Up to this point, we have been looking at potential first round draft picks with the Giants #14 overall pick in mind. We've covered enough of those that unless they go completely off the board, as they have been known to do, their first round pick will likely be one of the names we've reviewed. We now turn our attention to players who may be available in later rounds.
If the name Casey Gillaspie has a familiar ring, it might be due to his brother being Conor Gillaspie, a former Giants supplemental first round draft choice and 3B prospect. Like his brother, Casey attends Witchita St in Kansas. Unlike his brother, Casey throws left-handed, is a switch-hitter and plays first base. He is also much bigger than Conor at 6'4", 240 lbs.
On video, Casey has a classic slugger's stance and swing, standing upright at the plate with his bat held high. He has a slight load and low leg lift, but a long stride and an unrestrained follow-through on his swing. Here are his college stat lines:
2012 .274/.378/.442, 8 HR, 34 BB, 43 K in 215 AB.
2013 .299/.447/.517, 11 HR, 62 BB, 35 K in 234 AB.
His excellent K and BB ratios have caught the eye of sabermetrically oriented analysts. In addition to his college experience, he put up a .321 BA with 8 HR in the 2013 Cape Cod League.
College Baseball Daily lists Casey as the #50 college prospect while BA lists him at #28. He should be available when the Giants pick in round 2 of the draft with an outside chance of still being there in round 3. The 2'nd and 3'rd rounds are where John Barr has typically looked for power hitters. Combine the prior Giants connection with his bro and the sweet K and BB ratios and I could see the Giants snapping him up in round 2.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Casey was an interesting player to watch when the Shockers visited Hawaii in 2013 for a 5 game series because he's Conor's brother and he's a talented player..The 1st thing I noticed was Casey being much bigger then older brother Conor who's listed at 6'1" 205 LBS. Then we noticed the classic slugger's stance and swing and the hard hit baseballs. It doesn't surprise me that Casey is a top college hitter to watch in the 2014 draft being a big SH 1st baseman with power potential. I read an article where older brother Conor said Casey has more talent then him and expected Casey to do well at the Cape Cod League. I would caution on looking too much at the good K to BB ratio though. My observation last year was that the Shocker lineup was weak with the exception of Casey, so it wouldn't surprise me if he was pitched around alot. Kolten Wong went through that his Jr year in Hawaii.
ReplyDeleteLG
I will say, in the video he looked much more comfortable at the plate batting LH than RH. I guess that's to be expected since he throws L and hits LH about 3/4 of the time.
Delete