Round 12 & 14 Notes



Everyone here’s still entering rounds and putting the print magazine to bed, but now it’s time to pick back up with some blog thoughts. I’m on the even rounds, starting with Round 12.

• Nathan Karns, rhp, Nationals. Karns was a 10th-round pick out of high school and touched 94 mph at times at North Carolina State, then wound up transferring and just couldn’t put things together at Texas Tech. If he returns for his senior season, he could be part of a power rotation with potential 2010 first-rounder Chad Bettis.

• Jeffrey Inman, rhp, Pirates. Another former Cape League prospect, Inman had a late-season shoulder injury and a 2-6, 6.11 record this year that caused teams to have no idea what the real Inman is. He’s had success in the past, helping pitch the Cardinal to Omaha last season while going 7-2, 4.27. On balance, though, Inman has been more about potential than performance since his days as a high-rated prep pitcher in Bakersfield. Maybe this is a spot where the Pirates spend some of the money they saved by drafting Tony Sanchez at No. 4 overall.

• Catcher is an area of concern in the Red Sox farm system, and the first one they took this draft is 12th-rounder Michael Thomas out of Southern. Thomas hit .365 in limited playing time this season, playing just 30 games.

On to Round 14, where three names stand out:

• Jacob Stewar, of, Phillies. The Phillies love athleticism and don’t shy away from football guys. So Stewart, the Colorado prep star and Stanford signee, makes all kinds of sense for Philadelphia. The top-rated player in Colorado, Stewart has been called the best prep athlete in state history. He was a stud football wide receiver and has told scouts that baseball is his first love. He’s got all the tools, with the bat the most raw among them. That tends to happen in cold-weather states where players get fewer offensive reps. He’ll have to get a big bonus to sway him away from Stanford.

• Graham Stoneburner, rhp, Yankees. Looks like scouts weren’t so high on the bad-shoulder South Carolina righthanders as we thought. First South Carolina ace Sam Dyson fell to the 10th round, then Stoneburner, out of Clemson, wound up in the 14th. Stoneburner missed a year with a labrum tear but pitched healthy all season this spring. He also struck out 71 and gave up just two homers in 64 innings while working both as a starter and reliever. He flashed mid-90s velocity; the health and signability (he’s a draft-eligible sophomore) have to be the reasons he fell.

• B.J. Salsbury, rhp, Giants. The sixth pick in the round was drafted in 2007 out of high school, and was pitcher of the year in the California JC ranks this spring at Mt. San Jacinto, going 13-0, 1.93 this spring. He’s a low-90s fastball guy at his best and was worked hard, throwing nine complete games.

 



Comments

Comments will be monitored prior to being added to the site. Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be rejected. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed.

We have chosen to open up commenting to everyone, so comment away! We want to hear from each and every one of you! Leave a comment.

There are currently no comments. Be the first.

What Are Your Thoughts?

• Line and paragraph breaks are automatic
• Your e-mail address will never be displayed
HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>









About This Blog

  • The Draft Blog is a source of frequent updates about the draft and the top prospects eligible for the draft. If you have questions or comments you can e-mail them to draftblog@baseballamerica.com.

Categories

Archives

Syndicate This Blog

Blogs

BaseballAmerica.com

Search This Blog