Paul Janish was called up last night after Jeff Keppinger was hurt. Michael Griffin moved up to Louisville and rumors are that Justin Turner was moved up to Chattanooga. From there on down I haven’t heard anything yet. Lets hope Janish can swing his bat just a little bit in the majors because his defense is really good.
Daryl Thompson has an interview up on BaseballAmerica.com with Ben Badler. Its a great read so go take some time to check it out.
Reds.com has up a little draft preview, you can read it all by clicking here, but I have some of the highlights below:
“Walt’s philosophy is pretty similar to Wayne’s,” Buckley said. “They’re both baseball guys that want us to get the best talent out there. I have not been told to select anybody or stay away from a certain guy. Everybody is in play. We’ll go get the best people we can.”
The Reds could have several options with their top pick and are expected to take the best guy available. Because of the number of years needed to develop someone, they will not select a player based on a current need at the big league level.
The Reds are usually looking to bolster the middle of the field positions — catcher, second base, shortstop and center field. Adding more power hitters would also be a regular priority. Of course, there’s always going to be a need for pitching, and more pitching. Quality left-handed pitching is routinely in the shortest supply and the highest demand.
In 2006, 34 of the 50 overall picks were players taken out of colleges. Last year, there were 32 college players taken out of the 50. However, three of the last four first-round selections were picked out of high school — including Mesoraco (15th overall from Punxsutawney, Pa.) in 2007. In last year’s Draft, the Reds also took 31 pitchers, including high schooler Kyle Lotzkar — a first-round sandwich pick.
The same guys are in place that ran the previous drafts, so I don’t think that anything will change. Expect them to look for guys that play up the middle or throw the baseball that are tall and right handed early and look for other things down in the draft. Starting tomorrow I am going to take a look at the top 15 draft eligible guys, one each day, as the draft closes in on us.
Wednesday, 14. May 2008
That interview shows how great an attitude Thompson has. He seems like he’s very willing to learn and develop and take in anything he can to get better. One knock I have on Homer Bailey has been that in interviews he seems cocky to the point of being resolute and that he would not take advice or instruction well. It also sounds as if Thompson may have been like that before his torn labrum. But ironically, getting injured was the best thing to happen to Thompson as not only his shoulder was rehabilitated but so too was his mental approach.
I also wonder from reading about his rehab and how he stated that after rehab he actually added velocity, if that too has to do with a change in approach and a new emphasis on working out. I’ve never heard of adding velocity after a shoulder injury.
It was also informative that he’s kind of lost his feel for the change up recently, which correlates with a slight drop off in performance, especially in command.
Lastly, his details of how the injury happened just further highlight why leaving young pitchers in too long is dangerous (I’m talking directly to you Dusty Baker). In his last inning he tried to throw as hard as he could to strike a guy out and tore his labrum. It’s these types of high stress situations when the arm/shoulder is tired that greatly increase the chance of injury for a young pitcher. Putting young pitchers in such situations when they have little to no probability of altering the game outcome is tantamount to willful negligence in my book.
I apologize for another long rambling post, but Thompson is one of the most intriguing prospects the Reds have had in a long time.
Wednesday, 14. May 2008
Kevin,
I think I agree with everything you said with the exception of the Bailey comment. It seems getting beaten around a little bit, even while injured last year gave him some humility at least to the point that he was willing to listen to his coaches.
Wednesday, 14. May 2008
On Bailey, I’ve read many times he isn’t the most personable person with the media and comes across in a negative light because of that.
I recollect John Fay mentioning that Bailey just doesn’t like to do interviews. It’s just not something is comfortable doing yet (maybe ever?). I spent a portion of my professional career working with the baseball media and I can’t say that I blame Bailey.
Wednesday, 14. May 2008
In a baseball america chat the host said that Aaron Crow could fall to the Reds at #7. I wouldn’t mind seeing them pop Skipworth there. That guys a pure hitter. Probably better than Mesoraco.
Wednesday, 14. May 2008
I want no part of Aaron Crow. I would much rather someone else take the chance that his arm doesn’t blow up.
Thursday, 15. May 2008
Ive heard the same argument about Lincecum. I actually favor Scheppers over Crow and Hunt. I dont like a college pitcher with command problems like hunt has. Scheppers has a real live arm. Then again, if Gordon Beckham’s there at seven hed be tempting. There’s a guy that can really hit and projects to stick at short.