While most of the college guys at the top of the draft were playing for the Team USA collegiate national team last summer (including Cole, Gray, Barnes, Rendon [until he injured his ankle], Springer and Jackie Bradley Jr.), the teenagers were barnstroming a bit, too, for the 18U National Team.

Of most interest to Ms fans are three of the teen idols:

• 3b Marcus Littlewood, who was drafted in the 2nd round by the Ms in 2010 and has signed;
• SS Francisco Lindor, who is moving up draft boards toward the top; and
• CF Bubba Starling, who is already considerd top-5 and could rise all the way to top-2.

Those three appear to have started almost every game of the tour at those respecrtive positions, but Starling got in 4.1 innings of pitching as well.

The team went 19-2 against international and all-star competition, and it's probably fair to say that they were facing inferior pitching most of the time (the losses were to Cuba and Canada).  For example, Team USA struck out 106 times in 21 games, but their opponents struck out 223 times.  That being said, there were 5 of the US batters who walked more than they struck out.  Yes, Littlewood, Lindor and Starling were among the 5.

How did they do overall?

Littlewood 28-for-78, 8 dbl, 1 tpl, 1 HR, 17 BB, 12 K, .359/.469/.526

Lindor, 26-for-78, 9 dbl, 2 HR, 11 BB, 8 K, .333/.442/.526

Starling, 21-for-62, 3 dbl, 3 HR, 16 BB, 12 K, .339/.474/.532

Starling, 4.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K

Of note:

Starling is a multi-sport star and not a year-around baseball guy, but he held his own plenty good; that was the key take-away from the experts who started pushing Starling up the draft boards.

Starling is raw, but not whiff-tastic -- at least at this level; his eye ratio was similar to Littlewood's, though with fewer ABs.

The other guys are not as imposing physically, but kept up with Bubba on SLG (though, admittedly, they racked up doubles).  The biggest slugger on the team was C Blake Swihart, who is considerd to be a lower-first-round pick.

Starling's arm can blow it by other teenagers without much pitching technique.

Obviously, the question is whether Starling or Lindor is worth passing on the college talent, which (assuming Rendon to Pittsburgh) will be primarily pitching.

Update:

1. Anthony Rendon, a 3b recovering from a broken ankle, has been used as DH or at 1b, causing much consternation.  Well, some people didn't think he'd be on the field at all, or would struggle with the bat, so easing him in on defense doesn't strike me as a problem.  But, as GMoney says, if Pittsburgh thinks its a problem, that's fine.  His bat is good enough for DH/1b anyway, but I expect he'll play 3b once he's fully recovered.

2. Gerrit Cole, as covered by others, was compared to Strasburg and is being pushed up to #1 some places.  Yes, that's a reach.  But, as I noted last week, he seems to be showing a level of maturity he lacked in his freshman and sophomore years.  Maybe the new bats, but his K/9 is actually a hair lower (11.02 frosh, 11.20 soph, 10.98 now); it's the BB/9 that's dramatically different (4.02 frosh, 3.80 soph, 1.48 now).  So far, no reason to be disappointed with either Rendon or Cole, and the Ms are guaranteed a shot at one of them.

3. Matt Purke only went 3.2 IP vs. Houston Baptist and took the first loss of his college career.  But 3 unearned runs contributed.  Not going to downgrade him based on one outing, but as Cole keeps going with strong showings every time out, the UCLA righty is creating a fair amount of daylight between 2 and 3.

4. Sonny Gray had another solid outing and could move ahead of Purke if there are more questions about the TCU lefty.

5. Bubba Starling does not play until Mar. 28, and who knows how much we can learn from Kansas high school action.  But the YouTube videos still look good, and maybe that's enough.

On the bubble: George Stringer has picked up the pace after an awful first few weeks, and could play his way back into the top-5; teammate Matt Barnes had a complete-game shutout, but only struck out 2; Lindor drew 20 scouts to a recent game, but his team got mercy-ruled 14-2, so they didn't get to see that much.