Two bits of news involving a pair of Western pitchers who were expected to be drafted highly in two weeks.

Legacy Sports Group, which is advising Fresno State righthander Tanner Scheppers, reports that Scheppers has had a more detailed examination of his troubled shoulder by Angels team doctor Dr. Lewis Yocum. While Dr. Yocum’s report hasn’t been completed, Legacy Greg Genske said Dr. Yocum assured him Scheppers did not have a stress fracture in his shoulder.

"Tanner had an MRI with a doctor in Fresno, but there was no bone scan, so there’s no way to know if there was a stress fracture—there has never been a stress fracture," Genske said. "There may be a bone bruise, but the MRI was clean. Dr. Yocum said there’s some wear and tear in the shoulder, and naturally we’re waiting to see how significant it is when he tells us the results of the examinations."

One part of the initial diagnosis remains consistent with Scheppers’ initial diagnosis of two weeks ago, when he was pronounced to be out for the season: He’s still done. Fresno State coaches said Monday that they don’t expect to have him back, and Genske said Scheppers wasn’t expected to start working his way back until late June at the earliest.

Another pitcher from the West who could have moved up draft charts with Scheppers’ situation was CC of Southern Nevada righthander Taylor Cole. Blessed with athleticism and a quick arm, Cole has hit 96 mph and at times sits at 92-94 mph with a solid-average breaking ball. Cole talked his way out of the first five rounds last year with outsized signing bonus demands, falling to the 26th round. Cole bounced back with a strong year at CCSN, going 10-3, 1.37 in the wood-bat Scenic West Athletic Conference, and he had 87 strikeouts in 92 innings, holding his stuff throughout a long season.

Now scouts are confirming that Cole, a Mormon, has informed eams that he intends to take his two-year LDS church mission this summer/fall, rather than starting his professional career after the draft. Cole has electric stuff and upside, but he has cost himself some money in each of the last two drafts with late decisions that have not helped his baseball career. Cole could still be drafted, of course, and come back and play in two years. More likely, he’ll be a factor in the 2010 draft as a wild card, much as was the case last year with now Tigers prospect Cale Iorg, who was drafted and signed after taking two years off from baseball for his mission.