job pitching around a few jams in the early innings. While he appears to have decent FB velo, he definitely needs his secondary pitches (which I'm assuming have been prior to this start given how effective he's been) to succeed. He didn't look comfortable on the mound, and as homer noted, the hour delay probably didn't help. I remember seeing Odorizzi pitch in high school and was impressed with his slider. For those that have seen him previously this spring, has he been throwing more curveballs?

If you want to watch Jimmy Nelson pitch this weekend, tune into ESPN coverage of the Super Regionals. Nelson will start the first game of the series tomorrow at Clemson at 5pm.

At one point this spring I was told via the PG chain that a few teams considered Gibson to be the best prep LHP in the nation. I think it's safe to say that signing him away from Florida would be a HUGE signing, and unlikely to happen. Given the number of college players the Brewers have taken, it's not like they have a lot of unsignable prospects, so in other words, crazier things have happened...

I offered some thoughts on a start I saw of Nelson's here: http://www.5tooltalk.com/collegenotes5-16-10.html As noted in the quoted text, he was one of my preseason sleepers entering the year, and responded well this season, especially down the stretch. He threw a complete game against Auburn in the SEC tournament, allowing only one run.

Yordy Cabrera, Austin Wates, Rob Segedin, Sammy Solis, Austin Wilson and Jesse Hahn are a few of the other talented players that are still available. It's easy to determine why Allie wasn't drafted, but similar reasons to Austin Wilson, as it appears their college commitments are pretty strong. That's pretty common for both schools (North Carolina and Stanford). I'm more surprised by Workman still being available. I'm not sure if something happened to his arm over the weekend, as I haven't heard a peep about that. He was solid all spring, and has pretty good stuff, including one of the better curveballs among draft-eligible pitchers.

Well, people should be pleased that it wasn't Biddle. Covey entered the year as a potential top 5-10 overall pick. Great overall stuff combined with an advanced sense of pitching. This was my write-up on Covey after last summer's Aflac All-American Classic: Funny how we heard the Brewers connected to 6-8, or more, players leading up the draft, yet not a single mention of Covey. The Brewers remain one of the quietest, most secretive teams out there when it comes to their draft interests.

Castellanos doesn't have enough power? That's by far his best tool.

Just a reminder, there are now threads dedicated to the discussion as it happens on the three days of the draft. Please use each thread accordingly. This thread is for the general draft discussion, to talk about the picks as they happen, and not necessarily tied to the Brewers. There are individual threads to discuss the Brewers picks, rounds 1-5, 6-20 and 21-50, as well as the official pick and signing thread which is locked, but will be updated by myself or other moderators as information is compiled. Please do not start individual threads on the individual players. Those threads will be locked/deleted. Thanks, and happy draft day!

Goodrum reportedly worked out at SS at the pre-draft, so the Brewers might think he can stick there. Every report I have seen and heard about him indicates that moving to CF isn't a matter of if, but when.

I absolutely agree with you X, Biddle will not get more than slot value, and I also agree that the Brewers are the first team that would consider taking Biddle at #14 (or Luke Jackson for that matter). As for taking a player that proved everyone else wrong, how about Prince Fielder? The Brewers and Tigers were the only teams that were considering taking him as early as the Brewers did in '02. While not as big of a reach, there weren't any teams in the top 10-12 connected with Ryan Braun in '05. My problem with Biddle, and almost any prep arm, or any raw college arm for that matter, is the fact that the Brewers just haven't had much luck developing pitching. Not just recently, but in the entire existence of the franchise. They should stick with what they're good at, and learn from past mistakes. And by mistakes I'm not just talking about guys like Gold, Neugie, Jones and potentially Rogers and Jeffress, but also guys like Frederickson, and to a lesser extent, Eric Mega Thomas. Back to Biddle, one thing I have often thought about is where good college players come from. You always hear about how some players have strong college commitments, but three years later when certain players blossom and become the next draft-eligible stud (such as Drew Pomeranz, Zack Cox, Brett Eibner, etc.), people wonder why they weren't drafted higher and/or had already begun their professional career. So, what if the Brewers had drafted Drew Pomeranz three years ago with their first-round pick? I realize they picked in the top-10 that year, but I'm just saying it more in theory. At the time, Pomeranz was a prospect on the rise, although he wasn't considered a first-round pick. Had the Brewers (or any other team) taken Pomeranz then, even if it would have taken a first-round pick to get him because everyone knew he had a strong commitment to Ole Miss, and he would have progressed as he has in college, that team would look brilliant now. And looking at some of the other names at the pre-draft, if they're able to land a handful of them, it's going to take a good chunk of change to get them in the fold. We've seen it in past years, the Brewers don't usually go above slot with their first pick, but collectively they're not going to be cheap. TheCrew07, Biddle has already touched 96 on a few occasions, with 94 being his more customary high-mark from game-to-game. I just saw his report on MLB.com where Mayo said he tops out at 92 and that just isn't accurate.

And for the record, Biddle isn't a signability pick. He's actually considered a strong recruit to Oregon, and the Brewers aren't the only team looking at him in the first round.

One last mock at 5TT: http://www.5tooltalk.com/mockdraft.html I'll probably have another one tomorrow at Perfect Game, probably slightly modified depending on what I hear between now and then.

Again, thanks to Minigoon, here's a few of the more notable players that were at the pre-draft on Saturday: Jesse Biddle Kevin Moran (Boston College RHP that throws hard, possible short reliever) Kyle Waldrop (toolsy Florida prep OF/LHP with sweet swing, rising up draft boards) DJ Johnson (GA prep IF/RHP, shorter, Jemile Weeks-esque) Cory Vaughn (SDSU OF, Greg's son) Luke Jackson (mentioned above, Florida prep RHP, has Turnbow hair, arm) Niko Goodrum (tall, lanky SS/CF, hit a HR at MP) Kendrick Perkins (I think Perkins was there -- big, hulking power prospect, also a talented RB recruit) Chris Bisson (Kentucky 2B, shorter but good D', speed, Fernando Vina type) Zach Alvord (Powerful 2B/3B in the mold of Aaron Hill)

Minigoon informed me a couple of hours ago (and I don't mean to steal his thunder) that Biddle was in Milwaukee today for their pre-draft workout. In my last mock draft, unless I hear otherwise at the last minute, I'm going with Nick Castellanos for today. I know I said I was going to make my pick a college pitcher, which are still in play (along with Biddle, and we all know the Brewers like taking players that attend their pre-drafts), but I'm still hearing Castellanos' name in connection with the Brewers. I haven't heard Allie or any other prep pitcher not named Biddle. That doesn't mean it won't happen...

Where did you read that McGuire's curve and slider aren't that good? He has four solid pitches, it's just that he tops out around 94 and pitches mostly in the 89-92 range. That limits his upside to a possible #2, but more likely a 3.

I'm guessing the pre-draft is tomorrow at Miller Park. They usually do it the Saturday before the draft.

I skimmed the story before, but Rawnsley had some interesting insight on this year's draft as the lead-in to his projection:

It's taken a while to hit TV, but the inaugural Bo Jackson 5 Tool Championship was held last October as part of the Jupiter tournament. The championship idea was to showcase some of the following year's draft (and if you click on the link below, one very talented Latin American player) impressive tools. I had the pleasure of working with Bo Jackson's team on the logo, and the event was organized by Perfect Game. Check your TV listings (I need to do so myself) to see if you can get a chance to check out some of the players prior to the draft on Monday. http://www.perfectgame.or...s/View.aspx?article=4814

Sorry man, my bad on Harvey. I agree that the talent at 14 could really favor the prep pitchers, but I think this team has been snake-bitten enough, not to mention the perceived need to move whoever they pick along a little more quickly. I think Workman's potential is a little better than Wimmers, as Wimmers in my mind is more of a back-end rotation starter. I haven't seen or heard the Brewers connected with him though, as I get the feeling they're looking for one of the bigger, live-armed college guys.

David Rawnsley's 2nd mock is up. Justin O'Conner is his pick, with a mention of Nick Castellanos: http://www.perfectgame.or...s/View.aspx?Article=4812 Guys like Brandon Workman, Asher Wojciechowski, Barret Loux, Matt Harvey and even Jesse Hahn's upside is plenty greater than a bottom of a rotation starter. I believe the one guy you mentioned that you liked brewerguy71, Matt Harvey, scares the heck out of me when it comes to possible future arm injury.

I'll be changing my pick to one of the big, college arms that have been mentioned in conjunction with the Brewers. Most of the info I have gathered the past 2-3 days has them going this route.