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Tough game OMC ... I think you guys probably get through with Trent for another game. Ellis pitched ... not well, but he got out of jams, helped by that wonderful catch by ... uh ... your CF's name is slipping me atm ... Bousfield? Kirby pitched a heck of a game, though. What I didn't understand was why you guys were so aggressive. Maryland was a bit more patient against Kirby, and it led to mistakes ... and your lineup is far better than Maryland's. The aggressiveness sort of played well for Kirby ... but then again, the way he was pitching, it might not have mattered either way. He was just on with that slider. I'm awfully worried about facing a rested Finnegan. That's the type of arm that I think can cause a ton of trouble for this UVA lineup, and the righties will have to come through, IMO.

OMC, Fisher was a high pick because of his offensive potential. Some would argue that he's never shown enough to justify the hype (I mean, McCarthy and Papi were probably the best two overall hitters on the team), but his combination of bat speed and power has had him on the radars since his prep days. Fisher's been banged up a bit the last two years. Off the top, I don't recall his injury this year (hand?), but it's on the web somewhere. He was drafted in the 6th round by the Rangers out of HS, but IIRC (and Raisin might have a better memory on this than I do), he was viewed as a late first/early 2nd type, but due to the UVA commitment, wanted big, big money (say, top 10 type money). Defensively, he's no where near Griffey Jr. in his prime. He has the potential to man RF, but my hunch is that he's going to end up in LF over the long haul. I mean, he probably has the raw speed to handle CF in a pinch now (akin to say, Brandon Guyer back in the day), but he really shouldn't be your CF for any long stretch. Basically, it was his offensive potential that had him ahead of a much, much more polished hitter in Mike Papi. Fisher, though, is probably at his best when he's aggressive. He has a solid enough eye at the plate, but sometimes, that works him into bad situations when he gets a bit passive. Sun/Mon against Maryland, he was aggressive and caused a lot of damage. It isn't really a Brett Jackson situation as he's just a better overall hitter than Jackson, with better bat speed. OMC, UVA's heart of the order is three straight lefties (at least, this past weekend ... there have been some instances where Papi led off, but due to Downes struggles this year, they tend to go with the three lefties in the middle). Mike Papi is usually in the 3 hole, followed by Joe McCarthy, and Derek Fisher. To be quite honest, I do wonder if sophomore McCarthy might end up being the best pro of the trio. He has excellent athleticism, really handles the bat well, hits for average, and has an excellent approach. Excellent bat control - perhaps too good. There's some raw power there, but he rarely goes for the big swings. That said, reason why I think he might be the best is because I think that power is better than Papi's and might be, for lack of a better term, more capable of unlocking his power potential, and he's got a better approach than Fisher. Leading off, you have a "grinder" in Branden Cogswell, another lefty who has a good eye, works the count, and finds ways to get on. Not great speed, but good enough, and a solid baserunner. Thus, 1-5 could be 4 lefties (Daniel Pinero is largely in the 2 hole now), with John LaPrise often batting 7th in the lineup, another "grinder" contact lefty. Ideally, I guess, this sets up an opponent to go with situational relief pitching and bring in a lefty, but all these guys have good approaches, and if your starter is shakey and these guys cause damage, it could really wreck things. Hence why I sort of wonder if Trent if the better fit to get the nod over Ellis. (of course, the best hitter Monday was probably righty Kenny Towns, who went undrafted. 8th hitter tends to be the high upside Brandon Downes, who has good power (took Hoffman deep to start the year), but struggled this year, partly due to injury. 9th hitter is the catcher, either Irving or Coman this year, with Coman the better offensive player, but Irving probably the far superior defensive guy. Betting money is still Irving getting the nod.

I was too busy this weekend to follow the draft all that closely, so I just wanted to put in some pointless 2 cents ... a) I was pleased with how the draft went. The arm upside potential seems better than last year's crop. It's a decidedly thin crop on positional assets. Thinking back to 2012, I think I'm as intrigued with this crop of arms as I am with the that crop, and that crop had the benefit of having 3 arms picked in the top 67. That said, b) I sure would like to fast forward 3-4 years to see how this class turns out. This seems to be a very boom/bust class. I do love Carson Sands potential, though. c) The Zagunis pick still bothers me a bit (I keep thinking that there's similarities to Micah Gibbs). I get it, catchers are a premium, and the draft rules means that you have to have multiple strategies in place depending on what players are available, and drafting Zagunis lead to the flexibility to go after some arms later. d) I really hope Stinnett pans out. I'm alright with it, but they did pass on some intriguing arms. He worked out of jams against UVA, but wasn't dominant, IMO, in the SR's. Still, the raw potential is good, and here's hoping the GB tendencies hold. e) With the report that Rodon was 2nd on the Cubs board, I would be fascinated to see what their plans were. I just wonder if Stinnett and Zagunis were fallback options due to guys going off the board. f) I hate this system. I really do. It irks me tremendously. Part of it is just the idea that teams have to develop a strategy on how to attack the draft due to money as much as talent, but then have to wait a long time to see if any of their targets are there. I've always been a proponent that teams should be able to trade picks. Now, I think there are logistical issues, but now that the picks have value, it gives some baseline for teams to trade picks. This has less to do with the Cubs, although I do wonder what might've happened if they had been able to deal down, or heck, even deal up from the 2nd round. Anyhow, nothing original, just random thoughts I wanted to get out.

Ha. Thanks. I admit, I was worried after Saturday. Kirby looked as bad as he has basically, all year, and I thought UVA let Stinnett get away with some pitches. I was worried that the season-long offensive questions would remain an issue. That said, the way the team played in the last two days was a nice sight to see. For Maryland, no disrespect intended, getting to Supers was a good season. For this UVA team, this loaded UVA team whose pitching really developed this year, having the season end at Supers would've been disappointing. Yet, this team seemed to play loose and aggressive on Sunday/Monday. The team feels like it's peaking, as Aaron Fitt noted in his article on BA. The SP was solid (I may rethink my thoughts on Sborz's future as a pen arm if he can consistently show as well as he did), the pen's strong, the defense is there, and most importantly, the offense is coming together. There were good moments for all the guys this weekend, ranging from studs like Papi/McCarthy/Fisher, to the young Pinero (very curious how he develops - Ryan Flaherty comes to mind as a tall, lanky shortstop), Brandon Downes, and Kenny Towns (still a bit befuddled at how he went absolutely undrafted ... not saying he's going to be anything, but there's a place for a grinder like Towns in the minors. Oh well, less turnover for UVA next year). Looking ahead, I'm going to be curious about a couple small things with the Ole Miss matchup - a) Without knowing a ton about them, outside of what's out there, I tend to think lefties have a better shot against UVA so I wonder if Trent might be a better option than Ellis. If your righty isn't on, the heart of the lineup can eat you up fast, and force the bullpen to get over-extended. b) I wonder if UVA goes with Nate Irving to try and control Ole Miss on the basepaths. Coman isn't bad defensively, but Irving is very strong at controlling the run game. Of course, they put Coman in there in the final two games partly for the need for offense, so here's hoping the other bats stay strong. Should be a fun CWS to cap off a crazy two weeks.

As a UVA fan, I'm fairly ecstatic with the draft so far. Downes falling to the 6th probably leaves a slim chance that he may return, and unlike last year, there wasn't a prep player for the upcoming freshman class picked in the top 10 rounds (Nicely going to Houston in the 10th last year). Doesn't mean that guys won't sign, but UVA should get a pretty solid class on campus to replace the departing juniors/seniors, and more importantly, get some key bats to fill in.

Catching up on the draft, and my initial thought is that I like this crop of arms better, so far, than last year's. Looks like they took some upside gambles, and if they don't draft arms early, they simply had to take those gambles at some point. I'm guessing that they feel really comfortable about what it would take to get Cease to pop him there, otherwise, they could've waited. I'd love to be a fly on the wall to find out what their plans are to add elite arm talent, though, because there's only so much stockpiling/gambling that you can do before you have to really push to get those elite arms in the system, even if it leads to gambling a bit earlier in the draft.

Well, offensively, Schwarber is probably a better prospect than Zunino coming out of Florida. That said, Zunino's ability to stay behind the plate probably makes him a better overall prospect than Schwarber. _____ On the whole idea of Schwarber as trade bait - I keep pondering, if Schwarber can't hack it in LF (and I still think the Cubs probably let him get some time at catcher, at least this year), but his bat plays and forces a move to 1st, that maybe it leads to a Rizzo deal for pitching. That said, none of this really matters yet - let's make sure Schwarber's bat is as good as advertised before we contemplate all sorts of permutations for the future. I doubt Schwarber will move up the ladder that fast this year (thinking an early sign maybe leads to Boise/Kane County and then AFL?).

Trying to think of a MLB positive case comp for him ... and I keep thinking that Jeff Samardzija isn't that bad a comparison to make.

I think there's a next to zero chance of getting Bukauskus signed. He's been fairly solid that he simply wanted to get to UNC faster. I guess if someone threw a boatload of money at him ... but no one has a boatload to throw around. This feels very similar to Connor Jones last year. Someone will draft him eventually, but my guess would be that it's after the top 10 rounds. That said, yes, I fundamentally agree that if we don't get a couple of intriguing over-slot prep guys (and pitchers would obviously be preferable) in the top 10 rounds with our savings, it'll be, on paper, a disappointing draft. It's a good thing that this draft does have arm depth, though.

Some random comments - TKB - Pretty sure Donaldson played infield in the prep ranks, and maybe to start college. ___ As for the whole, trust in Jason/Theo/Jed thing - It's not like they haven't had bad years drafting before. I'm still not a huge fan of McLeod's first draft with the Padres, and the 2nd draft is more of a TBD (although it looks good right now). I'm too lazy to check, but Tim Wilken had a bad year and a good year with Tampa, IIRC. The best part of the new regime, IMO, isn't necessarily scouting, but rather structure, guideline, and organization. ___ As for Stinnett, I am ... intrigued with the pick. It's a bit risky, but there's ceiling to gamble on here and we need to gamble on potential arm wise. He fits the mold of both a McLeod and a Wilken arm pick, with his solid athleticism and strong frame. He threw strikes this year, but I'm a bit concerned that his changeup comes in so hard. That said, he fits the "Wrigley" groundball dynamic. There's work to be done, but I like the gamble. The difference between Stinnett and Howard (19th to Cincinnati) isn't that great (Howard has a tick better stuff). I wonder if a splitter might be an interesting option to go for as a 3rd pitch. It's going to be an interesting game on Saturday. He'll be going up against UVA ace (and a projected early 1st rounder in 2015) in Nate Kirby. He faced UVA in the ACC tournament and won and got 10 K's, but gave up 3 earned (4 total), along with 10 hits (surprisingly, Nick Howard had 4 of them despite struggling so much this year at the plate). UVA also has 2 2015 guys in John LaPrise and Joe McCarthy (a possible early round pick) that could fit the mold of the type of hitters the FO looks at.

This might not be the best comp to make, but the guy he sort of makes me think of, if he stays at catcher, is Matt LeCroy. Before people cream me for that comp, LeCroy actually had a decent bat there for a few years, but then wore down.

It wasn't my favorite option, but ... with Rodon/Aiken/Kolek off the board, it's basically a mishmash of talent. I was sort of growing towards preferring Pentecost or even Nola, but really, there wasn't 1-2 guys that stood out from what was left. Being at 4 wasn't the best spot this year, in the end. With a lot of arm depth, if Schwarber saves them money and allows them to be aggressive after other guys later, then okay. Let's just wait and see how it plays out. By most accounts, there should be some good arms there in the 2nd to pick from. Edit: As a total side note, find it funny that Mayo was the only one that got it right in the "final" mocks, before putting out a final mock that went with Conforto.

Really hope Contreras' insane tear over the last month or so is a sign of positive development offensively. Strikeouts are a bit bothersome, but as long as he can do something offensively and continues developing behind the plate, he'll be an intriguing guy to keep track of. For some reason, the guy that comes into mind now is that he might be somewhat similar to Robinson Chirinos.

I'm just skimming, but neely, one could argue that this might be a great year to wait on pitching. There's so many arms with, particularly college arms, with ... intriguing potential ... who have questions, for one reason or another, so if scouting, something Theo and Jed have emphasized as being critical now, is on the money, they should be able to find some good arms after the first (perhaps moreso last year ... I'm still not really enthused with the crop of arms we added from 2013, much as I try to talk myself into liking it). The thing is, with that high of a pick in the first, much as I want pitching, you simply have to take the best talent available as it fits your draft strategy, and it's somewhat debatable if that arm is there to justify the move. I really wanted Gray last year, and I think there was a case for it, but there's simply a lot more flaws with the pitchers on the board, particularly if Aiken/Rodon are off when we pick. It's a tough call, and ... I'm not sure what the right answer for the pick would be, but it'll be fun to see how the decision this brain trust makes and to look back in a few years and see how it pans out. It's the sort of draft where, I feel like, in the immediate reaction afterwards, it's going to be awfully hard to harshly critique the brain trust, as it's just a ... mishmash of talent in some respects (while I'm not enthused about Kolek ... if for some odd reason, they went that route, I'd be somewhat intrigued). It's strange, a year ago, the idea of Rodon/Trea Turner and others had this draft looking strong, and a year later, it's really tamped down. I just hope this is more 2011 McLeod than 2010 McLeod (I'll excuse the Spangenberg pick for the Padres that year, as that was a pick as a result of not signing Whitson ... I don't think anyone would even claim that Spangenberg was a top 10 talent that year, much as the Padres tried to sell it.) Find us a Wisler, and I'll be happy (granted, he's scuffling in AAA right now).

Damn ... Nate Kirby sure looked good tonight (outside of that error in the 5th that caused himself a jam). If he sharpens up his secondary stuff next year (and considering his monumental leap this year, I wouldn't be surprised if he does improve his secondary stuff) ... I think a case could be made that, as a prospect, he's far superior to Hultzen was coming out. Of course, a long way to go, but considering we're likely to pick high again, he'll be someone that'll probably be discussed here next year.

Raisin, I think Howard can be developed as a starter. Whether or not he can stick ... that depends on if he can develop something a bit more consistent to go with his breaking ball and fastball (namely, the change-up, although you never know what might happen once he gets to pro ball ... I guess, along with that, a bit more consistency with the breaking ball). I actually think there's a lot to like, an athletic raw arm who has arm strength and a breaking ball that flashes plus potential, along with never having really focused on just pitching, plus a solid pitcher's frame ... I just think it's odd that he's getting such late helium. Yes, the breaking ball is better, but I'm just not all that convinced he's a markedly better arm than he was last year. If scouts think he'll actually be mid-upper 90's as a starter ... I don't know. Maybe ... I hope he is, but I suspect, if he's a starter, he'll be more low-mid-90's, with the occasional "ramp-it-up" pitch. That said, I guess the absolute ... for lack of a better term ... mess... of the college pitching crop makes a guy like him rise. I do hate the idea of "let's put him in the pen now and then shift him to a starter next year". If you are going to develop him as a starter, you should do it the right way and let him do it in the minors. I guess the other factor is the proliferation of the "save money for later move", which helps drive him up. Just feels strange to me. To be honest, if I'm thinking about Cashner in uh ... 08? ... and Howard now, I don't think there's a huge difference between the two, so maybe I really should be fine with him as a mid-first, as I thought Cashner was fine as a mid-late first. I like Stinnett. I'm not sure his ceiling is any better than say ... Kyle Hendricks (not exactly the best comp ... ), but there's a place for a guy like that in a good system.

I'm mildly stunned that Nick Howard is largely considered a potential first rounder now. I remember one of my rare times going on a perfect game chat last year, and they weren't all that enthused. I'm not sure he's all that different from last year - still a strike-throwing arm with good arm strength and a solid slider that flashes some plus potential, but now that he's in the pen, he can amp it up to the mid-upper 90's. Honestly, the best comparison might be someone like Cashner, although I think Cashner's breaking ball was sharper coming out, and I think, on paper, Howard is a better strike-thrower. As for our pick, I'm growing a bit partial to Pentecost, despite wanting an arm. I was a big Rodon guy this year, but 2 years of some occasional shakiness worries me, along with the frame issues. I'm ambivalent on Kolek, not having followed enough this spring. Aiken isn't going to be there. As a side note, if we take a cheap senior in the first 10 rounds, I would be fascinated with Artie Lewicki. He was once a decently thought of a prospect 2 years ago, but then had TJ and has had to work his way back (even now, I think he squeezed into BA's top 300). He finally fought his way back to the weekend rotation (no knock on Sborz, although Sborz will probably take Howard's role next year and slide to the pen), can hit mid-90's with the fastball and has a solid slider. Shouldn't be that expensive of a sign.

Gonna be a fascinating matchup today in Charlottesville, pitching wise, with Kirby going against Killian. Wouldn't be all that shocking if both were first rounders next year. The fact that Artie Lewicki came through (after struggling against Maryland last weekend) really set things up pitching wise for UVA, with the bullpen largely rested. Still, Killian's tough, and UVA's vaunted offense never really came through all year (partly injuries, partly guys just struggling, for lack of a better way to state it). That said, UVA has their 2nd best starter in the wings (Waddell), and Sborz is likely available.

Looks like I missed a thoroughly fascinating discussion. My take on the season so far, minor leagues, is ... um ... what was the TV show that had a line that went something like "All of this has happened before and will happen again." That is, there hasn't been much, performance-wise (I really haven't had time to follow up on velocities and so forth) that has really shocked me. Alcantara being a bit swing-happy? Saw that down in the A ball ranks. Baez struggling with junk? Something that people wondered about. Villanueva not making contact? Not that shocking. Bryant's "aggressive" approach and the K's? The projections were Troy Glaus after-all. Edwards durability being questioned? Okay ... that's not new. Vogelbach and Candelario's slow starts? Not exactly that shocking due to their profiles. It sure seems like every bad thing possible is happening to our key prospects, but there tends to be some leveling out as the season progresses. This isn't to diminish the need to be concerned, though, as they give us a good grasp, as fans, of things to watch for and to see if guys make adjustments. The reason I'm not that concerned about Baez struggling right now (and rather, find it to be a great thing for him) is that this actually forces him to learn. What I'm curious in now is if he can adjust. If he can adjust and show improvement, even if that delays his timetable, I tend to think that's a big positive. I want to reiterate, by no means am I saying that we shouldn't be concerned as fans, and that the organization shouldn't be concerned. As others have noted, there seem to be some bad habits amongst certain players that the organization has had a tough time getting a grasp on, and if things don't change, perhaps that shows some issues that need to be addressed. I guess I do sort of fall into the "It's still somewhat early" camp, though, and am more curious if guys can make adjustments. Of course, they can't continually do the "Logan Watkins" (off the top, in A+ and AA, Logan would start slowly, heat up over the summer, and repeat the same process at the next level, thus getting some hype in the winter), but considering the age of some of these prospects, I tend to think giving a bit more time to see if they can make changes is fine. My one big takeaway so far? As much as we talk about our pitching getting better, it's still not great. A+ is bleh. If 2 of the guys in KC pan out and develop into "legit" SP prospects in the upper levels, and not more than your end of the rotation types, then that'll be a win, and in that respect, it's a lot of wait and see. In terms of positives, Balaguert and Penalver have to rank high somewhere. They are hitting, which is positive enough. It's still early, though, and both could fall hard, but I honestly didn't have a great grasp of what to thin on the former's offensive ability moving up the ranks. As for the latter, I simply hoped he could hit enough. So far, so good. A guy with arguably better overall tools (Hernandez) struggled to get it going in KC. As for the Daytona guys, ugh ... not sure what to think. I'd like to think they are tapping into their tools a bit, but Hernandez still can't hit lefties (honestly, 10/0 K/BB against lefties and 6/5 K/BB against right-handers stand out). Talking about Jokisch/Hendricks may be more of finding a silver lining, but both have solid end of the rotation potential and, honestly, it would be sort of a nice to see a kid in there rather than the use and dump guys. Very pleased with Pineyro's K's to start the year. Curious how his stuff holds up as they get a longer book on him in AA. So, pen arms performing well or poorly in the early-goings is one of those, who cares things. In that respect, I'm not necessarily giddy over it, but I've always liked Francescon's fastball/breaking ball combination. Sort of reminds me of Alessandro Maestri with better command? Not the best comp, but still think Francescon might be able to make it up as a pen type. Side Question: If there's a shock, it's obviously Pierce's just horrendous/awful command so far. Of course, there's SSS. That said, am curious - Are there reports on Pierce's percentage of secondary pitches thrown? I'm awful curious what's getting him into trouble command-wise.

I really hope that, come tourny time, UVA slides Waddell in as the 2nd pitcher instead of Sborz. Sborz's command in a pivotal 2nd game would really have me worried. Heck, been saying it for awhile, but I sorta wish Connor Jones was a starter with Sborz in the pen. I think Sborz has draft potential ... but as a pen arm (doubt the Jones/Sborz swap happens this year ... maybe next year). Hell, I wouldn't even really mind flipping Nick Howard's strike throwing ability with Sborz. The return of Fisher should bode well for this UVA squad, but what this team really needs is for Brandon Downes to snap out of his funk. I know he's been banged up, but it's getting to be crunch time. As a side note, this year seems rather wide open. It isn't hard to imagine FSU beating UVA 2 out of 3 if they had Leibrandt.

To be fair, Jackson had a specific issue. While Bryant is similar in that both guys tend to occasionally wait too long, putting them in bad counts, by most accounts, there isn't any issue with Bryant's swing, whereas there were always, much as I liked him, some concerns with Brett's swing/ability to get to pitches. I'm not too concerned with Bryant's K rate for now. Now ... if he ends the season with a 30% K rate, then I think there would definitely be some cause for concern. He needs to be more Troy Glaus than Brandon Wood, and we simply don't have a big enough picture right now to make a judgment, and hence why I'm not that concerned yet.

I really can't think of many minor league teams that are legitimately five deep with starters right now. Admittedly, I don't follow as closely as before, but it's really hard to get that much depth. I tend to think if you have 3 legitimate starting pitching prospects (let's define that as guys with at least mid-rotation potential) on a level, that is a pretty good win for your system at that level. Daytona isn't pretty, but I think we were all prepared for that as the KC group was debatable last year, prospect-wise (from a pitching perspective). I don't buy Scott or Pena yet, and Rosario really should be in the pen (to be quite honest, was fairly stunned he was penciled in for the rotation ... but maybe he showed real well n the spring). I want to be believe in Zastryzny, but the few things I read in the spring, combined with the slow start, gives some pause. At this point, Wells shouldn't be the most intriguing starting pitching prospect on a team, and you can make a case that he is more intriguing than the other 4 right now. I tend to be a bit more okay with Iowa's rotation. Ideally, you want higher ceiling guys, but at the very least, you want guys that could potentially step in this year if your high ceiliing guys aren't ready and SP is a need. With Rusin, Joksich, Hendricks, we have that (and I guess Wada and who am I blanking on?) Still a bit disappointed that Ramirez was stuffed in the pen.

Yeah, those two are on a different planet from Johnson-Edwards-Pineyro-Black. How Rhee is still getting starts after all these years of bad pitching is kind of amazing. I think Rhee continuing to get starts is a byproduct of two things; 1 - There simply hasn't been a ton of competition to push him out. Even now, there really isn't anyone from Daytona pushing up, as Ben Wells probably needs a bit more time (and despite a totally different body, has a somewhat similar profile to Rhee). In Tenneessee, it's Loosen, a guy I sorta like in a curious for the bullpen type way ... and PJ Francescon (who I actually wouldn't mind seeing in the rotation, although fully acknowledging that the lack of a quality 3rd pitch makes him better suited for the pen). 2 - The occasional glimpses of ... something ... in Rhee. I mean, by most accounts, it's still a plus splitter with a fastball that has some juice. That said, he really may be better off in the pen, as it pertains to getting a shot at the bigs. In some respects, he reminds me of Tyler Clippard, a marginal starting prospect with a good secondary option and enough juice on the fastball, but an inconsistent third option. In Clippard's case, it's a change-up (and he added the splitter this year). ______________________________ It was nice to see Amaya back in the lineup. Wasn't paying attention to why he was out, but still curious if he can breakout this year, offensively. Penalver's start has been a nice thing to see.

Very good outing so far for Tseng. 5 shutout, 5 h, 6 K's. Granted, it's early to get too high or too low, but a shutout with those type of K numbers sure looks fascinating, so will be curious how the stuff looked.

Good to see Jensen pitching. Was too busy to really follow this spring, so not real sure how his stuff looked, but if it's close to pre-injury, he could move fast as a pen arm.