Below are a baker's dozen of the top hitting and pitching prospects in college baseball who are eligible for this year's draft, listed alphabetically among pitchers and hitters.
Note - these are unadjusted stats. Adjustments for park and competition, however, have been made in the '04 Burley Rankings'. Stats are through March 27th.
Pitchers:
Luke Hochavar, RHP, Tennessee 6'5', 205 lbs, 9/15/83 04 Burley Ranking - 215
Year Inn ERA K/9 BB/9 HR/9 2005 51.0 1.76 10.6 1.9 0.2 2004 63.0 2.86 8.6 3.3 1.0 2003 77.2 4.64 8.5 2.8 1.0
Mike Pelfrey, RHP, Wichita St 6'7", 215 lbs, 1/14/84 04 Burley Ranking - 27
Year Inn ERA K/9 BB/9 HR/9 2005 52.0 1.73 9.2 2.3 0.3 2004 115.1 2.18 9.8 1.9 0.2 2003 104.2 2.49 8.5 1.3 0.8
Wade Townsend, RHP, Rice 6'4", 225 lbs, RHP, 2/22/83 04 Burley Ranking - 4
Year Inn ERA K/9 BB/9 HR/9 2004 120.1 1.80 11.1 3.4 0.4 2003 118.2 2.20 12.5 3.5 0.2 2002 51.1 2.28 9.0 3.9 0.7
Wade Townsend was drafted by the Orioles 8th overall last year, but ended up returning to Rice to finish his degree, but not playing for the Owls. Because he returned to school he was no longer eligible to sign with the O's and is returning to the draft this year.
Hitters:
Ryan Braun, 3b/SS, Miami FL 6'2", 205 lbs Bats: R - Throws: R 04 Burley Ranking - 132 Year ABs Ave Obp Slg 2005 105 0.457 0.519 0.848 2004 155 0.335 0.439 0.606 2003 242 0.364 0.446 0.665
Jeff Clement, C, USC 6'1", 205 lbs, 8/21/83 Bats: L - Throws: R 04 Burley Ranking - 339 Year ABs Ave Obp Slg 2005 73 0.342 0.505 0.658 2004 198 0.293 0.416 0.515 2003 208 0.298 0.402 0.649
Stephen Head, 1B, Mississippi 6'2", 220 lbs, 1/13/84 Hits: L – Throws: L 04 Burley Ranking - 60
Year ABs Ave Obp Slg 2005 95 0.347 0.431 0.705 2004 228 0.346 0.419 0.583 2003 208 0.337 0.385 0.490
Head also is a fairly accomplished pitcher, although most agree that his future as a hitter is higher than his future as a pitcher.
Alex Gordon, 3B, Nebraska 6'1", 205 lbs, 2/10/84 Hits: L – Throws: R 04 Burley Ranking - 5
Year ABs Ave Obp Slg 2005 84 0.429 0.579 0.905 2004 211 0.365 0.493 0.754 2003 216 0.319 0.426 0.495
No, that's not a misprint.
Tyler Greene, SS, Georgia Tech 6'2", 188 lbs, 8/17/83 Bats: R - Throws: R 04 Burley Ranking - 785
Year ABs Ave Obp Slg 2005 105 0.343 0.425 0.581 2004 256 0.273 0.371 0.434 2003 228 0.316 0.391 0.474
Jed Lowrie, 2B, Stanford 6'0", 180 lbs, 4/17/84 Hits: R – Throws: R 04 Burley Ranking - 1
Year ABs Ave Obp Slg 2005 84 0.310 0.392 0.655 2004 233 0.399 0.505 0.734 2003 212 0.292 0.349 0.349
John Mayberry, 1b/of, Stanford 6'5", 230 lbs, 12/21/83 Bats: R - Throws: R 04 Burley Ranking - 91
Year ABs Ave Obp Slg 2005 87 0.333 0.426 0.529 2004 216 0.333 0.419 0.625 2003 194 0.299 0.344 0.454
Jeremy Slayden, OF, Georgia Tech 6'0", 196 lbs Bats: L - Throws: R Year ABs Ave Obp Slg 2005 101 0.396 0.492 0.713 2004 35 0.286 0.366 0.400 2003 218 0.294 0.394 0.523 2002 256 0.348 0.442 0.625
Slayden started the first nine games of the 2004 season before undergoing surgery on his right shoulder.
Troy Tulowitzki, SS, Long Beach St 6'3", 200 lbs, 10/10/84 Bats: R - Throws: R 04 Burley Ranking - 530
Year ABs Ave Obp Slg 2005 27 0.407 0.484 0.519 2004 230 0.317 0.410 0.491 2003 196 0.270 0.307 0.408
Ryan Zimmerman, 3b, Virginia 6'3", 210 lbs Bats: R - Throws: R 04 Burley Ranking - 558
Year ABs Ave Obp Slg 2005 95 0.389 0.450 0.600 2004 249 0.361 0.395 0.454 2003 221 0.308 0.340 0.376
The Blue Jays pick 6th in the first round. Baseball America's initial mock draft had high schoolers Justin Upton and Cameron Maybin going 1-2, followed by Gordon, Hochavar, and Pelfrey. Based on their performances so far this year it doesn't look like their stock has dropped at all.
I've been on the Stephen Head bandwagon for awhile now, and it looks like he's continuing to improve. But other players are showing improvements as well, especially in the power department, namely Braun, Clement, Greene, Slayden and Zimmerman.
And in the 'you can never have too much pitching' camp Wade Townsend has to be a consideration as he was one of the top college pitchers last year in a deep draft for starters.
The wild cards in the draft are the Boras clients. Will Weaver and Drew re-enter the draft? Will teams pass on the top pitchers because they're associated with Boras?
With the pursestrings loosened in Toronto this won't be a factor as much as it might have been in the past, or at least that's what Ricciardi told Bauxites in an interview earlier this year:
Given the recent cash infusion from ownership, would the Jays be open to giving a player a major-league deal? Would they be willing to select a Scott Boras client? “We have to be open to that this year. It doesn’t mean we’re going to do it, but we have to be open-minded to everything. We’re not going to shy away from anything, but we’re not going to be held captive by it.”
So by the time the draft rolls around in a couple months the Jays should have a quality pool of players to choose from.
