College Draft Prospect Week 2 Update

Stanford ace Mark Appel followed up his great start last week with a not so great one this week. While he went 8 innings and struck out 11, he gave 8 hits, two HR's and 7 runs in a 7-4 loss to Fresno State. Conor Glassery at Baseball America had a nice write up on him after the start that can be found here. While the amount of hard contact he gives up now is concerning, Appel can grow into a dominant starter if his command within the strike zone can improve.

Florida State OF James Ramsey was 5-10 with a 2B, a 3B and his 4th homer of the season in a weekend sweep of Maine. Ramsey has gotten off to a solid start this year, but with teams most likely viewing him as a 4^th outfielder I wonder if someone might try to move him to 2B his high school position.

Brandon Kline of Virginia continues his transition to starter with an alright start this weekend against Seton Hall. He went 6 innings again with 6 k's and 3 bb's, he gave up 4 runs, but only 1 was earned, on 5 hits. Kline continues to intrigue me due to his fastball/slider combo and his ability to generate ground balls. He could end up in the bullpen in the majors, but has the stuff to be a legitimate weapon in the late innings.

Oklahoma State's Andrew Heaney continued his good start with another very good outing against TCU on Friday night. He gave up only 2 runs on 6 hits over 6.2  innings with 9 k's and 3 bb's in a 4-2 win. Heaney, who was demoted to the bullpen in the middle of last year, has really built upon his success he had on the Cape, and is looking like a sure bet to be taken in the supplemental round at this point.

Arkansas closer Nolan Sanburn threw 6 innings with 11 k's this week, but gave up 7 hits and 2 runs in his three appearances.

Razorback starter D.J. Baxendale went just 5 innings in his start against Texas, but he gave up only 2 runs on 3 hits. On the year, he has given up only 4 earned runs in 17 innings with a 3:1 K:B ratio.

Arizona State's Brady Rogers continued his sterling start to the season with a complete game against University of Saint Louis. He gave up just 4 hits and 1 unearned run while striking out 7 and walking just 2. He has yet to give up an earned run on the year and has a 12:1 K:BB ratio while giving up only 13 hits in 22 innings.

Alex Wood of Georgia dominated Western Illinois on Friday night as he continues to prove he has recovered from Tommy John surgery. He went 8 innings giving up no runs and only 2 hits, he walked no one and struck out 14. If he continues to pitch well he could move into the top 50 picks in the draft.

Another name to watch:

Former Twins draftee Pat Light of Monmouth features a 90-94 fastball and heavy two seamer around 90, but struggles with both of his off speed pitches. The Twins tend to love guys like this and there is a chance they could take him if he falls to them in the beginning of the 2^nd round. So far this year he has given up 11 runs in 20 innings with just 11 k’s and 5 BB’s.