Saturday, February 14, 2015

College Corner: Opening Friday Starter Lines

Here are some random starting pitching lines from the first Friday of college baseball season.  Of course we are most interested in pitchers who are ranked as early draft prospects for 2015.

Carson Fulmer, Vandy:  5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 K's.
Philip Pfeifer, Vandy(RP):  4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K's.  He's a RS Jr, LHP.

Nate Kirby, Virginia:  7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K's.

James Kaprielian, UCLA:  6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K's.

Kyle Funkhouser, Louisville:  7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 12 K's.  Total dominance!

Andrew Suarez, Miami:  5 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 K's.

Tom Eshleman, CS Fullerton:  6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 10 K's.

Mike Matuella, Duke:  6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K's.  Facing Cal.

Andrew Moore, Oregon St:  7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 9 K's.

Reggie McLain, Missouri:  8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K's.  A new name to watch.  JC transfer.  A Jr this year.

In Saturday action, Dillon Tate of UCSB threw 6.2 shutout IP with 8 K's in his debut as a SP.

9 comments:

  1. I saw a pitcher on Friday who might be a interesting sleeper pick for a team in the. 2015 draft. Cole Irvin of Oregon pitched his 1st game after sitting out 2014 due to TJ surgery and looked great 4IP 2 hits 0 runs 4k's 44 pitches thrown. This guy is LHP who had an outstanding freshman year before getting hurt.

    LG

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    1. That would be right in line with the Giants MO. Christian Jones fit that description to a T.

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  2. Some major names to watch there. Great to have baseball (any baseball!) back. To me, this draft class looks like it could be very similar to last year's on the pitching side. Just looking at the names you have listed above: If all of them pitch well and stay healthy, I could easily see Fulmer, Kirby, Funkhouser and Matuella go as top 12 picks. Add in the JC guys like Aiken and Bickford, and the top 3-5 prep arms in the class (which could easily change by June), and there's going to be some seriously good arms available when the Giants pick.

    Personally, I think I'd like to tap into the prep hitter pool with that #18 pick and bank on a strong pitcher being available at the #31, which I don't see as unreasonable. Cody Ponce is a guy who may slide a bit, but I have to tell you, I was pretty darn impressed after watching highlights of his start against APU last night. He looked a lot more athletic than older pictures and videos I'd seen, and he showed a pretty nice breaking ball too... which I don't believe was part of his arsenal before. The guy on the other side, Staumont, was casually throwing 97-100 (with a sharp breaking ball as well).

    You really never can tell which way the Giants will go, but I can say I would not be upset at all if they came away with one (or both) of those D2 arms in their first three picks.

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    1. Ian Happ is off to a strong start. I don't know if he will be there at #18, but he is the model of the type of hitter the Giants seem target these days.

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    2. I like Happ, and I have a feeling he could boost himself to All-American status this year. That would put him up in the Top 15 range pretty easily (which is where he might be considered already). I'm not really sure how to say this, but if he puts up similar #'s this year as he has in his first couple, I would almost call him too conservative a pick. I would much rather see a power arm or a high upside Trent Clark/Chris Betts/Nick Plummer/Garrett Whitley prep pick at that #18 spot.

      But you are absolutely correct Drb, Happ fits the Giants draft profile to a T.

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  3. I like your thinking Cove Chatter. Nick Plummer OF at #18 and Juan Hillman LHP at #31. Get a hitter and then a starter.

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  4. Sure enough, just as I hit submit on my "conservative" analysis of Happ, I check and see that he's already got 2 HR and 2 2B in the first 3 games of the year. Hit 5 HR all of last season! They've got him playing RF too... Safe to say if he keeps doing that, he'll be an easy top 10 pick, especially in a light college hitter crop.

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    1. Yeah, I'm thinking Happ does not make it to #18.

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  5. Thomas Eshelman's is the exact same line that Long Beach State's Kyle Friedrichs put up in their Friday opener against Michigan- 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 10 K's. Crazy.

    Dirtbags took their series 2-1.

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