2012 Baseball Draft Update: Second Round
Here's an update on how players from the second round of the 2012 baseball draft are performing.
61) Nolan Fontana, SS, Houston Astros: Hitting .229/.468/.349 with 46 walks, 29 strikeouts in 109 at-bats, with 10 steals for Low-A Lexington in the Sally League. Playing good defense, drawing walks, not showing power. This is exactly what was expected.
62) Bruce Maxwell, C-1B, Oakland Athletics: Hitting .272/.346/.346 with 19 walks, 24 strikeouts in 162 at-bats for Vermont in the New York-Penn League. Has caught 42% of runners, but with 13 passed balls in 25 games. Defense is very raw, not surprising since he was a first baseman in college.
63) Mason Melotakis, LHP, Minnesota Twins: 2.60 ERA with 21/6 K/BB in 17 innings between Elizabethton in the Appy League and Low-A Beloit. Performing in line with expectations, good stuff, good performance, fits best in pen.
64) Joe DeCarlo, 3B, Seattle Mariners: .241/.348/.386 with 21 walks, 40 strikeouts in 158 at-bats for Arizona Rookie League Mariners. Performing well with the glove. Bat weak at this point, but rookie ball stats don't mean much.
65) Branden Kline, RHP, Baltimore Orioles: Has thrown just three innings for Aberdeen Ironbirds in the NY-P, allowing four hits and three runs, but fanning five.
66) Sam Selman, LHP, Kansas City Royals: Highly impressive so far: 1.33 ERA with 73/16 K/BB in 47 innings for Idaho Falls in Pioneer League, 32 hits, 2.20 GO/AO. Blowing younger hitters away.
67) Duane Underwood, RHP, Chicago Cubs: Tiny three inning sample in the Arizona Rookie League, with five hits, six runs, three walks, and three strikeouts. He was expected to be raw when drafted, so this isn't unanticipated. Didn't turn 18 until mid-July.
68) Jeremy Baltz, OF, San Diego Padres: .273/.368/.375 with 29 walks, 33 strikeouts, 10 steals in 11 attempts over 216 at-bats for Eugene in the Northwest League. This isn't bad and I like the speed/walks combo, but you'd like to see a college bat dominate short-season pitching more often.
69) Wyatt Mathisen, C, Pittsburgh Pirates: .310/.390/.397 with 12 walks, 17 strikeouts, 10 steals in 126 at-bats for Gulf Coast League Pirates. Glove raw, thrown out 34% of runners but nine passed balls in 21 games. I like the low strikeout rate.
70) Dane Phillips, C-1B, San Diego Padres: .240/.345/.383 with 34 walks, 43 strikeouts in 196 at-bats for Eugene in the Northwest League. 27% of runners caught, but error and passed ball rates are low. There are thing to build on here.
71) Matt Reynolds, SS-3B, New York Mets: .258/.331/.348 with 12 walks, 25 strikeouts in 155 at-bats for Low-A Savannah in the Sally League. Playing well at shortstop after projecting on draft day as a third baseman. Hitting stats aren't great, but he's jumping from college to full-season ball.
72) J.T. Chargois, RHP, Minnesota Twins: 2.03 ERA with 17/4 K/BB in 13 innings for Elizabethton, nine hits, 6.00 GO/AO. Stats are spectacular, could move quickly if he stays healthy.
73) Max White, OF, Colorado Rockies: .189/.312/.288 with 22 walks, 55 strikeouts in 132 at-bats for Grand Junction in the Pioneer League. He's been pretty bad so far, but at age 18 he has time.
74) Nolan Sanburn, RHP, Oakland Athletics: Eight innings for Vermont, five hits, two runs, two walks, eight strikeouts so far. They are planning to develop him as a starter despite college relief background.
75) Teddy Stankiewicz, RHP, New York Mets: Didn't sign. Off to Seminole JC.
76) Chris Beck, RHP, Chicago White Sox: 5.28 ERA with 32/10 K/BB in 31 innings for Great Falls in the Pioneer League, 41 hits. He was disappointing this spring and so far that hasn't changed in pro ball.
77) Dylan Cozens, OF, Philadelphia Phillies: .250/.343/.419 with 21 walks, 40 strikeouts, eight steals in 10 attempts over 148 at-bats for the Gulf Coast League Phillies. One of the "who is that guy" names from early in the draft, showing some tools in rookie ball.
78) Tanner Rahier, INF, Cincinnati Reds: .196/.276/.310 with 20 walks, 39 strikeouts in 168 at-bats for AZL Reds. Very high error rate at third base. He was supposed to have some polish but it isn't showing up yet.
79) Mitch Brown, RHP, Cleveland Indians: 2.75 ERA with 16/8 K/BB, 1.63 GO/AO in 20 innings in the AZL, 11 hits. Looks very good so far.
80) Tony Renda, 2B, Washington Nationals: .238/.319/.264 with 25 walks, 23 strikeouts, 12-for-14 in steals over 227 at-bats for Auburn in the NY-P. Controlling zone well, steady glove, but lack of pop is disappointing.
81) Chase DeJong, RHP, Toronto Blue Jays: 1.80 ERA with 11/1 K/BB in 10 innings in Gulf Coast League, six hits, 1.57 GO/AO. Small but impressive sample.
82) Steven Rodriguez, LHP, Los Angeles Dodgers: Excellent so far, 1.32 ERA with 22/3 K/BB in 14 innings between Low-A Great Lakes and Double-A Chattanooga, eight hits, 1.50 GO/AO. Has fanned 12 in eight Double-A innings. Could reach the majors very fast.
83) Jamie Jarmon, OF, Texas Rangers: .179/.314/.222 with 18 walks, 38 strikeouts in 117 at-bats for AZL Rangers. Quite raw.
84) Martin Agosta, RHP, San Francisco Giants: Taking it easy with this one. Just six innings in the AZL, three hits, two runs, five walks, but nine strikeouts with a 3.00 GO/AO.
85) Alex Wood, LHP, Atlanta Braves: They are taking it slow with the pitch counts but the results are sharp so far: 1.38 ERA in 10 starts, 39 innings for Low-A Rome, 25 hits, 36/9 K/BB, 1.88 GO/AO.
86) Carson Kelly, 3B, St. Louis Cardinals: .227/.259/.403 with seven walks, 30 strikeouts in 181 at-bats for Johnson City in the Appy League. Eight homers is nice, needs work with the strike zone. Defense rough as well.
87) Jamie Callahan, RHP, Boston Red Sox: 4.05 ERA with 5/2 K/BB in 6.2 innings for GCL Red Sox, four hits. Miniscule sample, nothing to worry about either way here.
88) Spencer Edwards, SS, Tampa Bay Rays: .198/.242/.302 with five walks, 37 strikeouts in 116 at-bats for GCL Jays. Defense is poor at this point as well. Very very raw. Name sounds like he should be an NPR host.
89) Austin Aune, SS, New York Yankees: .258/.349/.363 with 18 walks, 43 strikeouts in 124 at-bats in the GCL. Strikeout rate high enough to be concerning, defense ugly, but like I've said with other guys, it's rookie ball.
90) Jose Munoz, 3B, Arizona Diamondbacks: .245/.317/.338 with 15 walks, 47 strikeouts in 151 at-bats for AZL Diamondbacks. 21 errors in 37 games. This seems like a consistent theme for high school players in this round. Lots of rawness.
91) Jake Thompson, RHP, Detroit Tigers: 1.91 ERA with 31/10 K/BB in 28 innings in the GCL, 14 hits, 1.78 GO/AO. Very good so far.
92) Tyrone Taylor, OF, Milwaukee Brewers: .387/.434/.667 with six walks, 11 strikeouts, six steals in 75 at-bats between AZL and Helena in the Pioneer League. He hasn't gotten a lot of attention yet but he's hitting the snot out of the ball so far. Now you know.
93) Nick Williams, OF, Texas Rangers: .313/.375/.453 with 16 walks, 45 strikeouts in 179 at-bats in the AZL, 14-for-15 in stolen bases. You have to love the tools. Now we'll see if the Rangers can refine them.
94) Peter O'Brien, C, New York Yankees: .188/.243/.338 with eight walks, 36 strikeouts in 133 at-bats for Staten Island in the NY-P. Has thrown out 20% of runners, six passed balls and five errors in 23 games. Discouraging for a college senior if you ask me.
95) Alec Rash, RHP, Philadelphia Phillies: Iowa high school pitcher did not sign. Phillies withdrew their offer after his velocity dropped. Will attend University of Missouri.
As I mentioned before, it is going to be a lot easier to get a feel for these guys heading into 2013 thanks to the new CBA. Yes, rookie ball samples are often small and frequently non-predictive, but it's better than no pro data at all, which is what we had in the past for a lot of guys, especially high school players.
Seeing how they scout against actual professional competition is much more informative than just regurgitating pre-draft reports.
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