2012 College Baseball Prospect Notes: 3-19-12

by Matt Garrioch on Mar 19, 2026 1:00 PM EDT

Marcus Stroman continued to look like a top of the draft arm with 13 K's in 7 UP. Kevin Gausman kept his upper 90's velocity deep into the game going 8 2/3 with 11 K's and Kyle Zimmer K'd 13 in a complete game. Mark Appel K'd 14 in a complete game as well.The top arms are keeping their stock up.

I'm doing something a bit different this week for the rest of the notes with a draft stock watch.

Three Up

I thought I may have overrated Catcher Dane Phillips this spring, having him in the top 20, but he is hitting .410 with 10 homers, although it is against somewhat inferior competition at Oklahoma City. He is worth keeping an eye on to see if he keeps it up.

Barrett Barnes, OF, Texas Tech, impressed me this weekend. He uses his speed very well and has good pop in his bat. He has a pull oriented approach that could cause problems against good pitching but I was impressed by his speed. He used it well in center field as well as on the base paths. He even stole home at one point and it wasn't real close. It was very exciting to see.

Andrew Heaney for Oklahoma State threw a three hitter this weekend striking out 8 and lowering his ERA to 0.92. I haven't talked about him much but he is a lock to go in the first 3 rounds and could move into late 1st round consideration if he keeps this up.

Three down

ASU's Deven Marrero just isn't squaring the ball up this spring. He is hitting .306 and is still playing great defense but the bat is a question. It's hard to put a 50 grade or better on someone who doesn't induce hard contact a lot. If he keeps this up, he will slide to the lower part of the top 10 or even out of it. He will stay in the 1st round due to his defense and position though.

Florida's Brian Johnson is a tough prospect to quantify. He shows a lot of potential both at the plate and on the mound but as a first baseman, you really have to hit and there are questions there. On the mound, his stuff is average or below for a pro pitcher. The results are inconsistent as well. I just don't know what to think of him. I wouldn't take him in the top 2 rounds, I don't think.

Adam Brett Walker, Jacksonville's 1B, has some of the best raw power in the draft but he is only hitting .257 this year. He needed to prove himself this spring as he has always had contact issues. He has 19 hits and 18 K's. He is falling on my draft board and I'm sure many teams feel the same.

Other Notes:

Catcher Tom Murphy at Buffalo hit a couple more homers this weekend and is up to six for the spring while hitting .357. He is a 1st round candidate if he keeps this up. Kevin Plawecki at Purdue, Peter O'Brien at Miami, Ronnie Freeman at Kennesaw State, and Josh Elander at TCU are all hitting really well. College catching is loaded this year, that's not to mention the obvious name in Mike Zunino, who is hitting .403 and slugging .806, and the aforementioned Phillips.

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And here are mine for this week:

http://bullpenbanter.com/rtmenu/707-2012-college-baseball-notes-volume-5

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by Jeff Reese on Mar 19, 2026 1:17 PM EDT reply actions

Good stuff Jeff

Too bad you didn’t get a chance to see the MSU vs. LSU game on Friday night. I would have loved to read your thoughts on Chris Stratton as a prospect.

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by Fla-Giant on Mar 19, 2026 2:03 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm sure I'll see Stratton at some point this year

Probably a couple times given the amount of SEC games that ESPN3 broadcasts.

What annoys me is the fact that Kyle Zimmer will prove elusive (unless they happen to play into a regional).

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by Jeff Reese on Mar 19, 2026 2:16 PM EDT up reply actions

Yep,

Stratton was this week’s big revelation. He’s been eased into a true starting role but has a FB/true curve combo that, with his length, could be devastating. Sounds like he was holding plus velo as well.

by charles wallace on Mar 19, 2026 4:28 PM EDT up reply actions

I think that Brian Johnson will get drafted as a 1B/hitter and go off the board in the 20-50 range overall based mainly on his plus power and the fact that he has the low- to mid-90s pitching velocity to fall back on if the bat fails.

As for Adam Brett Walker, I read a scouting report on him this weekend from the pages of Jon Klima’s website. Klima saw him play against UCLA back in February and mentions that he thinks there’s something wrong with ABW’s left wrist. That could be one reason why his BA and power are down so far this year. Here’s the link to the report and a money quote:
http://www.bbprospectreport.com/2012/03/10/adam-walker-report#more-15420

The first factor is that I don’t think his left hand was feeling right. It was swollen and he kept shaking and favoring it. This cut into my real good look at him. He often pulled his glove hand (left hand, which means the bottom hand when he hits) and flexed his fingers and shook his wrist. I think I caught a wince as well. So that can really affect how you view a guy and what a guy whose best tool is power can really do for you on that day.

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by Fla-Giant on Mar 19, 2026 1:54 PM EDT reply actions

Matt,

what’s the deal with UCLA OF Jeff Gelalich? He’s hitting .443/.518/.686 this season, and that’s against some decent competition (Baylor, Georgia, ASU). His stock has to be up, but where do you see him going? He DH’ed a lot last year, which obviously hurts his value, but this season he’s been playing a lot more in the field (mostly RF).

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by free f.p. #14 on Mar 19, 2026 3:57 PM EDT reply actions

He is athletic

enough to play RF as a pro. He looks the part. He is big, athletic and has everything you’d expect from a corner outfielder. I could see him going as high as the supplemental round if this continues. I don’t see him as a star but he could be an MLB regular with his improvement this year.

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by Matt Garrioch on Mar 19, 2026 4:44 PM EDT up reply actions

Richie Schaffer

How legit is he? I’ve seen him as a late 1st rounder, but given his performance so far, could you see him as a top 15 pick?

by JP_Frost on Mar 19, 2026 5:31 PM EDT reply actions

If a team believes in his defense at third

He’s got more than enough arm for the position, it’s just a matter of whether he has enough range. I like the bat quite a bit, but it’s not a top 15 bat if he’s a first baseman long term. He looked OK when I’ve seen him at third, but I haven’t seen enough to say definitively.

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by Jeff Reese on Mar 19, 2026 5:52 PM EDT up reply actions

Thanks.

I read some reports that his defense at 1st is very good, but I haven’t seen a lot of projections on his offensive output, so that made me wonder.

From what you’re saying he sounds a bit like Beau Mills.

by JP_Frost on Mar 19, 2026 5:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Branden Kline

Had a really good start against FSU that was bobbled by Kyle Crockett. It’s been an up-and-down season for Kline, often hurt by the shoddy defense behind him (and I still wonder if Bruno at short and Taylor at 2nd or CF isn’t a better alignment), but also by command issues. If he can build on the FSU start, that’d be a big plus in a rebuilding year for UVA.

by toonsterwu on Mar 19, 2026 7:40 PM EDT reply actions

I can always go back and watch the archive

But I wish Kline had started the game tonight on ESPNU like originally planned. Not the most exciting pitching matchup for the first ACC Monday.

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by Jeff Reese on Mar 19, 2026 8:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Starter all the way for me baby

I had this conversation with some one on here apprx. a month or two ago and I was affirmitive that Kline can be a starting pitcher and harness it at the MLB level.

The other was in the boat that Kline was a Reliever…. either way he’s got great stuff, but i do think he’s a starter all the way

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by SteveHoffmanSlowey on Mar 20, 2026 1:01 AM EDT up reply actions

Really not liking Marrero much for top half of the first round at this point

Appel, Gausman, and Zimmer are making 1:1 a real battle.

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by OremLK on Mar 20, 2026 2:58 AM EDT reply actions

even if marrero drops a bunch

no way he makes it past the a’s who are a) lacking in top SS talent, especially in AA/AAA and b) have enough of a cap in their first 10 rounds where they can overspend on him a little and still not be penalized

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by guessatomo on Mar 20, 2026 3:39 AM EDT up reply actions

actually, lacking in top SS talent altogether

chris bostick is a 2nd baseman probably, yordy cabrera is our only real hope but isprojected to move to 3rd, but hopefully he can stick at short, dusty coleman strikes out at an ungodly rate, and ladendorf couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. sean jamieson, he had a good obp but he was in SS and is already 22, so he probably won’t amount to much if anything

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by guessatomo on Mar 20, 2026 3:42 AM EDT up reply actions

I'm really starting to warm up to Appel

His last two games have been phenomenal. I think it’s fair to say he’s enjoying a breakout campaign.

by kyuss94 on Mar 20, 2026 9:54 AM EDT up reply actions

Brian Johnson

Interesting assessment of Johnson….I am afraid that the Braves will pick him if they get the chance….

by Stephen in the UAE on Mar 20, 2026 6:07 AM EDT reply actions

Stroman

I was on here in December saying I thought he could be a starter in the pros. I know he has many of the same “issues” that make people see him as a bullpen arm, but his performance as a starter thus far has to make starting a reasonable possibility. One of my favorite arms this draft.

by cookiedabookie on Mar 20, 2026 10:53 AM EDT reply actions

I was low on him

coming into the season. I still have concerns if he can start but I don’t really care that much because he is so dominant. A dominant reliever is very valuable too and if he can start, it just makes him that much better.

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by Matt Garrioch on Mar 20, 2026 11:11 AM EDT up reply actions

So far so good

I think we talked at the time, and while I didn’t have a personla opinion, I think mentioned that several evaluators I had spoken with were adamant that he was a reliever. I’ll be interested to see if he’s changing minds. Can’t remember if we talked about Bettis, Gray and Thornburg as recent examples of guys who’ve bucked the reliever tag in the short term, but Stroman absolutely belongs in that discussion.

by charles wallace on Mar 20, 2026 11:55 AM EDT up reply actions