MLB Draft

[flyer85]

You say that now, but you have no idea what the future holds for him, or for whoever the Reds will end up taking if its not Bard.

career and stuff reminds of Verlander and if he was pitching to his stuff he would be the 1st or 2nd player picked. He has a huge upside, of course with pitchers you never really know.

[dougdirt]

career and stuff reminds of Verlander and if he was pitching to his stuff he would be the 1st or 2nd player picked. He has a huge upside, of course with pitchers you never really know.

Ok, maybe I am missing something here, but you seem to know about him while I can just look at his stats. What in his career reminds you of Verlander? Look at both of their stats for their first 2 years in college.

Justin Verlander
Year  W L ERA  IP      H   R ER HR BB  SO  h9     hr9   w9     k9      whip 
2002  7 6 1.91 113.0 83 34 24  2  43 137  6.61  0.16  3.42  10.91  1.12 
2003  7 6 2.40 116.1 94 44 31  2  43 139  7.27  0.15  3.33  10.75  1.18 

Daniel Bard
Year  W L ERA  IP      H  R  ER HR  BB  SO  h9     hr9    w9  k9     whip 
2004  8 4 3.88 95.0  94 49  41 7   31  68  8.91  0.66  2.94  6.44  1.32 
2005  7 5 4.22 89.2  73 53  42 8   43  77  7.33  0.80  4.32  7.73  1.29

Verlander had an ERA a ton better, pitched more innings, allowed fewer hits per 9, fewer walks per 9, fewer HR per 9, a ton more walks per 9, and a whip lower by a bit.

[Aronchis]

Brad Morrow has the best pure stuff in this draft. Bard is just a thrower. If the Reds landed Morrow, that would be a major coo.

[15fan]

I guess it's about time for me to start stumping for Matt Antonelli.

(I'll also get on the record & say that in '08, I'll be stumping for Allan Dykstra.)

Here's another name for the '06 draft:

Danny Almonte

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/draft2...ory?id=2450606

[flyer85]

Ok, maybe I am missing something here, but you seem to know about him while I can just look at his stats. What in his career reminds you of Verlander? Look at both of their stats for their first 2 years in college.

Verlander had an ERA a ton better, pitched more innings, allowed fewer hits per 9, fewer walks per 9, fewer HR per 9, a ton more walks per 9, and a whip lower by a bit.

Verlander was pitching in the CAA. The CAA and ACC use the same letters but the level of competition is nowhere close.

[dougdirt]

Yeah there is a dropoff in talent...I dunno, I am just not sold on Bard. I havent seen him pitch, but nothing about his numbers tell me he is that good. Miller, the ace of the staff has an ERA half that of him. If we were to take Bard, it would be only 6 or 7 spots apart from Miller, and Miller clearly is a much better pitcher, facing the same competition.
With all of that said, what the heck do I know? I am no scout, nor have I ever seen him pitch.

[flyer85]

Yeah there is a dropoff in talent...I dunno, I am just not sold on Bard. I havent seen him pitch, but nothing about his numbers tell me he is that good. Miller, the ace of the staff has an ERA half that of him. If we were to take Bard, it would be only 6 or 7 spots apart from Miller, and Miller clearly is a much better pitcher, facing the same competition.
With all of that said, what the heck do I know? I am no scout, nor have I ever seen him pitch.

not many were sold on Verlander before the draft and for most of the time until the final week BA had him being available when the Reds picked. There was quite a discussion on whether the Reds should take Verlander if he was to be available.

[Outshined_One]

not many were sold on Verlander before the draft and for most of the time until the final week BA had him being available when the Reds picked. There was quite a discussion on whether the Reds should take Verlander if he was to be available.

Verlander was pretty much guaranteed to be a top 5 pick in that draft, which featured some pretty darn good pitching (Jered Weaver, the Rice trio, Mark Rogers, Bailey, etc). He had incredible stuff, but was inconsistent because he had trouble repeating his delivery. The Tigers knew that it was easily correctable and acted on his availability accordingly. It's really hard to pass up on a guy who throws a high 90s fastball with good movement, a plus curve, and a deceptive change.

I don't see that with Bard, though. If anything, I see it more with Morrow. Incredibly talented on the mound, but inconsistent mechanics have been problematic for him in the past (although he seems to have worked those issues out). Morrow is different from Verlander in that his fastball doesn't have comparable movement, he throws a plus splitter, and that he's had a bit of injury history (shoulder tendinitis due to mechanics).

Then again, I'm not very high on Bard...so, *shrugs*

[Aronchis]

If the Tigers go with Stubbs, The Dodgers are high on Kiker(a Travis Wood type pitcher lol)....that leaves Kershaw and Morrow as the best bets. Morrow as the previous poster mentioned is the most "Verlander" like while Kershaw has the smoothest delivery of the prep class, a great frame, though his overall stuff probably isn't as good as Kiker's.

[OnBaseMachine]

I would be more than pleased to land a guy like Brandon Morrow with the 8th overall pick. Morrow or Daniel Bard is fine by me. Just give me a college pitcher with great stuff and clean delivery and I'm happy. If they do draft Morrow, I hope they sign him quick and send him to the FSL and let him get a few starts in there.

[OnBaseMachine]

Morrow had the best fastball on the Cape during the summer of 2005, frequently working in the 96-99 range, maintaing that velocity during his inning of work at the Cape All-Star Game. He complements his fastball with a wicked split-fingered fastball which may be the single best trick-pitch of anyone available for the 2006 draft. He pitched much better on the Cape than he did at Cal, and it's unsure whether his future lies as a starter or in the bullpen. His lively 1-2 punch would make him a potentially dominant closer if he can't sustain the workload of pitching every five days. He has a good pitchers frame and a live arm in which the ball explodes out of his hand. He is a diabetic, and has worked hard to manage his lifestyle and well-being since being diagnosed. He was named the Cape Cod League's #5 prospect during the summer of 2005 according to Baseball America.

http://www.brewerfan.net/ViewAmateur...=510&draftId=4

[Aronchis]

That is a problem, Morrow's delivery isn't always clean. He also has had some shoulder weakness in the past which has caused some concern about a fraying rotator cuff/labrum.

Verlander had the same(even better really) electric stuff and bad control because of up and down mechanics. The key was, Verlander got corrected, Morrow may not.

[Superdude]

I'd be thrilled with Morrow. If he avoids injury, late innings reliver is a worst case scenario with his stuff.

[Aronchis]

Another thing with Morrow, if he gets the bugs out of his mechanics, he will be a quick rise, much like Verlander.............if he doesn't, shoulder surgury.

I can't believe the Dodgers are seriously gonna take Kiker at 7, mercy, he throws across his body.

[Outshined_One]

I can't believe the Dodgers are seriously gonna take Kiker at 7, mercy, he throws across his body.

AND he apparently has had off the field problems that a number of scouts refuse to disclose.