Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Scouting the 2015 Draft: Cody Ponce

Cody Ponce is a name that popped up on draft rankings this summer after a tremendous season in the Cape Cod League.  Ponce pitches for Cal Poly Pomona, an NCAA Division II college.  He's a big kid at 6'6", 240 lbs who was not recruited heavily out of HS because his FB ran in the low-mid 80's.  Since entering Cal Poly, he has worked to get stronger and has gained velocity as he has gained strength.  He worked in the 93-96 MPH range this summer at The Cape according to BA.  Reports from the CCL All-Star game where he would work more like a reliever had him 94-97 MPH.  Despite is size and velocity, he is not a big K pitcher with 52 in 75 IP, for Cal Poly in 2014 and 32 in 35 IP in the CCL.  He is more of a heavy FB/pitch-to-contact/groundball guy.  He basically features just two pitches, FB and cutter.  He has a changeup, but does not throw it often.  He'll have to develop that changeup in the pros, but you can't teach size and can only marginally teach velocity, so he is a prospect.  BA has him ranked as the #24 draft prospect in 2015 while Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs has him at all the way up at #11.  I am not completely convinced he is a first rounder, myself, due to limited pitch repertoire and mediocre K rates against suspect competition.

2 comments:

  1. So what you're saying is that he's an 'athlete' whose production doesn't quite match with the expectations you have of him based on his athleticism Yeah.... Those kind of guys don't do it for me. Kind of like how Brown has fallen off my radar and I see Perez as nothing more than a 5th outfielder.

    Besides, I just think we could lay off drafting pitchers in Round 1 through 3 for a couple of years unless a major talent falls our way out of improbably luck and circumstances. After all, this organization is (theoretically) well stocked with pitching talent in the minors. For example, you look at MLBs Top-20, 8 of the Top-10 are pitchers (including 4 top-quality SP prospects) with Susac and Garcia (both catchers) breaking into the Top-10.

    Also, speaking MLBs Top-20, I think they're stealing your stuff. ;) I swear Cody Hall wasn't on their list last time I checked. And now he's 19th.

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    1. Yeah well, I don't agree that 8 of the top 10 are pitchers. I think the organization is balanced enough they can go BPA.

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