Oakland A's 2010 Draft

[Giants]

2.15 Kyle Heckathorn RHP 6'6 240 Kennesaw State

So I went a little on tilt when Stassi went. My top 3 targets at that pick were Iglesias (long shot to get there but a guy can dream), then Heckathorn's teammate Chad Jenkins, then Max Stassi. So dammit all when Stassi went right before me, I had to a little scrambling, and I settled on Kyle Heckathorn. To me, he's basically a video game pitcher, from some random college, with a name that sounds like it was created by Madden's draft generator, plus he's big and throws hard, exactly the kind of guys I draft in video games. For a more specific analysis here's Jonathan Mayo:

Fastball: Heckathorn has a power fastball that he throws anywhere from 88-96 mph and sits in the 92-94 mph range
Fastball movement: It's too straight, without a ton of life.
Slider: It's a loud, power slider, 86-90 mph, usually around 87-88 mph.
Changeup: Throws it in the mid-80s and seems to have a feel for it, but it's a little too hard and he doesn't throw it often.
Control: Has good, not great command. It will never be a plus. He does mostly throw strikes, but he misses up in the zone when he overthrows.
Poise: Needs some work. He's a little excitable and energetic; has been known to get a little fired up at umpires when he gets squeezed.
Physical Description: Heckathorn looks the part with a chiseled, muscular body, like a Kyle Farnsworth type.
Medical Update: Healthy.
Strengths: Body, plus pure power arsenal.
Weaknesses: The results haven't always matched the pure stuff. He doesn't seem to miss as many bats as you'd think. There's some effort to the delivery.
Summary: Heckathorn is sure to be fairly high on everyone's list, thanks to his size, strength and pure power arsenal. He can pump his fastball up into the mid-to-upper 90s, has a hard slider to go along with it and generally throws strikes. The one puzzling thing about the right-hander has been that he hasn't dominated his competition or missed bats as much as you'd expect with that stuff. His size and stuff will ensure he's off the board before long, but he might be a half-step behind the upper-echelon college arms this year.

Heckathorn's ERA was ugly in his 6 starts for Helena, but his walk rate was a pleasant surprise at 4.1% and he got a lot of groundballs. Would have been nice to see the K rate higher, but after only one strikeout in his first two starts it picked up over the last 4. Oh yeah, and he gets an invitation to major league camp in his contract, so we'll find out early if he's anything.

[Giants]

3.15 Billy "Colton" Cain - LHP 6'3 225 Waxahachie High School (TX)

First of all you know this guy is country, his legal name is actually Billy, which is awesome. Colton Cain was Frank Coonelly's giant middle finger to his former employers in the MLB front office, giving a $1.125 bonus to his 8th round pick. Here is the MLB.com report on Cain:

Fastball: Cain touched 94 mph and throws a hard, heavy fastball with sink.
Curve: It was inconsistent, though he showed some rotation. A slider might be his best bet in the future.
Changeup: Showed some feel for a change. He has good arm speed and it has a chance to be a good pitch down the line.
Control: Overall, it was pretty good. He left the ball up in the zone at times, but could get away with it at this level.
Poise: An oustanding competitor who is very aggressive on the mound.
Physical Description: Cain is a big, strong lefty, kind of like a young Greg Swindell.
Strengths: Outstanding heavy fastball from the left side; pounds the zone with it. Good athlete who's very competitive.
Weaknesses: Other pitches lag behind the fastball, though he does have a breaking ball and a feel for a change.
Summary: Cain is a big, strong lefty out of the high school ranks who will have to be signed away from being a two-way player at University of Texas. He's improved his Draft prospect stock as a pitcher, running his heavy fastball up to about 94 mph. His other offerings are behind the heater, but he does have a feel for pitching. He's a step behind the elite prep lefties in this class, but he's not too far below them.

My system is doing pretty well with the bat with Posey, Stanton, and Neal on their way to the big club, so I figured I'd focus on starting pitching in this draft and I like the potential of the two guys I brought in so far to be rotation contributors.

[Giants]

4.7 Matt Graham - RHP 6'4 225 Oak Ridge HS (Texas)

Another Texas high school bonus baby, Graham was considered a first round talent but struggled this year. He can hit 95, and I love the way the Giants develop pitchers, so I think he has a chance to be really good.

Fastball: Graham fluctuates with his velocity. He can be as high as 95, then down to 91 because of an inconsistent delivery. He is all raw arm strength
Fastball movement: Since it's not consistent, he doesn't get repeated movement on it.
Curve: He tries to throw a breaking ball, but he doesn't control it at all. He'll occasionally show a little rotation. A slider or split might be a better option.
Changeup: He tries to use it but doesn't have a feel for it.
Control: With an inability to repeat his delivery or arm action, he has well below-average command and often has a hard time throwing strikes.
Poise: He's a very slow worker, making it difficult to play defense behind him.
Physical Description: Graham is a big, strong right-hander with a Roger Clemens-type body.
Medical Update: Healthy.
Strengths: Pure, raw arm strength and physicality.
Weaknesses: He's just a thrower and doesn't really know how to pitch. He can't command the baseball at all and his fastball is his only decent offering.
Summary: Graham, truth be told, is a project. But he's one that someone might like to take on, because he's got plus raw arm strength and can crank it up to 95 mph at times. The problem is he can't repeat his delivery, so it's not consistent. Neither is his command, or any secondary offerings. The best thing might be to teach him a second pitch, like a slider, and make him a short reliever. It's something the University of North Carolina might do, and it might be tough for an MLB team to keep him from honoring that commitment.

Definitely a lottery ticket, but he could end up being special.

[Giants]

4.15 Jeff Inman RHP 6'2 205 Stanford

Another Pirates over slot pick up, Inman was one of the top college arms in the draft before he struggled early and then was shut down with shoulder tendinitis. In most situations that would be a red flag, but the shoulder problem kept Stanford manager Mark Marquess (who doesn't believe in pitch counts) from taking too many bullets out of his arm this year. Inman has a low 90's fastball (90-93), and a 12-6 curve that could be a plus pitch in addition to a developing change-up. He's obviously a gamble, but he's a first round talent without first round results so that's what happens. I'm hoping that since Marquess didn't get to run him into the ground he won't go the way of Kyle Peterson, Jeff Austin, Chad Hutchinson, Jason Young, Justin Wayne, Greg Reynolds... boy, why would any righty of substance consider trying to go to Stanford? Anyway, here's a couple of reports on Inman since MLB.com didn't right him up

From BuccoFans Jeff Inman, RHP

2009 Season: Inman was projected to be one of the top juniors in the 2009 draft class at the start of the 2009 NCAA season. He struggled in his junior year, faced injury issues, and fell to the Pirates in the 12th round. Inman put up a 6.11 ERA with a 5.6 K/9 and a 3.2 BB/9 in 53 innings at Stanford. He only pitched two innings with State College, allowing no runs, four hits, no walks, and striking out two.

Information: Inman is 6' 3", 180 pounds. He throws in the low 90s, touching 96 at times. He also has a solid curveball and changeup. His velocity dropped in the 80s in May, and he was shut down with shoulder tendinitis. There weren't any reports of that being an issue for him with the Pirates, although the tendinitis and the poor 2009 season is the reason he went from a potential first round selection to the 12th round with the Pirates. Inman turns 22 in November.

2010 Expectations: Inman didn't pitch much in 2009, which means he could start off at State College to work on his fastball command. However, he's a college arm, so I could see him starting in West Virginia.

Optimistic Projection: Top of the rotation starter

Conservative Projection: Back of the rotation starter or late innings reliever

From 2009MLBDraft

Jeffrey Inman
Fastball: Explosive. Again, no radar guns but it was getting on the hitter in a hurry. Reportedly works in the 90-93 range and I’d say he was in this outing. Velocity seemed to pick up as the game went along. Great movement as it has a ton of arm side run. He left the pitch up in the zone a little more than you’d like to see but he was able to spot the ball well when he threw it for strikes, especially inside to lefties.

Breaking Ball: An above average to plus pitch at times. Very good 12-6 movement that Vanderbilt hitters struggled to make contact with. He left the pitch up in the zone sometimes but it was evident that he was releasing a bit too soon on some of the ones he did leave up. If he can stay on top of it, Inman’s curve is going to be a good outpitch.

Changeup: Threw maybe one or two really good ones but the majority of them sailed high out of the zone. Has potential but Inman is going to have to work on it.

Other notes: It’s obvious that he mostly needs to work on getting a better downward plane to the plate so he can stay on top of his pitches. All of his offerings usually missed high when he was out of the zone. Good pitchers frame that he could probably add 10-15 pounds to. Slow delivery to the plate but overall he had good mechanics.

Inman will start next year in full-season ball, so we'll figure out pretty quickly if this was a wasted pick or not.

[Giants]

5.15 David Hale RHP 6'2 200 Princeton

Always a good year when you can get one guy from Stanford and another guy from Princeton, I bet I have the smartest draft class of anyone this year. Hale signed with the Braves and got in 16 innings in Danville, where he had an absurd 76% GB rate. Here's a scouting report on Hale from baseballdraftreport.com:

Hale has one of the better fastballs in the college ranks (sitting 92-95) and his overall athleticism, makeup, and, surprise surprise, baseball IQ all earn him high marks. There is a certain rawness to his game that is simultaneously enticing and terrifying. This rawness stems from the less than wonderful Ivy League lineups he faces during conference play and the not quite year round commitment to the sport that many northern schools, especially the Ivies, have the time, space, and resources to allow. In this way he is more like Seton Hall righty Sean Black than Stanford ace Jeff Inman, in that both Hale and Black have a certain mystical aura surrounding the difficult positions they find themselves often playing in. Maybe it’s just me, but players from the northeast are just so delightfully shrouded in mystery come draft time that I can’t resist. Maybe it’s the increased opportunity to stand out above a crowd of nobodies (Ryan Westmoreland is my example of this from the 2008 class), maybe it’s the actual logistics about scouts not being able to gain enough info to dissect a guy’s weaknesses apart, maybe it’s the marketing allure of being the best in an lightly scouted area (wow, he’s the number one player in the state…who cares that it’s Delaware, he’s number one!) rather than merely one of the best in a baseball hotbed, or maybe it’s the forgiving nature we as a society have for our fellow man (poor fella isn’t lucky enough to play in a warm, sunny place – let’s bump him up a round or two). Whatever it is, I love it. The myth of the great amateur ballplayer from the northeast will outlive us all. Anyway, if all goes according to plan Hale will be the highest ranked Princeton pitcher selected since Ross Ohlendorf went in the fourth round in 2004.

and from TalkingChop.com

I guess the trend so far this year is that the Braves are picking polished college pitchers from elite private universities. When was the last time the Braves selected two college pitchers with their top two picks?

After selecting Mike Minor with the #7 pick in the draft, the Braves took Princeton right-handed pitcher David Hale in the third round with the 87 pick. Hale was ranked as the 28th-best right-handed pitching prosepct in the draft by Baseball America, and 76th overall, and considered second-round talent.

Hale sports a fastball in the mid-to-upper 90's to go along with a plus slider. He played both center field and pitcher in college, so concentrating solely on pitching should help him harness his raw pitching talent. He may project as more of a reliever down the road.

Really, I guess I'm a little surprised he was on the board here, nothing not to like. Worse comes to worse he's a reliever in an MLB pen by 2012.