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2021 MLB Draft Watch Report: College Pitching Class Starts Strong
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Gunnar Hoglund. We love saying Gunnar Hoglund, folks.
Has there ever been an all-Gunnar battery in the majors? Troutwine will have to improve if that is to happen.
I’ve never really gotten into college baseball much, but I joined a fairly deep dynasty FBB league (which involves drafting the top college guys each year) this year and there is pretty much nothing else to watch right now. I think I’m going to give watching some of this a shot and see if it takes. Josh – what days of the week is this usually on? Is it like Thursday through the weekend?
Wow. That’s quite the Dynasty league!
Schedule is often Friday – Sunday, with each team’s best pitchers throwing on Friday’s. Some series will be Thursday – Saturday. Those I will point out in the weekly reports in near future.
Then you have the midweek games on Tuesday and Wednesday. It’s a good chance to watch Freshman pitching.
Good deal, thanks for the info!
I see that Jordan Wicks was named College Pitcher of the Week. FanGraphs has him ranked as the #19 Draft Prospect, which seems in range of the White Sos #22 pick. What did he do to earn Pitcher of the Week honors?
Longenhagen has a good write up here:
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/draft-notes-from-ncaa-opening-weekend/
I heed to Eric in this week’s analysis as I didn’t catch any of the Kansas State vs. Oregon State game.
From what I’ve seen in film and conversations with scouts/analysts, Wicks is similar to Reid Detmers but instead of a 70-grade curve it’s a 70-grade change.
Eric had a good comp to Bubic:
“I think a recent broad strokes comp for Wicks is Kris Bubic (a college lefty with a plus changeup, a playable fastball, and a tertiary breaking ball), but there are relevant differences: Bubic’s curveball had first-pitch utility that Wicks’ slider does not, while Wicks’ command is better than Bubic’s was at points leading up to his draft.”
Thanks!
Shameless plug for my former little league teammate, but Matheu Nelson, Florida State Catcher, had a blazing start to the season and I think could rocket up draft boards late
Unless specific circumstances allow the White Sox to pounce on an overlooked or avoided player (like Sale or Crochet), I’m not sure I like the idea of spending another first round draft pick on a college pitcher unless it’s just some guy they’d be nuts to pass on. I like the potential in Hill’s slider, but I get the feeling he’s not gonna be there for the White Sox at the 22nd pick if he’s healthy.