Rounds 6 through 11 with details, pictures and videos.
Round 6 – John Gast, LHP
6′ 2″ 190lbs 2/16/1989
Florida State University
MLB.Com Draft Tracker: Video
Baseball America:
Florida State doesn’t have the power arms the program used to produce in the early 1990s. Its top arm this year was supposed to be John Gast, whose career never quite got going in the right direction. He had Tommy John surgery after his senior season in high school and came back quickly, pitching in mid-April of his freshman year. His relief worked helped the Seminoles get back to the College World Series for the first time in eight years, and he stayed in a relief role as a sophomore. Early in his junior season, Gast was flashing his high school form, reaching 92-93 mph with his fastball and working with an upper-70s power curveball. However, as the season wore on, he no longer was showing the kind of stuff to go in the first three rounds. His ERA had soared to 6.33, mostly because of his lack of command. When he gets ahead of hitters, he still can finish them off with his curve.
Round 7 – Greg Garcia, SS
6′ 175lbs 8/8/1989
University of Hawaii
60 Seconds with Greg Garcia: Video
Round 8 – Daniel Bibona, LHP
6′ 170lbs 6/19/1988
University of California – Irvine
Baseball America:
UC Irvine’s Daniel Bibona didn’t sign as the Cardinals’ 16th-round pick last year and had another banner season for the Anteaters, going 9-2, 2.10 with a 100-15 strikeout-walk ratio in 90 innings. He’s 30-6 the last three seasons overall. Bibona is not physically imposing at 6 feet, 170 pounds, and he doesn’t have dominant stuff, but he has a strong track record of performance. Reminiscent of Tom Glavine in build and approach, Bibona throws his fastball at 86-89 mph, with excellent movement and command. He can run into trouble when he attempts to overthrow the fastball, and he doesn’t have the raw velocity to challenge hitters up in the zone. He has a solid feel for his changeup, and some scouts believe his curveball is his best pitch. Bibona can take vary its speed, down to 74 mph or up near slider speed at 78-79. Bibona can eat away both corners of the plate with both his fastball and curve.
Round 9 – Tyler Lyons, LHP
6′ 2″ 205lbs 2/21/1988
Oklahoma State
MLB.com Draft Tracker:
Lyons was named an honorable mention All-Big 12 performer in 2009 and was named to the All-Tournament Team at the NCAA Clemson Regional. He was a 10-th round selection of the New York Yankees in 2009 but did not sign.
Baseball America:
After leading USA Baseball’s college team with a 0.00 ERA in 2008, lefthander Tyler Lyons had a chance to go in the first round of the 2009 draft. His stuff was down for most of his junior season, picked back up in the NCAA playoffs and the Cape Cod League, but dipped again this spring. Lyons pitched at 87-90 mph as a sophomore and added velocity coming out of the Team USA bullpen, but now he rarely tops 88. His curveball also has regressed, leaving his changeup as his best pitch. He still throws strikes, but he got pounded to the tune of a 3-6, 6.06 record this spring. The 6-foot-2, 207-pounder now projects as a middle reliever, though moving back to the bullpen could restore zip to this fastball. Though he had a good summer on the Cape last year, the Yankees didn’t make him an offer after drafting him in the 10th round.
Round 10 – Reginald Williams, CF
6′ 4″ 190lbs 9/15/1989
Middle Georgia College, FL
Round 11 – Benjamin Freeman
6′ 2″ 150lbs 2/6/1992
Lake Gibson HS, FL
Entries (RSS)
great great stuff. the reggie williams clip is particular entertaining.
any scouting reports available for benjamin freeman? can’t find any myself online..nice to see the cardinals draft a few lefties now
Nice snag on the Greg Garcia video. One question I have is he said his dad and GPa played Pro ball and his middle brother plays pro ball. Wonder who is is middle brother is? There are like hundreds of Garcia’s in pro ball.
Williams and Freeman are both young and will fill out some, in the years ahead.
I hoped we would sign Bibona last summer. Better late than never.
Typo on 10: Middle Georgia College is not in Florida.
Reading more about Reggie Williams Jr. His dad was an MLB player. Williams played varsity baseball freshman year and then not again till the end of his Sr. year. Instead he played with his dads AAU travelling team. He is 6’4 190 switch hitting centerfielder and was consensus the fastest runner in the 09 draft. Andy Seiler said he is the sleeper pick for the Cardinals and could be very good if he puts it together. A scout said that he is more projectionable and has more tools then 09 first rounder Levon Washington. He’s always a switch hitter. He did well in JuCo but is VERY raw as a player. His dad said both him and his brother JD are very signable. Will be interesting to see how our system does at developing someone as raw and talented as Williams.
@Andrew: Nice report on Williams. A fleet switch-hitting CF has potential. Last year, the Cards drafted CF Hill from a S. California juco in the 6th round. After the top rounds, the Cards take chances on rough talent. Some of these guys will take a long time to develop.
Maybe Willie McGee looked like Reggie Williams Jr when he was the same age.
[...] We’ll take the high road and point out that he looks like a happy kid! Round 6 – John Gast What we know: The news actually doesn’t sound great on Gast. He’s already had Tommy [...]