Midterm Progress Report

Thursday, March 31 2005 @ 06:00 AM EST

Contributed by: Pistol

The college baseball season is a couple months old, so as many students prepare to take midterm exams we'll take a look at how the top baseball prospects are grading out on the field so far.

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.

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