[SPEAKER_02]: Hello and welcome to Baseball America's draft podcast, I am Carlos Colazzo, joined by Jacob Rudner for another Tools draft last week on the show.

[SPEAKER_02]: We did a best tools college draft trying to make the best players we could from that demographic today.

[SPEAKER_02]: We're going to pivot to the high school side, but Jacob, what's up man, how are you doing?

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm good.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm excited to run this back.

[SPEAKER_00]: We had a good time doing the college side.

[SPEAKER_00]: I know that there was some good feedback from the baseball community.

[SPEAKER_00]: People who listened to that thought we did a good job.

[SPEAKER_00]: So now we get to try our hand on the high school side and yeah, I'm pumped.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm happy that we're doing this, but the college and the draft pot are going to go back and forth a little bit.

[SPEAKER_00]: We've had some pretty conversations.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's been a lot of fun.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I'm excited to run it back again.

[SPEAKER_02]: For those who may be missed, last week's episode and I'm not familiar with the exercise, what we're doing here is attempting to create the best theoretical hitters and pictures we can by drafting tools from the high school, 26.

[SPEAKER_02]: class.

[SPEAKER_02]: So we'll go back and forth each of us taking one tool out of time.

[SPEAKER_02]: If a player is selected for any tool, they cannot be selected again for another.

[SPEAKER_02]: So if we've got a player on our board and multiple categories, you want to get on those players early so you can get them locked down and you can attack this however you want.

[SPEAKER_02]: So for hitters we're doing the five main tools hit power

[SPEAKER_02]: and then for pictures, we're also doing the main for pitching categories plus control.

[SPEAKER_02]: So that's fastball slider, curveball, change up and control.

[SPEAKER_02]: I had the first pick on our college edition, so it's only fair that we got a Jacob for the first overall pick for high school.

[SPEAKER_02]: So unless there's anything you want to add to this, any strategic talk, any strategizing or any other comments, Jacob, you can take it away.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, I would just say that I would encourage everybody to go and listen to the college version of this because we did get into a lot of the strategy and how we're approaching this talk and I don't know that we need to rehash it again, but the crash course I would say is that both of us feel as though field and arm on the hitting side are kind of the last, the the Mr. irrelevant type tools of this draft and then we've attacked everything else, you know, in various orders, but but those two have come last and, you know, my, my one one is interesting, I will remind people about one of the fields.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right, you're one one was field because you got creative and you decided to steal rock from me.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I would say one thing that was important is that handedness does not matter.

[SPEAKER_00]: So you will hear us take right and left handed pictures.

[SPEAKER_00]: The same thing goes for like fielding an arm.

[SPEAKER_00]: You don't have to have the same hand in this to build that player and that was important.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I would just get that out of the way for everybody's understanding.

[SPEAKER_00]: My first pick is obvious.

[SPEAKER_00]: As Rochelowski was to the college side, Grady Emerson is to the high school side.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not going to get as creative with this one as you were with Roch, which I liked.

[SPEAKER_00]: I thought that it was a good move to put him on the field inside.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's in the elite shortstop.

[SPEAKER_00]: For me, Grady Emerson fits exclusively in the hit category.

[SPEAKER_00]: Could I put him in other places?

[SPEAKER_00]: Of course, I could.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I just got the best hitter in the draft and not putting him in the hit tool.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think would be in the stake.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, Grady Emerson, who requires very little explanation, goes into the hit tool for me.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, this is, I think that the clear one, one, I was hoping you weren't gonna do this, but I think it's the obvious pick to make.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think Grady was number one of my category.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think he's the best peer-hitter in the high school class by a fairly wide margin.

[SPEAKER_02]: I also would say, I think like, I would take his hit tool among any player in the class college or high school.

[SPEAKER_02]: I just think he has very few flaws to speak of as an offensive player, his track record.

[SPEAKER_02]: is immaculate.

[SPEAKER_02]: He's performed everywhere.

[SPEAKER_02]: He's gone.

[SPEAKER_02]: He has all the traits that you want to see from an elite hitter.

[SPEAKER_02]: He's comfortable in the box.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's a clean, easy swing.

[SPEAKER_02]: He understands the zone.

[SPEAKER_02]: He makes a lot of contact.

[SPEAKER_02]: He uses all fields.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's just a really complete hitter.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think this is the sort of...

[SPEAKER_02]: Elite hitter that's always at the top of a any when you say hit or like this they're at the top of the class It's very obvious when you watch him for a few games if you a b's Just the advanced nature of his hitting game so I think this is a phenomenal pick if I had the first overall pick That's right.

[SPEAKER_02]: I would have gone as well now a bit torn

[SPEAKER_02]: Because I do think that the depth of the high school class on the pitching side is really impressive.

[SPEAKER_02]: I also feel the need to target that now, because I feel like you've got kind of a clear cut top player.

[SPEAKER_02]: There is a priority player to have on the pitching side that I don't want to miss out on now that you take in grade E. And so I think I'm just going to take my picture.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I'm going to take Carson Bulamon.

[SPEAKER_02]: He's our top high school pitcher in the class.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I'm going to put him in the control category,

[SPEAKER_02]: three different categories, yep.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think maybe the separation that he has in control makes me want to just take him there.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like I think there's a lot of really impressive stuff in this class, but what separates Bowlem on to me is just his ability to land his secondaries at a level that we rarely see for high school pitchers.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I think

[SPEAKER_02]: There are a number of other players in this class that have high-octane peer stuff that may be in a vacuum stack up with Bowlem on, but really the separator for him is that he's big, physical, he has stuff that matches up at the top of the class, but that command piece, just kind of elevates him in my mind.

[SPEAKER_02]: He was one of my top priority players in the straft and feel like I kind of had to go for the pitching side after you tackled hitting.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I would say that Bowlemon is too pitching as far as like the application to multiple tool categories as Grady Emerson is in this little tool draft that we're doing on the hitting side.

[SPEAKER_00]: You can apply him in multiple places.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that he's the sure number one pick if you were going to attack hitting a pitching first.

[SPEAKER_00]: If the order were reversed, I had a feeling you would have gone with Grady Emerson.

[SPEAKER_00]: I would have done the same thing with Bowlemon.

[SPEAKER_00]: I had him listed

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, just the combination of shape and the ability to throw it for strikes, which is why you put them in control.

[SPEAKER_00]: But, you know, velocity as well, we're all reasons for that.

[SPEAKER_00]: I had them in the slider category as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: Nice.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, he was also top of my earball category.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I just had him in a number.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think he was sucking every single pitch and category that makes sense.

[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, so he was he was an all inclusive type prospect as as was greedy.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yep.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: All right.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, there were a number of different ways that I thought about going with this pick because I like I just said I did think that the most likely outcome here was going to be

[SPEAKER_00]: you and I go in Grady and Bolamon, one, two, regardless of who had those picks.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I kind of had this map out.

[SPEAKER_00]: I decided that I'm gonna go with Gio Rojas next.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: I love Gio Rojas, you know this because we've talked about it off the air.

[SPEAKER_00]: And now I get to say it on the air.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that he has a case to be the best picture in this draft.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm putting him in curveball.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, there were a number of different ways that I could have gone with that.

[SPEAKER_00]: Um, I've heard really good things about his curveball, and I felt as though that would have been the best move if I couldn't put Bollum on there.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, uh, geo-rohoss to curveball, and I'm just kind of glad I have him on my list of pitchers.

[SPEAKER_00]: And another one of these guys where it's like you could have put him in an upper number of different categories and it would have been fine.

[SPEAKER_00]: Um, he made a lot of sense to me to put there, but again, just just a name that I wanted on my,

[SPEAKER_00]: create a player.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I think Rojas like Bowlem on is a player that fits in on our different categories.

[SPEAKER_02]: Just the electricity and the arms speed that he provides in the mound is a separator.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think if you wanted to say like who has the highest peer upside of this high school pitching class and if your name is Gio Rojas, I would make a ton of sense.

[SPEAKER_02]: His spin capacity both for the slider and a curve ball is really impressive.

[SPEAKER_02]: I imagine he's got a chance to have plus pitches in both those categories.

[SPEAKER_02]: I also like that you're targeting curve ball because maybe unlike the college class,

[SPEAKER_02]: I had a tougher time lining up players that I was excited about in the curveball category.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think part of that is just because a lot of high school players curveballs just don't really have the sort of power that more advanced older and more physical players do have a lot of times you get these sweepier, slower, slurveer, sort of breaking balls.

[SPEAKER_02]: So taking him off the board, removes him in a couple categories.

[SPEAKER_02]: I had him high up my fastball category as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: Just just interrupt you quickly.

[SPEAKER_00]: I actually strategically speaking that was why I went curve ball first because I was having a hard time kind of piecing through whoever'd want to put there I didn't want to lose out on the guys so I thought we're like the best options in the category So for the same reason it seemed like you just laid out that's why I went curve ball first beautiful.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, I'm probably going to

[SPEAKER_02]: Alright, I feel like I have a couple of these nozzons in my slider categories, so I feel okay if I leave that one to you, although man, I'm tempted now, now that I look at some of my other options in pitching categories, but I'm going to go fielding again, I am much more of a sucker for fielding.

[SPEAKER_02]: Then you are at this stage, and I also feel like there is some separation in this category that just makes me want to target and jump on the top player I have here and that's 8 in Ruiz.

[SPEAKER_02]: I'm taking him as my fielding tool shortstop.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think widely viewed as the best defensive shortstop in this class.

[SPEAKER_02]: He is just a magician with the glove.

[SPEAKER_02]: He is exactly what it looks like at the position.

[SPEAKER_02]: He has tremendous actions.

[SPEAKER_02]: He's got a super accurate glove.

[SPEAKER_02]: He makes all the routine plays.

[SPEAKER_02]: His ability to get the ball in and out of the glove, work around the bag, and just like the internal clock his ability to take angles to the ball.

[SPEAKER_02]: Anytime a ball hits towards him, you almost can kind of go ahead and start writing.

[SPEAKER_02]: writing down the outcome of the play in your scorebook, or no, it's just that sort of defender.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think it's easily a plus glove if you wanted to put a higher grade on it there.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think you could pretty convincingly, and I think while there are some other options that I'm so excited about here, I don't know that there's another category that I view as like this clear cut of a

[SPEAKER_02]: of a one.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I'll take eight in a reason.

[SPEAKER_02]: I also just part of me likes just getting in a lead defensive shortstop for my fielder.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like there's a center of fielder I consider, but I'm quite happy to get eight in aries at a as a fielder.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: I had a feeling that that was going to be something that would happen.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so I kind of had you actually penciled in for that.

[SPEAKER_00]: There is there is one player who I think is kind of in the same like you have to get this guy to get the best guy in the category type.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that's Joseph contraris on the change.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: I thought about that one briefly as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's a really good.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: I just needed to get that away.

[SPEAKER_00]: That was like the Aiden Ruiz to fielding.

[SPEAKER_00]: I needed to lock that one down.

[SPEAKER_00]: So contraris to me is the far and away best change up among this high school group.

[SPEAKER_00]: And getting him into the class was a critical.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was like a star named for me on my prep for this conversation.

[SPEAKER_00]: So to your Aiden Ruiz, I counter Joseph contraris,

[SPEAKER_02]: So for this one, it's interesting because I do agree with you.

[SPEAKER_02]: The separation here is pretty significant.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think strategically it makes a lot of sense.

[SPEAKER_02]: Are you getting with this one?

[SPEAKER_02]: So he throws a change up.

[SPEAKER_02]: Any throws a splitter.

[SPEAKER_02]: I kind of lumped them both together together.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I really think you're getting both those pitches.

[SPEAKER_02]: His misrate.

[SPEAKER_02]: I just pulled up synergy data.

[SPEAKER_02]: So it's 10 games.

[SPEAKER_02]: It is 56 changeups.

[SPEAKER_02]: And some of these, I'm assuming the data is a little noisy here because I'm sure at every event, the change-up was not separated from the splitter.

[SPEAKER_02]: We do have some separated splitter in synergy.

[SPEAKER_02]: But just take a guess of what his change-up misrate was.

[SPEAKER_02]: I guess like 67%.

[SPEAKER_02]: 81%.

[SPEAKER_02]: I don't believe it.

[SPEAKER_02]: This is right on the change-up.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's an elite separator pitch.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's a pitch that he holds this Vulcan split grip.

[SPEAKER_02]: And again, he has a distinct change-up too.

[SPEAKER_02]: So you're really getting a two for one.

[SPEAKER_02]: in my mind here and very clearly the best change up in the high school class.

[SPEAKER_02]: So, put us to you on that one.

[SPEAKER_02]: So, right now you've got Gradie Emerson in your hit category, Geo Rojas in your curveball and Joseph Contreras in your change up.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I got to say those with three like things dang bang bangs for you.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: All right.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think I need to get my slider here.

[UNKNOWN]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: I'm actually very torn because I have one player in multiple categories here, and if I take him for Slider, I'm also limiting one of my picks for fastball, and I think my other player left for fastball, so you might target, so I'm really torn about.

[SPEAKER_02]: to go here.

[SPEAKER_02]: I might go fastball and I'm going to take Savion Sims fastball.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's obvious velocity.

[SPEAKER_02]: He's an absolute freak on the Mount Savion Sims six foot eight two hundred and five pound right hander out of Texas.

[SPEAKER_02]: He gets into the upper 90s.

[SPEAKER_02]: Extremely consistently he's already been up to

[SPEAKER_02]: It almost feels like it's becoming a norm to see high school players throwing a hundred because it feels like there's always a couple who do that, but I just feel like

[SPEAKER_02]: Clearly the power that I'm getting with this pitch again, I think save on some probably plays down a little bit, just because of his control and commanding consistencies and maybe even like some of the angle that he creates with his height might not allow it to play as good as the velocity indicates, but I'm not sure how that works on pairing it with Carson Bowelmons.

[SPEAKER_02]: Command, so I'll take save on Sims here.

[SPEAKER_02]: It feels like I've got a couple category still in my Slider tier that I would be happy with, and I feel like this potentially could have been a player that you were targeting for fastball, but in the case that you weren't, I guess I'm out maneuvering myself here.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, you know what actually I hate to do this to you, but that was a little bit of an out maneuvering of yourself.

[SPEAKER_00]: I did not have him in my top three for fastball outside of the velocity.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not that enamored with the pitch.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that the shape needs work, which is not a bad thing because I think over time you're going to end up looking smart.

[SPEAKER_00]: I just think that there are more ready fastballs in this class and so I did not have Sims to be clear of that.

[SPEAKER_02]: I do think there are pitches right now that are more effective, but I think a lot of it is, again, just the control command of element.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so I'm kind of taking traits and pitches that I feel like my command choice is going to help enhance.

[SPEAKER_02]: So that definitely is part of the logic, but now maybe I'm wishing I'm a slider.

[SPEAKER_02]: There's one other pitcher.

[SPEAKER_02]: I really hope you're not taking.

[SPEAKER_02]: So we'll see.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, yeah, there are a few ways that I feel like I could go about this because I actually am worried about the next string of picks and who's going to get stolen because I think that there are some categories that we're going to think about the same way which bothering me in my head as I try to figure this out.

[SPEAKER_00]: I am going to go slider so I'm hoping to steal a

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going with Coleman-Borthwick.

[SPEAKER_00]: Ah!

[SPEAKER_00]: That would be my number one slide here.

[SPEAKER_00]: I knew it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: So we're cooking with gas here.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that is, he was my number one sliders.

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I think it's the best slider in the class.

[SPEAKER_00]: I looked at that as if I could get him.

[SPEAKER_00]: What do we now?

[SPEAKER_00]: One, two, three, four picks in.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's a steel.

[SPEAKER_00]: You could easily have made the case that he should have been like,

[SPEAKER_00]: everybody's second pick in this draft in the slider category.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think it's that much of a, you know, stand out pitch for him.

[SPEAKER_00]: Um, and it was a pretty easy.

[SPEAKER_00]: The, I wasn't going to get any deeper than this for him.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, so yeah, that was an easy selection at this point in the draft.

[SPEAKER_02]: I thought that you maybe would take training regal's sliders.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I had both worked down both in the slider category at the top, and then he was also my backup to save on Sim's fastball.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I was worried that I was worried Sim's would be the more obvious fastball choice, just because of the pure velocity.

[SPEAKER_02]: But your, your could teach about the pitch, definitely mean that they, I kind of outthought myself here.

[SPEAKER_02]: I also think Borthwick fits in a number of other categories.

[SPEAKER_02]: Slider, I had him in my fastball category.

[SPEAKER_02]: I had him in my control category if I didn't get Carson Bullemon.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think the separator for both of it is really just the power and command.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's a very hard breaking ball.

[SPEAKER_02]: It absolutely overwhelms high school hitters.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I think his ability to kind of throw that for strikes consistently is a really impressive trait.

[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, you still have to get your control from someone else.

[SPEAKER_02]: But I do view it as one of the best sliders in the class.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think I'm going to kind of follow you here and also take my slider.

[SPEAKER_02]: because you still have you have fastball and you have control that you need to tackle with your pitcher.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I am a little bit worried that the pitch you take for fastball will be the guy that I'm going to take here for slider.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I'm going to take tray rank elves slider.

[SPEAKER_02]: It was number two on my board.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think similar to both wicks.

[SPEAKER_02]: It is a powerful slider.

[SPEAKER_02]: It gets into the mid 80s.

[SPEAKER_02]: 81 to 84 typically.

[SPEAKER_02]: One of the higher spin breaking balls in the class, it's regularly in the 2800 to 3100 RPM range.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's got late, snappy, sharp biting action.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so I'm still happy with this slider and I think I really need to target it because I imagine Trayring goes fastball is at least on your board.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's some capacity and we've already taken like between Rojas, Bulamon, Boarthwick,

[SPEAKER_02]: I'm not really sure how many other fastballs you would have over rank L. So I'll take him just to get some comfort in my breaking wall category.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was he was second on my list and and actually I'm glad you mentioned it because I do think that my fastball category was basically comprises of like the guys who are off the board and other categories now.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's made it kind of interesting.

[SPEAKER_00]: One thing that I'll say that I like strategically speaking here is that because Rengale and Sims are off the board and the pictures that I have are off the board plus Bola Monde was the first one to go.

[SPEAKER_00]: I almost feel like I can walk away from pitching here for a little bit.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like I can see at my fastball and control categories and go and target some offense.

[SPEAKER_02]: I feel the same about curveball and change up because you have those downs.

[SPEAKER_02]: I just need to battle you out for the rest of our hidden categories here.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, for me, I think that I can have an opportunity here to continue my streak of just steely dominance and taking guys from you.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm going to the power category now.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm going to hope that I'm going to steal somebody.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think I will.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think I will, because I know you feel about this person.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm taking Blake Bowen, but in the power category, one thing that we probably should have said this at the top of the show.

[SPEAKER_00]: Power is raw power in this conversation.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that it is important because for me and I saw Blake Bowen in Jupiter and thought that there were some holes in the swing and like the approach was not necessarily as polished as I thought it was going to end up being when I saw him and that's a very small sample size like you kind of have to take that for what you will and he has great results otherwise.

[SPEAKER_00]: I also saw him at UCLA.

[SPEAKER_00]: There was a little small showcase and he looked really good there.

[UNKNOWN]: You

[SPEAKER_00]: To me, because I get to ignore any potential issues, contact rates, chase, none of that matters to all of the window.

[SPEAKER_00]: And we're talking about one of the biggest, like he's got like a linebacker.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's huge, super strong, strong forum, strong risks, quick bat, and all of those things to me are really exciting.

[SPEAKER_00]: Plus, I think that he does a really good job against fastballs.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm excited about the strength and what it could potentially mold into one day.

[SPEAKER_00]: But to me, he was my number one.

[SPEAKER_00]: In the power category, just all things considered.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, nice.

[SPEAKER_02]: I had him in my power tier.

[SPEAKER_02]: He was not number one.

[SPEAKER_02]: So that makes me a little bit happy.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think my number one also feels unlikely to be a candidate in some of your other categories.

[SPEAKER_02]: That do you need to fill out?

[SPEAKER_02]: So now I feel like I can hold back in power.

[SPEAKER_02]: your hitter is just really impressive right now.

[SPEAKER_02]: The gradie Emerson hit tool like bone power.

[SPEAKER_02]: That's that's an electric combo.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, I'm going to tackle another secondary offensive category.

[SPEAKER_02]: I'm going to get the run tool off the board and part of this is just because this is.

[SPEAKER_02]: Uh, I just, I think this player fits in a number of categories you still need.

[SPEAKER_02]: There are two players at the top of my list that I would have really been happy with.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I still think there's some quality speed out there for you.

[SPEAKER_02]: But I'm going to take Eric Booth, the junior, EJ Booth.

[SPEAKER_02]: Um, this was,

[SPEAKER_02]: I'm just happy to have him.

[SPEAKER_02]: He ran the quickest East Coast Pro 60 R-6.33 seconds.

[SPEAKER_02]: He's explosive out of the box.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think in previous classes, we've maybe had more obvious no doubt 80 grade runners.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like, this is not a Michael Gupton sort of run to at the same time.

[SPEAKER_02]: But he is in a collection of some of the best peer runners in this class.

[SPEAKER_02]: I also think he would have fit in the field in category.

[SPEAKER_02]: I had him down there.

[SPEAKER_02]: As well, you could take him and hit.

[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, you don't need to worry about your hit tool at this point, but like his innate bat to ball skills are pretty electric.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I also just really like EJ Booth as a player.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I'm quite happy to have him on my team here.

[SPEAKER_02]: So he's my speed.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think comfortably 70, if you wanted to say 80, he's definitely turned in some 80 grade times.

[SPEAKER_02]: And at least, yeah, I'm just, I'm just happy with this.

[SPEAKER_02]: So EJ Booth and Aidenaries, two of them are fun tools for run and field for me.

[SPEAKER_00]: So it's not, I mean, I had a feeling that he was on your list.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was unsure if that's where you were going to go.

[SPEAKER_02]: Cause sometimes you're like, my, it's sneaky.

[SPEAKER_02]: My guess is your, my guess is the guy you thought I was going to take is number two on my board.

[SPEAKER_02]: He's still available.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, okay, let's see if I can nail it.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to go field here because I,

[SPEAKER_00]: would worry about him maybe getting into a couple different other categories for you.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I need to protect.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going with Trevor Condon.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I'm curious.

[SPEAKER_02]: He was number two for my run.

[SPEAKER_00]: So so I am going to go sneaky on the run.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to go down the board on the run category.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm so confident that you're not going to take my run guide that I am putting Trevor Condon in field.

[SPEAKER_00]: Um, another guy who I saw in Superroom was super impressed by, uh, he is a great runner, super great athlete, a little bit undersized, but he's one of these like spark plug table setting types, um, just kind of floats out there.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, watching him play in the field was really almost like captivating.

[SPEAKER_00]: He, he, he glides and I think that they'll only get better over time, uh, as he matures and just continues to get, you know, better and more used to the game.

[SPEAKER_00]: And, um, to me,

[SPEAKER_00]: I had him in a few different categories, but field made the most sense just based on where I'm like trending in my draft.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I like to play her overall.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I want to say that.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like this is not somebody who just fits in the field category and that's it.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that he is to me, one of like, I think he's going to end up going in towards the back of the first round.

[SPEAKER_00]: I would pick a much higher than that.

[SPEAKER_00]: I really, really like Trevor Condon.

[SPEAKER_02]: I kind of like each a booth and Trevor Condon going back to back in this tool's draft because I do think they're going to fit in a similar spot on boards and I think they're similar players that like if you see them and watch them on the right day and really with Condon.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's every day, just like the way he plays the game.

[SPEAKER_02]: And part of me is also not wondering if I should have taken him run, because I also, if I did have him for Ron, I would have mentioned that I've never seen someone get out of the box with a sort of urgency that he shows.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's exclusive.

[SPEAKER_02]: These two are probably beyond personal cheeseball territory, but they're such fun players to watch.

[SPEAKER_02]: And like you said, I'll be excited to see where they go.

[SPEAKER_02]: on draft day.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so to summarize really quickly, as we're halfway through this, you have your hit tool, power tool, and fielding tool, great Emerson Blake Bowen, Trevor Condon.

[SPEAKER_02]: You have your slider curveball and change up with Coleman Boarthwick, Gio Rojas, and Joseph Contreras.

[SPEAKER_02]: I have a run and fielding tool with EJ booth and Aiden Ruiz, and I have a fastball slider and control

[SPEAKER_02]: Because you already have your hit and power and I don't think the players that I have skewed up there are really

[SPEAKER_02]: risks to go in your run in arm tools.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think I just need to take arm.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's the one tool that neither of us have tackled so far.

[SPEAKER_02]: I feel like there's a clear top player in this category that also fits with the position.

[SPEAKER_02]: I want to take him at I am going to take Matt Pana Toski's arm shortstop out of Ohio.

[SPEAKER_02]: He is also a two way player in high school.

[SPEAKER_02]: He gets onto the mound.

[SPEAKER_02]: He can get his fastball into the mid 90s.

[SPEAKER_02]: He's also a pretty elite high school quarterback.

[SPEAKER_02]: He was the Gatorade player of the year.

[SPEAKER_02]: As a junior, he's broken records for passing yards for his football team in high school.

[SPEAKER_02]: He just has an incredibly big and talented throwing arm.

[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, he had the hardest and field throw at PG Nationals.

[SPEAKER_02]: perfect games.

[SPEAKER_02]: National showcase, I should say, last summer, it was 101 house power across the diamond, which just gives you an indication of just the pure power.

[SPEAKER_02]: And you can maybe knock on how some of those throws for the top, top v-lose there are recorded.

[SPEAKER_02]: That's not really game speed by any means, but in terms of like just the velocity he's able to generate with his throwing arm, it is a lead.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think

[SPEAKER_02]: You could maybe say it's an AD tool.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think comfortably I put it at a 70.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I think I'm getting a double plus tool here with that product's asky.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I would tend to agree.

[SPEAKER_00]: That was definitely somebody who was on the list in the arm category and it makes me feel like I want to get a little bit creative with my arm.

[SPEAKER_00]: So it opens the door for me to approach this differently.

[SPEAKER_00]: But that's a really good pick because like you said, it is a...

[SPEAKER_00]: It's a super arm, even if it's, you know, the arm speed measurements are a little bit, you know, questionable.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that, yeah, you, I think you got the best player in that, in that category, is what I would say.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is kind of where things get hairy for me, because I think there are

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe I need to just rip this off in case you're gonna put them somewhere else thing I'm gonna do it.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna go cold-coatinger I don't know if I pronounced the last name right.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I believe so This is actually a sneaky great pick for you because I had cold kind of gonna number two in arm I also had him number two in curveball, which I still have not taken

[SPEAKER_00]: Right, so as if you listen to our last podcast, you know that my arm category is very much geared towards guys who play both ways at the amateur level.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that that's just like an easy way to nail somebody who has a really strong throwing arm.

[SPEAKER_00]: I also did have a feeling because we've talked about him before that you had him in multiple categories.

[SPEAKER_00]: So he goes into the arm for me.

[SPEAKER_00]: If Panna Toski's arm number one, I think that

[SPEAKER_00]: Conenger's probably arm number two.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's like maybe it gets a little bit murky in that like two, three, four group behind Pantatossi because he's such a clear number one.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I would make the argument that he's the second best arm in this class.

[SPEAKER_00]: So that leaves me in an awesome position offensively with Grady Emerson, Blake Bowen, Trevor Condon, and then Conninger is my baseline.

[SPEAKER_00]: I still have the run category, but that will be my last pick in this draft.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, again, you've been a sniper throughout this draft.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think like strategically, this is definitely the best you could have made because I had him in another category for pitching that I still have a target yet.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like he's been up to 97 on the mound.

[SPEAKER_02]: He also throws a breaking ball with 2600 to 2800 RPM spin.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I think I'll let Shidimate Candidate in the curveball categories.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I have to go one player deep in that category that I already wasn't feeling great about.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I'm really kind of uncertain of where I want to go now.

[SPEAKER_02]: You only have a run tool to handle.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I really feel like I can kind of continue holding off on hit power.

[SPEAKER_02]: You have a fast won't control to get it.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I guess I'm just more at risk of you taking another player here in the pitching side.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I feel like I just need to tackle that.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think I'm going to take a change up here and I'm going to go with Gary Morse, who is a right-hand pitcher out of Orange Lutheran, another big tall physical player, six foot, eight, 210 pounds, committed to Tennessee.

[SPEAKER_02]: He is one of the pitchers in this class who does lean on his change up as like a pretty heavy diet of his pitch mix.

[SPEAKER_02]: to mid 80s pitch that gets some plus grades.

[SPEAKER_02]: I do think it's not quite the the contraris change of that you took, like we mentioned, that was the clear best offering.

[SPEAKER_02]: But I just think like his his ability to throw it.

[SPEAKER_02]: consistently and at a high usage, and again, we have gotten some plus potential grades, I'm not sure if it's like a no doubt plus pitch right now, but the fact that it has the capacity, there are some other pitchers I considered for this category, I think Logan Schmidt is a name that we haven't really mentioned much.

[SPEAKER_02]: His interested me some, but really just the usage that more throws his change up with and just the confidence he has in that pitch is kind of the the tiebreaker here for me, so I'll get more for my change up.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, really good pick.

[SPEAKER_00]: I will break your heart and say, he was not the guy who I was gonna target for either of my remaining pitching categories.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_02]: It seemed unlikely, but it's more of a risk that I was gonna lose some pictures so I felt like I needed to handle it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and I think that it's a good pick regardless.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like if you regardless of where you took that, I think that with with contraris off the board and that context is important, I think that that was the best that you could probably do in the category, or among the best that you could do.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I also considered Wilson Anderson and Sean Duncan, although maybe I shouldn't say that with some of the pitching categories you still have to tackle here.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think you're going to have to worry about it.

[SPEAKER_00]: This, this next one was was interesting for me because I have him just based on who's off the board on the pitching side.

[SPEAKER_00]: I have him as like the best available for both of the categories I have remaining which are fastball and control.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to choose to put him in control.

[SPEAKER_00]: simply because his ability to place multiple pitches and control multiple pitches stands out to me.

[SPEAKER_00]: Otherwise he would be in the fastball category and that is the big man 17-year-old Jensen Hirsch-Korn is going in control.

[SPEAKER_00]: Again, this came down to

[SPEAKER_00]: Does he control multiple pitches?

[SPEAKER_00]: Is it generally around the strike zone with the entire arsenal on the answer?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, plus I'm a big fan of just like the overall athlete.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the body, I think, are really interesting.

[SPEAKER_00]: He, to me, is kind of this like surefire top of the first round type guides, because I think the potential is so high.

[SPEAKER_00]: Plus, it's rare that you come across this power forward-sized pitcher who is going to be able to go out there and be mid to high 90s and has multiple pitches that are really good.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's a swing and miss arsenal.

[SPEAKER_00]: It made the most sense to me just based on where we're at with who was off the board for him to go into the control category.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I think great pick.

[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, it's a start to look with him.

[SPEAKER_02]: They're really easy delivery.

[SPEAKER_02]: He had probably the single most dominant area because outing that I've ever seen.

[SPEAKER_02]: There have been some good ones.

[SPEAKER_02]: If you guys remember, Jared Kelly's outing.

[SPEAKER_02]: His draft year, that was probably the best one up until this moment.

[SPEAKER_02]: Her scoring went nine up, nine down, all swing strikeouts and showed a really impressive feel for a deep three pitch mix.

[SPEAKER_02]: So,

[SPEAKER_02]: I had hers corn lined up in a number of other categories as well just a little bit lower I'm happy that he's off the board because I don't think I had him queued up in my Kerbal category just because I don't I don't really think he throws one It's more of a slider for him.

[SPEAKER_00]: So happy that that he's off the board here Also just say he he was one of our biggest risers in our most recent update of our draft ring He said believe he jumped up like a 80 spots.

[SPEAKER_02]: So yep, both him and Blake Bowen to the big names there I think on a continue punching on my Kerbal category now just something

[SPEAKER_02]: I really don't know who I want to take in that category at this point and just some of the easier no brainers off the board.

[SPEAKER_02]: I'm going to go in my power department and I'm going to take the top guy ahead.

[SPEAKER_02]: I'm still debating there are a couple of hit tools that I'm kind of going back and forth on.

[SPEAKER_02]: But for power, I'm going to take Dominic Santa Reley.

[SPEAKER_02]: He was again.

[SPEAKER_02]: My number one

[SPEAKER_02]: player in this category.

[SPEAKER_02]: He is monstrously physical.

[SPEAKER_02]: He is listed at six foot one, 220 pounds.

[SPEAKER_02]: I would guess he's bigger and heavier than that listed weight.

[SPEAKER_02]: He absolutely rockets baseballs and seeing him hit in BP, his ability to generate power to all fields with relative ease.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like the ball just comes off his bat at an alarming velocity.

[SPEAKER_02]: Also you're not really tapping into game powers much in this exercise, but his ability to hit for impact in games is exciting as well.

[SPEAKER_02]: Some of the exit velocities he can produce at his age.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's just really rare.

[SPEAKER_02]: I've talked to some people who say it's like no doubt 80 grade raw power.

[SPEAKER_02]: And some of the best raw power they've scouted from a high school player.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I'm I'm quite happy to get Santa Relli.

[SPEAKER_02]: I assume to is in your power category, but Blake Bowen makes a lot of sense too.

[SPEAKER_00]: So Dominic, I should be honest with you.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was bone first for me.

[SPEAKER_00]: All right.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to stay true to what I said.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm going to go back to pitching and leave run for my last, like, surprise category here.

[SPEAKER_00]: I have to pick a fastball.

[SPEAKER_00]: There were a number of, I will preface this by saying there are a number of different ways.

[SPEAKER_00]: I had this one.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then I think that it speaks to my strategy which is a little bit different.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the college side was really easy to target a fastball early.

[SPEAKER_00]: In the high school class, I felt like it was probably best to target off speeds first.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then circle back to fastball, just because I think that's the easiest to get somebody good, if it's not at the top of the board.

[SPEAKER_00]: Um, some names all shout out and kind of go through my thinking and you can kind of discuss it with me before I actually make the selection Denton Lord was somebody who I had on the list because it's a different fastball Um, more of like a bowling ball sinker type who's going to get guys to pound it into the ground.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's not going to miss as many bats with his fastball.

[SPEAKER_00]: Some of these other players will That was interesting to me.

[SPEAKER_00]: I've heard a lot of really good stuff actually from the college side just in the conversations I've had with college coaches about that fastball

[SPEAKER_00]: And that really intrigued me.

[SPEAKER_00]: It moves a lot.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's different.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not exactly the prototypical like top of the draft profile fastball.

[SPEAKER_00]: It is really firm still.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so that was an interesting option to me.

[SPEAKER_00]: Caden Walker was on my list as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: And as we've had this conversation, I've started to lean in that direction, but the name that I think I'm going to go with because

[SPEAKER_00]: The fact that I get some youth here because I also think that like part of the fun of this exercise is trying to get guys we're going to project really nicely and are going to grow into the into the player and for me that's Logan Schmidt.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that Logan Schmidt's fastball is really enticing it's up to 97.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's an athletic lefty.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's going to be 17 on draft day.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's got a pretty advanced breaking ball.

[SPEAKER_00]: Uh, you had written this and I thought that it was a really good comp that the camp community conversation kind of fit him nicely.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that that's true.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's maybe even a little bit more to like with Schmidt at this point, though, just as far as like where we are in the calendar and how much there's still as to play before the draft.

[SPEAKER_00]: Um, and again, I just think that from a development standpoint,

[SPEAKER_00]: in drafting Logan Schmidt, I get somebody who has a really long one way to kind of grow into who he is as a pitcher and become even better than the prospect we see right now.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that he is a top 100 prospect caliber player after he gets drafted.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm really enticed by the just kind of the raw

[SPEAKER_00]: to use a Peter Flaherty term, the ball of clay, intrigues me a lot here.

[SPEAKER_00]: So Logan Schmidt, after a lot of thought, and I just ran through all the other guys so I thought about, was the one that I ultimately decided to go with.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't have as anybody who's as like raw and predictable on my pitching side as I think he is.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so I'm intrigued by that one.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, fun pic.

[SPEAKER_02]: I also like that you just took a name that hasn't been talked about a lot here on the show so far on the pitching category, but certainly belongs in a number of categories.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's a lefty ninety two ninety five out to ninety seven, you can still see that pitch increasing and velocity in coming years as well.

[SPEAKER_02]: Very young for the class pitcher and I think he fits right now and that sort of cam cam in at your range on the draft board.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think it will be 17.9 on draft day.

[SPEAKER_02]: So.

[SPEAKER_02]: Nice.

[SPEAKER_02]: You've got your pitcher rounded out.

[SPEAKER_02]: You've got Logan Schmitt's fastball, Coleman, Boarthwick Slider, you know, Rojas is curveball.

[SPEAKER_02]: Joseph Contrarys, change up in Jensen, Hirsch Corns control.

[SPEAKER_02]: Got to say Jacob for for a national college writer.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's pretty good.

[SPEAKER_02]: Look in high school pitcher right there.

[SPEAKER_00]: That guy is going to play.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, I think I am going to wrap my high school hitter here and target the hit tool.

[SPEAKER_02]: I kind of didn't have to think about this for a long time because you took gradie one one.

[SPEAKER_02]: Again, the clear number one for me there.

[SPEAKER_02]: I am going to go with another of the top short stops in the class and take Tyler Spangler.

[SPEAKER_02]: As my hitter, I do think once Emerson's off the board.

[SPEAKER_02]: He was immediately one of the other players I'm considering here.

[SPEAKER_02]: I also thought about James Clark.

[SPEAKER_02]: I thought about Trevor Condon.

[SPEAKER_02]: EJ Booth would have been a consideration for me if he was on the board just pure about to ball skills.

[SPEAKER_02]: But I think Spangler has some of the pure hitting traits that we mentioned with Grady Emerson.

[SPEAKER_02]: He is just a very calm hitter in the box with an easy, consistent, compact swing.

[SPEAKER_02]: He gets on plane.

[SPEAKER_02]: really consistently.

[SPEAKER_02]: I don't think he's phase by velocity.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think he recognizes and picks up secondary as well.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think he has a good understanding of the zone.

[SPEAKER_02]: I do think it is more hit over power for him at the moment.

[SPEAKER_02]: I do think he's got the strength and the sort of physical projection that you could see more power coming, not that that's too much of a consideration with this pick for me.

[SPEAKER_02]: I just think that

[SPEAKER_02]: One of the more well-rounded, balanced, advanced pure hitters in the class.

[SPEAKER_02]: I like this that I left handed swings, and I think Spangler kind of checks those boxes.

[SPEAKER_02]: So that's my pick here.

[SPEAKER_00]: I like that pick a lot because had I not had the first overall pick which to me was very obvious greedy I'm listening to the hit category I probably would have played it the same way as you which is I would have saved it as long as I could of until I felt like I had to either take Spangler because I know that you like him or because it's just like everything else was kind of going the way that it did I thought that he was somebody else.

[SPEAKER_02]: I felt like a nice number two in the hit category two because while I think he has solid secondary tools, I don't know that he had like the really sexy secondary tools.

[SPEAKER_02]: That's making him make him be a player that I was worried about coming off in another category because they're just with power, with speed, with fielding like he could fit and a lot of those categories maybe are more than field.

[SPEAKER_02]: But I just think with all those categories, they're probably like sexier players to take there.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so I felt reasonably good that once you took Emerson, I could

[SPEAKER_00]: That was it is exactly how I would have approached the hit category because I did have him as my number two hitter And I didn't have him even listed in any other category like I like he said I think he's a good player And that this is not to say that he's not reasonably well-rounded I just think that there are other guys who stand out a lot more clearly You know different categories and so to me it was like Spangler goes in the hit group or he's not getting drafted in this right and whoever got great Emerson was gonna put him in hit so it was the clear one two

[SPEAKER_00]: It's kind of interesting because I think that there are a few categories that were this way on the high school side, whereas like on the college side, it wasn't as, you know, there's this is the number one guy, and if you don't get him, here's the number two guy.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yep.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that you could have gone a number of different directions depending on how you wanted to build your player.

[SPEAKER_00]: High school, I think that it was a little bit more cut and dry in several tool categories where you could have did like, you get the number one person if you didn't, and it was like that, where it's great, interesting, and then Tyler's being learned.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was excited about this one.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was saving the run tool because I just knew you weren't going to take it.

[SPEAKER_00]: I saw this guy in Jupiter, and I kind of fell in love.

[SPEAKER_00]: I know that there's a lot of work to do from... Oh, I know how you're taking it.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's damn point.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that there's work to do.

[SPEAKER_00]: Actually, you don't know what I'm taking.

[SPEAKER_00]: Because it's not that guy.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not that guy.

[SPEAKER_00]: He thinks I'm taking Jason Matachinski.

[SPEAKER_02]: I did.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, that's how that's how you're going.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: No, he thinks I'm taking Jason Madaginski.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think there's a tremendous amount of work to do with Jason Madaginski.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that there's less work to do with this guy, but in the one area where he is extremely proficient, and I watch it like multiple times, including with some scouts and college coaches who kind of said the same, Bryant James.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's a Virginia commit.

[SPEAKER_00]: I do not think he is a top-of-board player, I do think he is a double-plus runner.

[SPEAKER_00]: I watched him turn in some first-to-second runs, some first-to-third runs, and then just the ability to move, you know, in the field, he was playing shortstop, and then a little bit of the outfield in Jupiter and looked super fluid, but the ability to like be aggressive and take extra bases when they aren't really there from most players.

[SPEAKER_00]: Pretty sure I watched him double like three times on balls that were hit

[SPEAKER_00]: And it's just the fluidity with which he gets out of the box, the turns how he kind of sinks into his hips to get around the bases and like really maximize the direction that he's going.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was really impressed.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think he has one of the better run tools in this draft even if he's lower down on the board in other categories, which he probably is.

[SPEAKER_00]: But a team that gets him in the.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let's say eighth to 10th round range, I think does a really good job because you're getting a tremendous athlete and somebody who brings a little bit of a different weapon than than most of these other high school players.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I didn't even list anybody else in the run category.

[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't even bother trying to project it out because I knew I was going to get Bryant James and he stood out to me as one of the best.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's a fun pick and I appreciate it because this is a category I feel like that is most equipped to take someone who's maybe not as prominent from a peer perspective standpoint, but clearly has a lot of caring tool ran a 6.5 60 at least because pro some other players that I had in the run tool just to run through since we both kind of fully equipped our hitter.

[SPEAKER_02]: I also had no Wilson and Jacob long bar but players who turned in 70 grade run times in the past and and with Jacob long bar I think he is

[SPEAKER_02]: either him or Brady Harris are two of them more notable toolsy high school players who don't go in this draft.

[SPEAKER_02]: I had Jacob Lombard in my run field categories and arm categories.

[SPEAKER_02]: So he was like a a decent option for a number of them.

[SPEAKER_02]: I had Brady Harris in my arm category.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think he maybe has the best Alfield arm in the class.

[SPEAKER_02]: Those are two maybe names who expected to hear that do not hear their names called.

[SPEAKER_02]: And you're complete on both sides.

[SPEAKER_02]: I still need to draft a curve ball.

[SPEAKER_02]: You kind of boxed me out.

[SPEAKER_02]: I had Carson Bulman, Cole Coneger, as my top two curve balls.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I'm going to go down to my number three spot who is not taken on the board.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I'm going to take Sean Sullivan.

[SPEAKER_02]: Reasons for taking Sullivan here.

[SPEAKER_02]: I feel like a lot of the breaking balls in this class.

[SPEAKER_02]: are not really clear curveballs.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like a lot of them are slider, slurver, or hybrids.

[SPEAKER_02]: John Sullivan, Rehanna pitcher, out of Ohio, 6 foot, 185 pounds.

[SPEAKER_02]: He actually throws a legitimate curveball.

[SPEAKER_02]: Mid to upper 70s pitch, high spin offering.

[SPEAKER_02]: It is his second most used pitch.

[SPEAKER_02]: So it's not like a third or fourth tier where he's throwing a slider and a curveball.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like it says go to secondary.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's high spin pitch.

[SPEAKER_02]: It misses a lot of barrels.

[SPEAKER_02]: I do think there's a little bit of a gap

[SPEAKER_02]: tools here in the sense that like this is a quality curve ball.

[SPEAKER_02]: I'm not convinced it's like some Brayland Doty, sort of curve ball at this stage.

[SPEAKER_02]: But I do think it has a chance to be in a above average pitch.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's got 11 to 5, sometimes 12 to 6 shape.

[SPEAKER_02]: Um, just a quality curve ball.

[SPEAKER_02]: I feel happy with it.

[SPEAKER_02]: I don't feel thrilled by it because I just think they're as we've been talking through this draft.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think this might be the weakest category on the high school side or at least is the category that I feel the least convicted about and the least

[SPEAKER_02]: Um, but I do know that the Sullivan can land his consistently.

[SPEAKER_02]: He can miss him bats, um, and at least is a solid secondary, um, to rely on.

[SPEAKER_02]: So that's my picture around out my picture and to round out this draft.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think it's a good pick.

[SPEAKER_00]: I also think that it brings up a broader point, which is valuable.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that is that we are really in the college pitcher age.

[SPEAKER_00]: When it comes to the draft, I think that you are better off targeting college arms.

[SPEAKER_00]: Early on, they have proven to be more productive quickly.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's less work that needs to go into them.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that the same is true in an opposite way for hitters.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that you're way better off taking a high school hitter at the top of the draft.

[SPEAKER_00]: You look at our top 100 that came out yesterday over at baseball america.com and there's 46 high school guys on that list and 31 from the college ranks including two from jukos.

[SPEAKER_00]: But the college pitching was a was a really good demographic as far as the top 100 and as far as top 100 consideration goes we had a lot of good conversations.

[SPEAKER_00]: in the lead up to the creation of that list in which the college picture alum was somebody who got highly considered and then there's like the international category and that's totally different ballgame but like to me the the strongest college demographic there is is picture.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, I think that this was a really fun game to play on the hitting side, just as far as these two drafts that now that they're both in the rear view for us, I really enjoyed having the high school hitting conversation because I think that it was like, all right, we're going to take these super tools here and like who's going to end up being a superstar and I, you know, really highly rank prospect.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that there are a lot of guys who came off the board who are going to fit in that category.

[SPEAKER_00]: Whereas on the pitching side, it's like

[SPEAKER_00]: Savion Sims is in the fastball category.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's a super hard fastball.

[SPEAKER_00]: It needs a ton of work.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, Logan Schmidt is a super projectable, young athletic lefty, but he's also a super projectable, young athletic righty who needs a ton of work.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then, you know, the opposite was true.

[SPEAKER_00]: And we had the college conversation because it's like you're running down and it's like Cameron Felicia in the fastball category.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that guy's in the blow the doors off professional hitters by the end of my year.

[SPEAKER_02]: I might have a slightly different take.

[SPEAKER_02]: I've always been more bullish on high school pictures than really anyone on the staff.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I think that I'll be curious because the common wisdom in scouting departments is that you don't want to take high school pictures high.

[SPEAKER_02]: For all the reasons you mentioned, you see more college pictures going high.

[SPEAKER_02]: But I also just think sometimes,

[SPEAKER_02]: You have to play the board that's given to you.

[SPEAKER_02]: And I do think this high school pigeon class is incredibly deep and incredibly talented.

[SPEAKER_02]: There are more than three guys that have the talent to go in the first round that's kind of the upper balance of what we see and actually go in the first round.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I'm curious, in a class that, again, it's really talented on both the hitting fronts as well.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like, are we going to see more high school pictures than we typically do?

[SPEAKER_02]: Or are we going to continue to see those guys go a little bit later and get paid more?

[SPEAKER_02]: Guys like Thomas White, guys like Bubba Chandler, guys like Seth Hernandez, I think they have some of the best just pure upside in the class.

[SPEAKER_02]: Do you have to take on more risk to access that?

[SPEAKER_02]: You have to take on more of a kind of a runway in terms of player development.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yes, but I think a lot of your front of the rotation arms can still come from that demographic.

[SPEAKER_02]: So,

[SPEAKER_00]: And that's not to argue that that's what I said was not to say that that's not true right think that it's more a that that's a very rare player you just named a couple guys who I think are in a very exclusive club as far as who they are and what their potential was when they were coming out of high school even what their potential is now like.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'll talk about a guy who I'm familiar with because I do the Marlins for us, but Thomas White, Thomas White has grown into somebody who could easily be a professional ace like that.

[SPEAKER_00]: He looks like a number one pitcher.

[SPEAKER_00]: He looked like it last year and last year he said himself that it wasn't his best season and he was still like low to mid to ERA dominant.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was generating misses at a career high level and that's a high school arm.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's a special high school arm though, whereas like

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't necessarily think, and this isn't a knock against him, and if you've Jay Johnson, you're listening to this podcast, please understand.

[SPEAKER_00]: I absolutely love Kate Anderson, but I think Kate Anderson's probably a third starter.

[SPEAKER_00]: A really good third starter, like a super reliable projection, and maybe there's room to continue to increase that ceiling and push higher into a rotation, but I think with Kate Anderson, you're getting somebody who's like really good, and there's a lot of guys who could fit that mold, is more my point.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right.

[SPEAKER_00]: As like on the high school side, I don't think it is.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that you're getting more guaranteed value out of a college pitcher, whereas on the high school side, it depends on how risk tolerant you are as an organization.

[SPEAKER_00]: Exactly.

[SPEAKER_00]: And what you're capable of doing developmentally speaking, and to me, that's why I lean towards the college arm.

[SPEAKER_00]: But on the hitting side, it is such a certain obvious, like give me all the high school hitters.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the college hitters can be like, if you're either rock, chelowski, or let's have a conversation about a high school guy,

[SPEAKER_00]: this tools draft really kind of highlighted that for me is that you either have to get a special college a high school pitcher or you're just so much better off, drafting a college arm and again the arm is still just trying to hit inside.

[SPEAKER_02]: Nice, well, I think this was a fun exercise.

[SPEAKER_02]: Strategically, I think you crush this one.

[SPEAKER_02]: Jacob's all just run down our players again, so you guys can hear them in full.

[SPEAKER_02]: So Jacob's hitter is a greatie, Emerson's hit tool, Blake Bones power, Brian James speed, Trevor Condon's fielding, and Cole Conagers arm.

[SPEAKER_02]: Jacob's pitcher is Logan Schmitt's fastball, Coleman, worth wicks, slider, geo-rowhouses, curveball.

[SPEAKER_02]: Joseph Contrarys, changeups.

[SPEAKER_02]: Uh, and Jensen Hirschkorn's control.

[SPEAKER_02]: My hitter is Tyler Spingler's hit tool, Dominic Sance and Rally's power, EJ Booth's run, Adenaries, Fielding, Matt Pondotoski's arm.

[SPEAKER_02]: My pitcher is Savion Sims, Fastball, Tray Rangel's Slider, Sean Sullivan's curveball, Gary Morse's changeup, and Carson Bulamon's control.

[SPEAKER_02]: So let us know which of those you guys prefer.

[SPEAKER_02]: Let us know your favorite tools in the high school draft.

[SPEAKER_02]: We're happy to hear any feedback you guys might have.

[SPEAKER_02]: on the socials, um, other than that, Jacob, uh, happy to have done this exercise.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's always one of my favorite podcast series.

[SPEAKER_02]: We do each year, uh, happy to have done it with you, um, any any final comments, thoughts, anything going to plug before we get out of here.

[SPEAKER_00]: Just look forward to running this back towards the end of the year.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like one thing that I think maximizes this exercise is you do it before the season, and you go into the year with these preconceived notions of who's the best and what category, then you watch everybody play, and then you do it again, and it's like, is it the same?

[SPEAKER_00]: How much does a change who kind of weasels their way at least into the conversation, even if it doesn't change your answer?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so I think that for the two of us as the amateur guys,

[SPEAKER_00]: over at Baseball America.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is a fun way to get started and if you're a baseball fan, then you know start to lock in here because Carlos and I are going to be on the road and doing high school and college coverage starting here in about three weeks.

[SPEAKER_00]: So that's an exciting time of year and you know baseballamerica.com Baseballamerica.com slash college.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you want to check out college stuff specifically as we get ready for the new one season.

[SPEAKER_02]: Awesome.

[SPEAKER_02]: All right.

[SPEAKER_02]: Well, it's also good prep for we always do an actual player draft with with you myself and Ben Badler.

[SPEAKER_02]: So maybe some early early prep in practice getting to the class for that because I know that's probably when we're going to try and run back for the season gets rolling here as well.

[SPEAKER_02]: So for Jacob.

[SPEAKER_02]: I'm Carlos.

[SPEAKER_02]: So long everybody.