Thursday, February 18, 2010

College Corner: Ricky Oropesa

Partly because of an extension of my interest in baseball's free agent draft, I have developed in interest in College Baseball. Between now and the draft, I will be posting some draft previews and thoughts on who the Giants might/should draft, and I'll also be posting some college stuff just for interests sake. This year, there will be one college player I will follow with extra interest, Ricky Oropesa of the USC Trojans. You see, I work with Ricky's mom, have met Ricky and have his autographed AFLAC All American card. USC and Ricky will be playing their first game of the season tomorrow against Cal Poly SLO.

Ricky is a corner IF who graduated from Etiwanda HS here in the Inland Empire of Southern California. He was a tremendous hitter in HS and was drafted in the 24'th round by the Boston Red Sox, but chose to accept his scholarship to USC. He is 6'2", 215 lbs. B-L, T-R. Ricky had a fine freshman season working his way into the cleanup hitter role on a team that included MLB draftees Grant Green and Robert Stock. For the season Ricky batted .314/.385/.578 with 13 HR's. I will be rooting for Ricky tomorrow night and throughout the college season following his batting lines in the boxscores that can be found at www.d1baseball.com.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the blog, doc. Good stuff... no off topic posts, no off-color humor, just good clean baseball talk.
    Personally, I would love to see the Giants take a true college centerfielder/leadoff hitter type of player, one who could move through the system quickly, since I think there is a lack of that kind of player in their system. I think Jarret Parker might fit that category, as might Tyler Holt and Leon Landry. It is unlikely that LeVon Washington lasts until the 24th pick. If Bryce Brentz makes a successful switch to CF it is unlikely he lasts that long either.
    Looking forward to your draft previews and thoughts!

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  2. Thank you. Those are some of the names I'm interested in too. If the Giants factor in organizational need, I think we are actually thinner in elite pitching prospects than hitting right now. I don't know too much about pitchers who might be available when the Giants draft. I will have to educate myself a bit. Andy Seiler's blog seems to be the go-to place for draft info these days.

    His latest first round mock has the Giants taking Rice SS Rick Hague. Not sure I like that too much. I'll be following him as well as some of the ones you mentioned. Not sure why, but Tyler Holt seems like a good fit. Nice combo of hitting and speed with decent power.

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