jebrick wrote:
From Keith Law:
South Alabama center fielder Travis Swaggerty (1) had a disappointing spring that probably cost him a shot at being a top-five pick, which could mean this was a great value selection for the Pirates at 10th overall. Swaggerty is a true center fielder, is a 65 or better runner, can work the count and shows at least average power, but he didn't hit well this spring in a bad conference. He tweaked several things in his stance and swing, so perhaps this is just a matter of getting him back to what he was before the season started. His secondary stats were all good, and the speed and defense never wavered.
Florida prep right-hander Gunnar Hoglund (1A) did a great job cleaning up what had been a violent delivery before this spring. He's been up to 96 and tightened up his breaking ball. He's a great athlete as well, and the Pirates have had some success with taking guys such as Hoglund who are a little unrefined and still projectable, such as Mitch Keller and Braeden Ogle.
Braxton Ashcraft (2) was a reach for me in the second round, a slight pitcher who has touched 92 but showed a lot of 87-88 this spring in front of scouts. He does extend very well over his front side to help the fastball play up.
Connor Kaiser (3) is an above-average to plus defender at shortstop but with serious bat concerns, striking out in a quarter of his at-bats this spring. He had four career homers in three years with the Commodores before he rolled out a crazy three-homer outburst in Vanderbilt's regional game against Clemson over the weekend. Cal right-hander Aaron Shortridge (4) is a command/control starter, 88-92 with good extension out front and some feel for a curveball in the upper 70s. He's not going to miss a ton of bats with that stuff, but I could see a fifth or maybe even fourth starter here. He accelerates his arm very quickly but a tick late relative to when he lands.
Arkansas catcher Grant Koch (5) was the best hitter on Team USA last summer, then he hit .250/.366/.397 this spring for the Hogs, with the lowest average and slugging percentage of any of Arkansas' eight regulars and second-lowest OBP. He's an adequate receiver and thrower, but this has to be a bet that his spring production was an anomaly. Michael Flynn (6) -- tough name, kid -- was one of the many overused starters at Arizona the past three years (but I'm told he got plenty of naps), and he projects as a back-end starter due to his smooth delivery and the command that he gets from it. Lack of above-average secondary stuff limits his ceiling. Outfielder Brett Kinneman (7) has an intriguing power/speed combination but punched out 65 times this spring for NC State after a really rough performance on the Cape last summer.
Hmmmm....
