baseball america top prospects

Friday, September 5, 2008

baseball america top prospects

Baseball America yesterday released its list of the Cape League's top 30 prospects. The full release, with scotuing reports, is subscriber content over there, but I'll go ahead and list the names here.

1. Grant Green, ss, Chatham (Jr., Southern California)
2. Dustin Ackley, of, Harwich (Jr., North Carolina)
3. Matt Harvey, rhp, Chatham (So., North Carolina)
4. Ben Tootle, rhp, Falmouth (Jr., Jacksonville State)
5. Brandon Workman, rhp, Wareham (So., Texas)
6. D.J. LeMahieu, ss, Harwich (So., Louisiana State)
7. A.J. Pollock, of, Falmouth (Jr., Notre Dame)
8. Brett Jackson, of, Cotuit (Jr., California)
9. Jeff Inman, rhp, Yarmouth-Dennis (Jr., Stanford)
10. Brad Stillings, rhp, Orleans (Jr., Kent State)
11. Ben Paulsen, 1b, Hyannis (Jr., Clemson)
12. Robbie Shields, ss, Cotuit (Jr., Florida Southern)
13. Matt Thomson, rhp, Orleans (Jr., San Diego)
14. Bryce Stowell, rhp, Bourne (signed with Indians)
15. Shawn Tolleson, rhp, Yarmouth-Dennis (So., Baylor)
16. Rich Poythress, 3b, Orleans (Jr., Georgia)
17. Kevin Patterson, 1b, Cotuit (So., Auburn)
18. Craig Fritsch, rhp, Yarmouth-Dennis (So., Baylor)
19. Mike Bianucci, of, Cotuit (signed with Rangers)
20. Brad Boxberger, rhp, Chatham (Jr., Southern California)
21. Chad Bettis, rhp, Falmouth (So., Texas Tech)
22. Tim Wheeler, of, Orleans (Jr., Sacramento State)
23. Dusty Coleman, ss, Bourne (signed with Athletics)
24. Evan Danieli, rhp, Falmouth (So., Notre Dame)
25. Sean Black, rhp, Harwich (Jr., Seton Hall)
26. Nick Hernandez, lhp, Cotuit (Jr., Tennessee)
27. Marc Krauss, of, Harwich/Bourne (Jr., Ohio)
28. Matt Bashore, lhp, Wareham (Jr., Indiana)
29. Ryan Wheeler, 1b, Brewster (Jr., Loyola Marymount)
30. Chris Dominguez, 3b, Hyannis (Jr., Louisville)

Some Thoughts:

No surprise that Green and Ackley go 1-2.

Kind of a surprise for me that Harvey is in the third spot. He came in with a lot of hype. The fact that he wasn't starting made me think he wouldn't have as good opportunity to live up to it, but clearly that's not the case. And Harvey actually ended up with some tremendous numbers after pitching a lot down the stretch. He had 29 strikeouts in 21.2 innings and allowed two runs all summer.

Ben Tootle is the top junior pitcher, but after that, you see that trend where the stars in the class of '09 weren't on the Cape. That means Jeff Inman and Brad Stillings, two pitchers I wouldn't have guessed would be so high, are in the top 10.

Here's another trend: you didn't have to play a lot to make a big impression. Both Ackley and No. 12 Robbie Shields played about a fourth of the season before leaving with injuries.

The class of 2010 certainly had its say. Three are in the top 10 with Brandon Workman and D.J. LeMahieu joining Harvey. In all, there are eight from that class.

Not a single catcher on the list. I thought Tommy Medica, Tony Sanchez or Robert Stock would make it.

A few other notable names who I thought might crack the list but didn't: Angelo Songco, Jason Kipnis, Chris Manno, Nick McCully, Sammy Solis and Andrew Carraway.

1 comment:

CapeMan said...: I saw this also on BA. I thought Stowell would be higher and I was surprised not to see Brent Millville (Brewster), Jimmy Cesario (Falmouth) and Kyle Seager (Chatham). Matt Bashore (Wareham) was a surprise over his teammate Dallas Keuchel.; September 5, 2008 at 4:05 PM

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as the fog settles in

The left-field sunset has faded. It is chilly now. You slip a sweatshirt on. The stat sheet you hold in your hands almost feels wet, the air is so damp. But the ink doesn't run. You can read it. That kid from LSU is still leading the league in home runs. That pitcher who they say throws 95 -- he's way up on the list in strikeouts.
The game is close, 3-2 through seven innings. You're staying till the end.
You look out at the field. Some fog has slipped in. It settles like smoke, just off the grass in front of the right fielder, like a cloud. When he runs through it to catch a fly ball, it looks almost magical, maybe even spiritual, like he's playing baseball in heaven.
Maybe he is.
The baseball is pure here. The players eager. The fans, maybe some of them don't know what they're seeing, maybe they just heard it was a fun night out, good for the family and everything -- but they know. They know somehow that this thing, this Cape League, is special.
Really, there's nothing like it.
I'm going to try and keep up.

Stop waxing poetic

The Cape Cod Baseball League is the top college summer league in the nation. Plenty of other leagues have cropped up of late, and some are having success, but the Cape League is still the model -- and the pinnacle. In 2006, 198 Major Leaguers had spent time in the Cape League.
The rosters are like a who's who of the best college baseball players. All the top prospects want to spend their summers on the Cape. The only better opportunity is Team USA. There are 10 teams in the league, divided into two divisions. Over the course of two months, they play 44 games. Scouts will watch many of them. They come because of the combination of talent and wood. Unlike college baseball, the Cape uses only wooden bats, providing an accurate picture of what players might do at the next level.
What else? Players live with host families. Some have part-time jobs (Jeff Bagwell worked at Friendly's). There's no admission charge at games. The level of baseball has been compared to Single A.
That should sum it up. If you have never experienced Cape League Baseball, you have missed out.

Friday, September 5, 2008