The trade of Zack Wheeler to the Mets for a 2 month rental of Carlos Beltran left a gaping hole in the Giants ordinarily strong organizational depth chart for pitchers. Even before that, the system had thinned out a lot with the graduation of Madison Bumgarner and the recent organizational emphasis on hitting. While you always want to see your team draft the best player available, especially in the first round of the draft, there are often several players who grade out as approximately equal at different positions giving some flexibility. In that situation, drafting for organizational need is not a terrible idea. HS RHP Taylore Cherry is a name that seems to move between #15 and #30 from mock draft to mock draft, keeping in mind that these rankings fluctuate wildly between now and draft day.
The thing that jumps out at you about Cherry is his size, 6'9", 260 lbs. The amazing thing is that even at that weight, he doesn't look overweight at all. Cherry sports a FB that goes 91-94 MPH with late movement. In one extended video on youtube.com, it looked like he has both a 4 seamer and 2 seamer. The 2 seamer has sink and armside run. His second pitch is a changeup that is rated plus. The breaking ball is a work in progress. Anther standout characteristic when you look at the videos is how easy his motion is. It looks like he just out there playing catch with the catcher with a minimum of visible effort.
Taylore Cherry's profile can be found at MLB Draft Guide linked on the left. There are a couple of links on the site to You Tube videos. I would be happy if Taylore Cherry was the Giants first round draft pick at #20.
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#26 on mlb.com - they have a video up of him too. Huge dude, easy motion, looks like conditioning is way low on the priority list. I'd be happy Cherry.
ReplyDeleteVictor Roache will be long gone, but if teams pass and he gets snagged right in front of us it'll be a kick in the teeth. He has "the ability to punish the baseball" - that's what we need, more than anything else. We're not getting power except through the draft.
The pitcher Chris Beck from Georgia Southern is another guy who might drop to us - righty with pretty good polish and good frame. We've obviously already scouted these guys with picking up Shawn Payne.
The rankings will fluctuate, but MLB has Nick Williams in our slot, #20. He's a crazy athletic project type. I don't see the Giants going back to that well after the Fairley fiasco. What say you, any thoughts on the G's going for a crazy athlete like Williams?
I would be shocked if the Giants went toolsy on us. Barr's looking for hitters. He'll take the tools with it, like Gary Brown, but he's looking for guys who not only have the physical ability to hit, but have shown they know how to hit too.
ReplyDeleteCherry reminds me of Dellin Betances... his stuff rivals that of anyone in the minors but he has been plagued by injury, control problems and questionable conditioning. Still, the potential is enticing, and I would trust the Giants scouting staff to make the right call on a prospect such as Cherry.
ReplyDeleteAgain, the purpose of posting these this early in the draft cycle is more to acquaint readers with the types of players who might be available for the Giants to pick and the relative strengths of the draft as opposed to identifying specific players who the Giants should draft.
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