This is the fastball draft. First Shelby Miller, now Joe Kelly. BA says:
Plagued by shoulder trouble early in his college career, Kelly has emerged as one of the nation’s top college closers in 2009. At 6-foot-1, he doesn’t fit the classic image of the physically intimidating closer, but his stuff is plenty big. In fall ball Kelly flashed a fastball that ranged from 93-96 mph, with wicked natural sink, and he maintained his stuff in the spring and now regularly clocks in at 94-97. Strictly a short relief man, Kelly is an aggressive hurler who wants the ball in pressure situations. He had nine saves this spring for the Highlanders, with 18 strikeouts against five walks in 25 innings, though his 5.33 ERA wasn’t impressive. In his delivery, Kelly is reminiscent of Brett Hunter, chosen last year out of Pepperdine, with a high-effort delivery from a low three-quarters arm slot, and he falls off to his left after delivery. Most pitchers begin their pro careers as starters and are then converted to relievers, but Kelly figures to be a closer from the opening bell. His stuff may help him rush through the minors as quickly as any pitcher in the draft class.
For the third round, I think this is a pretty solid pick, despite less than stellar numbers in college. This site also gives him a pretty good review. 65 fastball, 60 slider. That hopefully adds up to a decent bullpen arm. We have a lot of these guys in the system already, but the Cardinals could have done worse with this pick.
This pick is bending my mind into a pretzel. I’ll just let Bryan Smith do the talking for me while I mull this pick.
The Robert Stock story continues, as he goes 67 to the Cardinals. Stock left high school a year earlier to get a jump start on USC. People are going to really question if it was in his best interest, as he probably would have been a first rounder after his senior high school season. I like Stock a lot better as a pitcher than a catcher, as he has really not progressed with the bat in 3 years. But the Cardinals announced him as a catcher, so they’re going down that road first.
I suppose they can always fall back on pitching. Leave it to the Cardinals to draft a converted catcher turned pitcher.
For USC, Stock hit .226/.345/.453. Not good, but at least the isolated discipline and power numbers are pretty decent. As a pitcher, Stock was the ace of the staff. He posted a 2.90 ERA with 86 K’s to 39 walks over 77.2 innings pitched. The bonus is he’s only 19 years old, and there is still some reason to believe there is some upside with this pick.
Stock is one of the draft’s most intriguing players due to his background. He was Baseball America’s Youth Player of the Year in 2005 when he was 15, and a year later, Stock skipped his senior year in high school to enroll at Southern California. He’s a 19-year-old draft-eligible junior, and his college career has been one of valleys and recent peaks. He was the Trojans’ starting catcher and sometime closer his first two seasons, showing modest power, a good fastball and good catch-and-throw skills. He showed raw power and catch-and-throw tools in his first two seasons, particularly arm strength. However, his draft stock suffered; after ranking No. 5 in our Cape Cod League Top 30 following his freshman season, he didn’t even make the top 30 last summer, and scouts were stunned by his poor performance on scout day in fall 2008, when his bat looked slow and his pop times sluggish. When Stock got off to a slow start offensively in 2009, attention shifted to his performance on the mound. The Trojans turned to Stock as a starter this year, and he has delivered. He made his first start March 29 and beat Arizona State, striking out 10 in five innings, and hasn’t looked back, registering a complete-game win at Arizona and showing surprising polish. His delivery is fairly easy, giving him good control of an 88-92 mph fastball that can hit 95 and a surprisingly good changeup that some scouts consider a plus pitch. His low-80s breaking ball also grades out as average, and Stock now figures to go out in the first three rounds as a pitcher—if he proves signable.
I like that he’s just 19 and has some pretty good stuff on the mound. Interesting.
The complete quote from Luhnow re: signing Miller: “It’s no slam dunk that we are going to sign him quickly or sign him at all.”
Get ready for some drama, people. It’s a dice roll, especially with no sandwich pick. At worst, they pick again 20th overall, although I’m not quite sure they can get someone with Miller’s upside 20th next year. We’ll see what happens.
Whoa! I didn’t see this coming. Put down your pitchforks. No need to hunt down DeWallet. Shelby Miller is your 1st round pick Cardinal fans. You wanted upside, well here you go. I’m shocked. Cardinals get a top top caliber pick at 19. He’s said to be seeking $4M+, so we’ll see how this plays out.
Some scouting grades on Miller: 60 fastball, 65 future, 60 future grade on curveball.
Its time to show the baseball world that your skills are not being appreciated, in fact being vastly underrated. Its time show people that just b/c you sit in a basement wearing a bathrobe and boxers, that you still know your baseball.
Its time to turn your dream of being a scout, into a reality.
Well sorta, actually no..not really…its more like who can get lucky and predict who the Cards are going to take.
Today is a first 3 rounds, so in your best Jeff Luhnow voice, give me your selections for the following picks
#19/#67/#98
No official award will be given, but make no mistake…if you come out on top today, your legacy will live on, not only in your own mind but in the minds of your fellow guessers!
Callis has the Cardinals taking Matt Purke in his latest and last mock draft. Last year he accurately predicted the Cardinals taking Brett Wallace, a notion I internally dismissed. Callis admits to his pick for the Cardinals as random guesswork.
One potential destination for one of the high-ceiling high school arms is St. Louis, who are particularly high on Matt Purke.
And we also have Kevin Goldstein, in his latest mock putting the Cardinals down for Purke, confirming the wild rumor out there -
…the crazy whispers involve them acting like the big-market team they technically are and making a splash with a signability pick. Matt Purke can’t drop forever… or can he?
So I think it’s time to seriously think about Matt Purke.
They just keep rolling in. KG has the Cardinals taking Matthew Purke as well with a (somewhat warranted) backhand at their spending habits
This is one of the more fascinating picks in the second half of the round. Jeff Lunhow and his staff play it as close to the vest as any front office in the game. Some have them looking at high school bats, some have them taking classic college performers like Tim Wheeler, and if Kyle Gibson drops this far, he’ll have to be considered. That’s all the stuff that makes sense, but the crazy whispers involve them acting like the big-market team they technically are and making a splash with a signability pick. Matt Purke can’t drop forever… or can he?
Pick: Matt Purke, LHP, Klein HS (TX)
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