Obviously the draft has been going on for the past few days and everyone is trying to figure out how the Pirates did compared to the rest of the league. Figuring this out goes way beyond the first round especially in baseball so instead of doing one big post on Pirates first round draft pick Mark Appel I thought it would be more appropriate to do a post on the Pirates Top 10 picks where of course Appel would be included. But just in case you are looking for a place to take an even deeper look at Appel you should check out the link below at fangraphs where they thoroughly explain Mark Appel and the big problems that come with him.
1.) Mark Appel- By now most of you already know the story of Appel but I will just go along and tell it again anyways. Appel was the 8th overall selection of the draft and the first pick taken by the Pirates. Appel is currently a Junior at Stanford where he is preparing to play in the NCAA super regional tournament the final step before the college world series. Most people were highly surprised that Appel fell all the way down to the 8th pick partly because he was the number one ranked player in the draft according to Baseball America. Appel has a mid 90's fastball and an above average slider along with a spectacular circle change. The one problem that comes with Appel is that he represented by Scott Boras and even though Appel was only the 8th overall pick Boras will be demanding that he gets paid like a 1st overall guy which will be difficult to pay with the new CBA. Like I mentioned before the article on fangraphs explains this in detail if you are interested.
2.) Barret Barnes- Many thought that after picking Appel in the first round the Pirates would really back off on their picks going for guys that they could sign for cheap contacts to free up room for Appel, but they did the opposite in picking Barnes. Barnes is a Junior outfielder coming out of Texas Tech and really performed well late in the year moving his name up the boards late. Barnes has good pop in his bat and hits for a good average. Barnes has played mostly center-field showing great speed in college but projects to be more of a corner guy at the pro level.
3.) Wyatt Mathisen- The 69th overall pick of the 2012 draft was especially interesting to me when the Pirates took a high-school catcher who has never really eve6r played catcher before. Mathisen mostly played SS and pitched for his high-school team in Texas, but looks like he will be playing catcher as a pro. Mathisen goes R/R and has okay power in the batters box. This move interesting to me because just a few days ago the Pirates promoted their number one catching prospect in Tony Sanchez to Triple-A. Most likely Sanchez will have already been in the Big Leagues by the time Mathisen gets to that point but it will be interesting to see how Mathisen's numbers compare to Sanchez as he comes up through the minors that is if they get him signed.
4.) Jonathan Sandfort- With their fourth selection in the draft the Pirates took their second right handed pitcher of the draft. Sandfort is a prep guy and is committed to playing baseball at Florida next year but is very open about playing pro-ball if the right opportunity arises. Sandfort has very good speed on his fastball but a little to slow of a curve-ball. It will be interesting to see if Sandfort signs or sticks with his commitment to play for Florida.
5.) Brandon Thomas- The Pirates had the 136th pick in the draft and they decided to use it on their third College Junior of the draft and their second outfielder. The big upside in my opinion about Thomas is that he is a switch hitter and can go gap to gap from both sides of the plate. Thomas also has great speed like most center-fielders but is often afriad to use it on the base-paths. Thomas's downfall is his arm which is average at best but that can be improved with long toss and other similar activities.
6.) Adrian Sampson- Sampson is a victim of the infamous Tommy John surgery which he had his senior year of high school causing him to go undrafted and take the Junior College route. Sampson does not have overpowering stuff but he can commend his pitches very well being able to throw all of them for strikes consistently. Sampson is defiantly someone looking to sign very quickly, he is also right handed.
7.) Eric Wood- It is tough finding a lot of information on this guy but what I do know is that he plays third-base and in high-school he ran a 7.20 60. So take it for what its worth but I think this is just a pick where the Pirates were looking not to save a little bit of cash. I really dont ever see Wood making it to the big leagues but then again what do I know?
8.) Jacob Stallings- Stallings was taken as the 226 overall pick in the draft and is a college catcher at North Carolina University. Stallings his just below .300 this year at UNC but shows his real upside on defense. Stallings knows how to handle a pitching staff and really shows it in a article write by Tar Heel Monthly. Stallings will most likely start progressing faster then previous pick Wyatt Mathisen because of his strong defense but will eventually be passed because of Mathisen's stellar bat.
9.) Kevin Ross- The Pirates finally addressed there lack of depth in the minors at the middle infield positions when they took Kevin Ross a SS out of high-school in Illinois. Ross hit .451 in his senior year at prep schooll and shows a quick bat with good pop. Ross will most likely be looking to play third at a pro level not having the speed to play SS. So even though the Pirates addressed the middle infield they really did not address the middle infield.
10.) Douglas Crumilch- The Pirates took a college SS out of UC Irvine as the 286 overall pick of the draft. This is the second straight year the Pirates have taken Crumilch but this year he seems to be an easy sign considering he is a Senior and his only real option is to sign. Crumilch unlike Stallings projects to be a professional SS and had a nice average this year hitting .324 for UC Irvine.
I would say that to this point in the draft the Pirates have been strong and it's a class I feel pretty confident about. Also if you are wondering why I didn't do anything about the later rounds in the draft it's because that hardly ever do those players make it to the big leagues. Player taken beyond this point are used strictly to fill roster spots and used as organizational players their whole careers. Also if you are looking for more information on the Appel situation then this is by far the best website for it. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/the-pirates-game-theory-dilemma/.
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