Monday, March 2, 2015
Scouting the 2015 Draft: Austin Smith
Here's another good sized, high ceiling HS RHP for you. Austin Smith goes 6'4", 215 lbs out of HS in Florida. He has long arms and high hips but already has some bulk to him and looks like he weighs more than 215 on the videos I saw. His FB sits in the low 90's but has hit 96. He is already working on a 4 pitch mix with a slider, curve and change that are all projectable. PG's scouting report says he has a "easy, low effort delivery", "very physical, athletic build", "projectable." BA has him ranked as the #44 draft prospect in their early ranking while Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs likes him a bit better at #31, which just happens to be where the Giants draft in the supplemental first round. Kiley's comment was "smoothest arm action in the draft." Add him to Ashe Russell, Beau Burrows, Donny Everett, Mike Nikorak and Cole McKay in the list of big, hard throwing, high ceiling HS RHP's in this draft. Love it!
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Man I like Smith a lot. Some of the reports I've seen say he could be an easy mid-90's arm in a few years.
ReplyDeleteI will suggest one more name for you...another right-handed power arm. Kyle Molnar from SoCal. I wrote in my mock that I would love to see the Giants draft him. It's pretty amazing how deep this HS pitching class is turning out to be.
With a guy like Dillon Tate getting huge helium, some HS pitcher is going to be knocked down a spot. This is the beauty of the draft. Even if it isn't getting raves, I think the talent in this class is more interesting overall than last years.
ReplyDeleteI agree. And with last year's #1 still hanging around, it could be a wild first round. I have no doubt there will be some sweet prep arms still hanging around for that supplemental pick. As tempting as it would be to snag one at 18, I still think taking a bat would be the best move.
DeleteSpeaking of Tate, what do you think of him Shankbone? Another guy who seems to be gaining some early momentum is our own Benton Moss. I could easily see him going top 2 rounds if he keeps throwing like he has been.