Here are the weekend stats for the nation's top college players, listed alphabetically by school, as collected by collegesplits.com. An asterisk denotes a player is a draft-eligible underclassman. You can follow College Splits on Twitter too, @collegesplits

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LOS ANGELES—On a cool evening back in early March, righthander Dylan Covey of Maranatha High in Pasadena, Calif. made his first start of the 2010 season. Covey looked every bit a first round draft choice, easily firing a 93-94 mph fastball that peaked at 96.  He added a fierce 81-82 slider and a 77 curve in recording 12 of 15 outs via strikeout.

That version of Covey was nowhere to be found on Friday afternoon, during a CIF Southern Section Division 5 playoff game at Campbell Hall High of North Hollywood, Calif.

Covey was dreadful. The senior was rocked for eight runs in five innings in a game won by Campbell Hall 9-3.  Covey’s fastball sat at 91-92 and did not peak above that.  His four-seamer was up in the zone, straight and hittable all day.  [...] Continue Reading »

Baseball America summer intern Bubba Brown is making his way to Durham from Utah and stopped off in Grand Junction, Colo., for the opening night of the NJCAA World Series. Here's a quick report on how the top prospects fared.

By Bubba Brown

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.—The excitement that College of Southern Nevada catcher BryceHarper has brought with him wherever he has played this year was evident Saturday night, as 10, 339 fans packed the ballpark to see the presumptive first pick in the upcoming draft play in what could be the last week of his amateur career.

Harper grounded out sharply in his first at-bat, fouled off several pitches to work a walk in his second plate appearance and struck out swinging in his third trip to the plate. In his fourth plate appearance he finally got on the board with an infield hit before singling on a ground ball into right field in his final at-bat. After his eighth-inning base hit, Harper stole second base and came around to score what ended up being the run that cinched Southern Nevada’s run-rule victory.

Defensively, he showed off his terrific arm, easily throwing out a runner attempting to steal second, as well as making a nice tag on a runner at the plate. Harper’s performance was far from his heroics in the qualifiers where he went 15-for-22 with six homers and 21 RBI, but he contributed to a solid team win. [...] Continue Reading »

SEBRING, Fla. — The rain stayed away long enough for three games to get squeezed in today, the final day of this year's Florida Athletic Coaches Association Baseball Classic. The East team beat the West team in the second game, 5-1, so the West team played the South team right after that for the consolation game and won, 3-2.

The coaches in Sebring saved the best for last. Scouts were eagerly anticipating righthander Karsten Whitson taking the mound for the North team and he didn't disappoint. In his two innings of work, Whitson sat 93-94 mph with his fastball and even touched 95 once and 96 once. He threw two 82 mph changeups and a nasty slider at 82-83.

"I was just trying to get ahead and my stuff felt good," Whitson said after his two innings of work. "I was opening a little early on my fastball, but I felt like I made the correction. I threw two changeups that were good and my slider felt really good, so I was confident."
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SEBRING, Fla. — Tonight's post won't be long because there wasn't a lot of action today. The North and South teams faced off this afternoon, with each team taking another round of on-field batting practice before the game.

The focus of today, though, was the pitching. About 75 scouts packed the bleachers behind home plate to see today's pitchers light up the radar gun and the two starting pitchers didn't disappoint. Here is a rundown on all the pitchers from today's action. . .
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Jim Callis has released a new mock draft projecting how the first round will shape up. Subscribers can get analysis, additional names that are linked to each team and further insight, but for non-subscribers, here is the list of his projected picks. We welcome your comments as well.

1. Nationals: Bryce Harper.

2. Pirates: Manny Machado.

3. Orioles: Jameson Taillon. [...] Continue Reading »

SEBRING, Fla.—The 18th annual Florida Athletic Coaches Association Baseball Classic kicked off today as nearly 80 players (and about that many scouts) reported to Firemen's Field in Sebring, Fla. for on-field batting practice, infield and outfield and the 60-yard dash. The event is an all-star game for high school seniors in Florida and this year's players follow in the footsteps of guys like Alex Rodriguez, Chipper Jones, Gary Sheffield, Prince Fielder, Zack Greinke and many more.

The players are split into four teams—North, South, East and West—grouped mostly by region, although some players are shuffled around a little bit.

Here are some of the standout players on this year's rosters (subscribers can read full scouting reports on all of these players more in our Florida draft preview):
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Putting together our Top 200 prospects list for the draft is a sometimes-fun, often excruciating process. It used to be a one-man show (Allan Simpson, inventor of draft coverage, was still doing it all as recently as 1999), then it was a two-man show (Jim Callis or Dave Rawnsley would assist Allan). As the draft has grown, our coverage has grown, and now that Top 200 meeting is a big production, as seven of us wrote up players for the Top 200.

With that many players involved and that many cooks trying to reach a Top 200 consensus, the list will be one giant compromise. Every year we miss a late riser due to timing, or we just miss on a player because we forget to ask about him or don't get good enough information early on in our reporting process. Nolan Reimold always sticks out in my mind as a player who just missed our 2005 Top 200, and he heated up right after the went to press. We had him as a third-to-fifth rounder coming into the year, then started hearing he was falling, and then he tore up the Mid-American Conference right after we took him off the Top 200.

This year, doing Georgia, the state was go good that new names kept popping up, or names that I had early information on proved to be outdated a month later. So if Jake Skole or Jordan Akins go out in the first 100-150 picks, don't be surprised or think they were over-drafted just because they weren't on our Top 200. [...] Continue Reading »

Originally posted on the College Blog:

HOOVER, Ala.—Perhaps a trip to Regions Park was all Anthony Ranaudo and Louisiana State needed to recapture that old magic.

"For a while there, it seemed like old times, with Anthony out there hurling and us swinging the bats real well, and us playing in this ballpark, which we love so much," LSU coach Paul Mainieri said.

Ranaudo, LSU's beleagured ace, pitched into the eighth inning before running out of gas, helping lead the eighth-seeded Tigers to a 10-6 upset of top-seeded Florida in the Southeastern Conference tournament.

In the first inning, as Ranaudo overpowered the first three Florida hitters with a 92-94 mph fastball and a devastating power curveball at 80-83 that he located to both corners and to the back feet of the three lefties he faced in the frame, it was difficult to imagine how the junior righthander could have possibly carried an 8.49 ERA into the game. Grunts of approval could be heard from some of the scouting horde on hand to get a look at one of the draft's greatest X-factors. Ranaudo seemingly announced in that first inning that Anthony Ranaudo, College World Series hero and top pitching prospect in the nation heading into this spring, was back. [...] Continue Reading »

As the draft closes in, Baseball America is going where the scouts are.

National Writer Aaron Fitt is at the Southeastern Conference tournament in Hoover, Ala., all week. Just on the first day of the event, he saw Jimmy Nelson of Alabama throw his third straight complete game, followed by a heavily-scouted Drew Pomeranz start for Ole Miss. Check in on Aaron all week on the College Blog and his Twitter feed, @aaronfitt.

And for the weekend, draft writer Conor Glassey will head to Sebring, Fla., for the Florida coaches association's four-team, four-game all-star event. Florida's high schools could produce 15 to 20 single-digit draft picks, so follow Conor here on the draft blog and on his Twitter feed, @conorglassey.

Major League Baseball has announced each team's representatives for the 2010 draft. The group included four Hall of Famers, several probable Hall of Famers, a former first-overall pick, a first-round draft pick from last year, a World Series manager, legendary scouts and more. The complete list is below.

Remember, the 2010 draft takes place June 7-9. For the second-consecutive year, the first day will be a prime time event with MLB Network again hosting the first day of the draft, beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
Prior to the start of the Draft on June 7, MLB Network will air a Draft preview show, also simulcast on MLB.com, with Greg Amsinger,  Harold Reynolds, John Hart, Peter Gammons, Jonathan Mayo and Baseball America executive editor Jim Callis at 6:00 p.m. ET.
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Here are the weekend stats for the nation's top college players, listed alphabetically by school, as collected by collegesplits.com. An asterisk denotes a player is a draft-eligible underclassman. You can follow College Splits on Twitter too, @collegesplits [...] Continue Reading »

Bryce Harper just keeps growing his legend. With his Southern Nevada team facing elimination in its region 18 junior-college regional, Harper hit four home runs during a 6-for-6, 10 RBIs game and led the Coyotes to the NJCAA World Series.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal has full details here, including winds gusting up to 45 mph out to center field. But Harper's the only one on either team hitting four homers, a double and a triple, the day after he hit for the cycle. Harper, the No. 1 prospect in the 2010 draft, entered regional play hitting .415/.504/.891 with 23 home runs, but those numbers (which haven't been updated at CSN's website) will look a bit more ridiculous after this weekend. More importantly, Harper and his team will keep playing.

"From the first day, all of us said we're going to Grand Junction," he told the Review-Journal. "That's our dream, and that's what we're going to do."

Harper actually came to the plate for his final at-bat needing a single to hit for the cycle for a second consecutive day. He hit a two-run home run instead.

"Some people said, 'He needs a single for cycle.' I said, 'I don't care. I want him to hit another home run,' " CSN coach Tim Chambers told the Review-Journal.
 

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LOS ANGELES—Most visitors to Malibu come to visit the beach or to tour stars' homes (Barbara Streisand lives nearby). Last weekend, dozens of scouts came to the Pepperdine versus San Diego series to observe a rare double matchup of starting pitchers who are strong candidates to be early round selections in the upcoming draft.

Friday’s game pitted Pepperdine lefthander Matt Bywater against USD righthander Kyle Blair. Goose eggs were posted by both pitchers in every single inning with the sole exception of the bottom of the fifth and Pepperdine won, 5-0.

In that frame, the Waves reached Blair for five runs, all earned. Overall, Blair tossed seven innings, allowing six hits, no walks and eight strikeouts.
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LOS ANGELES — MLB Network will televise the first and first supplemental rounds of the draft on Monday, June 7. Once the cameras have been switched off and the pundits depart, the final stages of the draft will take place on June 8 and 9.

In Southern California, playoffs are continuing for both Division-II and junior college programs. Over the past two weeks, Baseball America bird dog scout Dave Perkin has hit the road to get a peek at several talented but relatively unknown players who, if selected, will probably be chosen in the non glamour rounds: 7 through 50. Here are some reports on small-school players making some noise. Make sure to check out Baseball America's Draft Tracker on May 26 for a look at some under-the-radar high school and Division-I prospects from Southern California this year.

Josh Thompson, OF, El Camino JC
A lefthanded-hitting center fielder, Thompson has tremendous speed and is a wonderful defensive outfielder, tracking down drives from gap to gap. Thompson has swiped 28 bases this year, and his bat has shown marked signs of improvement. A late-round draft prospect, Thompson may not be ready for pro ball just yet, but his skills fit comfortably at the D-II, D-III, NAIA—and possibly D-I—levels.
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Texas Tech righthander Chad Bettis, projected to go in the first two rounds of the 2010 draft, will serve a four-game suspension for his actions last weekend in a game against Baylor. Bettis drilled Baylor's Gregg Glime with his first pitch after giving up a home run and immediately was ejected in Sunday's 12-5 loss to the Bears, and his suspension was automatic under NCAA rules. The Big 12 Conference upheld Bettis' suspension. [...] Continue Reading »

Tony Wolters' high school season is still in limbo. The shortstop from Rancho Buena Vista High in Vista, Calif., has sat out three games while the California Interscholastic Federation investigates a workout he participated in with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Until this year there was a distinction between a "tryout" and "workout" in the CIF rules. But the rule changed and any kind of workout is now illegal while a player's team is still in season.

Baseball America correspondent John Maffei has been following the development of the situation and posted an update last night.

Wolters' team has one more game against rival Poway (Calif.) High before the playoffs begin this weekend.

Here are the weekend stats for the nation's top college players, listed alphabetically by school, as collected by collegesplits.com. An asterisk denotes a player is a draft-eligible underclassman. You can follow College Splits on Twitter too, @collegesplits [...] Continue Reading »

Friday, Baseball America reported that San Diego area shortstop Tony Wolters had been suspended by the California Interscholastic Federation for his participation in a scout-organized workout camp. That report appears to have been premature.

BA's long-time Padres correspondent, John Maffei of the North County Times, spoke to San Diego CIF section commissioner Dennis Ackerman late on Friday. Ackerman told Maffei that while Wolters has not been suspended yet, his eligibility is being reviewed, and a decision should come as early as Monday. In the meantime, Rancho Buena Vista High has decided not to play Wolters in Saturday's game against rival Vista (Calif.) High. Any games Wolters plays in, after the workout in question, could be forfeited if he is ruled ineligible, so Rancho Buena Vista has decided to hold Wolters out of play.

Ackerman told Maffei that the crux of the decision on whether or not Wolters ultimately will be suspended depends on the definition of a workout, versus a tryout. Scouts conduct workouts regularly prior to the draft, and generally are told to keep those workouts as individual as possible. Once players are competing against each other on the field, the CIF considers the line crossed between "workout" and "tryout," and players cannot attend tryouts for professional teams and retain their eligibility.

UPDATE: This story has been updated here.

San Diego area prep shortstop Tony Wolters, the MVP of last summer's Aflac All-America game who is projected to go in the first two rounds of the 2010 draft, has been ruled ineligible by the local section of the California Interscholastic Federation. His season for Rancho Buena Vista High in Vista, Calif., is apparently over due to his participation in an area workout organized by the Toronto Blue Jays.

Wolters' father Kelly, in an email to Baseball America, said his son was ruled ineligible by local CIF commissioner Dennis Ackerman after a report on MLB.com that Wolters attended the Blue Jays' workout. Tony Wolters was ruled to have participated in a tryout, which is against CIF regulations. CIF officials at the state office in Sacramento declined comment, and a phone message for Ackerman had yet to be returned. The Wolters disputed that the workout he went to met the standards of a "tryout" which would make him ineligible.

In our Draft Preview issue that went to press Thursday, Wolters ranked as the No. 6 shortstop available in the draft, third among prep players after Florida high schoolers Manny Machado and Yordy Cabrera. The 5-foot-10, 165-pound lefthanded hitter is a good hitter with a quick bat and excellent arm strength. He projects as a second baseman in pro ball, as his range is below-average. [...] Continue Reading »