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He says the Padre's Quantrill who hasn't pitched for three years with TJ surgery is a good pick. I'm going ot keep tabs on that guy.
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We'll see here whether the denizens want a comments "thread" or whether they want to use the Shout Box for this 'un. Probably depends on whether G-Money or Spec have extensive thoughts on the M's pick? :- )
Here's the MLB Draft Tracker.
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Mojo said,
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Aaand, the Orcs take another 12 year old pitcher nobody has heard of with their high draft pick. AJ Puk (rhymes with Muck) LHP from Florida. The Orcs like 'em young because the 12 year old immune system does not reject Orc DNA as readily. After six months of transmutation in the dungeon, we can be sure that Puk will be hungry for man flesh.
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Too bad Puk rhymes with Muck. This being Orkland.
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UPDATE - IT'S KYLE LEWIS
MLB.com sez
Lewis may have boosted his stock more in the past year than any college prospect for the 2016 Draft. Undrafted out of a Georgia high school in 2013, he played sparingly as a freshman before nearly winning the Southern Conference Triple Crown and then starring in the Cape Cod League in 2015. He repeated as SoCon player of the year in 2016 while contending for the NCAA Division I lead in batting and home runs, making it a virtual lock that he'll become the first first-rounder ever from Mercer.
With his leverage and bat speed, Lewis has easy pop to all fields. His swing is busier than most scouts would like, but his approach is generally sound and he tied for the D-I lead with 66 walks entering NCAA tournament play. Lewis is a fringy runner out of the batter's box, but he has solid speed once he gets going. Some evaluators think he has a chance to stay in center field, but most believe he's destined for right field, where he could develop into a serious home run threat with average or better tools across the board.
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Here is MLB.com's video on him, which puts Lewis into the Jayson Heyward template.
Cheers,
Dr D
Comments
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Yoo-Hoo Rick will recall him as one of the old reliables in 5x5 roto using the LIMA plan ...
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Wow - DiPoto must be living a charmed life. He could not have envisioned Lewis dropping to #11.
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Hm. This is Halos Heaven's #3 ranking for Lewis. It also has Oakland's Puk (rhymes with nuke) going 1-1.
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“What a steal for the Mariners,” said MLB draft analyst Jim Callis. “If I owned the No. 1 pick in this draft, I would have taken Lewis there. I think it’s the best combination of ceiling and floor in this draft. Even if he doesn’t stay in center field, that power profiles so well on the corner. I think the concerns about quality of competition he faced at Mercer are overblown, because what more could this guy do? He stood out in the Cape Cod League — a showcase for top college prospects — and he dominated the Southern Conference the last two years. I’m all in.”
They basically just drafted a college-seasoned Adam Jones. Unreal.
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I didn't think he'd fall to 11, and we could have picked up a game-changer on offense. If he can actually play CF long-term, that would be even more outstanding. All the rest is in the shouts, but that's a pretty thunderous opening salvo by the Ms draft team. Lewis is a bit raw but as quality a hitting prospect as there is in this draft. A guy who wants to be a hitter and also projects as a thumper is a nice get. If he can avoid going off the rails like previous top M's prospect hitters, that would be greatly appreciated.
I think we have enough carnage on the road with Ackley, Peterson, Jackson, Wilson, Zunino and Morgan snafus. I'd like this one to actually live up to the promise, if you don't mind.
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Loving the fact that Lewis is a scholastics guy, that his ambition is dialed towards spray line drives, etc. Maybe those personality tests are underrated.
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I could not see Lewis getting past the Braves, or at most the Brewers. Along with Corey Ray, he was my most fervent wish. To quote an old favorite broadcaster, my oh my!
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He evidently fell due to his bonus demands but DiPoto must not care. Might get a 'value' pick at #50 but totally worth it.
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Joe Rizzo, "teenage dirtbag". Sounds like another great pick: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/highschools/teenage-dirtbag-joe-ri...
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He's not built like a lot of HS players.
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Sometimes you want your teenage dirtbag hitters built like they're farm kids who want to wrestle steers. The fact that he likes spending hours a day in the batting cage should make him a good fit with Edgar's teaching too. IMO that's one of the most important gifts we can give those kids: a hall-of-fame-level hitter to guide them through the rapids. But at least we have two talented hitters to buoy the system.
I like Lewis better than any first-round hitter since Ackley (since I thought Ackley was going to be Mark Grace - my bad). I like Rizzo as well, but then I don't mind "unathletic" third basemen who can really hit. If he turns into Nick Swisher as an OF/1B there are worse things. If he stays at third, even better. Just turn them into hitters first and THEN worry about whether Lewis can stay in center or Rizzo at third. We haven't had too many successful hitters come up through the system in the last two decades at any position.
If they can hit, we'll find a way to play em. That's all I ask.
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Not sure how far Kirby would have gotten in the game if he'd been limited to 1B (in view of Kyle Seager). But he sure was fun to watch hit, wasn't he...
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Baseball America ranked Lewis No. 4 and Rizzo No. 40, and M's nabbed them at No. 11 and No. 50. FWIW.
It's not Joe Rizzo's fault, but we did draft a high school 3B named Joe in the 2nd round not long ago (Joe DeCarlo) so I'll probably always associate those two. DeCarlo is just now putting up an OPS over .800 (.818) for the first time ever, at age 22 in High-A Bakersfield. So not really on "prospect" track. But like I said, that's got nothing to do with Rizzo other than their similar name, position and draft spot.
Here's a super slo-mo analysis of Lewis' swing with a positive conclusion:
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Agree with the analyst's comments after Lewis gets the bat back to the yellow spline.
Thing is, though, Montero's hitch to point the end of the bat --- > at the 1B dugout doesn't accomplish anything that couldn't be accomplished keeping the end of the bat pointed at the pitcher. Montero's hitch is sort of the definition of a true counterproductive hitch that wastes time and confuses the energy flow, IMHO.
That said, why wouldn't Lewis be able to adjust this, if the Montero comparison be valid?
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Super embed and comments. Wish it had been front page.
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Report from a student journalist at his school. Interesting that he was focused on basketball until doing surprisingly well in baseball his senior year in HS. Exact same story as Taijuan Walker. Certainly hard to dislike the guy based on the interview.
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With a couple of slo-mo swings at the end.
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Lots of clean power there - max loadup, but delivered in a short path to the zone.
Most youngsters wind up having to tap the front foot more gently to deal with offspeed, but that's the easiest adjustment in the world.
Didn't know that DiPoto, himself a superfit athlete, was so flexibly minded about non baseball bodies. Reminds of Zduriencik, who could naturally sympathize with guys who carry extra weight.