"It's a fight, a blow-by-blow verbal battle."

- Vin Scully, June 30, 1959

One of the greatest baseball rhubarbs in my lifetime took place 50 years ago today. The "blow-by-blow verbal battle" occurred between two of the biggest rivals in all sports: the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers, in just their second year on the west coast.

The game was played on Tuesday, June 30, 1959 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The paid attendance of 59,312 was the largest Coliseum crowd since Opening Night when 61,552 fans were on hand to watch the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Dodgers, 6-2, while setting a new attendance record for a National League night game. (Interestingly, the Cardinals and Dodgers had set the previous league record on April 25, 1958 when Stan Musial's first Coliseum appearance attracted 60,635.)

The Giants and Dodgers were in a virtual tie for second place in the National League, 1.5 games behind the Milwaukee Braves. Milwaukee had beaten the New York Yankees, winners of eight of the prior ten World Series, in seven games to win the championship in 1957, then lost the title in seven games to the same Yankees in 1958. San Francisco had snapped the Dodgers' seven-game winning streak the night before when Jim Davenport and Willie Mays led off the 13th inning with back-to-back home runs en route to a 6-4 victory in what my Dad called "the most thrilling game ever played in the Coliseum" to that point.

Mays was to be heard from in more ways than one the following night. Batting second in the lineup, the "Say Hey Kid" slugged his 13th homer of the year (and fifth against the Dodgers) in the third inning to give the Giants a 2-0 lead and, according to Dad's game report in the Press-Telegram the following morning, "almost clouted another in the sixth inning, touching off a 10-minute rhubarb. While the fans hooted and hollered, the umpires changed their ruling twice and finally awarded Mays a ground-rule double. Rigney lodged a protest, but withdrew it after the game."

The batted ball was first ruled foul, then a home run and, finally, a double. I'll let Vin Scully, in what I believe is not only his most descriptive call ever but one of the greatest in the history of the game, take over from here.

Scully details the ensuing rhubarb, mentioning, in order, Drysdale, Mays, Giants manager Bill Rigney, third base coach Salty Parker, third base umpire Dusty Boggess, Dodgers first baseman Gil Hodges, shortstop Don Zimmer, first base umpire and crew chief Tom Gorman, Dodgers manager Walter Alston, left fielder Wally Moon, home plate umpire Ed Sudol, and Dodgers Vice President Buzzie Bavasi. (The fourth umpire was Stan Landes. He was stationed at second base and was never mentioned in Scully's call of the rhubarb.)

Although narrator Steve Bailey says the date was May 30, 1959, the incident actually took place on June 30, 1959. Bailey eloquently introduces the nine-minute clip, "Orchids to Vin Scully for a magnificent description of one of the wildest rhubarbs baseball has ever known."

Here is a word-by-word transcription of my favorite Scully call of all time (and, like everybody else, I love how he reported the ninth inning of Sandy Koufax's perfect game on September 9, 1965):

"Drysdale ready and the 1-1 pitch . . . curveball, cut on, there's a high flyball right down the left field line, right on the line, hits the foul pole and kicks foul. That's just about as foul as you can get without being fair.

Willie Mays hit the foul pole and it kicked off in foul ground. Rigney is telling Mays to trot all the way around. Salty Parker and Bill Rigney appealing to third base umpire Dusty Boggess . . . and now they're gonna wave Mays around and here come the Dodgers after Boggess.

If you know the Coliseum at all and you know the girder that supports the screen right down the left field line, Willie Mays hit a fly ball that actually hit that girder and then kicked off into foul territory. At first, Dusty Boggess called it foul but Rigney told Mays to go around anyway. And after Rigney and Salty Parker got into the discussion, Boggess suddenly ruled home run. The Dodgers came racing out of the dugout . . . a firecracker goes off back of home plate like to scare everybody out of ten years' growth . . . and the argument continues directly back of third base along the line. All four umpires along with a heated group of Dodgers . . . and the rhubarb continues about 30 feet down the line.

So Willie Mays, who is normally causing a lot of noise either at the Coliseum or Seals Stadium, has now really set off a bomb here at the Coliseum.

When you look at that girder down the left field line, there are many cables and wires that make it a very tough spot to look at. No doubt the Dodger contention is the ball hit one of the wires to make it foul.

But Boggess is now sticking to his guns. Drysdale is so mad he almost kicked 20 feet of the Coliseum out of the park. Gil Hodges right now is jaw-to-jaw with Dusty Boggess. Gil pointing first with his left hand, then with his right hand. Drysdale appealing to the gods right now. He just wants to holler at anybody who will listen. Don Zimmer is arguing with Tommy Gorman. The other three umpires now leave Boggess alone, and he is in the midst of lions.

Don Zimmer, Don Drysdale, Walter Alston, Gil Hodges, and Wally Moon are blistering Boggess, and Dusty every now and then seems to punctuate a Dodger's sentence by pointing with his left hand to that left field foul pole. At the very top of the foul pole, there are two slanting guide wires. One goes from the top of the pole to the right, down to the screen. And the other one goes from the top to the left, down toward the stands. The Dodger contention is that the ball hit the guide wire to the left and would be foul. Alston and Hodges and Zimmer and Moon continue to appeal. Gorman now tells Hodges to walk away, but Hodges goes right after Gorman. Zimmer will be hoarse in another two minutes. The veins on each side of his neck bulging out like the cable that actually holds up the left field screen.

Boggess sticking to his guns. The Dodgers continue to appeal, but Mays has touched all the bases and will come in with a home run. Gorman, who is the captain of this umpiring quartet, has now summoned Bill Rigney out of the Giant dugout. And both Gorman and Salty Parker are flanking Bill Rigney and, of course, Gorman doing all the talking.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers are still around Boggess at third. But watching Rigney's reaction, it looks like Gorman is going to call it foul . . . and Rigney is about ready to eat his glasses. Alston has walked away like a Philadelphia lawyer who has just won his case. Rigney slams his hat down and the gray hairs glistening under the lights. Bill is now going jaw-to-jaw with Boggess. Now he kicks at the dirt, hands on his hips, left hand thrown high in the air. Ed Sudol comes in to quiet the Giant manager down. Rigney's left hand, then his right hand up in the air. Now his hat is back on.

So, first the Dodgers appeal and walk away and now it's Rigney's turn to be on the griddle. All four umpires appear to be trying to placate Rigney, presenting their case. The Giant manager now starting to walk around, slamming his hands together, pointing with the right hand, then with the left. Now a big sweeping gesture with the left hand. Gorman comes after him now as if Rigney must have touched a nerve, and Gorman goes chewing right back after the Giant manager. Rigney now goes after Gorman, points with his left hand to that girder. Gorman answers with a right-handed gesture. Rigney bows at the waist with a sweeping right hand. And Gorman and Rigney are really going at it. Boggess comes over and Rigney like a mad traffic cop now with a right hand indicating that all the umpires are mad. Rigney kicks at the dirt, walks away with a hopeless gesture of both hands. Willie Mays comes out. Rigney drapes his left arm around Mays' shoulder and tells him to go to second base, 'I'll meet you halfway and what a riot.'

First it was ruled foul, then it was ruled fair, then the Dodgers won half a case and got Mays to go to second base. As soon as we get the ground rules on this particular play off the back of a batting card, we can pass them along.

Willie Mays hits the loudest double ever heard in Southern California or in the United States, for that matter. Rigney now comes to argue with the plate umpire Ed Sudol. Sudol pointing with his right hand toward the screen. Rigney pointing with his right hand . . . let's say, towards the Dodger dugout. Now Salty Parker comes down, and it's Rigney with his head just jerking a mile a minute, and now Sudol wants to talk to third base umpire Dusty Boggess. It's a fight, a blow-by-blow verbal battle.

Rigney has Boggess on his left and Sudol on his right, and right now Rigney is laying down the law, and the umpires come right back with words and gestures. Salty Parker, third base coach, with his arms folded across his chest, just listening right now. Rigney is concentrating his verbal fire on third base umpire Dusty Boggess. Sudol is now trying to draw some of the wrath of the Giant manager, but Bill wants to stay with Boggess. Rigney now whirls and since Sudol is walking towards the plate, Bill starts to go after him, then turns and goes back after Boggess.

Willie Mays, the cause of it all, at least he hit the ball, standing quietly at second base. Tommy Gorman and Ed Sudol have a meeting halfway between home plate and first base. Boggess has his hands full, with both Rigney and Salty Parker. We will have to wait to get the actual and official clarification. Walter Alston has come out of the Dodger dugout and, in the runway leading back towards the tunnel, he is now talking to Buzzie Bavasi, the Dodgers Vice President.

Rigney is exploding at Boggess so Gorman and Sudol are coming over again, trying to bail out Dusty. Gorman talking to Rigney. Rigney turns and starts to walk away, gives a big gesture with his hands and Gorman comes back with the same gesture. Now, plate umpire Ed Sudol has hollered up to the press box that the Giants will play the ballgame under protest, and it must be announced to the crowd. Listen, here comes the announcement."

After John Ramsey, the public address announcer, informed the crowd, amidst boos, of the protest, Bailey concluded the segment, "San Francisco manager Bill Rigney quickly forgot his protest because Sad Sam Jones pitched a one-hit, 2-0 shutout."

Jim Gilliam had the only hit, a disputed infield single in the eighth inning. According to Dad, "Gilliam's high chop behind the mound was the cheapest of hits, but a hit it was in the opinion of official scorekeeper Charlie Park. 'I hated to call it,' Park told Jones after the game. But Jones, brushing by and refusing to shake hands with Park, answered, 'I don't think it was a hit, whatever you call it.'

"Gilliam's hit bounced over Jones' head and was charged by shortstop Andre Rodgers, who over-ran and fumbled the ball. Park ruled that Gilliam would have beaten the play even if Rodgers had handled the ball cleanly.

"Rodgers and Giants manager Bill Rigney said it should have been called an error. 'I thought he called it too soon,' said Rigney with Park a listener in the clubhouse. 'If he had thought about it, he couldn't have called it that way. We'll never know if Rodgers could have thrown him out, but the way Rodgers throws, I think we had a chance.'

"Jones, who was aware of his no-hitter all the way, said, 'I thought sure the shortstop would get it. Had he caught the ball, he would have got Gilliam.' Then, turning to a group of questioning reporters, Jones said, 'Why don't you buy yourself another scorekeeper.'"

My father was one of the rotating official scorekeepers during his tenure covering the Dodgers and, in fact, was the official scorer during Koufax's perfect game. In an attached piece that accompanied his article, entitled "As Lederer Saw It," he wrote, "It was a hit. Had it happened in the first inning, there would have been no question. It was unfortunate that Jones lost the no-hitter, but it was the right call. I'm happy that I didn't have to make it, but I would have done the same."

Gilliam's high chopper was indeed a hit as was Scully's "blow-by-blow verbal battle" of one of the greatest baseball rhubarbs and calls of the past 50 years.

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News and notes from around the college, minor league, and mysterious world of baseball cards:

Congratulations to LSU on winning the College World Series last week. The Tigers beat the Texas Longhorns 11-4 in the third and decisive game for the school's sixth national championship since 1991. Paul Mainieri, who took over the program in 2006, was named Baseball America's Coach of the Year for returning the baseball powerhouse back to prominence.

Anthony Ranaudo, Chad Jones, and Louis Coleman combined to hold the powerful Texas offense to nine hits and four runs while Jared Mitchell, the CWS Most Outstanding Player, slugged a three-run home run in the first inning and worked an eight-pitch, lead-off walk in the sixth to spark a five-run rally after the Longhorns had tied the score 4-4 in the fifth. Mitchell, a first-round draft choice of the Chicago White Sox, hit .348 with two homers and seven RBI in Omaha. He and Jones also starred on the LSU football team coached by Les Miles.

Although LSU will lose Mitchell, Coleman (5th round, KC), D.J. LeMahieu (2nd, CHC), Ryan Schimpf (5th, TOR), Blake Dean (10th, MIN), and Sean Ochinko (11th, TOR), the Tigers will return Ranaudo, who enters his junior season as perhaps the most highly regarded college pitcher in the nation; plus closer Matty Ott, a first-team All-Freshman; Austin Ross, the No. 3 starter as a sophomore; infielders Tyler Hanover and Austin Nola, a defensive whiz at shortstop; athletic outfielders Leon Landry and Mikie Mahtook; one of the top catchers in Micah Gibbs; and perhaps Jones, who could double as a pitcher/outfielder, if he decides to play baseball next spring.

The rosters for the 2009 Futures Game, which will be held in St. Louis on July 12, were released. Players are selected by Baseball America, the MLB Scouting Bureau, MLB.com, and all 30 teams. Each club must have at least one player on the roster and no more than two.

I'm looking forward to seeing Josh Vitters, whom I interviewed two years ago as part of our 2007 draft coverage. Vitters (.316/.351/.535) has cooled down considerably after going on a tear for a couple of weeks last month. Vitters will turn 20 in August and is toiling at Low-A Peoria in the Midwest League, which is one of the toughest minor leagues for hitters. However, Mike Stanton, another Futures Game participant from Southern California, won't turn 20 until November, yet is playing Double-A for Jacksonville in the Southern League. A former tight end who turned down a football scholarship to USC, the young Marlins outfielder is off to a less than auspicious start competing mainly against players 2-4 years older than him but is on the short list of who just may be the best prospect in baseball on the heels of David Price, Matt Wieters, and Tommy Hanson ascending to the big leagues.

In an excellent piece on whether pitch recognition and plate discipline can be taught in the minor leagues, ESPN's Peter Gammons wrote the following glowing report on Stanton earlier this month:

A great case study is that of 19-year-old Marlins outfielder Mike Stanton, one of the most physically gifted prospects in the game. He is a 6-foot-6, 235-pound speedster who was a second-round pick in 2007, turned his back on a tight end scholarship to USC and hit 39 homers in Single-A last season at the age of 18.

Stanton had a .968 OPS and a .390 on-base percentage with 12 homers in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League before being sent to Double-A this week, now at the ripe age of 19. But what is most remarkable about Stanton -- and he would be a natural to be thrown into the Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game -- is that every month beginning in April 2008, his strikeout rates have declined and his walk rates have increased. His strikeout rate was 33.7 percent in April 2008; last month, it was 17.3 percent. His walk rate was 7.1 percent in April 2008; last month, it was 13.6 percent.

Stanton is a student of the game and works very hard at his craft. "Still," says one scout, "he has instincts for the sport that no one can teach. That, and the fact that he can hit balls 500 feet."

There are a number of other top prospects that will be performing in the Futures Game. Be sure to set your DVR if you are unable to watch it live.

Tom Ruane announced that Retrosheet has added the box scores (without play-by-play) for the 1930 National League season, which means the site now has box scores for all games played in the major leagues from 1920 to 1930. Thank you, Tom and David Smith, the founder, as well as a number of volunteers who worked diligently to bring all of us this information online at no charge.

I received a George Scott 1979 Topps baseball card in the mail on Saturday. It had no note inside nor any return address. My name and address was typed on a label on the envelope, which had a canceled USA 44c stamp on it and a New York, NY postmark dated June 25. I thought my friend Alex Belth, a native New Yorker and the proprietor of the Bronx Banter, may have been the prankster but he told me this morning that he discovered a Bucky Dent 1978 Topps card in his work mail over the weekend. I would be curious if anybody else has received a similar baseball card from an unknown sender in the hopes of trying to unravel this mystery.

Update: Tom Meagher in the comments section is correct. Shysterball's Craig Calcaterra has resolved the mystery, confirming via email that Josh Wilker's publisher sent the baseball cards. Wilker is the founder and operator of Cardboard Gods, a fantastic blog focused on none other than baseball cards, complete with photos and stories but lacking the bubble gum sticks that were such a part of the world of collecting cards before the advent of price guides and plastic protectors.

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Two months ago when Sky was looking at predicting home field advantage based on ballpark qualities he determined that a 'quirky' ballpark generally had a larger home field advantage than a non-quirky one. I thought that was a very interesting result and wanted to try to see it for a specific example. Obvisouly the most famous quirky feature in any ball park is the Green Monster at Fenway Park.

Maybe Red Sox hitters are better able to take advantage of the Green Monster, thereby giving Fenway a larger home field advantage because of its quirky dimensions. Like much of my work this is heavily indebted to earlier work on the subject by John Walsh. In early 2007 he looked at which Red Sox hitters take the most advantage of the Green Monster and also which non-Red Sox would benefit most by hitting at Fenway.

Percent of balls in air towards Green Monster

If Red Sox do take advantage of the green monster than you would expect them to hit more balls in its direction, with RHBs trying to pull more balls and LHBs trying to go the other away with more when they are home than when they are away.

Here is the frequency distribution of the angle of fly balls and line dives to the outfield by RHBs . The plot on the left is for Red Sox hitters when home and away, and on the right for all visitors at Fenway and all non-Red Sox teams when they are at home. I use the same -45 (3B line), 0 (2nd base), 45 (1st base) orientation for my last post. The Green Monster is indicated in green.

It looks like visitors at Fenway change their approach much more than Red Sox hitters. Red Sox hitters' home and away spray patterns are virtually indistinguishable, but for visitors the spray pattern is shifted a degree or two toward third base when batting at Fenway. I assume this is caused by these hitters trying to pull the ball more, but it could also be a result of Red Sox pitching (maybe they pound the inside of the zone more than the average pitcher).

Here is the same figure for left handed batters.

Both Red Sox and visiting lefties hit slightly more balls in play down the left field line at Fenway than elsewhere. Going along with that is a slight drop in the number of pulled balls in play at Fenway for both groups. The effect is subtle, but it looks like lefties might make some effort to go the other way more often at Fenway.

Here is an overview.

Proportion of outfield fly balls and line drives in direction of the Monster
+---------------------+--------+--------+
|                     |    RHB |    LHB |
+---------------------+--------+--------+
| Red Sox at Fenway   |  0.503 |  0.266 |
| Red Sox Away        |  0.511 |  0.257 |
| Visitors at Fenway  |  0.507 |  0.287 |
| Non-Red Sox at Home |  0.477 |  0.278 |
+---------------------+--------+--------+

Here you can see that Red Sox righties actually hit fewer balls in play in the direction of the Monster at Fenway than on the road. That is very surprising. Visiting RHBs see a big jump in their balls in play to that direction. For both Red Sox and visiting lefties there is a small increase in balls in play to that direction at Fenway compared to elsewhere.

Percent that actually hit monster

Ok so visiting hitters are hitting more balls in play towards the Green Monster, but are they actually getting more hits off it? I used the same technique as John Walsh and classified a ball in play as one off the monster if it was a fly ball or line drive that was a hit and fielded within 25 feet of the Monster (I am using the gameday batted ball locations with Peter Jensen's translation factors). When John went back and checked this he found that about 60% of the 'hits off the monster' were really that, so these numbers will be over estimates. But I don't think they will systematically over or under estimate Red Sox compared visitors.

Using such a definition here are the percentage of batted balls that I classified as 'hits off the monster.'

Proportion of balls in play that are hits fielded within 25 ft of the Monster
+---------------------+--------+--------+--------+
|                     |    RHB |    LHB |    All |
+---------------------+--------+--------+--------+
| Red Sox at Fenway   |  0.054 |  0.037 |  0.046 |  
| Visitors at Fenway  |  0.060 |  0.041 |  0.052 |
+---------------------+--------+--------+--------+

These numbers seem very high, so I am sure that I am overestimating the number of Monster hits by quite a bit. Still it seems that visitors, both lefties and righties, get more hits off the Green Monster than Red Sox hitters. This seems very counter intuitive. If these hits would have been outs elsewhere the Green Monster is giving visitors an advantage. On the other hand if visitors are changing their approach at the plate to get more hits off the Monster maybe their contact to other areas is weaker.

Home Runs Over the Monster

The other thing the Green Monster offers is a short, but high, porch to hit HRs over. If Red Sox hitters can adapt their swings to hit more HRs over it, that could be where the advantage shows up. Here is the HR rate per ball in the air by angle, just in Fenway.

Now here is a big advantage to Red Sox hitters. Over the length of the Green Monster Red Sox righties have a big HR/BIA advantage over visitors. In the rest of the field, expect for just along the right-foul line, there is little difference in HR-rate. Does it look to you like Red Sox righties tailor their swings to getting HRs over the Green Monster?

The next step would be to put it all together. How much do the additional HRs by Red Sox hitters weigh against the additional hits off the Monster by visitors? Could we calculate the value of the Monster to the Red Sox in such a calculation? Maybe another day.

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Aside from not gambling on baseball, about the only hard and fast rule for Hall of Fame eligibility is for a player to have racked up a minimum of 10 full or partial seasons in the majors.

More than anything, the 10-year mandate reduces clutter and names on the ballot, as it generally takes a lengthy career to become even a marginal candidate for enshrinement at Cooperstown. Only one HOFer - Dizzy Dean - barely squeaked by on the "partial year" technicality.

Dean had three "seasons" (1930, 1941 and 1947) where he pitched a single big league game. The 1947 appearance was a publicity stunt for the woeful St. Louis Browns. As an announcer for the team, Ol' Diz loudly declared to radio listeners that he could pitch better than most of the rag arms on the staff.

That led to a four-inning shutout stint against the White Sox during last game of the season (September 28). The starting appearance may have earned the 37-year old Dean a nice chunk of cash, as he supposedly received a percentage of the gate. Nearly 16,000 paid to see Dean's junkball display in a game that would have normally drawn 3000 to 4000 diehards. Despite Dean's gutsy effort, the Browns lost 5-2 to finish the season in last place with a 55-99 (.357) record.

With injury-shortened seasons of 10, 13 and 19 games, Dean's career boils down to six full seasons and 45 additional appearances. A 30-7 effort with the Cardinals in 1934 plus a 1952 movie (The Dizzy Dean Story) on his life combined with Dizzy's colorful personality and popularity as a pioneering TV baseball announcer provided enough momentum for Cooperstown enshrinement in 1953.

Raul Chavez will never be ranked among baseball's greats, but he has qualified for an appearance on a future Hall of Fame ballot. The Blue Jays backup catcher is now in his 11th big league campaign. As of June 22, Chavez has played just 230 games in the Show.

The Venezuelan-born Chavez is now in his 19th professional season, and the bulk of his 1383 minor league games have come at the AAA level. Chavez saw his first AAA action with Tuscon of the Pacific Coast League in 1995, and he has played 915 games with eight AAA teams in 12 seasons (1995-2003, 2005, 2007-09).

It was on to Ottawa of the International League in 1996, and Chavez made his major league debut with the Expos as a late season call-up. That four-game cup of coffee led to 13 more appearances with Montreal in 1997.

1998 was split between Ottawa, Tacoma and a single game with the Mariners. Chavez spent all of 1999 in Tacoma before signing with the Astros in the offseason. 2000 was the first of Chavez's four consecutive seasons with the New Orleans Zephyrs. He played 14 games with Houston in 2000 and made a pair of big league appearances in 2002 before playing 19 games with the Astros in 2003.

2004 was the high point of the stocky catcher's career. Chavez spent the entire year in Houston - his only full major league season. A .210 average (34 for 162) with 0 HR and 23 RBI in 64 games was the stat line.

It was back to AAA in 2005, as Chavez split the season between Round Rock and the Astros. A sub-Mendoza Line batting average (.172, 17 for 99) combined with Chavez's trademark lack of plate discipline (just four walks) led to a horrendous .210 OBP.

Even AAA would have looked good to Chavez in 2006, as he spent most of the year riding buses with Bowie of the Class AA Eastern League. That's quite a show of perseverance for a 33-year old player, and it was rewarded with a promotion to the Orioles.

The Yankees noticed Chavez and signed him to a AAA contract for 2007. A .221 average at Scranton was one reason why he never appeared in pinstripes that season. Chavez began 2008 at Indianapolis, but he spent most of the year with the Pirates. A .259 (30 for 116) performance in 42 games provided a nice boost to his career batting average.

A pair of games in Las Vegas kicked off 2009, and it marked Chavez's 18th year of minor league service. He was promoted to Toronto on April 18 and has done well in a reserve role. As of June 22, Chavez was hitting .263 (15 for 57) with 2 HR and 6 RBI. With just four strikeouts, making contact hasn't been a problem, but the free swinger is still looking for his first walk of the season.

A .227 lifetime average and .261 OBP means Chavez won't have to book a trip to Cooperstown in the future, but he will be able to ask his grandchildren "Do you know what Yogi Berra, Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk, Mike Piazza, Pudge Rodriguez and I have in common? We were all on the Hall of Fame ballot!"

So what does Raul Chavez's many trips between AAA and the majors mean? It's a testimony to the determination of a 36-year old journeyman player.

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This seems like as good a morning as any to go Shyster-style around a night in the Big Leagues. I had a chance to log a decent amount of Extra Innings time, watching parts of six or seven games and came away with a few impressions that I thought I would share.

First, here are Craig's words on last night's Orioles-Marlins tilt:

Two counts of bullpen malpractice. Count I: against Danys Baez for allowing five runs on four hits in the seventh. Count II: against a quartet of Fish relievers that immediately turned around and blew that lead in the eighth and ninth. Jorge Cantu singled in the winning run in the twelfth, but that can be blamed on the pen too, as Brian Bass walked Emilio Bonafacio for some strange reason, then uncorked a wild pitch to allow him to get to second before Cantu did his thing. Pfun Pfact: by the year 2017, use of the term "uncorked" in the wild pitch context will exceed its use in the wine context for the first time in recorded history. If you don't believe me, you can look it up.

I would add to that a couple of counts of managerial malpractice by O's skipper Dave Trembley. First, as Craig notes above, Danys Baez pitched the seventh inning and did so rather poorly. The bigger issue in my mind is the mere fact that he found himself on the hill to start the 7th. Koji Uehara had thrown 76 pitches, 59 of them strikes, and allowed just one earned run on seven hits. He didn't walk anybody. Uehara now has a 4.05 ERA, a 1.25 WHIP and perhaps most impressively, a 48/12 K/BB ratio. In other words, Uehara's good and not the type of guy you yank after he has tossed just 76 pitches.

The second count of managerial malpractice has to do with Trembley's bullpen mismanagement. This one is pretty simple, and it's something that a number of Managers can be accused of regularly; managing around the "Save". Since May 1st, George Sherrill has allowed two earned runs in 19 appearances, good for a 0.95 ERA. His OPS-allowed is somewhere around .480. He has been just about as lights-out as you could hope any reliever would be. In last night's 12-inning affair in Miami, Sherrill didn't pitch. He had thrown three consecutive games in Philadelphia over the weekend but Baltimore had an off-day Monday. He should have been available.

Francisco Liriano cruised to his 3rd win last night in Milwaukee. And by "cruised" I mean "stumbled and stammered and subjected fans and fantasy owners alike to another infuriating performance". This is an especially touchy subject around these parts, as Liriano is a guy that both Rich and I really liked to start the year. I am embarrassed to say what I bid on him at my fantasy league's auction back in March. His line last night? 5 innings, 7 hits, 5 walks and 117 pitches. Oh and 6 strikeouts and the Win. If ever a performance laid to rest the significance of the "Win" as any sort of meaningful measure of how well a starting pitcher performs, it was this one.

Quietly, Max Scherzer is rounding into form. The youngster had another effective outing last night, striking out 7 over 6 innings. Among starting pitchers with at least 60 innings pitched this season, Scherzer now ranks 7th with a 9.23 K/9. With Brandon Webb's status now up in the air for 2009, I am not ready to predict a Wild Card run for the Snakes but with Scherzer and Dan Haren at the top of the rotation and a lineup that is bound to improve, I do think they will mount a real charge in the second half.

The Boston Red Sox are now 14-5 in June, having outscored opponents 109-69 in the process. While the reigning AL MVP has struggled (.203/.267/.253) over those 19 games, two players that drove this Sox fan crazy in April and May have stepped up. Jacoby Ellsbury has hit .357/.448/.554 with 9 stolen bases (he hasn't been caught stealing) in June, while David Ortiz is hitting .308/.400/.654 this month. Boston now has a 5-game lead in the AL East and has overtaken the Rays for the best run differential in the American League.

Elsewhere, Zack Greinke, Tim Lincecum and Hiroki Kuroda were all awesome, the Cubs bullpen troubles continued and the Yanks bats remained quiet.

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Last week I provided a model for the expected value of Wins Above Replacement (WAR) for a particular draft pick in the MLB amateur draft. The model showed the top pick having an expected lifetime WAR of about 20, dropping quickly to about 6 WAR for the number 10 overall pick, and leveling to about 2 WAR for the #100 pick. The model also backed the conclusion that college players and hitters had higher expected WAR than other types of players.

Some readers suggested looking only at players' pre-free agency WAR to make the model more useful to major league teams. Others suggested that the advantage of college players over high schoolers has decreased over time. Still others wanted to see not only the expected value of a player's WAR, but the distribution of WAR's surrounding each pick. In this article, I intend to examine these suggestions and ideas to help provide a better understanding of the value of these draft picks.

Before I get started, I should say that I improved the quality of the data I was working with. I now have picks 1-50, every 5th pick until #100, every 10th pick until #500, and every 25th pick up to #1000 in my database. I also now have Sean Smith's full WAR database used to calculate WAR.

A Player's First 6 Years

First, as Tom Tango suggested, it's more useful to major league teams to have data on a player's first 6 years of WAR, rather than their career WAR, since the benefit of selecting a good player in the draft only lasts until they reach free-agency, after which a team must pay market value like everybody else. Here I fit the model using only the first 6 year WAR as the dependent variable (a year of service was defined as 130 AB, 20 games pitched, or 50 innings pitched in a season). As you might suspect, the data follows the same form and shape of the career WAR data. As it turns out, a player's pre-free agency WAR is almost exactly half of their career WAR. Both models are listed below:

Expected Career WAR = (21.67 + (-11.7 * pitcher) + (6.1 * college)) * selection ^ (-.54)

Expected First 6 Year WAR = (10.9 + (-5.1 * pitcher) + (3.1 * college)) * selection ^ (-.52)

where pitcher is equal to 1 if a player is a pitcher, college is equal to 1 if he is a college player, and selection is equal to the # overall selection in the draft.

As you can see, the shape, determined by the exponent, is nearly the same in both models. Additionally, the scale parameter is about half of what it was in the career model, as are the bonuses and penalties for college players and pitchers respectively. While a player earns only a small percentage of his total earnings in his first 6 years, he earns half of his career value. Because the shape of the models are the same, this seems to be true for players on all levels of the draft spectrum.

Changes Over Time

Over time, the draft has evolved, along with teams' scouting methods and drafting strategies. One interesting thing to examine is whether the parameters in the model would change over time. Have teams started drafting more efficiently as time goes on? Have pitchers been better draft selections over time? How about college players?

I adjusted my model to include a parameter for year. Since the overall WAR for a draft must necessarily stay relatively constant throughout time, I also needed to add a year parameter in the exponent. The new model was of the form:

Expected WAR = (a + (p * pitcher) + (c * college) + (y1*year)) * selection ^ (b + y2*year)

The result of the model was a significant positive parameter for the y1 variable, but a corresponding negative y2 value (y2 was not significant in a test, but as I mentioned, if we include y1, y2 must also be included to maintain the proper balance). This indicates that teams are now drafting more efficiently - high picks have a higher WAR than in years past, while low picks have a lower WAR than in years past.

According to the model, #1 selections in the year 2000 expect to have a career WAR of 26.1 , while #1 selections in the year 1970 were expected to have a career WAR of 19.4. However, as the rounds go on, this advantage decreases until after approximately pick #200, after which the old picks are expected to do better than recent picks. Overall, the result is approximately the same total WAR for both modern and old drafts, but the early picks are more valuable in recent drafts than in years past.

This makes sense because scouting methods and statistical analysis have given teams more accurate prognosticating abilities about a player's future major league potential. With this increase in information, the better players are drafted sooner, clustering the WAR distribution more heavily in the early part of the draft. Below, is a zoomed in graph of 1970 vs. 2000 WAR by draft picks where you can see the lines cross.

It's also been hypothesized that the value of pitchers and college players has changed over time. To test whether this is true, I added interaction terms to account for this possibility. The model now takes the following form:

Expected WAR = (a + (p * pitcher) + (c * college) + (y1*year) + (py*year*pitcher) + (cy*year*college)) * selection ^ (b + y2*year + p2*pitcher + c2*college)

A reader had suggested that college players were more valuable in the past, but that this advantage no longer existed. The model finds some evidence of this claim - the cy variable is negative, indicating a decrease in the relative value of college players over the years. Another way of looking at this is that highly drafted high school players have increased their value more rapidly than college players over the years. For #1 selections, high school hitters are expected to gain 20 more WAR now than in 1970, while this advantage decreases to only 10 WAR for college hitters. This result is not significant for the first-six-year WAR model, but it is significant for the career WAR model.

The value of pitchers over time however, has decreased strongly. Despite the fact that #1 picks as a whole have much a much higher expected WAR now than in prior years, the expected WAR of a pitcher drafted overall #1 is actually less than it was in the early years of the draft. The is in stark contrast to the strong increases over time for #1 hitters. Whether this is the result of teams trying extra hard to build "pitching organizations" or is due to other reasons, it appears highly drafting pitchers is an even riskier proposition today than when the draft began.

Below is a table of the two full models in determining the expected WAR by draft position.

Distribution of WAR by Pick

Also interesting is not only the expected WAR for each pick, but the probability of becoming a certain caliber player. Using a model of the logistic form, I estimated the probabilities of gaining a certain level of WAR. The model was of the form:

P(WAR) = exp((a+p1*pitcher+c1*college)*selection^(b)+int)/(exp((a+p1*pitcher+c1*college)*selection^(b) + int) + 1)

The models often had troubled converging, so the year terms and the exponential terms for pitchers and hitters were left out of the model. However, you can expect that they would have the same pattern as the models based on the expected value of WAR. Below you can see a graph of the probabilities of hitting various career WAR cutoff values, based on the above model. The graphs are for high school hitters.

As you can see the #1 overall selection has about a 2 in 3 chance of making a positive impact on a major league club. The probability for a decent impact of 10 WAR is 54%. The probability of a 30 WAR career, which is a career which probably includes a couple of All-Star appearances and several solid seasons is 29%. The probability of a 50 WAR career, which is close to that of a borderline Hall of Famer, is about 16%. Overall, there is a fair chance that a number one selection will never make an impact, but also a non-trivial probability that he will end up in the Hall of Fame. This indicates the obvious large variability in a player's potential career.

The chart above shows the model outcomes broken down by type of player and pick. One interesting finding is that pitchers are about as likely as hitters to make a positive impact on the major leagues with WAR>1. However, they start to slip when measuring the probability of having a great career. A college pitcher actually has a greater chance than a high school hitter of having a WAR>1 (71% vs. 68% for the #1 pick). However, the odds of having a WAR>30 are very much in the hitter's favor (9% vs. 29% for the #1 pick). While teams appear just as likely to get their pitching prospects to the majors, the probability of having a great career is quite small, even for top picks. This is the driving force behind the reasoning that teams should take hitters over pitchers in the draft.

For those more interested in players' pre-free agency WAR, below is a graph of this result, which largely follows the same shape as well as the same college/pitcher tendencies.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the following things can be said:

1) The first few draft picks are worth vastly more than later picks - a fact that is becoming more and more true as time goes by.
2) College players are a better bet than high school players, although this advantage has decreased through the years.
3) Pitchers, on the other hand, are less likely to bring value, a fact that is more true today than it was years ago.
4) Finally, highly drafted pitchers are about as likely as hitters to make a positive impact in the majors, but are much less likely to be truly great players.

I hope this study brings a greater understanding and insight into the value of draft picks and what type of player is likely to contribute at the major league level.

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There are a number of preferred statistics when it comes to analyzing the performance of pitchers. Over the years, Cy Young voters have weighed wins and winning percentage more heavily than any other stat. ERA gained popularity among the masses throughout the last century, then adjusted ERA (aka ERA+) gained traction after Baseball-Reference rolled out its site and made this stat easily accessible online.

With the advent of Defense Independent Pitching Statistics (and DIPS 2.0) earlier this decade, analysts began to pay more attention to strikeouts, walks, and home runs allowed. As a result, Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) is now recognized as a better measurement of value than wins, winning percentage, ERA, and ERA+. Some even prefer xFIP, Luck Independent Pitching Statistics (LIPS), or tRA, which, at a minimum, normalize HR/FB rates or break down the types of batted balls.

One can also value pitchers based on counting stats, such as Pitching Runs or Runs Saved Against Average. Runs can be converted into wins, giving us Win Shares, Win Shares Above Bench (WSAB), Wins Above Replacement (WAR), and Wins Above Replacement Player (WARP). The main differences generally involve the use of run estimators and definition of replacement levels.

I like looking at K, BB, and GB rates. Strikeouts exert a greater influence over pitching performance than walks and groundball rates, such that K > BB > GB. Within strikeouts, one can use K/9 (good), K/BF (better), or K/100 pitches (best). K/100P has a higher correlation to runs allowed than strikeouts per batter faced or strikeouts per inning. Granted, K/100P has vestiges of BB and BABIP mixed into the formula, but there are arguments against K/9 and K/BF as well.

I have written several articles on K/100P and summarized my findings here.

Strikeouts. Pitch totals. Putting strikeouts in the numerator and pitch totals in the denominator allows us to measure dominance and efficiency or what I have referred to it as "strikeout proficiency." As a standalone stat, I believe it tells us more than K/9 or K/BF.

With the foregoing as a backdrop, let's take a look at the K/100P results for 2009. The stats are courtesy of ESPN and the list includes all qualified pitchers. (I discuss some of the leaders and laggards below the table.)

Num	PLAYER	TEAM	IP	H	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP	K/BB	K/9	PIT	K/100P
1	Javier Vazquez	ATL	92.1	75	18	112	3.41	1.01	6.22	10.92	1407	7.96
2	Tim Lincecum	SFO	96.0	85	26	112	2.72	1.16	4.31	10.50	1512	7.41
3	Justin Verlander	DET	98.0	83	30	118	3.31	1.15	3.93	10.84	1609	7.33
4	Jake Peavy	SDG	81.2	69	28	92	3.97	1.19	3.29	10.14	1302	7.07
5	Zack Greinke	KAN	101.0	85	18	106	1.96	1.02	5.89	9.45	1518	6.98
6	Johan Santana	NYM	89.1	79	27	97	3.22	1.19	3.59	9.77	1416	6.85
7	Jon Lester	BOS	86.1	89	28	100	4.69	1.36	3.57	10.42	1487	6.72
8	Dan Haren	ARI	101.0	70	13	96	2.23	0.82	7.38	8.55	1444	6.65
9	Jorge De La Rosa	COL	75.1	78	36	82	5.85	1.51	2.28	9.80	1280	6.41
10	Felix Hernandez	SEA	101.2	92	31	98	2.74	1.21	3.16	8.68	1561	6.28
11	Yovani Gallardo	MIL	90.0	65	41	93	3.00	1.18	2.27	9.30	1492	6.23
12	Roy Halladay	TOR	103.0	95	12	88	2.53	1.04	7.33	7.69	1442	6.10
13	Cole Hamels	PHI	76.1	90	14	72	4.24	1.36	5.14	8.49	1215	5.93
14	Chad Billingsley	LAD	98.2	81	44	96	2.83	1.27	2.18	8.76	1646	5.83
15	Josh Beckett	BOS	91.1	83	32	88	3.74	1.26	2.75	8.67	1515	5.81
16	Randy Johnson	SFO	75.2	75	26	69	5.00	1.33	2.65	8.21	1203	5.74
17	Wandy Rodriguez	HOU	90.2	85	33	87	3.18	1.30	2.64	8.64	1527	5.70
18	Josh Johnson	FLA	105.0	85	25	88	2.66	1.05	3.52	7.54	1566	5.62
19	Max Scherzer	ARI	73.0	70	31	74	3.58	1.38	2.39	9.12	1322	5.60
20	A.J. Burnett	NYY	87.0	81	44	82	4.24	1.44	1.86	8.48	1468	5.59
21	John Danks	CHW	74.1	74	26	70	4.48	1.35	2.69	8.48	1261	5.55
22	Ted Lilly	CHC	91.2	77	20	75	3.04	1.06	3.75	7.36	1368	5.48
23	Scott Richmond	TOR	71.1	64	23	61	3.79	1.22	2.65	7.70	1115	5.47
24	Jered Weaver	LAA	96.0	76	28	78	2.53	1.08	2.79	7.31	1426	5.47
25	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	76.2	57	46	75	3.76	1.34	1.63	8.80	1386	5.41
26	Joba Chamberlain	NYY	69.1	63	37	64	3.89	1.44	1.73	8.31	1183	5.41
27	Gavin Floyd	CHW	89.0	87	34	73	4.65	1.36	2.15	7.38	1372	5.32
28	Adam Wainwright	STL	98.0	94	36	84	3.58	1.33	2.33	7.71	1580	5.32
29	Scott Baker	MIN	81.0	78	13	68	5.22	1.12	5.23	7.56	1284	5.30
30	Matt Garza	TAM	89.1	71	36	78	3.83	1.20	2.17	7.86	1478	5.28
31	Francisco Liriano	MIN	77.2	83	35	68	5.91	1.52	1.94	7.88	1305	5.21
32	Matt Cain	SFO	94.2	78	37	76	2.28	1.21	2.05	7.23	1474	5.16
33	Ryan Dempster	CHC	87.1	77	35	72	3.92	1.28	2.06	7.42	1399	5.15
34	Aaron Harang	CIN	93.1	105	20	77	3.66	1.34	3.85	7.43	1504	5.12
35	Kevin Slowey	MIN	84.2	102	14	67	4.04	1.37	4.79	7.12	1315	5.10
36	Carlos Zambrano	CHC	70.2	61	31	59	3.44	1.30	1.90	7.51	1160	5.09
37	Joe Blanton	PHI	76.2	87	24	67	5.28	1.45	2.79	7.87	1325	5.06
38	Ubaldo Jimenez	COL	89.1	85	38	76	3.73	1.38	2.00	7.66	1512	5.03
39	Edwin Jackson	DET	94.1	75	25	72	2.39	1.06	2.88	6.87	1436	5.01
40	Randy Wolf	LAD	93.0	79	28	69	3.29	1.15	2.46	6.68	1409	4.90
41	James Shields	TAM	101.2	107	21	71	3.36	1.26	3.38	6.29	1474	4.82
42	Josh Outman	OAK	67.1	53	25	53	3.48	1.16	2.12	7.08	1103	4.81
43	Kenshin Kawakami	ATL	75.1	74	31	59	4.42	1.39	1.90	7.05	1231	4.79
44	Carl Pavano	CLE	81.2	96	17	59	5.73	1.38	3.47	6.50	1244	4.74
45	Kevin Correia	SDG	80.1	74	27	61	4.26	1.26	2.26	6.83	1301	4.69
46	Cliff Lee	CLE	104.0	115	23	74	2.94	1.33	3.22	6.40	1588	4.66
47	Dave Bush	MIL	81.0	83	26	59	5.67	1.35	2.27	6.56	1267	4.66
48	Johnny Cueto	CIN	91.2	78	25	66	2.55	1.12	2.64	6.48	1441	4.58
49	Chris Volstad	FLA	89.1	88	26	65	4.74	1.28	2.50	6.55	1422	4.57
50	Roy Oswalt	HOU	90.1	98	26	67	4.48	1.37	2.58	6.68	1466	4.57
51	Gil Meche	KAN	87.2	91	33	68	4.11	1.41	2.06	6.98	1498	4.54
52	CC Sabathia	NYY	102.0	85	31	70	3.71	1.14	2.26	6.18	1568	4.46
53	Jair Jurrjens	ATL	87.1	81	31	62	2.89	1.28	2.00	6.39	1409	4.40
54	Barry Zito	SFO	83.1	83	37	63	4.54	1.44	1.70	6.80	1435	4.39
55	Brian Tallet	TOR	82.2	70	38	58	4.68	1.31	1.53	6.31	1323	4.38
56	Doug Davis	ARI	91.2	84	42	65	3.53	1.37	1.55	6.38	1524	4.27
57	Dallas Braden	OAK	94.0	96	25	62	3.26	1.29	2.48	5.94	1455	4.26
58	Jarrod Washburn	SEA	83.1	75	24	54	3.24	1.19	2.25	5.83	1293	4.18
59	Mark Buehrle	CHW	93.2	85	21	58	3.17	1.13	2.76	5.57	1392	4.17
60	Paul Maholm	PIT	92.1	103	32	61	4.48	1.46	1.91	5.95	1501	4.06
61	Mike Hampton	HOU	67.0	70	27	43	4.70	1.45	1.59	5.78	1074	4.00
62	Kevin Millwood	TEX	106.2	97	33	65	2.62	1.22	1.97	5.48	1664	3.91
63	Brett Anderson	OAK	69.0	86	18	45	5.74	1.51	2.50	5.87	1153	3.90
64	Kyle Davies	KAN	79.2	81	41	54	5.76	1.53	1.32	6.10	1389	3.89
65	Andy Pettitte	NYY	86.2	96	33	57	4.26	1.49	1.73	5.92	1469	3.88
66	Brian Bannister	KAN	71.2	72	23	44	3.89	1.33	1.91	5.53	1137	3.87
67	Chris Young	SDG	76.0	70	40	50	5.21	1.45	1.25	5.92	1299	3.85
68	Todd Wellemeyer	STL	80.2	97	32	51	5.36	1.60	1.59	5.69	1336	3.82
69	Ian Snell	PIT	78.0	83	41	51	5.08	1.59	1.24	5.88	1342	3.80
70	Brad Penny	BOS	71.0	86	24	47	4.94	1.55	1.96	5.96	1256	3.74
71	Joe Saunders	LAA	92.1	89	28	51	3.80	1.27	1.82	4.97	1377	3.70
72	Jeremy Guthrie	BAL	86.2	94	25	55	5.09	1.37	2.20	5.71	1487	3.70
73	Braden Looper	MIL	77.2	87	21	48	5.21	1.39	2.29	5.56	1318	3.64
74	Micah Owings	CIN	72.0	74	36	45	4.50	1.53	1.25	5.63	1236	3.64
75	Tim Wakefield	BOS	88.2	90	35	49	4.47	1.41	1.40	4.97	1351	3.63
76	Rick Porcello	DET	73.2	73	23	41	3.54	1.30	1.78	5.01	1135	3.61
77	Livan Hernandez	NYM	79.2	89	22	45	4.18	1.39	2.05	5.08	1256	3.58
78	Jeff Niemann	TAM	72.1	73	33	44	4.23	1.47	1.33	5.47	1230	3.58
79	Armando Galarraga	DET	73.2	88	33	45	5.62	1.64	1.36	5.50	1258	3.58
80	Bronson Arroyo	CIN	89.0	92	32	48	5.16	1.39	1.50	4.85	1395	3.44
81	Andy Sonnanstine	TAM	76.1	97	21	43	6.60	1.55	2.05	5.07	1255	3.43
82	Zach Duke	PIT	99.0	95	23	47	3.18	1.19	2.04	4.27	1377	3.41
83	Derek Lowe	ATL	92.1	89	29	51	4.09	1.28	1.76	4.97	1500	3.40
84	Scott Feldman	TEX	71.2	63	23	39	4.02	1.20	1.70	4.90	1162	3.36
85	Jamie Moyer	PHI	72.1	93	18	42	6.35	1.53	2.33	5.23	1261	3.33
86	Aaron Cook	COL	83.0	87	28	42	4.23	1.39	1.50	4.55	1276	3.29
87	Ross Ohlendorf	PIT	82.0	85	22	42	4.94	1.30	1.91	4.61	1276	3.29
88	Joel Pineiro	STL	83.2	95	11	39	3.76	1.27	3.55	4.20	1189	3.28
89	John Lannan	WAS	85.1	82	32	42	3.38	1.34	1.31	4.43	1310	3.21
90	Jeff Suppan	MIL	76.1	89	32	41	4.48	1.59	1.28	4.83	1291	3.18
91	Jason Marquis	COL	97.0	96	34	44	3.71	1.34	1.29	4.08	1412	3.12
92	Vicente Padilla	TEX	71.1	72	34	37	4.79	1.49	1.09	4.67	1188	3.11
93	Brad Bergesen	BAL	77.2	79	17	35	3.94	1.24	2.06	4.06	1153	3.04
94	Nick Blackburn	MIN	93.1	92	25	39	3.09	1.25	1.56	3.76	1369	2.85
95	Trevor Cahill	OAK	78.2	78	32	37	3.89	1.40	1.16	4.23	1316	2.81
96	Mike Pelfrey	NYM	76.0	85	27	34	4.74	1.47	1.26	4.03	1273	2.67
97	Jon Garland	ARI	83.0	95	34	33	4.99	1.55	0.97	3.58	1359	2.43
98	Shairon Martis	WAS	80.2	77	36	30	5.13	1.40	0.83	3.35	1262	2.38

Has Javier Vazquez been the best pitcher in baseball this year? One could certainly make a strong argument on his behalf. The 32-year-old righthander leads the majors in not only K/100P by a fairly wide margin but also in total strikeouts and K/9 and is second in WHIP and third in K/BB. His 4-6 W-L record belies just how well he has pitched this season. His FIP, in fact, is three-quarters of a run below his ERA.

If Vazquez hasn't been the top pitcher this year, then how about Dan Haren, who is eighth in K/100P but first in WHIP and K/BB? While the 28-year-old righty may be in the midst of a career year, there are a couple of stats (notably, a BABIP of .238 and a strand rate of 86.0%) that suggest his ERA may be unsustainably low. I picked Haren to win the Cy Young this year so I'm not overly surprised by his stellar season.

Tim Lincecum and Roy Halladay are building on their great seasons last year, while Zack Greinke (April and May) and Justin Verlander (late April to the middle of June) have been the most dominant pitchers in the game at various times over the first three months of the season.

Among the top dozen (or those with K/100P rates over 6.00), Jorge de la Rosa is probably the one pitcher who looks like he doesn't belong. While I would take the other 11 pitchers over him, I believe the 28-year-old southpaw is much better than his 3-7 W-L record and 5.85 ERA would indicate. He pitches in a tough ballpark and has been victimized by a high BABIP and a low strand rate. The young fireballer is not all that different from teammate Ubaldo Jimenez even though the latter has posted a 6-6 record with a 3.73 ERA thus far. If de la Rosa can improve his command and control (far from a given), he could eventually reach his vast potential.

At the other end of the spectrum, Jon Garland and Shairon Martis are pitching about as poorly as any regular starter in the big leagues. Both righthanders have not only struck out fewer batters per 100 pitches and inning than any other qualifier but they have allowed more walks than strikeouts, a recipe for disaster no matter what one's BB rate may be.

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My mother gave me a shoebox with a number of old cassette and reel-to-reel audio tapes for Christmas last year. Some items were marked and many others were not. Anxious to find out just what was in the box, I asked our local full-service editing and production storefront to transfer the tapes to compact discs. As things turned out, it was the best money I have ever spent for CDs.

No Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Led Zeppelin IV, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Saturday Night Fever, or Phantom of the Opera. But, my, what a Thriller it was to find out what I now owned. Included in the tapes (and now CDs) were two interviews of Don Drysdale and my father on the Angels Warm-Up Radio Show in 1974.

While Dad had interviewed the "Big D" dozens of times over the years as a beat reporter covering the Dodgers for the Long Beach Press-Telegram, the roles had been reversed and it was Drysdale, the play-by-play broadcaster for the California Angels, interviewing Dad, the team's Director of Public Relations and Promotions. Their careers had overlapped with the Dodgers and Angels like no others from the 1950s to the 1970s.

Drysdale made his MLB debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1956 and was a budding star when Dad began to cover the club after owner Walter O'Malley had relocated the franchise to L.A. in 1958. The two of them stayed with the Dodgers throughout most of the 1960s with Dad and Drysdale both retiring from the Dodgers in 1969. Dad joined the Angels before that season started and worked for the organization for the next ten years. Drysdale hooked up with the Halos in 1973 through 1979 and returned for one year in 1981. (Interestingly, Drysdale's sidekick, Dick Enberg, broadcast Angels games from 1969-1978, matching Dad's tenure with the team exactly.)

The following Warm-Up shows took place 35 years ago. Nineteen years later to the day of the second interview, Drysdale died of a heart attack in his hotel room in Montreal during a Dodgers road trip. He began his career as a Dodger and died a Dodger. He was 56. Like Drysdale, my father passed away at a young age. Dad was 50 when he died of melanoma in 1978.

While I know these "lost" tapes mean more to my family and me than to the baseball public at large, I wanted to share them on the day after what would have been Dad's 81st birthday and the one before Father's Day. Oh, and isn't it fitting that the Dodgers and Angels are playing each other this weekend? My older brother Tom, in fact, went to the game last night.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. Be sure to give your loved ones a kiss and a big hug on this special day. None of us know what tomorrow brings.

"Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it is called the present."

Thanks, Dad. And thanks, Mom, for the special Christmas gift. It's nice to have you in the present.

* * *

Don Drysdale Interviews George Lederer on the Angels Warm-Up Radio Show, 5/7/74:

Don Drysdale Interviews George Lederer on the Angels Warm-Up Radio Show, 7/3/74:

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Last week I took my first look at the HITf/x data examining how the location of a pitch influences the speed of the ball off the bat and vertical angle of a resulting hit. In this post I am going to do the same for the horizontal (or spray) angle of the resulting hit. This is the angle of a batted ball into the field. Sportsvision reports this angle with 45° corresponding to the 1st base line, 90° straight up the middle (2nd base and center field) and 135° the 3rd baseline. Based on the discussion here it seems others find a -45/0/45 orientation more intuitive. So here I shifted to that orientation so 45° is the first base line, 0° straight up the middle and -45° the third baseline.

Max Marchi already looked at this topic using the GameDay hit location to determine the horizontal angle of the ball in play. He examined the tendency of hitters to pull inside pitches and go the other way with outside pitches. He also looked at the possibility of defensive realignment based on a given hitter's spray chart. Here I am going to look at the first topic and ignore the second which led to an, at times, heated discussion over at the Inside the Book blog.

In Max's work he looked at how much individual hitters pulled the ball based on the pitch location. Here I am going to average over all hitters to find a baseline. Below I show the horizontal angle of a batted ball based on the location of the pitch. Remember that negative angles correspond to to the left side of the field and positive to the right. In this case I chose a red-to-blue color scheme to high-light the difference between pulled and opposite field balls in play. I also flip the colors between RHBs and LHBs so that red is always pulled and blue opposite field. Like always the images are from the catcher's perspective.

Horizontal angle by pitch location

As expected inside pitches result in the furthest pulled balls and it is not until you get to the outside edge of the strike zone that the average ball in play is to the opposite field. So batters have a tendency to pull the ball, with a pitch down the middle on average being hit to about 5° to the pull side. In addition there is a slight trend for pitches low in the zone to be pulled more. It looks like RHBs pull the ball more than LHBs.

Horizontal angle by pitch location for ground balls versus balls in air

I was also interested in how strongly ground balls are pulled compared to balls in the air (fly balls, pop ups and line drives). Conventional wisdom is that ground balls are pulled more, as evidenced by the infield shifts that hitters like David Ortiz experience. In addition, Matt Lentzner set up a simple bat-ball collision model that predicted most ground balls go to the pull side and more balls in the air to the opposite field side.

So we have conventional wisdom and theory telling us what to expect, let's see what the data say. I redid the above analysis first with ground balls and then balls in the air. Instead of using the GameDay classification for GB versus LD or FB, I used the HITf/x vertical angle. Based on Harry Pavlidis' work here it looks like 7° is a rough cutoff between a ground ball and a ball in the air. So that is how I separated the batted balls.

Just as expected ground balls go to the pull side much more often than balls in the air. For about the inside two thirds of the plate the average ground balls goes at least 10° to the pull side. Again RHBs show a stronger tendency to hit to the pull field. This could be because infield hits are more likely to the left side of the infield than to the right, so RHBs have an incentive to pull ground balls while LHBs have an incentive to go the other way with ground balls.

Fly balls, pop ups, and line drives have a much smaller tendency to be pulled and again it is weaker in LHBs. In fact there is almost no pull trend for LHBs on balls in the air; they tend to pull inside pitches and go the other way with outside ones.

Speed of ball off bat by horizontal angle

Finally I was interested in how much additional power a pulled ball has than one hit the other way. Mike Fast showed that pulled balls are more likely to be home runes, more likely to be line drives and have higher BABIP than opposite field balls in play. In fact, Mike showed, a pulled fly ball is ten times more likely to a home rune than an opposite field fly ball. I wanted to see the difference in speed off the bat responsible for this huge effect. Here is the horizontal speed of the ball off the bat by horizontal angle for LHBs and RHBs.

Batted ball horizontal speed reaches a maximum roughly between 5 and 25 degrees to the pull direction. Pulled balls are roughly 10 to 20 mph faster than those hit in the same angle to the opposite field.

Of course all of this analysis averages over all hitters. We know there are hitters who are assumed to be 'dead-pull' hitters or those with power to all fields. The data are now there, in a small sample with more coming, to examine these classifications. Do such hitting syndromes exist? How consistent are they for an individual hitter year to year? How does it impact a hitter's performance? It will be very interesting when enough HITf/x data become available to look at individual hitters at this level.

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I first met Paul DePodesta on May 13, 2005 at a Cal Poly-Long Beach State game at Blair Field in Long Beach. Paul, who was in his second year as the General Manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, joined area scout Bobby Darwin in the row directly in front of me. I recognized him, introduced myself, shook his hand, and we chatted about baseball between innings throughout the game while he was scouting college prospects a month before the draft and staying abreast of the Dodgers 7-4 victory over the Braves that evening.

Paul and I have remained friendly over the past four years. The Harvard two-sport athlete and cum laude graduate is as nice as he is competitive and smart. He is also a fellow blogger and perhaps the only senior member of a front office to operate a baseball-related website.

Now an Executive Vice President for the San Diego Padres, DePodesta has spent the past 13 years working with, for, and hiring some of the brightest minds in the game, including, among others, John Hart, Dan O’Dowd, Mark Shapiro, Josh Byrnes, Neal Huntington, Chris Antonetti, and Ben Cherington with the Cleveland Indians (1996-1998), Billy Beane, J.P. Ricciardi, and David Forst with the Oakland A's (1999-2003), Logan White, Kim Ng, and Dan Feinstein with the Dodgers (2004-2005), and Sandy Alderson, Kevin Towers, Grady Fuson, and Bill Gayton with the Padres (2006-2009).

DePodesta and winning are synonymous with one another. The Indians won the American League Central all three years, the A's won the AL West three times and finished second the other two seasons, the Dodgers captured the franchise's first division title since 1995 and first postseason berth since 1996, and the Padres won the NL West and missed tying for the division title and wild card spot by one game the following season. All in all, the clubs DePodesta has worked for have won eight division crowns and accumulated a won-lost record of 1,137-943 for a winning percentage of .547.

At 31, DePodesta was the third-youngest to become a big-league GM when Dodgers owner Frank McCourt made him his first hire on February 16, 2004. (Theo Epstein was 28 when named GM of the Red Sox in 2002 and Randy Smith was 29 when the Padres hired him in 1993. Jon Daniels subsequently became the youngest GM in baseball history when he ascended to the top spot with the Rangers in 2005 at the age of 28 years and 41 days.)

Paul is married and has two sons and a daughter. His wife Karen is a La Jolla High alum. He has enjoyed his tenure with the Padres for professional and personal reasons. Paul has also served as a keynote speaker at business conventions and his work was featured in Michael Lewis' best-selling book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, and recognized by Fortune, which named him one of the Top 10 innovators under the age of 40.

I had the opportunity to chat with Paul shortly after the MLB Draft was completed last week. Pull up a chair and enjoy.

Rich: On your blog, It Might Be Dangerous... You Go First, you have a poll up, asking "How do you feel about the Padres draft?" The majority of the respondents have voted "Happy." How do you feel about it?

Paul: I'd say "ecstatic," but that's probably how most club officials feel right after their draft.

Rich: The Padres had not taken an outfielder with its first pick since 1999, yet drafted center fielders Donavan Tate (Cartersville HS, GA) and Everett Williams (McCallum HS, TX) in the first and second rounds, respectively. Both players are the sons of former NFL players. Did San Diego make a conscious effort to get more athletic in this year's draft?

Paul: It's the first time since I've been here that we drafted anywhere in the top 20, so we had a different type of player available to us this year and we wanted to take advantage of that opportunity. We've taken some other high school outfielders within the top 50 picks in recent drafts (Kyler Burke, Jaff Decker), so it wasn't necessarily a total departure for us. Due to the work of Grady Fuson and Bill Gayton over the last few years, we feel good about our farm system as a whole, so we really focused on the best player available in each round rather than worrying about organizational need.

Rich: Let's talk about Tate for a minute. Which players, past or present, serve as good comps?

Paul: A lot of different names have been thrown around. I know Donavan admires Grady Sizemore, and there are some similarities there. Some others would include a young Andruw Jones, Mike Cameron, or even Adam Jones.

Rich: Tate has signed a letter of intent to play baseball and football at the University of North Carolina. He is also represented by Scott Boras. Do you not feel as if he is going to be a difficult or costly sign?

Paul: Donavan has had a lot of options presented to him recently, including USC and Michigan football, UNC baseball and football, and now the Padres. Our feeling is that despite his impressive talents on the football field, Donavan's first love is baseball.

Rich: I remember Tate in the Aflac Classic last August quite well. He had a couple of memorable at-bats. In the sixth inning, after being behind in the count 0-and-1 and 1-and-2, he worked the count to 3-and-2 before flying out to left on the eighth pitch of his at-bat. Tate had an even better at-bat in the ninth inning when he fell behind 0-and-2 and fouled off five pitches on his way to working the count to 3-and-2, then got on base via an infield single to shortstop. He also scored the East's first run that inning on a wild pitch. I wrote down on my scoresheet, "tall, strong, fast, runs well" but was most impressed with his approach in those two at-bats.

Paul: It's interesting that you mention those ab's, because we heard some rumbings during the spring that Donavan's bat was "raw," and yet we had a representative at nearly all of his games and just didn't see it. I guess it all depends on the perspective: the bat may be "raw" as compared to his other tools or as compared to the top college bats, but as compared with the other high school bats... we felt comfortable with the risk.

Rich: Between Tate and Williams, which one do you see sticking in center field?

Paul: We think they're both good enough to play there. We hope to have that problem someday.

Rich: I saw Williams play in the Area Code Games last summer. After a terrific BP session, he went 0-for-5, striking out three times. It looked to me like he was having trouble handling breaking balls and lefthanders. Has he improved in these areas?

Paul: We see Everett as a pretty polished HS bat. That doesn't mean he won't need to make some adjustments - even the best big leaguers have to - but he has a natural feel for the barrel that is difficult to teach.

Rich: In the third round, you drafted Jerry Sullivan, a 6-4, 200-pound righthander out of Oral Roberts University. What do you see in him?

Paul: Jerry was a top prospect coming out of HS before having Tommy John surgery. Nevertheless, he came back strong from the procedure and had a stellar career at Oral Roberts. In addition to being an excellent athlete in a 6'4", 200 lb body, he has always thrown strikes with a fastball that ranges from 90-94 as well as a tough slider and solid change.

Rich: As you mentioned, Sullivan had Tommy John surgery while in high school. Do you believe that pitchers who have undergone elbow reconstruction surgery in the past pose lower injury risks than those who have not?

Paul: Not neccesarily. In fact, pitchers with prior arm injuries can be at greater risk going forward. However, we've learned by painful first-hand experience that every pitcher comes with significant risk.

Rich: I was surprised that Keyvius Sampson (Forest HS, FL) was still available in the fourth round. A three-sport star in high school, he was 93-94 and struck out the first two batters he faced (both of whom went in the top 35 in the draft) in his only inning of work in the Aflac Classic last year. At 6-foot-1, he is not as tall as some of the prep power pitchers who went in the first round, but it still seems like he was a steal as the 114th overall pick in the draft.

Paul: With the format of the draft this year (only three rounds the first day), we had ample time to digest the first three rounds and prepare for the next set of rounds. Since we were picking 3rd again on Day Two we were pleased to find a number of interesting players remaining on the board, and Keyvius was certainly one of them. As you noted, he’s a terrific athlete, and we like both his arm speed and his feel for the changeup.

Rich: How do you, Kevin Towers (EVP/GM), Grady Fuson (VP, Scouting & Player Development), and Bill Gayton (Director of Scouting) work together when it comes to the draft?

Paul: The four of us in addition to our cross-checkers, Scott Littlefield and Bob Filotei, discuss all of the top picks, and there's generally a consensus. At the end of the day, it's up to Grady and Chief to make the final call.

Rich: How much of your time do you spend on scouting?

Paul: I start entering draft mode around the end of February/beginning of March. Once the ML season begins, though, I spend probably 90% of my time on the draft until we announce that last pick.

Rich: Do you think the standard five tools (hitting for average, power, arm strength, fielding, and speed) are still the most important attributes of a player? Or would you insert plate discipline/pitch recognition skills into the mix?

Paul: Both tools and skills are important, as they often depend on one another in order to play. For instance, the combination of all tools and no skills is usually a promise unfulfilled, and all skills with no tools often results in a short career. We'd all prefer a plethora of both, but in the absence of that it's a constant effort to figure out if the shortcomings in one area will inhibit the positives in the other.

Rich: While I understand "we're not selling jeans here," what roles do height, weight, and body type play in assessing current and projectable talent?

Paul: You may be asking this because our draft class looks as much like a football or basketball team as it does a baseball team. Malcolm Gladwell once wrote that 3.9% of all adult males are 6'2" or taller, and yet 30% of Fortune 500 CEO's are 6'2" or taller. The fact is that people, in general, maintain an inherent physical appearance bias, and in sports we tend to gravitate toward big, strong guys. Therefore, nature pushes us to overvalue size at times, but things like strength, leverage, and angle can make a difference as long as there are underlying skills.

Rich: How do rank attitude, hustle, and leadership when scouting players? And how do you go about valuing those characteristics?

Paul: It can be really difficult for me to warm up to a player who has a low motor, but that's just my personal take and one that I often have to guard against when writing reports. I prefer guys who play with energy and appear to really enjoy being out there. The minor leagues can be a real grind - I can't imagine enduring that playing schedule - so I worry about guys who don't seem to have that passion. That said, that passion isn't always illuminated by a player bouncing around the diamond, which is why I have to be careful.

Rich: Is "feel for the game" something that is at all quantifiable? Is it inherent in most players or can it be taught or gained over time?

Paul: I don't have a good answer for that. Every player is unique, and sometimes we'll find a player who has terrific instincts for one part of the game while really struggling with other aspects of the game. Some of that "feel" though can come from experience.

Rich: How does ability vs. signability come into play when lining up your draft board?

Paul: We try to line up our board without accounting for signability. When it comes time to make a decision, we have to factor in everything we know, but we don't want signability to cloud our evaluations of a player's ability.

Rich: The Padres were just swept by the Angels over the weekend and are now 9-23 on the road this season. Small sample size, tough schedule, or is there something else at work here?

Paul: I wish I knew! You cite two potentially contributing factors, but it’s often tough to nail down a direct causal relationship. The reality is that winning consistently on the road is difficult, and if you can win just 50% of your road games you’ll probably be in contention for a playoff spot.

Rich: The club is now 14 games back of the Dodgers in the NL West. Given its place in the standings, is San Diego likely to be a "seller" prior to the trading deadline next month?

Paul: The ups and downs of this season have been easier to endure to some degree because we have a young club. Many of our players are still experiencing growing pains at the ML level, which is to be expected, and those aren’t guys we’re looking to trade. I believe we only have four free agent eligible players on our team right now.

Rich: When should Padres fans expect the team to be competing for division titles and playoff berths again?

Paul: One of the tough things about having a lot of young players is the unpredictability of it. Very few teams progress in a relatively linear fashion – 65 wins to 72 wins to 78 wins to 84 wins to 90 wins. Rather, it can look more like the “progression” of the Rays – 70 wins, 67 wins, 61 wins, 66 wins, and then 97 wins. Even the Oakland teams went from 67 to 78 to 65 to 74 before running off eight consecutive years of 87 or more wins. The point is that teams tend to change states rather dramatically much like water turning to ice. I will say that though we have patience to get to 32 degrees, we also have the highest of expectations internally.

Rich: I understand that you have a little bit of professional acting experience, having appeared in a few episodes of the TV show “Homicide, Life on the Street” back in the mid-1990s. As such, how do you feel about the casting choice of comedian Demetri Martin to play you in director Steven Soderbergh's adaptation of "Moneyball," which is scheduled for release in 2011?

Paul: He's a lot funnier than I am, but he definitely needs a haircut.

Rich: Good one, Paul. And with that, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to discuss the Padres, both present and future, with me today.

Paul: Happy to do it.

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On the plane from New York to Chicago yesterday, I had every intention of making my way over to Wrigley for last night's game between the Cubbies and Sox. I would find a single one way or another. After circling over Lake Michigan for a half hour and then touching down to pouring rain, I realized that there might be no game at all.

To see if these showers were just passing - maybe there was some way they would get it in - I went to the Chicago Tribune's mobile sports page to try and get some news on the game, the weather and what the chances the game would take place looked like. When I got there, I stumbled across this piece by Dan McGrath titled One opinion: Sox have better shot at playoffs than Cubs.

McGrath does not take a very analytical approach to the piece. Much of it is off the cuff and its intro makes light of how very underwhelming Chicago baseball has been this season. But nonetheless he does try and mount a case by breaking both teams down, comparing their competition and draws the conclusion that the Pale Hose look like a better bet for October than the Cubs. I disagree pretty strongly with McGrath's position on this one.

Let's just start with some facts. The Cubs are 30-30 and have scored 8 runs more than their opponents thus far in 2009. The White Sox are 30-34 and their opponents have outscored them by 27 runs. The Cubs are 2.5 games behind the San Francisco Giants in the NL Wild Card race and just 3 back of the Milwaukee Brewers for the NL Central. The White Sox are currently 4.5 out in the AL Central and trail the New York Yankees by 6.5 games for the AL Wild Card. While neither team has played the heavyweights from their respective leagues' East divisions (Red Sox and Yanks in Sox case, Phils and Mets for the Cubs), the Cubs have already played four games against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the class of the National League thus far. By a narrow margin, it would seem the White Sox have had the easier schedule to date and therefore figure to face a tougher slate down the stretch.

So the White Sox have a worse record, worse run differential, larger deficits to make up and need to do so against a tougher schedule. In and of themselves, these factors do not make conclusive the case that the Cubs are the more likely playoff bet but if you are going to say you like the White Sox' chances better, the onus falls on you to argue the position that much more persuasively. McGrath's defense in this respect falls way, way short.

Here is my favorite sentence, symptomatic of the rigor with which McGrath makes his case:

Even with Carlos Quentin ailing, the White Sox have enough guys having decent years that they've been impervious to teamwide slumps despite being shut out nine times.

Did you get that? They're impervious to slumps, but have been shut out nine times this season! Pick your garden variety crappy Major League Baseball offense. The A's? They've been shut out five times. Seattle can't hit, what about them? Again, five times. Sure the Giants must have been shut out a whole bunch? Three times. You get the point. It's hard to gloss over the fact that the Sox have been shut out nine times.

What's interesting is that the two teams have had a similar look thus far in 2009. They both pitch it very well while their respective offenses have slumped badly. This is in part thanks to injuries to star performers. Just as the White Sox badly miss slugger Carlos Quentin, the Cubbies can't get Aramis Ramirez back quickly enough. Did you know that with Mike Fontenot now playing mostly at third with Ramirez out, Aaron Miles is playing second and hitting .200/.240/.252! Maybe he remains on the Cardinals payroll?

The key difference between the Cubs and the Sox is that the former has a much better chance of seeing its offense improve dramatically. Geovany Soto, Alfonso Soriano and Milton Bradley all figure to hit much better the rest of the way than they have to date. Whatever the heck the Cubs decide to do at second base is going to be a lot better from here on out, too. Meanwhile, the Cubs do not have any clear regression candidates. Maybe Ryan Theriot just a bit? For the White Sox to improve on the offensive side, they first need Quentin back and a performing a lot closer to the way he did in 2008 than he was before he went down. Second, you need to place a lot of faith in guys like Chris Getz and Josh Fields and Brian Anderson, something that I find hard to do.

So to sum, the Cubs have a big leg up in the standings, have performed better to date and have better prospects to improve. It's why the various Baseball Prospectus playoff odds reports put their chances of making the playoffs anywhere between 25% and 35% or so. They're far from a slam dunk but they have a real shot. Those same measures have the White Sox around 5% to 10%, far worse than the Cubs' chances for all of the reasons I have described above.

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Last week here at Baseball Analysts, we covered the baseball draft in detail with player interviews, scouting reports, and a live blog of the draft. Each team of course has high hopes for the players they draft - hopes that often go unrealized. Of course, a great deal of the expectations heaped upon a player are determined by the pick which he was drafted. Teams understandably expect more out of the #1 overall pick than they do with a 30th round choice. But how much contribution can a team really expect out of each pick?

This is a subject which has been covered before, over at Beyond the Boxscore, by Hardball Times' Victor Wang, and by other places. Here I intend to add to the discussion by adding a theoretical model to the mix to predict the lifetime win contributions from a particular draft pick. Obviously, it's no secret that the higher the pick is, the more production we can expect from a player, but just what is the difference between, say, the #1 and the #500 pick?

Baseball Reference recently has listed all draft picks in the history of the draft, which provides a handy reference from which to start this research. I collected all picks from #1 to #50 and then the picks from every 25th pick after that. This gave me a database of over 2,500 picks to analyze. I then matched this data with Sean Smith's lifetime Wins Above Replacement (WAR) values (due to data issues I actually used a home-brewed method of calculating WAR for very low achieving players - however the vast majority of WAR are from Sean's actual data).

WAR is probably the best metric out there for assessing a player's total value to major league teams, and so I use this as my statistic of interest. I use career WAR rather than WAR over the first six years (pre-free agency), although I think both are probably useful. Since I used career WAR, I had to either make some assumptions about the rest of recent players' careers or throw out a lot of data. I chose to impute the rest of recently drafted players' careers. I assumed that players drafted in 2001 had by now accumulated 50% of their lifetime win shares, gradually going back and increasing that amount to assume that the 1996 draft class had already earned 100% of their win shares. Draft classes 2002 and after were thrown out since it is too soon to predict a player's career win shares.

Fitting A Model

Looking at all data gives quite a messy picture. Of course there are many, many players at every pick clustered at the point where WAR equals zero. These players either succumbed to injury, flamed out, or otherwise never made it to the big show. A few players have slightly below zero values, meaning that they made it to the majors but performed so poorly that they played worse than a replacement player could. Then of course, there are the players with positive contributions, ranging from Barry Bonds' 174 Wins Above Replacement to Harold Baines' 40 WAR, down to the many, many Dave Clark's and Franklin Stubbs' who made a positive, but quite small contribution to their teams.

We can clean this data picture up, by plotting the average WAR at each draft pick, rather than plotting all possible data points. What we see is below:

As you can see, there is a lot of variability even when looking at the average WAR of each pick. However, you can also see that the data follows a definite curve. There is a major advantage to having the very first pick in the first round vs. having the last pick in the first round (#30 overall). The point where the expected WAR tends to level off also seems to be around the end of the first round of the draft. Mathematically we'd like to fit this curve to a model to get a theoretical valuation of each pick. The data certainly isn't linear, but instead seems to follow a definite power law and can be explained by the following formula:

WAR= a * (selection#)^ b, where a and b are the parameters of the model.

Running a non-linear regression, we find those parameters equal to a=19.8 and b=-.50. The model fits very well as you can see from the graph above.

What can we learn from it? Plugging the picks into the formula, we see that the #1 overall selection will accumulate an average of about 19.8 WAR over the course of his career. Meanwhile, it drops significantly to 14.0 WAR for the #2 pick. From there it drops rapidly to an expected 6.2 WAR for pick #10 before leveling off at 3.6 WAR for #30, 2.0 WAR for #100, and 0.9 WAR for #500. The model-based approach makes sense because it uses a relationship which both fits the data and matches our preconceived notions that the #1 pick is likely to become an excellent player, followed by a sharp drop-off in value with each successive pick until leveling off.

Other Factors Affecting Expected WAR

The beauty of a model is that we can also add other variables to the data to determine if other factors affect the curve. Going back to the full dataset (which gives the same parameter estimates as using the average by pick data), we can add terms to our model to differentiate between college players and high school players as well as between pitchers and hitters. The model was defined as the following:

WAR= (a + college*c + pitcher*p)* (selection#)^ b, where a and b are the usual parameters and c adds or subtracts to the scale parameter if the player is in college and p adjusts the scale parameter if the player is a pitcher.

We get the following results from our model. Others have talked about the wisdom of choosing hitters as well as college players and here we have a model that backs up this assertion. The results are below:

In formula form we get:
Expected Lifetime WAR = (20.7 + (-8.5 * pitcher) + (4.6 * college)) * selection ^ (-.49)

where pitcher is equal to 1 if a player is a pitcher, college is equal to 1 if he is a college player, and selection is equal to the # overall selection in the draft.

Here we see a major penalty in WAR for teams choosing a pitcher. If the player is a #1 selection, we would expect a difference of 8.5 WAR between a hitter and a pitcher. Meanwhile choosing a college player is indeed a benefit. The benefit of choosing a college player as the #1 pick amounts to about 4.6 WAR. Both of these numbers of course decrease in proportion to the power law as the draft goes on, so the difference between choosing a high school pitcher and a college pitcher is quite small in absolute terms by the time you get down to the 100th selection in the draft. Below is a pair of charts showing the expected WAR for each type of player at both the 1st and the 100th overall selection.

You can also take a look at a graph of each of the 4 types of players according to the model. As you can see, the shapes remain the same, with the hitters and college players having a higher expected WAR.

The model given above is just the final model with significant terms. I also tried using parameters for college players and pitchers in the exponent to see if the overall shape of the WAR curve changes depending on the type of player. However, this gave a null result, indicating that the pitchers, hitters, college players, and high schoolers all follow the same basic curve - just that hitters and college players start with a higher win expectation. An interaction term between the pitcher and college parameters also came up null, as did parameters distinguishing between various types of position players.

Conclusion

Overall, this analysis backs up the assertion made by others that college hitters have historically been best type of player to draft on draft day, meaning that sabermetrically minded teams can take advantage of this information (and some have been!). Of course, the more teams that catch on to this trend, the less advantageous taking hitters and college players will be. If all teams were drafting with an eye for maximum value with this information, all types of players would eventually have the same Expected WAR. However, I don't believe we are at that point yet.

Aside from measuring the effects of drafting pitchers and college players, this study is useful because it fits a nice smooth curve to easily quantify the expected WAR of each pick, allowing teams and fans to know what type of player to expect with each pick using a simple formula. Armed with this information, we can know what to realistically expect from the players recently selected on June 9th.

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Last August, I wrote the following opening to Remember This Name:

Let me introduce you to the No. 1 pick in the 2011 amateur draft . . . Bryce Harper. I know, that particular draft won't take place for three more years. As such, how in the world could I make this type of a prediction now? Well, if you watched the 15-year-old, lefthanded-hitting catcher take batting practice, infield, and two plate appearances on Tuesday at the Area Code Games, as I did, then I have no doubt that you would be as enthusiastic about this phenom as I am.

Well, ten months later, I need to change the year in that first sentence. You see, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Bryce Harper has registered at the College of Southern Nevada and will be eligible for the MLB Draft in 2010 if he earns his General Educational Development credential this fall.

Harper, a 16-year-old who just completed his sophomore year, has registered at the College of Southern Nevada, where he plans to attend classes in August and play for the Coyotes next season.

His father, Ron Harper, announced the decision Saturday while in Oklahoma City for a baseball tournament.

"Bryce is always looking for his next challenge," Ron Harper said. "He's going to pursue his education, too. He's going to get pushed academically and athletically.

"I don't see a problem with it. I think we've handled it the right way. I think it will be a great story."

The Harper family first hinted at Bryce earning his GED in the cover article of the June 8, 2009 issue of Sports Illustrated.

So good is Harper, and so bleak the prospect of his spending two more years with high school pitchers who can't (and won't) throw their sloppy 80-mph fastballs over the plate to him, that his parents—Ron, a steelworker, and Sheri, a paralegal—are looking for ways to make their son eligible for the draft next year rather than in 2011. One of their advisers is agent Scott Boras, who has a well-earned reputation for maximizing dollars and exploiting loopholes. "I heard one of the things they're considering is taking him to the Dominican Republic to make him a free agent," says one AL executive.

"No," Sheri says. "We are not taking our son out of the country."

What the Harpers are considering, however, is having Bryce earn a GED credential this summer and enroll in a junior college this fall, which would expose him to more challenging baseball competition as well as make him eligible for next June's draft, in which he would likely be the first pick in the country.

For me, Harper's decision means I won't be able to see him play again in the Area Code Games at Blair Field in Long Beach this August. I was looking forward to that. Oh well.

For the Washington Nationals (16-45), possessors of the worst record in baseball this year, it now means having the opportunity to draft the top two amateur prospects in the first 11 years of the 21st century. The franchise won the Stephen Strasburg lottery this year and appears destined to win the Bryce Harper lottery next year. Strasburg and Harper could be the most hyped pitcher-catcher duo in decades, if not ever, should they wind up playing for the Nats. If nothing else, the two Scott Boras-advised players will be the richest signees in the history of the game.

While Strasburg was the 15th pitcher to be drafted No. 1 overall, Harper could become the seventh catcher to go first in the MLB draft. As with pitchers, the history of these catchers — Steve Chilcott *cough* ... Danny Goodwin twice *cough, cough* — would suggest that Harper is not a slam dunk to go from Las Vegas HS to College of Southern Nevada to the minors for a couple of years to the Nationals to the Yankees (after six years) and, finally, to Cooperstown. That said, I wouldn't want to bet against this timeline either.

In the meantime, the former high school phenom, who won't turn 17 until two months after he starts classes at CSN, will be paired with his older brother Bryan, a 6-foot-5 lefthanded pitcher who is transferring from Cal State Northridge, for the 2010 season. The Harpers will be coached by Tim Chambers, a longtime friend of the family.

Ron Harper told the LVRJ that Las Vegas High administrators and baseball coach Sam Thomas are "all supportive" of the move but recognizes that others may criticize this decision.

"There are going to be critics. I can't worry about what people think. People are going to see what they want to see and say what they want to say," Ron Harper said. "I think this prepares him for life, playing the game of baseball.

"People question your parenting and what you're doing. Honestly, we don't think it's that big a deal. He's not leaving school to go work in a fast-food restaurant. Bryce is a good kid. He's smart, and he's going to get his education."

Harper is expected to perform at USA Baseball’s Tournament of Stars next week. However, it is unknown at this time whether the youngster will play on the 16U, 18U, or the National Team (Collegiate) as he could technically qualify for all three.

I say skip the Tournament of Stars and CSN's baseball season and fast forward to June 2010... "Washington, you're now on the clock."

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Last week I was lucky enough to be one of the 2,500 or so people to witness Randy Johnson win his 300th game against the Washington Nationals. In the days surrounding the victory, there were a host of articles wondering whether Johnson would be the last 300 game winner, as well as a host of other articles refuting the notion. So how hard is it to win 300 nowadays anyway?

The game certainly changed a lot since Cy Young was hurling, and that certainly has changed pitchers abilities to win 300 games. While a statistician would know better than to say anything will never happen, consensus seems to indicate it is indeed harder to win 300 games than it used to be. What I set out to do here is create an index which indicates how many wins a great pitcher can expect to earn over the course of a great career. Do the statistics back up the notion that a great pitcher will rack up fewer wins in his career today than in the 1960's or the deadball era?

Creating the Index

Usually when comparing statistics across eras, using league averages are useful in normalizing player statistics, however, this isn't much use when it comes to wins - after all, the total number of league wins is constant. A better way of examining this is to look at the MLB leaderboard in each season to determine the amount of wins earned by a high performing player. For the years up through the expansion era, I looked at the majors’ #5 win leader and took his win total as a benchmark for a high performing player. I adjusted accordingly using percentiles as expansion added more teams, so that currently I was looking at approximately the #9 ranked win leader. Looking at the leaders is useful because it measures high-performing pitchers only, which is what we are interested in. It also automatically takes into account usage patterns, strike-shortened seasons, changes to the schedule, and other changes to the game throughout the years.

Of course, a player looking to join a milestone club such as 300 wins will have to repeat this high-level benchmark performance over many years of his career. To create our index, I had our hypothetical great hurler pitch 15 years at the benchmark level of wins stated above to calculate a career win total.

So how many wins will he achieve in his career during each era of baseball history? The graph below shows the number of expected career wins with each year on the x-axis being the peak year of the player's career.

As you can see, this formulation is indexed at exactly 300 wins at several points throughout history: 1952, 1966, and 1973. This means our hypothetical pitcher would be expected to earn 300 wins whether his peak was in any of those three years. Glancing at the graph we see that it was much easier for a great pitcher to rack up wins in the early days of baseball. Our pitcher with a peak in 1908 would expect to win 366 games. From there the expected win total drops off gradually until it plateaus in the 1930's around 300 wins. After that we see that the amount of wins expected by a great pitcher remains remarkably constant for a long stretch of baseball history, never straying outside of a 10 win radius between the years 1934 and 1977.

After 1977 however, we see a steep drop in the number of expected wins, with the total dropping from 299 in 1975 to 271 in 1986. This almost certainly reflects the switch to a 5-man rotation, which dramatically decreased the number starts, and thus the opportunities for wins for hall-of-fame caliber pitchers. After 1986, the expected number of wins has stayed relatively constant, although it has dropped slightly to its current (peak year=2001) level of 263 wins.

This analysis provides an index for us. It appears that winning 262 games in the modern era is equivalent to winning 300 games in 1966, which is in turn equivalent to winning 347 games in 1917. Based on this, it appears that indeed the modern pitcher has a major disadvantage compared to hurlers of old. In order to get to 300 wins, he has to win approximately 37 more games than if he had been pitching in the golden era of baseball history.

Reflecting Longevity

But does this tell the whole story? The above assumes that a pitcher pitches at an outstanding level for 15 years, but modern conditioning and the 5-man rotation may help a modern hurler pitch longer than his old-school counterpart. This should be reflected in the methodology as well.

How to measure longevity? Since we are interested in looking only at high performing pitchers, I simply looked at the number of years pitched (with over 100 IP) by the top ranked win leaders in each year. While I wasn't able to compile this for all years, I did so surrounding three main points in baseball history. In the years between 1905-1915, top 5 win leaders averaged 12.5 years of service. I then looked at the years surrounding 1960. From 1955-1965, top 5 win leaders averaged 12.3 years of service, very similar to the longevity of the deadball era hurlers. I then looked at top 8 win leaders in the years surrounding 1990. From 1987-1993, the leaders increased their longevity to 13.8 years of service. While the standard errors on these estimates were rather high at around .6, this preliminary investigation indicates that indeed top-flight pitchers are pitching longer in today's game, increasing their longevity by about 10% since the 1960's.

So, how does one adjust for this increased longevity when estimating a player's lifetime wins? An increase of 10% in longevity indicates a corresponding 10% increase in the number of wins - simple enough. But when did this shift occur? Here I'll make a major assumption. The number of starts and innings dropped dramatically in the period from 1975 to 1985, causing the aformentioned steep drop in wins during this period. I'd be willing to say that it was during this period that the increase in longevity occurred. After all, the 5-man rotation was created in large part to protect a pitcher's health and longevity, so it would make sense that longevity would increase during this period. Portioning out the increase gradually in 1% increments between these 10 years, we can create a new index of expected wins. Below is a new graph reflecting the increase in longevity.

Looking at the latter end of the new graph, we see that the effects of increased longevity largely cancel out the decreased number of wins per season. The expected number of wins remains above 300 well into the 1980's and rests today (with a peak year=2001) at 289. This generally refutes the notion that getting to 300 wins is much harder today than it used to be. What's remarkable is that throughout the last 70 years of baseball history, the milestone has remained a consistent standard of excellence. It's probably one of the truest milestone clubs in any sport, and it's largely as reachable for Tim Lincecum or Carlos Zambrano as it was for Whitey Ford or Early Wynn. The only blemish on the 300 club is the fact that several "undeserving" pitchers from the early days were able to reach 300 when it truly was an easier feat to accomplish. The era-neutral 300 win club according to this methodology consists of the following 16 pitchers (wins are indexed to 1952/1966/1973 levels):

Looking at this list, Cy Young is still at the top followed by Spahn, Maddux, Clemens, and Walter Johnson. The rest of the list skews modern, which could convince me that the effects of modern longevity are even greater than I previously estimated. My methodology was certainly not air-tight on determining longevity, and more research could verify whether my assumptions were valid. Nevertheless, it appears the 300-club is alive and well. If the modern pitcher is at a disadvantage, it is a small one on the order of 10 wins or so. While it's true there are no 300-game winners on the immediate horizon, it's a fair bet that another one will come soon enough.

The 500-HR Club

While I had this system in place, I thought I would also apply it to the 500-Home Run club. Since hitters generally play longer than pitchers, I increased the number of years at peak performance to 16 instead of 15 years. This sets the 500 HR index points at 1934, 1949, and 1977. The following graph shows the expected number of home runs by players performing at peak level for 16 years.

As you can see, the 500-HR club is not nearly as true of a milestone club as the 300-win club. As can be expected, in the early days of baseball the HR bar was set very low. It then rises to a peak of 500 in 1934 before going into a trough through the 1940's. It reaches another peak point of 594 homers in 1958 before dipping back down to around 500 in the late 70's. From the late eighties to today, the expected number of home runs has risen dramatically to its peak level today (peak year=2001) of 634 HR's. This means that a player with a peak year in 2001 has a 134 HR advantage over players who played just 20 years earlier.

I didn't adjust for longevity here, since the usage of hitters has not changed throughout baseball history (although one could argue that the DH has enabled players to hit more lifetime HR's). A list of the "era-neutral" 500-HR club is below and consists of 11 members from a well-balanced smattering of eras (HR’s are indexed to their 1934/1949/1977 levels).

As if you needed more proof of Ruth's dominance, here it is. He's at the top by a wide margin. Aaron and Bonds follow, and there's a large dropoff after that. The list is devoid of the plethora of modern sluggers who have recently joined the ranks, although Griffey is about 13 HR's away from joining. It also leaves off a number of 50's and 60's players. The era correction makes the feats of Reggie Jackson and Mike Schmidt look even more impressive as well as adds Lou Gehrig to the club. Of course, if you wanted to index to a different year, you could make the club either more or less exclusive.

While 300-wins remains a good marker for a ticket to Cooperstown, the 500 HR club is far more volatile and if Hall voters haven't figured it out already, they will be writing a lot of unwarranted tickets if they use that as their standard with modern players. The 300-club however, remains a gold standard which is both reachable, but difficult to achieve.

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It should be an entertaining College World Series this year when things get underway this weekend (June 13-23/24). Both Virginia and Southern Mississippi are making their first-time ever appearances in the series. The University of Texas, on the other hand, has played in the series 32 (going on 33) times and has five titles. Only two teams from the 2008 series - Louisiana State and North Carolina - return in 2009.

In the first round you have: Cal State Fullerton vs Arkansas; Virginia vs Louisiana State; Arizona State vs North Carolina; and Southern Mississippi vs Texas.

There are not quite as many big-time prospects in this year's College World Series. Last year, the series featured seven first-round draft picks, while this year there are just four, including CF/1B Dustin Ackley, who went second overall to the Seattle Mariners. In total, 43 players were drafted from the eight teams in the series, down from 58 in 2008.

It's also interesting to note that a number of MLB teams drafted multiple players from the eight teams playing in the series, whether by design or coincidence: Los Angeles Angels, Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies, and the Seattle Mariners.

Arizona State
Record: 47-12
Coach: Pat Murphy
Last Title: 1981

Mike Leake, RHP, Cincinnati Reds
First Round (8th overall)

Leake had an impressive statistical season, but his pitchability far outweighs his stuff (which is still pretty good). As such, many people were surprised to see Cincinnati tab Leake with the 8th overall selection. He is the undisputed ace of the staff after winning 15 games and posting a 1.23 ERA... The Reds organization will just hope he does not get too overworked in the series.

Other Names to Know: Jason Kipnis, OF, Cleveland (2nd round); Josh Spence, LHP, Los Angeles AL (3rd); Carlos Ramirez, C, Los Angeles AL (8th); Jared McDonald, SS, Chicago AL (21st); Raoul Torrez, 2B, Los Angeles AL (32nd).

Texas
Record: 44-13-1
Coach: Augie Garrido
Last Title: 2005

Austin Wood, LHP, Detroit Tigers
Fifth Round (150th overall)

Wood made headlines, but not for the right reasons. The senior closer was forced to work 13 innings in relief during a playoff game against Boston College that went into extra innings. On the plus side, he was dominating through the first 10 innings as he did not allow a hit during that span. He's probably not a closer in the Majors, though as he relies mainly on a low-90s fastball and good changeup.

Other Names to Know: Brandon Belt, 1B, San Francisco (5th round)

Virginia
Record: 46-12
Coach: Brian O'Connor
Last Title: Never

Names to Know: Andrew Carraway, RHP, Seattle (12th round); Jeff Lorick, LHP, Atlanta (20th); Robert Poutier, RHP, San Diego (29th); Matt Packer, LHP, Cleveland (32nd); Tyler Cannon, SS, Pittsburgh (41st).

Cal State Fullerton
Record: 45-14
Coach: Dave Serrano
Last Title: 2004

Names to Know: Josh Fellhauer, OF, Cincinnati (7th round); Khristopher Davis, OF, Milwaukee (7th); Jared Clark, 1B, Colorado (12th); Dustin Garneau, C, Colorado (19th); Michael Morrison, RHP, Detroit (29th); Kyle Witten, RHP, Seattle (41st); Joseph Scott, 2B, Colorado (42nd).

North Carolina
Record: 45-16
Coach: Mike Fox
Last Title: Never

Dustin Ackley, OF/1B, Seattle
First Round (2nd overall)

Obviously this Ackley kid is pretty good. Dave Cameron at Fangraphs.com even made an interesting argument for the gifted hitter to go first overall in this week's 2009 MLB Amateur Draft. He's certainly the key cog in North Carolina's offense. He led the team in average, home runs, RBI, walks, and was tied for first in stolen bases. Ackley also has the flexibility to play both first base and center field.

Alex White, RHP, Cleveland
First Round (15th overall)

White has had an up-and-down junior season, but he's made big pitches when needed in the playoffs. The right-hander held opposing batters to a .230 average and he struck out 97 hitters in 90 innings of work.

Other Names to Know: Kyle Seager, 2B, Seattle (3rd round); Mark Fleury, C, Cincinnati (4th); Adam Warren, RHP, New York AL (4th); Brian Moran, LHP, Seattle (7th); Colin Bates, RHP, Oakland (37th).

Louisiana State University
Record: 49-16
Coach: Paul Mainieri
Last Title: 2000

Jared Mitchell, OF, Chicago AL
First Round (23rd overall)

Mitchell has the ability to completely dominate a game if he can get on base. The athletic outfielder stole 33 bases in 65 college games this season. He also has some pop and he slugged nine home runs, good for third on the team. Although he strikes out a lot (58 times), he also took his fair share of walks (50), which means he doesn't have to be swinging well to make an impact.

Other Names to Know: D.J. LeMahieu, 2B, Chicago NL (2nd round); Louis Coleman, RHP, Kansas City (5th); Ryan Schimpf, 2B, Toronto (5th); Blake Dean, OF, Minnesota (10th); Sean Ochinko, C, Toronto (11th).

Arkansas
Record: 37-22
Coach: Dave Van Horn
Last Title: Never

Names to Know: Dallas Keuchel, LHP, Houston (7th round); Stephen Richards, LHP, Florida (8th); Scott Lyons, SS, Kansas City (15th); Ben Tschepikow, 2B, Kansas City (17th); Michael Bolsinger, RHP, Oakland (33rd); Ryan Cisterna, RHP, Los Angeles AL (34th).

Southern Mississippi
Record: 38-24
Coach: Corky Palmer
Last Title: Never

Names to Know: Brian Dozier, SS, Minnesota (8th); Jimmy Ballinger, RHP, Chicago AL (11th); James Ewing, 2B, New York NL (12th); Ben Davis, OF, San Diego (24th).

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To begin with I want to say great work to all my colleagues here on their draft coverage. The interviews they all posted were first rate, Marc's coverage has been exhaustive and Marc and Rich's liveblog was a perfect way for me to follow along with the first round. So great work team.

The draft was probably the most exciting baseball event of the past week, but a not too distant second, for some of us, was the release of the first batch of hitf/x data. This is the analogous data for batted balls that pitfchf/x gave us for pitches. Like pitchf/x it is captured by two high speed cameras at each stadium. Based on pictures of the ball just as it is struck by the bat and fractions of a second afterwards the batted ball's initial speed and trajectory are estimated. For a technical discussion about how this is done and the accuracy of the method check out this post at Tango's and MGL's Inside the Book blog.

This first release of hitf/x data covers all batted balls from this past April and gives the speed of the ball just it leaves the bat and its vertical angle (or launch angle) and horizontal angle (or spray angle). Analysis of this week-and-a-half old data has already poured in. Ryan Howard crushes the ball. The optimal vertical angle to hit the ball at is around 11 degrees (with 0 degrees being parallel to the ground). David Ortiz is in trouble, balls came off his bat at the same speed as balls of the bat's of Alexi Casilla and Endy Chavez.

It has been a little while since I have had a really nice heat-map heavy visualization post and I thought this data would be a great opportunity to rectify the situation. Since there is only one month of data available the heat-maps presented here are more 'smoothed' than ones I have presented previously. For this reason I am not 100% comfortable about the conclusions at the outer edges of the images. But in and around the strike zone, where there have been lots of hits, I think the results are good.

Vertical angle of a hit based on pitch location

First off let's look at the average vertical angle of a batted ball based the location in the strike zone where it was hit. We know that hit balls with a low vertical angle tend to be ground balls and pitches lower in the zone are hit more often for ground balls. Thus, we should expect that pitches down in the zone are hit for a low vertical angle. Is that the case?

The vertical angle ranges from 90 degrees (popped straight up), to -90 degrees (driven straight into the ground), with a zero degree hit being parallel to the ground. Also remember that the images are from the catcher's perspective, so negative x-values are inside to RHBs and positive x-values inside the LHBs.

As expected the lower in the zone the lower the vertical angle of the average hit ball. In opposite-handed at-bats there is an additional trend for away pitches to have a lower vertical angle off the bat. So pitches down-and-away are the most likely to be groundballs and pitches up-and-in are the most likely to be fly balls and pop ups. In same-handed at-bats this inside-outside trend is much weaker and the gradient is largely just based on vertical location of the pitch.

Horizontal speed off bat based on pitch location

The initial speed of the ball off the bat is not as important in determining the success of a hit as the initial horizontal speed. A hit popped straight up very fast is just as bad a hit popped straight that is a little slower off the bat. On the other hand, the horizontal speed (the speed of the hit in the horizontal plane) is important in determining how hard a ball is to field and how far it goes. So below I plot the average speed of a hit ball in the horizontal plane (in mph) versus pitch location. Based on my HR heat maps I expect the highest speed hits to be slightly up-and-in.

Wow, that is the opposite of my assumption. The peak speed is up-and-away, and far up-and-away. There is a large peak speed out of the strike zone. The area of high speed hits extends from up-and-away to down-and-in through the strike zone. This is actually the same trend we previously saw with the highest run value of contacted pitches. Remember this is just based on batted balls, so there could be something of a selection bias. Maybe the only pitches up-and-away that are swung at and hit get crushed. Still this result is very surprising to me.

Edit

Peter Jensen made the following comment:

I think you may want to choose actual SOB to graph instead of horizontal SOB. Balls hit with a greater vertical angle will have a smaller proportion of their speed as a horizontal component. A batter hitting a high inside fastball is almost forced to hit it in the air because he is hitting it during a portion of his swing where the bat angle has the head above the handle. That portion of the swing also is near the maximum swing speed so the batter will be trying to undercut the ball slightly to raise the vertical angle of the ball off the bat even more and maximize his distance and the possibility of a home run. So the batter is sacrificing horizontal speed off the bat to gain maximum hit ball distance

A batter hitting an outside high fastball. Will be doing just the opposite. His bat angle still has the head lower than the hands causing a lower vertical angle. Most batters should be trying to hit the ball as a line drive to the opposite field since their chances of hitting a home run a relatively small and a line drive to the opposite field maximizes their run value. It also lowers the overall vertical angle of the hit ball and maximizes the horizontal component of the total speed off the bat. That is why your second set of graphs look the way they do. Change from HSoB to SOB and they should look very different. Love the graph images by the way.

Here is the total speed off the bat by pitch location.

Just as Peter suggests this pulls the location of fastest balls off the bat closer to the batter and up. It is still slightly outside, but not far outside like before. The area of high horizontal speed hits down in the zone were, not surprisingly, slowish in total speed.

End of Edit

The next couple of weeks will be very exciting as this new wealth of data is examined. It affords a novel way to examine questions about baseball, and a potentially valuable tool to evaluate batters. If you have any general questions about the hitf/x data or any specific questions you think the data could answer feel free to post them in the comments. Also, make sure to check out Mike Fast's and Harry Pavlidis' early work with the data that I linked above.

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Well, there were a lot of good things and a few bad things from Draft Day 1, when looking at the prospect hauls that teams pulled in. Let's have a look at a few of them.

The Pittsburgh Pirates I don't know what to say about the Pirates. The organization insisted that it wasn't going to take a signability pick with the fourth overall selection, after years of futility, but then the club went and took Boston College catcher Tony Sanchez with the selection. It's not that Sanchez is a bad pick - he's a very talented player - but he doesn't fit well here from a talent standpoint.

The Pirates' supplemental first round pick, Victor Black of Dallas Baptist, has a big fastball (up to 96 mph) but he's been good for only one season (2008-09) and he struggled as recently as last summer's Cape Cod League. It's a pretty risky pick with some safer picks still on the board. But I do agree that the club should have been looking for some advanced arms that could get to the Majors rather quickly.

Prep pitchers Brooks Pounders (2nd round) and Zack Dodson (4th round) will be tough signings as they are both committed to good schools: USC and Baylor. Dodson specifically has a seven-figure asking price but the Pirates organization made him its first pick on Day 2, so you have to hope that the club got a good read on his signability. Both pitchers will probably command above-slot deals to sign away from college so it's a head-scratcher when you consider the organization went cheap with its first-round pick.

The Minnesota Twins I really like the first-day draft for this organization. The Twins club is known for its pitching - and is hurting a bit in the hitting prospect depth - but the club felt the best players available at the time were hurlers. And the organization did not just get "pitchers." The club grabbed some big arms.

Kyle Gibson was obviously a big gamble with the 22nd overall pick, but if he had been healthy he would have been a Top 5 selection. And his forearm stress fracture is not a long-term-injury concern. The club then took a college lefty (Matt Bashore) with a good fastball in the supplemental round a potential future closer (Billy Bullock) in the second round. Third-round pick Ben Tootle can hit the upper 90s with his fastball but his other pitches need a lot of work. Well, he's headed to the right organization to learn how to pitch.

The Kansas City Royals I am not a huge fan of the direction the Major League club has taken in the past year or two, but I really like the way the last two drafts have gone for the Royals, especially with last year's draft of Eric Hosmer, Tim Melville, and Mike Montgomery. Aaron Crow is one more great arm that the organization has added in the past 12 months. He could easily start out in high-A or double-A and I just hope that the club can get him signed and pitching in the organization ASAP. He should fit in as a No. 3 starter at worst. The club lacked a second-round selection, but third-round pick Wil Myers could be a steal if he can stay behind the plate. The Texas Rangers It's hard not to like what the Rangers organization is doing. The club grabbed two power arms with its first two picks - Matt Purke out of high school, and former Fresno State hurler Tanner Scheppers. Both players have HUGE ceilings and add to an already-impressive collection of arms in the system. The extra pick in the supplemental round helps the organization in taking a risk with Scheppers, although everything points to his shoulder injury as being a non-issue now. The club then went out and grabbed a power bat in Tommy Mendonca, a former teammate of Scheppers'. (Taking a sneak peak into Day 2... the club drafted Ruben Sierra Jr. with its sixth round pick). The Arizona Diamondbacks This organization had the most picks of any team in the first three rounds: Eight. Unfortunately, the only two picks that really got me excited were prep third basemen Bobby Borchering (16th overall) and Matt Davidson (35th overall). They both have massive power for players their ages, but they are also probably both first basemen down the line. The club really focused on hitting during the first day of the draft, taking just one pitcher and one two-way player, to go along with six hitters.

OK, let's cheat a bit a talk a bit about Day 2, since I just mentioned it above...

The Tampa Bay Rays I have to admit that I was really not fond of what the Rays organization did on Day 1. But the club redeemed itself with its first two picks on Day 2... with prep catcher Luke Bailey and high school first baseman Jeff Malm. Bailey was a lock to be a first-round selection before he required Tommy John surgery on his throwing elbow. He should rebound OK, though. Malm is one of the best pure hitters in the high school ranks, although there are some questions about his power potential.

So, what do you think? Are you happy with what your team did?

Interesting Notes:

16 of the 32 first-round picks (50%) were pitchers, but 11 of the first 15 were hurlers.

It was also split right down the middle with 16 prep and 16 college prospects getting selected in the first round.

The most prospects were drafted out of California in the first round: Eight

Of the 16 hitters taken, 10 were outfielders.

After the run on first basemen last year in the first round, none were taken in 2009.

There were only four prep players taken in the supplemental round (17 picks overall); 12 of the picks were pitchers (including one two-way player).

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Yesterday was a bit of a blur as the 2009 MLB Amateur Draft flew through the first three rounds. The first round of the draft was also aired on TV at the MLB Network, which was fun to watch even if we had to put up with MLB commissioner Bud Selig as the talking head announcing the picks.

There were some forgone conclusions (Stephen Strasburg first overall to the Nationals), as well as some surprises (like prep catcher Max Stassi slipping to Oakland on the second day in the fourth round or Baltimore going cheap at No. 5 with prep pitcher Matt Hobgood).

As you probably know (and can see below), Rich and I live blogged the first round of the draft and each player had a unique scouting report written by one of the many talented Baseball Analysts scribes. I'd also like to share with you some of the scouting reports for players who slide out of the first round and into the supplemental first round.

37th overall | Toronto Blue Jays

James Paxton, LHP, Kentucky

Height/Weight: 6-4, 215 | DOB: 11/6/88

2009 stats: 5-3 W-L | 5.86 ERA | 78.1 IP | 83 H | 115-20 K/BB

Paxton is a true dark-horse in the first round of the draft. The left-hander throws big-time heat (he can touch 98 mph), but his results - especially this year - have just not matched his stuff. The college junior is a native Canadian (British Columbia), so he does not have as much pitching experience as many of the players from the southern U.S. states. Regardless, his potential will tempt teams in the late rounds of the first round, and certainly in the supplemental round. Along with his fastball, Paxton also has a good curveball and changeup. There are some concerns that he's been plagued by minor injuries throughout his career, especially given the track record for health problems amongst Canadian big league pitchers (Rich Harden, Ryan Dempster, Jeff Francis, Erik Bedard, etc.). Two teams tied to Paxton are Milwaukee and Toronto. (Posted by Marc Hulet)

39th overall | Milwaukee Brewers

Kentrail Davis, OF, Tennessee

Height/Weight: 6-1, 200 | DOB: 12/5/87

2009 stats: .308/.424/.528 | 214 AB | 66 H | 12 2B | 4 3B | 9 HR | 48-33 K/BB

Davis turned down big money ($1 million-plus) from the Rockies as a 14th round pick out of high school in 2007, after he slid in the draft due to signability concerns. He's also represented by Scott Boras. A draft-eligible sophomore, the thinking is that Davis will got back to college for his junior season in hopes of improving his stock, but it's a weak year for college players in 2009 and some team with multiple picks early in the draft could take a stab at him. He has both above-average power and speed, but the power could be limited by his 5-9 stature (He tends to over-swing as it is) and the speed is expected to diminish as he fills out (He's already 200 lbs). The left-handed hitter may age quicker than most due to his physical limitations. Davis can also rub opponents the wrong way as he's known to showboat a little bit. (Posted by Marc Hulet)

40th overall | Los Angeles Angels

Tyler Skaggs, LHP, Santa Monica HS (CA)

Height/Weight: 6-5, 180 | DOB: 7/13/91

2009 stats: 2-3 W-L | 1.60 ERA | 48.0 IP | 24 H | 76-11 K/BB

Skaggs stands tall on the mound at 6’5” and generates downhill plane on his 88-92 mile per hour fastball. He has a quick clean arm action and his main off-speed offering is a slow, looping curve ball of the Barry Zito variety. As a 17-year-old lefty who can already hit 92 on the gun with two solid pitches, he has potential to be a mid-rotation starter, but he remains the second best left-handed prep pitcher from SoCal behind Matzek. Earlier this month, Skaggs returned from a sprained ankle, but he should have alleviated most worries thanks to nine strikeouts in seven innings. Skaggs has committed to Cal State Fullerton. (Posted by Jeremy Greenhouse)

44th overall | Texas Rangers

Tanner Scheppers, RHP, St. Paul Saints

Height/Weight: 6-4, 200 | DOB: 1/17/87

2008 stats: 8-2 W-L | 2.93 ERA | 70.2 IP | 54 H | 109-34 K/BB (Fresno State, NCAA)
2009 stats: 0-1 W-L | 3.32 ERA | 19.0 IP | 17 H | 20-11 K/BB (St. Paul Saints)

Much like Aaron Crow, Tanner Scheppers chose to enter independent baseball rather than go back to college for his senior year after failing to come to terms with the Pittsburgh Pirates after being selected in the second round of the 2008 draft. Prior to the 2007-08 season, Scheppers projected to be a top pick in the draft, but teams were wary of the right-hander's health after he suffered a stress fracture in his throwing shoulder. Despite being fully healthy before the 2008 draft's signing deadline last August, Scheppers and the Pirates could not come to a deal, although the former Fresno State pitcher told Baseball Analysts, in a recent interview, that he thought a deal was going to get done and it was the Pirates organization that pulled the plug. Scheppers has potentially the most powerful arm in the 2009 draft and he can touch 98 mph. He has also worked hard to improve his curveball and the changeup is a work-in-progress. Scheppers has been examined repeatedly, including by the highly-respected Dr. Lewis Yocum, and he is completely healthy. However, due to his long layoff while rehabbing and strengthening the shoulder, the right-hander's control and command has both been off during his appearances with the St. Paul Saints. Regardless, the team that agrees with the medical reports and pops him in the first round will have a talented arm. (Posted by Marc Hulet)

47th overall | Milwaukee Brewers

Kyle Heckathorn, RHP, Kennesaw State

Height/Weight: 6-6, 240 | DOB: 6/17/88

2009 stats: 4-1 W-L | 3.44 ERA | 86.1 IP | 85 H | 98-27 K/BB

Heckathorn has a pretty catchy name and you can't miss him on the field with his hulking size. He has a power fastball to boot. The heater is straight but it gets into the mid-to-upper 90s. Heckathorn also has a power slider and tosses in an occasional changeup. His college results have never matched his raw stuff. Control is not a strong suit for the right-hander but some team that loves the strong body and power fastball will snap him up in the first round and give him a shot at starting in the minors. He'd move quicker as a reliever, though, and is reminiscent of Kansas City's Kyle Farnsworth sans the spectacles. (Posted by Marc Hulet)

There were also some other players we thought would go a little sooner in the draft but they slid past the first and supplemental first rounds... including:

51st overall | Seattle Mariners

Rich Poythress, 1B, Georgia

Height/Weight: 6-4, 245 | DOB: 8/11/1987

2009 stats: .376/.468/.764 | 237 AB | 89 H | 17 2B | 0 3B | 25 HR | 39-42 K/BB

Jim Callis pointed out in his latest mock draft that Poythress saw his stock drop after tailing off at the end of the college season but still, the numbers above indicate the guy has a chance to continue to pound the ball at the professional level. Keith Law compares his body type to Jim Thome and Frank Thomas. Poythress knows that the only way he gets to the show is to hit and hit and hit some more. (Posted by Patrick Sullivan)

54th overall | Baltimore Orioles

Mychal Givens, SS/RHP, Plant HS (FL)

Height/Weight: 6-2, 185 | DOB: 5/13/90

2009 stats: .389 AVG | 95 AB | 37 H | 9 2B | 1 3B | 4 HR

On the diamond, Givens has good actions and smooth range at shortstop. He has good speed, which helps him field his position, but he's more of a 20-25 stolen-base threat on the bases. At the plate, the switch-hitter shows a good stroke and should hit for a respectable average. Givens projects to have average power, at best. He is committed to Oklahoma State University.

On the mound, the right-handed pitcher can touch the upper 90s with his fastball, but his secondary pitches need a lot of work at this point. There are also some concerns over his stamina, as he currently projects as a late-game reliever. As such, most teams prefer Givens as a hitter at this point, but pitching could be a fall-back option if his bat stutters. (Posted by Marc Hulet)

55th overall | San Francisco Giants

Tommy Joseph, C, Horizon HS (AZ)

Height/Weight: 6-1, 210 | DOB: 7/16/91

2009 stats: .494 AVG | 77 AB | 38 H | 4 2B | 0 3B | 15 HR

Fifteen homers in 77 at-bats is impressive, and Joseph has the type of power that is rare coming from a premium defensive position. He has the arm to stay behind the dish, but this was his first year primarily donning the tools of ignorance having previously played first base and DH. It shows behind the plate as he has a lot of work to do with receiving, blocking and, obviously, game calling (since managers mostly call the pitches). As a catcher, his size hinders his quickness, and he’s far from fleet of foot running the bases. He's already starting to get thick in the lower half. His bat will play, but the difference between him becoming a Major Leaguer and a star is whether he can remain a catcher. Joseph is committed to Arizona. (Posted by Jeremy Greenhouse and Marc Hulet)

58th overall | Detroit Tigers

Andrew Oliver, LHP, Oklahoma State University

Height/Weight: 6-3, 212 | DOB: 4-24-1987

2009 stats: 5-6 W-L | 5.58 ERA | 81 IP | 84 H | 91-33 K/BB

Oliver's 2009 junior year was a bit of a disappointment based on expectations from his amazing sophomore year. Still he is considered one of the top college lefties in the draft on the strength of his fastball-changeup combo and good control. John Sickles notes that part of the problem in '09 was that he lost the plus curveball he had in '08. He is advised by Scott Boras. Oliver has already had quite an impact on the first-year player draft. The NCAA does not allow amateur players to be represented by agents who negotiate directly with professional teams. Thus, players drafted out of high school loss their eligibility to play college ball if their 'advisers' communicate directly with the MLB teams that drafted them. Oliver was selected in the 17th round of the 2007 draft by the Twins and his adviser at the time, not Boras, was present during his negotiations. He never reached an agreement and went onto play at OSU. The NCAA became aware of this and he was lost his amateur eligibility in May of 2008 just before the NCAA regionals. Oliver sued the NCAA and in February a Ohio judge ruled that the NCAA cannot restrict a player's right to have legal help when negotiating a professional contract and Oliver's eligibility was restored and he played the 2009 season. The NCAA is appealing the decision and sent potential high school draftees a memo saying that while the appeal was in process that restriction stands. Oliver's lawyer disagrees. (Posted by Dave Allen)

65th overall | Los Angeles Dodgers

Garrett Gould, RHP, Maize HS (KN)

Height/Weight: 6-4, 190 | DOB: 7/19/91

2009 stats: 0.82 ERA | 50 IP | 24 H | 107 K

Gould offers a projectable frame as a 6’4” right-hander who currently sits 90-92 with his fastball. In his senior year, he saw an increase in fastball velocity, which coincided with a rise in his prospect status. What sets him apart from other high school arms is his hard 12-6 curveball, considered a top pitch in this year’s draft. Gould mainly sticks to those two pitches as his third pitch, a changeup, has not yet been needed. Gould has a violent delivery that raises some concerns, but he’s at least athletic enough to repeat it. He was also a standout basketball and football player before giving up the sports to concentrate on baseball. Gould demonstrated his versatility on the diamond as well, posting a .493/.540/.893 line with the bat. Gould has committed to Wichita State. (Posted by Jeremy Greenhouse)

70th overall | Minnesota Twins

Billy Bullock, RHP, University of Florida

Height/Weight: 6-6, 225 | DOB:

2009 stats: 3-3 W-L | 2.64 ERA | 47.2 IP | 40 H | 50-22 K/BB

Despite his 6-6 frame, Bullock does not show consistent plus velocity as a starter. In the bullpen, though, he can touch 96-97 mph on a regular basis and a club in need of quick bullpen help could turn to Bullock early on in the draft. His repertoire also includes slider and an occasional changeup. It's possible that the team that selects the right-hander will try and move him back to the starting rotation. The Dodgers selected Bullock out of high school in the 20th round of the 2006 draft. (Posted by Marc Hulet)

91st overall | Kansas City Royals

Wil Myers, C, Wesleyan Christian Academy, North Carolina

Height/Weight: 6-3, 185 | DOB: 12/10/1990

2009 stats: .532 AVG | 62 AB | 33 H | 7 2B | 0 3B | 14 HR

Keith Law reported that Myers was slipping because scouts had reservations about his body type. Tall, lanky types tend not to stick at catcher. His bat is solid enough that even if he were moved off of catcher, he would still project as a Major League hitter but since there are all of about 4 or 5 catchers in the world that can hit at the Big League level, we all know that sticking behind the plate will be his ticket. (Posted by Patrick Sullivan)

At the end of the first day of drafting (the conclusion of the third round), Baseball America - the leading draft experts - stated that a number of key draft prospects were still available in the coming day, beginning in round four. Here are the names that BA identified (The number represents the player's ranking amongst BA's Top 100 draft prospects list):

30. Max Stassi, c, Yuba City (Calif.) HS
38. Sam Dyson, rhp, South Carolina
41. Zack Von Rosenbuerg, rhp, Zachary (La.) HS
43. Brody Colvin, rhp, More HS, Lafayette, La.
45. Madison Younginer, rhp, Mauldin (S.C.) HS
47. Keyvius Sampson, rhp, Forest HS, Ocala, Fla.
55. Chris Dwyer, lhp, Clemson
59. Jeff Malm, 1b, Bishop Gorman HS, Las Vegas
60. A.J. Morris, rhp, Kansas State
62. Jason Stoffel, rhp, Arizona
63. Kent Matthes, of, Alabama
64. Angelo Songco, of, Loyola Marymount
65. Brian Goodwin, of, Rocky Mount (N.C.) HS
68. Dane Williams, rhp, Archbishop McCarthy HS, SW Ranches, Fla.
74. Jacob Stewart, of, Rocky Moutain HS, Fort Collins, Colo.
80. Ryan Jackson, ss, Miami
81. Austin Maddox, c, Eagle’s View Academy, Jacksonville, Fla.
82. Brooks Raley, lhp/of, Texas A&M
83. Andrew Doyle, rhp, Oklahoma
90. Ryan Buch, rhp, Monmouth
92. Kendal Volz, rhp, Baylor
94. Matt den Dekker, of, Florida
96. Luke Bailey, c, Troup HS, LaGrange, Ga.

Of those players, we here at Baseball Analysts wanted to share a few more scouting reports, as well as the team that drafted them on Day 2.

4th round | San Diego Padres

Keyvius Sampson, RHP, Forest HS, Florida

Height/Weight: 6-1, 185 | DOB: 1/6/1991

2009 stats: 8-0 W-L | 0.83 ERA | 59 IP | 19 H | 113-14 K/BB

Sampson is known for his easy delivery and athletic frame, and there is even some question as to whether he will continue his professional career as a pitcher or position player. Given that he sits in the low-90's and touches the mid-90s, it looks like he will be pitching as a pro. He has a compelling personal story and extraordinary makeup. He is a Florida State commit. (Posted by Patrick Sullivan)

4th round | Oakland Athletics

Max Stassi, C, Yuba City (Calif.) HS

Height/Weight: 5-10, 190 | DOB: 3/15/91

2009 stats: .538/.643/1.423 | 78 AB | 42 H | 11 2B | 1 3B | 11 HR | 23 BB | 8 SO

Stassi is likely the top rated catcher in this year's draft. Rated the #30 overall prospect by Baseball America, he has outstanding baseball makeup and is considered a gamer. His short, but powerful build allows him to hit with plus power, slugging 1.423 in his senior season. His defensive skills are also a plus - he has a decent arm and excellent footwork behind the plate. He missed time this season when he tweaked his shoulder, but appears to have recovered from the injury. The key concern about Stassi is his signability. He is committed to UCLA, making college an attractive option. He has said he is 50-50 on going pro. (Posted by Sky Andrecheck)

5th round | St. Louis Cardinals

Ryan Jackson, SS, University of Miami

Height/Weight: 6-3, 185 | DOB: 8/26/1990

2009 stats: .263/.362/.381 | 194 AB | 51 H | 9 2B | 0 3B | 4 HR | 33-32 K/BB

The numbers underwhelm, so let's let friend of Baseball Analysts Tony Sanchez take it away.

I have been watching him since we were 12 and I always knew he was going to be special. Guys like us don't necessarily impress everyone - like me, he has his critics. But he has that intangible that I think will help him become a Big League shortstop. Travel ball, high school ball and most recently in college I have watched him and he has it. His glove alone could probably make him a Big Leaguer and if he hits, sky's the limit. (Posted by Patrick Sullivan)

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I was a guest last night on 590 KFNS, a St. Louis radio station known as The Fan. The show, which runs weeknights from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. CT, was hosted by The Benchwarmers, Brendan Wiese and Nick Barrale. We discussed the first day of the MLB Draft. You can access it on the radio station's rewind today or directly below.

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It's a great time to be a baseball fan. The Draft has historically been something of a mystery because there was very little readily available information on potential draftees. That's just not the case anymore. A lot happened yesterday and chances are, you might be scrambling to figure out just what your favorite team did to beef up its farm system. So today, you're going to want to take in what happened during the first three rounds of the draft, and also follow how the remainder of the day plays out. To that end Marc Hulet, doing yeoman's work as usual on the draft, will be getting readers here up to speed with a fresh post in a little bit but there are plenty of other outlets, too.

MLB.com had a great live draft tracker. They also broadcast the first round from MLB Network's Studio 42. Rich Lederer and Marc Hulet had you soup-to-nuts here at Baseball Analysts last night. Keith Law was all over this thing. So was John Sickels. So were Kevin Goldstein and Baseball Analysts co-founder Bryan Smith. Obviously Baseball America was chiming in with the goods.

Following on Twitter was great fun, too (I am a newbie, still trying to figure things out but having a blast so far - @PatrickSull). With pick number 12, Rany Jazayerli (@Jazayerli) wanted USC shortstop and Scott Boras client Grant Green badly for the Royals. Before they picked, he tweeted the following:

We're going to learn an awful lot about the Kansas City Royals as an organization in the next four minutes.

After they took Aaron Crow, Keith Law (@keithlaw) talked Rany off the ledge, assuring him that Crow was in fact a good selection. Jonah Keri (@jonahkeri) was just happy to have so many outlets to follow online so that he could take in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals. I was in Jonah's camp - following intently with my laptop open while watching one of the more exciting hockey games I have seen in a while.

Tonight's baseball for me will be a little more old-fashioned. I will be sitting in the grandstand at the game's oldest ballpark watching the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox go head-to-head live. You can't beat a night out at the ballpark but with the amount of quality baseball content out there these days, following the game in 2009 from right in front of your computer is a close second.

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For the third straight year (Click here for 2008), Baseball Analysts scribes Rich Lederer and Marc Hulet will be live blogging during the first round of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. We'll have minute-by-minute updates and detailed scouting reports (by ourselves and the rest of the talented staff) on every player selected in the first round. We will also be providing commentary on subsequent rounds until the draft concludes after the third round.

The 2009 MLB Amateur Draft will begin with the Washington Nationals on the clock at 6 p.m. Eastern Time. There should be no surprises with the first-overall pick, as the organization is expected to take right-hander Stephen Strasburg out of San Diego State University. Many expect CF/1B Dustin Ackley, of the University of North Carolina, to go second overall to the Seattle Mariners. After the first two picks, though, it's anybody's best guess.

Be sure to refresh your browser or check back throughout the day to stay abreast of the latest news as we live blog the draft.

Update:
According to Baseball America, nine of the first 10 picks look fairly certain, with the only question coming at No. 9:

1. Nationals: San Diego State righthander Stephen Strasburg.
2. Mariners: North Carolina first baseman Dustin Ackley.
3. Padres: Georgia HS outfielder Donavan Tate.
4. Pirates: Boston College catcher Tony Sanchez.
5. Orioles: California HS righthander Matt Hobgood.
6. Giants: Georgia HS righthander Zack Wheeler.
7. Braves: Vanderbilt lefthander Mike Minor.
8. Reds: North Carolina righhander Alex White.

At No. 9, Tigers are deciding whether to spend big (California HS lefthander Tyler Matzek, Missouri HS righty Jacob Turner), smaller (Texas HS righty Shelby Miller) or a little smaller (Arizona State RHP Mike Leake).

10. Nationals: Stanford righthander Drew Storen.

First Round

1. Washington Nationals
NL East | 15-39 | Last Place
General Manager: Mike Rizzo
Scouting Director: Dana Brown
2008 1st Round: Aaron Crow, RHP, Missouri (Did Not Sign)
2007 1st Round: Ross Detwiler, RHP, Missouri State
2006 1st Round: Chris Marrero, OF/1B, Florida high school

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Jordan Zimmermann, RHP, Majors
2. Michael Burgess, OF, High-A
3. Ross Detwiler, RHP, Majors
4. Derek Norris, C, Low-A
5. Chris Marrero, OF/1B, High-A

Organizational Needs: Right-handed pitching, third base, second base

Stephen Strasburg, RHP, San Diego State University

Height/Weight: 6-4, 220 | DOB: 7/20/88

2009 stats: 13-1 W-L | 1.32 ERA | 109.0 IP | 65 H | 195-19 K/BB

Strasburg, who may be the best college pitcher in history, has been the consensus No. 1 pick in the 2009 draft ever since striking out 23 batters in a game against Utah in April 2008. He was the first collegian to play for the U.S. Olympic Team last summer. Strasburg led the nation in ERA and strikeouts this past season while whiffing almost half of the batters he faced. Threw a no-hitter with 17 punchouts vs. Air Force last month. Baseball America ranks his fastball, secondary pitch, and command as the best among all college pitchers. His fastball consistently sits no worse than the mid-90s and has reached triple digits on occasion. Also throws a hard slurve and a high-80s changeup with screwball-like action. Strasburg is capable of pitching in the major leagues right now, yet is unlikely to sign before the deadline on August 15. (Posted by Rich Lederer)

Rich: Let the negotiations begin, which, of course, won't get serious for another two months. I think it would be more fun if he signed and went directly into the big leagues. But it's probably not the right thing to do nor what is likely to happen.

Marc: I really hope Strasburg turns out to be as good as advertised - and for a long time... There have been too many Priors and McDonalds.

2. Seattle Mariners
AL West | 27-29 | Third Place
General Manager: Jack Zduriencik
Scouting Director: Tom McNamara
2008 1st Round: Joshua Fields, RHP, Georgia
2007 1st Round: Phillippe Aumont, RHP, Quebec HS
2006 1st Round: Brandon Morrow, RHP, California

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Phillippe Aumont, RHP, High-A
2. Michael Saunders, OF, Triple-A
3. Jharmidy DeJesus, SS, Low-A
4. Greg Halman, OF, Double-A
5. Adam Moore, C, Triple-A

Organizational Needs: Starting pitching, Left-handed pitching, First base, Second base

Dustin Ackley, CF/1B, North Carolina

Height/Weight: 6-1, 185 | DOB: 2/26/88

2009 stats: .417/.520/.781 | 242 AB | 101 H | 17 2B | 4 3B | 21 HR | 49-31 K/BB

The consensus second-best talent in the draft (next to Stephen Strasburg, of course), Ackley is a talented baseball player who spent the majority of the 2008-09 season playing first base while recovering from last year's Tommy John surgery. His draft stock rose significantly, though, when he showed he was healthy and able to play an above-average center field. His arm - even before surgery - was average at best. Although he has outstanding skills at the plate in terms of hitting for average (and he should be able to top .300 at the MLB level, if not lead the league in hitting a few times), Ackley's swing does not lend itself to the power you might expect from a first baseman. He'd be much more valuable to a team as a gap-to-gap hitter who can spray the ball all over the field, while utilizing his plus speed. Pretty much everyone expects Seattle to pop Ackley with the second overall pick. (Posted by Marc Hulet)

Rich: Seattle didn't back away from the rumors that Ackley wants Mark Teixeira money plus inflation, which would mean more than $10 million. The second pick slots at about $3M-$3.5M. Pedro Alvarez, who like Ackley is a SBC client, extracted $6M out of the Pirates last year. Look for Ackley to get closer to $6 mil than $10 mil. But, rest assured, he will be a last-minute signee.

3. San Diego Padres
NL West | 26-29 | Third Place
General Manager: Kevin Towers
Scouting Director: Bill Gayton
2008 1st Round: Allan Dykstra, 1B, Wake Forest
2007 1st Round: Nick Schmidt, LHP, Arkansas
2006 1st Round: Matt Antonelli, IF, Wake Forest

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Kyle Blanks, OF, Triple-A
2. Mat Latos, RHP, Double-A
3. Jaff Decker, OF, Low-A
4. Adys Portillo, RHP, Rookie
5. James Darnell, 3B, Low-A

Organizational Needs: Catcher, Shortstop, Left-handed pitching

Donovan Tate, OF, Cartersville HS, Georgia

Height/Weight: 6-3, 200 | DOB: 9/27/1990

2009 stats: .488 AVG | 88 AB | 43 H | 11 2B | 1 3B | 9 HR

Tate is a toolsy outfielder “without a guaranteed bat” according to John Sickels. Other reports speak enthusiastically about the total package but no one skill of Tate’s stands out - he is simply an outstanding all-around athlete. He claims to be done with football but if the price is not right, there is speculation that Tate could go play two sports at UNC, where he is committed. (Posted by Patrick Sullivan)

Rich: By taking Tate, the Padres are breaking with past history and taking an athletic high school player rather than a more proven college pitcher or bat. Good for them.

4. Pittsburgh Pirates
NL Central | 26-29 | Fifth Place
General Manager: Neal Huntington
Scouting Director: Greg Smith
2008 1st Round: Pedro Alvarez, 3B, Vanderbilt
2007 1st Round: Daniel Moskos, LHP, Clemson
2006 1st Round: Brad Lincoln, RHP, Houston

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Pedro Alvarez, 3B, High-A
2. Andrew McCutchen, OF, Majors
3. Jose Tabata, OF, Injured
4. Brad Lincoln, RHP, Double-A
5. Jeff Locke, LHP, High-A

Organizational Needs: Right-handed pitching, Left-handed pitching, Left field, First base

Tony Sanchez, C, Boston College

Height/Weight: 6-1, 220 | DOB: 5/20/88

2009 stats: .355 AVG | 211 AB | 75 H | 18 2B | 0 3B | 14 HR

Sanchez is expected to be selected as the first catcher, possibly to the Pirates at No. 4. It's considered an overdraft by some, despite his talent. Sanchez shows a good bat, along with at least average power, but there is no guarantee that he will hit for average. He also runs pretty well for a catcher. Defensively, he is quite talented and has a good arm. Sanchez loves to work with pitchers and he has great makeup. He could move quickly, especially if his bat plays in pro ball. (Posted by Marc Hulet)

RL: Sully interviewed Sanchez for Baseball Analysts last week.

5. Baltimore Orioles
AL East | 24-32 | Fifth Place
General Manager: Andy MacPhail
Scouting Director: Joe Jordan
2008 1st Round: Brian Matusz, LHP, San Diego
2007 1st Round: Matt Wieters, C, Georgia Tech
2006 1st Round: Billy Rowell, 3B, New Jersey HS

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Matt Wieters, C, Majors
2. Brian Matusz, LHP, High-A
3. Chris Tillman, RHP, Triple-A
4. Nolan Reimold, OF, Majors
5. Jake Arrieta, RHP, Double-A

Organizational Needs: Outfielders, Shortstop, Third base, First base, Left-handed pitching

Matt Hobgood, RHP, Norco (Calif.) HS

Height/Weight: 6-4, 245 | DOB: 8/3/90

2009 stats: 9-0 W-L | 0.38 ERA | 55.0 IP | 31 H | 84-19 K/BB

Hobgood is a big, strong right-handed stater with a durable body. His weight had been an issue, but he trimmed down for his senior season and it paid off. He dominated his high school competition with a fastball in the low to mid 90's and an outstanding 11-5 curveball. He has a slurve and change-up as well, but they need work to be effective pitches at the next level. Hobgood also sports an outstanding bat and glove. (Posted by Sky Andrecheck)

Rich: Hopgood was named the 2009 Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year yesterday. He is a big bodied pitcher who can also hit. Baltimore clearly liked him better than any other team. He is committed to Cal State Fullerton but is likely to be a fairly easy sign at this spot.

Marc: It's the first of the really surprising picks... but BA (Jim Callis) nailed it within an hour of the draft. A surprise that BAL went with signability this year after taking prospects like Wieters and Matusz in recent years.

6. San Francisco Giants
NL West | 28-26 | Second Place
General Manager: Brian Sabean
Scouting Director: John Barr
2008 1st Round: Buster Posey, C, Florida State
2007 1st Round: Madison Bumgarner, LHP, North Carolina HS
2006 1st Round: Tim Lincecum, RHP, Washington

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Madison Bumgarner, LHP, Double-A
2. Buster Posey, C, High-A
3. Angel Villalona, 1B, High-A
4. Tim Alderson, RHP, Double-A
5. Rafael Rodriguez, OF, Rookie

Organizational Needs: Depth just about everywhere on the diamond

Zack Wheeler, RHP, East Pauling (Ga.) HS

Height/Weight: 6-4, 180 | DOB: 5/30/90

2009 stats: 8-0 W-L | 0.30 ERA | 69.0 IP | 28 H | 135-17 K/BB

Zack Wheeler, who Baseball Analysts interviewed earlier this week, is a right-handed high school pitcher out of Georgia. His stock rose dramatically with a dominant senior season in which he struck out more than half of all batters he faced. Wheeler has an outstanding fastball, which can reach 95 mph and a plus slurve. A lanky 6-4, he has a projectable body with excellent arm strength. He has a good head on his shoulders and is known as a baseball rat who loves the game. An important, but little-mentioned fact is that Zack is already 19, making him 3 to 15 months older than the peers in his class. (Posted by Sky Andrecheck)

Marc: The sound you hear is the Braves organization weeping after losing out on its fav player... and Georgia native. Will Atlanta nab Alex White now?

7. Atlanta Braves
NL East | 26-28 | Third Place
General Manager: Frank Wren
Scouting Director: Roy Clark
2008 1st Round: Brett DeVall, LHP, Florida HS (supplemental 1st)
2007 1st Round: Jason Heyward, OF, Georgia HS
2006 1st Round: Cody Johnson, OF/1B, Florida HS

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Jason Heyward, OF, High-A
2. Tommy Hanson, RHP, Majors
3. Jordan Schafer, OF, Triple-A
4. Freddie Freeman, 1B, High-A
5. Ezekiel Spruill, RHP, Low-A

Organizational Needs: Third base, Shortstop, Second base

Mike Minor, LHP, Vanderbilt

Height/Weight: 6-4, 195 | DOB: 12/26/87

2009 stats: 6-6 W-L | 3.90 ERA | 110.2 IP | 109 H | 114-37 K/BB

Mike Minor, a left-hander from Vanderbilt, was formerly drafted in the 13th round by Tampa Bay after his high school season, falling that low only due to his commitment to college. Three years later, he is ready to go pro and is expected to be selected highly. Minor's fastball is not overpowering at 88-91 mph, but he has excellent command with it and also sports an outstanding change-up as well as a hard slider and curve. While Minor has added pitches to his arsenal during his college career, his stats have not improved. His freshman year was his best season, going 9-1 with a nearly 5:1 BB/K ratio - this past year it was down to 3:1. It's been said the Padres are looking at taking him at #3 - if he goes that high, it will be due more to economics than talent. Minor's stuff or stats aren't mind-blowing, but as a signable college lefty who knows how to pitch, he's an attractive option, especially to a team who isn't looking to break the bank with its selection. (Posted by Sky Andrecheck)

Rich: Wow. Another signability choice. And a southerner to boot. A solid pick but one that lacks a high ceiling.

Marc: I love this pick because it means the Jays cannot take him. Seriously, though, the Braves have to hope that this guy is not Jeremy Sowers.

8. Cincinnati Reds
NL Central | 29-26 | Third Place
General Manager: Walt Jocketty
Scouting Director: Chris Buckley
2008 1st Round: Yonder Alonso, 1B, Miami
2007 1st Round: Devin Mesoraco, C, Pennsylvania HS
2006 1st Round: Drew Stubbs, OF, Texas

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Yonder Alonso, 1B, Double-A
2. Todd Frazier, OF, Double-A
3. Drew Stubbs, OF, Triple-A
4. Neftali Soto, 3B, High-A
5. Yorman Rodriguez, OF, Rookie

Organizational Needs: Left-handed pitching, Right field, Left field, Second base

Mike Leake, RHP, Arizona State

Height/Weight: 6-0, 180 | DOB: 11/12/87

2009 stats: 15-1 W-L | 1.23 ERA | 124.2 IP | 71 H | 143-20 K/BB

An exceptionally athletic pitcher, Leake has also been dependable throughout his career at Arizona State. The right-hander has good - but not over-powering - stuff with a fastball that ranges from 88-92 mph and occasionally touches 93-94, as well as a cutter, slider, and changeup. He has excellent command of his pitches and great mound poise, which helps him get the most out of his stuff. A stats-oriented team could definitely a lot to like about Leake, as could most scouts. In fact, it was Oakland that drafted him out of high school (in the seventh round in 2006). Teams that prefer big, physical starting pitchers will likely steer clear of Leake, though, as he stands just 6 feet tall. (Posted by Marc Hulet)

Marc: So much for Alex White here. I like Leake a lot. He has good numbers and good stuff... A great pick by the Reds.

Rich: I like him, too. Xlnt athlete. Great makeup. Big-time competitor. Outstanding numbers in a tough conference. Only concern is his size. But I wouldn't want to bet against him. Thought he might go to the A's at No. 14. Oakland drafted him in the seventh round in 2006 but Leake chose to go to ASU instead.

9. Detroit Tigers
AL Central | 29-25 | First Place
General Manager: David Dombrowski
Scouting Director: David Chadd
2008 1st Round: Ryan Perry, RHP, Arizona
2007 1st Round: Rick Porcello, RHP, New Jersey HS
2006 1st Round: Andrew Miller, LHP, North Carolina

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Rick Porcello, RHP, Majors
2. Ryan Perry, RHP, Majors
3. Casey Crosby, LHP, Low-A
4. Ryan Strieby, 1B, Double-A
5. Jeff Larish, 1B, Triple-A

Organizational Needs: Depth everywhere...Shortstop, Left field, Starting Pitching...

Jacob Turner, RHP, Westminster Christian HS (MO)

Height/Weight: 6-5, 210 | DOB: 5/21/91

2009 stats: 7-1 W-L | 0.40 ERA | 52.0 IP | 19 H | 105-8 K/BB

Turner may be the top prep righthander in the draft. No one doubts his size, arm strength, or projectability. Represented by the Scott Boras Corporation, some teams may shy away from the alleged bonus demands that seek to match the record $7 million for a high school pitcher garnered by Josh Beckett in 1999 and Rick Porcello in 2007. I watched Turner on TV in the AFLAC Classic at Dodger Stadium last summer. He started the game, pitched two innings, allowed just one hit, one walk, and no runs while striking out five consecutive batters. Although his fastball was mostly 91-92 and touched 93 that day, it has reportedly topped out at 98 this spring. He also throws a curveball and changeup. Baseball America ranks his fastball as the second-best among all high schoolers. He has signed a letter of intent to North Carolina. (Posted by Rich Lederer)

Rich: Finally. A team stepped up on one of the best high school pitchers. The Tigers have not been afraid to draft and sign the best of the best the past few years (see Justin Verlander, Andrew Miller, and Rick Porcello).

Marc: I agree with Rich... great choice by Detroit. Not quite the present talented that Porcello (whom people are comparing him to) had but there are some similarities, as well.

10. Washington Nationals (Compensation)

Drew Storen, RHP, Stanford University

Height/Weight: 6-2, 180 | DOB: 8/11/90

2009 stats: 7-1 W-L | 3.80 ERA | 42.2 IP | 34 H | 66-8 K/BB

Storen is the top reliever in this year’s draft, though some teams have considered selecting him as a starter. He is polished enough to appear out of the pen as early as this year. As a reliever, he throws 90-94, as well as two types of breaking pitches. As a starter, he’ll mix in his change and sinker occasionally. Wherever he pitches, he’ll throw strikes and limit his walks. He was drafted in 2007 by the New York Yankees, but did not break his commitment to Stanford. As a Cardinal, he has proven himself against stiff competition, including last year’s College World Series, where as he won two Regional games, saved two Super Regional games, and earned a win in his first appearance in the World Series. Storen is a draft-eligible sophomore, which might give him leverage in negotiations, but he is strongly expected to sign. (Posted by Jeremy Greenhouse)

Marc: A college pitcher who should move quickly like Strasburg... Many expect him to move from the bullpen, where he pitched in college, to the starting rotation in pro ball.

Rich: A good, solid pick, as much for need and signability as anything else. The Nats can't take any chances here because the club will not receive a compensation pick if it doesn't sign Storen.

Jeremy interviewed Storen for Baseball Analysts last week.

11. Colorado Rockies
NL West | 23-32 | Fifth Place
General Manager: Dan O'Dowd
Scouting Director: Bill Schmidt
2008 1st Round: Christian Friedrich, LHP, Eastern Kentucky
2007 1st Round: Casey Weathers, RHP, Vanderbilt
2006 1st Round: Greg Reynolds, RHP, Stanford

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Dexter Fowler, OF, Majors
2. Jhoulys Chacin, RHP, Double-A
3. Christian Friedrich, LHP, High-A
4. Charlie Blackmon, OF, High-A
5. Wilin Rosario, C, High-A

Organizational Needs: Right field, First base, Left-handed pitching

Tyler Matzek, LHP, Capistrano Valley HS (CA)

Height/Weight: 6-3, 211 | DOB: 10/19/90

2009 stats: 13-1 W-L | 0.97 ERA | 86.2 IP | 40 H | 106-33 K/BB

Matzek has gone from a virtual unknown 18 months ago to arguably the best prep pitcher in the draft. A lefthander, he has the full package: size, stuff, and polish. I saw him retire the side on nine pitches with two strikeouts in the Aflac All-American Game last summer. He commanded his fastball and curveball and hit 93 on the gun three times. A top ten prospect since the beginning of the year, Matzek has zoomed up draft boards with a phenomenal run during the playoffs (when he went 4-0 without allowing a run in 18.1 IP), culminating in a 1-0 victory in the CIF Southern Section Division I final at Anaheim Stadium when he was the winning pitcher and slugged a home run with two out in the bottom of the sixth to account for the game's only run and could go as high as No. 3 to the San Diego Padres. He reportedly dialed up his fastball to 97-98 on a few occasions during the past couple of weeks. Matzek has committed to Oregon but his top-of-the-rotation potential is likely to garner a high draft pick and huge signing bonus. (Posted by Rich Lederer)

Rich: Matzek may now wish that he hadn't asked for the moon when approached by MLB teams this week. As a reward for wanting "unprecedented" money, he gets to pitch his first six years in Colorado. What a shame. But, hey, somebody has to pitch there.

Marc: Colorado got arguably the best prep arm with the 11th pick. Nice.

12. Kansas City Royals
AL Central | 24-31 | Fourth Place
General Manager: Dayton Moore
Scouting Director: J.J. Picollo
2008 1st Round: Eric Hosmer, 1B, Florida HS
2007 1st Round: Mike Moustakas, 3B, California HS
2006 1st Round: Luke Hochevar, RHP, Independent League

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Mike Moustakas, 3B, High-A
2. Eric Hosmer, 1B, Low-A
3. Tim Melville, RHP, Low-A
4. Danny Duffy, LHP, High-A
5. Mike Montgomery, LHP, Low-A

Organizational Needs: Corner outfield, Shortstop, Left-handed pitching

Aaron Crow, RHP, Fort Worth Cats

Height/Weight: 6-3, 195 | DOB: 11/11/86

2008 stats: 13-0 W-L | 2.35 ERA | 107.1 IP | 85 H | 127-38 K/BB (Missouri, NCAA)
2009 stats: Unavailable

Here we go again. This time... with more feeling. Aaron Crow was the Washington Nationals' first round pick (9th overall) in 2008 but the two sides failed to come to terms with the right-hander's camp looking for $4 million (Slot was $2.15 million). The former University of Missouri hurler chose not to return to school for his senior year and instead moved on to independent baseball with the Fort Worth Cats. By all accounts, his decision has not hurt has draft value whatsoever, and the right-hander is being mentioned as a possible fourth overall pick to the Pirates. With all the back story aside, Crow is a talented pitcher with an arm that could make him a No. 2 starter in the Majors. His repertoire includes a low-90s fastball that touches 96, a plus slider and a changeup. Crow varies his arm slot ever-so-slightly when throwing the breaking ball, scouts do not like his delivery, and he has struggled with his command in the past (as have most young pitchers). The team that drafts Crow should be getting a No. 2 or 3 starter who can help the big club within a year. Worst case scenario, some teams really, really like Crow as a late-game reliever as has fastball shows a little more consistent velocity and life. (Posted by Marc Hulet)

Marc: Oh. My. God. What a GREAT pick for KC and it came out of no where... I love what KC has done in the last two drafts. Did I mention this is a great pick?

Rich: This is the second time Kansas City has taken this route (drafting a player who re-entered the draft) in the past few years. However, this time they may have gotten at least as good of a righthander as Luke Hochevar without wasting spending the No. 1 overall pick.

13. Oakland Athletics
AL West | 24-30 | Fourth Place
General Manager: Billy Beane
Scouting Director: Eric Kubota
2008 1st Round: Jemile Weeks, 2B, Miami
2007 1st Round: James Simmons, RHP, UC Riverside
2006 1st Round: Trevor Cahill, RHP, California HS (2nd round)

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Trevor Cahill, RHP, Majors
2. Brett Anderson, LHP, Majors
3. Chris Carter, 1B, Double-A
4. Vin Mazzaro, RHP, Majors
5. Adrian Cardenas, 2B, Double-A

Organizational Needs: Center field, Third base, Left-handed pitching

Grant Green, SS, University of Southern California

Height/Weight: 6-3, 180 | DOB: 9/27/87

2009 stats: .374/.435/.569 | 211 AB | 79 H | 19 2B | 5 3B | 4 HR | 38-20 K/BB

After being named the Cape Cod League's top pro prospect by far last summer when he hit .348/.451/.537 and was among the leaders in most offensive categories, Green entered his junior year as high as second (behind only Stephen Strasburg) on most draft boards. While his rate stats suggest that he had a good year offensively, his home runs fell from nine in 2008 to four in 2009. His lack of power may have been due to pressing too much or a rumored hand injury. He also had an up and down year defensively, lacking consistency with the glove. As a result of these questions, combined with the fact that he is represented by Scott Boras, Green's stock has taken a minor hit, dropping from a top five selection to the middle of the first round. I've seen Green play many times and have likened him more to Troy Tulowitzki (without the powerful arm) than Evan Longoria, the two comparables most associated with him. Either way, he is the most gifted middle infielder in this year's draft. (Posted by Rich Lederer)

Rich: This is exactly where I had Green going if KC passed on him. A good fit for Oakland.

Marc: For the second straight year, Oakland goes up the middle with its first pick (Jemile Weeks at 2B last season).

14. Texas Rangers
AL West | 32-23 | First Place
General Manager: Jon Daniels
Scouting Director: Ron Hopkins
2008 1st Round: Justin Smoak, 1B, South Carolina
2007 1st Round: Blake Beavan, RHP, Texas HS
2006 1st Round: Kasey Kiker, LHP, Alabama HS

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Elvis Andrus, SS, Majors
2. Justin Smoak, 1B, Double-A
3. Neftali Feliz, RHP, Triple-A
4. Derek Holland, LHP, Majors
5. Julio Borbon, OF, Triple-A

Organizational Needs: Catcher, Second base, Third base

Matthew Purke, LHP, Klein HS (TX)

Height/Weight: 6-3, 180 | DOB: 7/17/90

2009 stats: 4-2 W-L | 1.18 ERA | 47.0 IP | 18 H | 91-7 K/BB

Along with Tyler Matzek, Purke entered the spring as one of the two best lefthanded high school pitchers in this year's draft. Matzek may have surpassed Purke down the stretch, relegating the tall, lanky Texan to what is still an enviable status as the second most talented lefty among all prep hurlers. His fastball sits in the low-90s and touched 95 in the Aflac All-American game last summer. His two-seamer has good, sinking action from a three-quarters arm slot and his hard slurve has sufficient tilt that he could be a high K/high GB type as a pro. He reminds me of Andrew Miller but needs to add strength to his projectable frame to reach his potential. Purke may be a risky pick as he has committed to Texas Christian and could hold out for a big signing bonus owing to his status as a draft-eligible sophomore in 2011. (Posted by Rich Lederer)

Marc: Wow, everyone thought Texas would take Texas prep pitcher Shelby Miller. But the club took a different Texas pitcher in Purke.

Rich: I'm not overly surprised by this pick. It was either going to be Miller or Purke. The latter may have a higher ceiling. A tall, projectable lefty with an electric arm right now. He will cost a bunch of money but maybe Texas will get a home state discount (not from slot but from the lofty bonus demands that were floating around this week).

15. Cleveland Indians
AL Central | 24-34 | Fifth Place
General Manager: Mark Shapiro
Scouting Director: Brad Grant
2008 1st Round: Lonnie Chisenhall, IF, North Carolina CC
2007 1st Round: Beau Mills, 1B, Lewis-Clark State
2006 1st Round: David Huff, LHP, UCLA (supplemental 1st)

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Carlos Santana, C, Double-A
2. Matt LaPorta, 1B, Triple-A
3. Lonnie Chisenhall, 3B, High-A
4. Beau Mills, 1B, Double-A
5. Nick Weglarz, OF, Double-A

Organizational Needs: Center field, Right field, Left-handed pitching, Right-handed pitching

Alex White, RHP, University of North Carolina

Height/Weight: 6-3, 200 | DOB: 8/29/1988

2009 Stats: 8-4 W-L | 4.13 ERA | 98.0 IP | 86 H | 109-41 K/BB

White's (relatively) pedestrian numbers in 2009 have him falling down some draft boards but with an excellent pitcher's frame, solid mechanics and a low-90s fastball with excellent sink, scouts still think this kid is a future front-of-the-rotation contributor. White touches 95. Fans will get a chance to see White compete in his third consecutive College World Series in the coming weeks. He's a junior, so that's three in three years for White. Not bad. (Posted by Patrick Sullivan)

Rich: Call me skeptical. A very good college pitcher. But I'm not sold on taking a pitcher who relies so heavily on a splitter for his success at this point in the draft. A high risk, high reward starter or perhaps a reliever if things don't quite work out as planned.

Marc: Definitely a typical Cleveland pick...

16. Arizona Diamondbacks
AL East | 24-32 | Fourth Place
General Manager: Josh Byrnes
Scouting Director: Tom Allison
2008 1st Round: Daniel Schlereth, LHP, Arizona
2007 1st Round: Jarrod Parker, RHP, Indiana HS
2006 1st Round: Max Scherzer, RHP, Missouri

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Jarrod Parker, RHP, Double-A
2. Gerardo Parra, OF, Majors
3. Daniel Schlereth, LHP, Majors
4. Trevor Harden, RHP, Low-A
5. Billy Buckner, RHP, Majors

Organizational Needs: First base, Second base, Third base, Left-handed pitching

Bobby Borchering, 3B, Bishop Verot HS, (FLA)

Height/Weight: 6-4, 200 | DOB: 8/26/90

2009 stats: .494 AVG | 77 AB | 38 H | 9 2B | 0 3B | 13 HR

One of the fastest risers in the draft throughout the season, Borchering is one of the safest high school bats. The switch-hitter has shown the ability to hit for both average and power with very impressive bat speed. His plus-plus bat speed is more evident from the left side. Unlike a lot of prep third basemen, Borchering possesses "present power," rather than just raw power potential, so he's a legit prospect at the hot corner. The only thing that will move him off the position will be his defense. He's not terrible, but he's not Scott Rolen out there, either. If the team that drafts him feels that his defensive development is slowing him down too much, he likely has enough bat to play first base - or possibly even left field. He's committed, but not strongly, to the University of Florida. (Posted by Marc Hulet)

Marc: The first pick on back-to-back choices... The best prep bat, in my mind. A great pick by a very cautious, money conscious organization.

Rich: Let's see if Arizona backs this pick up with a pitcher. A signable pitcher.

17. Arizona Diamondbacks (Compensation)

A.J. Pollock, OF, Notre Dame

Height/Weight: 6-1, 200 | DOB: 12/5/87

2009 stats: .365/.443/.610 | 241 AB | 88 H | 19 2B | 5 3B | 10 HR | 30-24 K/BB

As long as he stays in center field, Pollock should be a good value pick to a team in the second half of the first round. His power is fringy for the corners but he lacks the first-step quickness in center. Teams that put a lot of value in the Cape Cod League stats will flock to Pollock, as he was the league's MVP last summer. He looked capable of a respectable batting average, 10-15 homers and 15-20 stolen bases in a full MLB season. A reworking of his timing mechanism at the plate may help him produce more line drives. Pollock is a solid but unspectacular player. (Posted by Marc Hulet)

Rich: I'm not jumping up and down on this one.

Marc: Pollock has been linked to Arizona all along, though. He's one of those guys who could end up as a tweener and a fourth outfielder.

18. Florida Marlins
NL East | 27-30 | Fourth Place
General Manager: Larry Beinfest
Scouting Director: Stan Meek
2008 1st Round: Kyle Skipworth, C, California high school
2007 1st Round: Matt Dominguez, 3B, California high school
2006 1st Round: Brett Sinkbeil, RHP, Missouri State

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Cameron Maybin, OF, Triple-A
2. Michael Stanton, OF, High-A
3. Logan Morrison, 1B, Double-A
4. Matt Dominguez, 3B, High-A
5. Sean West, LHP, Majors

Organizational Needs: Right-handed pitchers, Left-handed pitchers, Left field, Shortstop

Chad James, LHP, Yukon HS (OK)

Height/Weight: 6-4, 195 | DOB: 1-23-1991

2009 stats: 8-1 W-L | 1.28 ERA | 63 IP | 32 H | 100-33 K/BB

James is a big strong projectable lefty. There is room to add bulk on his 6-4 frame. He has a solid fastball that works in the low-90s and a nasty curve. Like most pitchers his age his command and mechanics have been inconsistent. He has committed to play for Oklahoma State, but there are conflicting reports about his signability. Some see him a as relatively cheap sign, while others think he will be expensive to sign away from OSU. (Posted by Dave Allen)

Marc: The Marlins take a high school hurler... surprise, surprise. Florida could really use some depth in the upper minors in terms of pitching, but they go for ceiling instead.

19. St. Louis Cardinals
NL Central | 31-25 | Second Place
General Manager: John Mozeliak
Scouting Director: Jeff Luhnow
2008 1st Round: Brett Wallace, 3B, Arizona State
2007 1st Round: Peter Kozma, SS, Oklahoma HS
2006 1st Round: Adam Ottavino, RHP, Northeastern

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Colby Rasmus, OF, Majors
2. Brett Wallace, 3B, Triple-A
3. Chris Perez, RHP, Majors
4. Jess Todd, RHP, Triple-A
5. Jason Motte, RHP, Majors

Organizational Needs: Left field, Right field, Second base, Left-handed pitching

Shelby Miller, RHP, Brownwood HS (TX)

Height/Weight: 6-4, 200 | DOB: 10-10-1990

2009 stats: 9-1 W-L | 1.69 ERA | 66 IP | 34 H | 129-30 K/BB

Shelby Miller is the prototypical big-framed, flame-throwing high school Texan. His fastball already works in the low- to mid- 90s and has been clocked as high as 98 mph (the fastest pitch thrown by a high schooler this season), and is said to have good movement. He also has a good curve with 12-6 break. In his junior year he threw three consecutive no-hitters preceded by a one-hitter. He is a big kid with a projectable pitcher's frame who should continue to add bulk, and presumably commensurate speed to his fastball. He played on his football team all four years, while most highly ranked baseball players skip their senior year for fear of injury (Old FJM fans will be pleased to hear he was an all-state punter). He has committed to Texas A&M. (Posted by Dave Allen)

Rich: Kudos to the Cardinals for taking the best available position player or pitcher rather than focusing on a more proven college prospect.

Marc: Nicely done. I agree with Rich... the Cards went with the best player available even though the organization typically takes college players.

20. Toronto Blue Jays
AL East | 31-27 | Third Place
General Manager: J.P. Ricciardi
Scouting Director: Jon Lalonde
2008 1st Round: David Cooper, 1B, California
2007 1st Round: Kevin Ahrens, 3B, Texas HS
2006 1st Round: Travis Snider, OF, Washington HS

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Travis Snider, OF, Triple-A
2. J.P. Arencibia, C, Triple-A
3. Brett Cecil, LHP, Triple-A
4. Ricky Romero, LHP, Majors
5. Brad Mills, LHP, Triple-A

Organizational Needs: Third base, Shortstop, Right-handed pitching, Outfield

Chad Jenkins, RHP, Kennesaw State

Height/Weight: 6-4, 225 | DOB: 12/22/1987

2009 Stats: 8-1 W-L | 2.54 ERA | 92.0 IP | 80 H | 98-15 K/BB

Due to his size, Jenkins can be an imposing figure on the mound. His stock rose quickly this season and, looking at his numbers and the way he pounds the strike zone, it's easy to see why. According to Keith Law, Jenkins "throws a hard slider" (83-85) but has "a rough delivery". With improved mechanics and conditioning, Jenkins could really pan out. It's easy to see why a team confident in its player development personnel would nab him. (Posted by Patrick Sullivan)

Marc: (Shrugs) Meh.

Rich: Can you say Brad Penny? Just remember, Marc, "we're not selling jeans here."

Marc: Yeah, but this is the third straight year that I've been left thinking... Really, that's the best they could do with that pick?! A No. 3 starter at best... and one with a pretty soft body.

21. Houston Astros
NL Central | 24-30 | Sixth Place
General Manager: Ed Wade
Scouting Director: Bobby Heck
2008 1st Round: Jason Castro, C, Stanford
2007 1st Round: Derek Dietrich, 3B, Cleveland HS (3rd round, Did not sign)
2006 1st Round: Max Sapp, C, Florida HS

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Jason Castro, C, High-A
2. Brian Bogusevic, OF, Triple-A
3. Ross Seaton, RHP, Low-A
4. Jordan Lyles, RHP, Low-A
5. Bud Norris, RHP, Triple-A

Organizational Needs: Right field, Shortstop, Second base, First base, Pitching

Jiovanni Mier, SS, Bonita HS (CA)

Height/Weight: 6-2, 175 | DOB: 8/26/90

2009 stats: .413 AVG | 63 AB | 26 H | 9 2B | 1 3B | 4 HR

Mier's name has been bouncing around the first round and a team in need of some talent up the middle could snap him up. A lack of speed, though, could cause him to move off of shortstop in the next five years or so, depending on how he fills out. His range is good and he has an average arm, so he could move to second or third down the road. Due to his lack of speed, Mier is more of a two-hole hitter or an eighth-place hitter. He's known as a free swinger who likely will not draw a lot of walks and he'll probably top out around 10-15 home runs. Mier has great baseball instincts, which help his abilities play up, as well as excellent makeup. (Posted by Marc Hulet)

Rich: Hey, the Astros didn't take a catcher! Mier can pick it. I think the Angels might have been on him had he floated to them.

22. Minnesota Twins
AL Central | 28-29 | Second Place
General Manager: Bill Smith
Scouting Director: Deron Johnson
2008 1st Round: Aaron Hicks, OF, California HS
2007 1st Round: Ben Revere, OF, Kentucky HS
2006 1st Round: Chris Parmalee, OF/1B, California HS

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Aaron Hicks, OF, Rookie
2. Ben Revere, OF, High-A
3. Wilson Ramos, C, Double-A
4. Anthony Swarzak, RHP, Triple-A
5. Danny Valencia, 3B, Triple-A

Organizational Needs: First base, Second base, Shortstop

Kyle Gibson, RHP, University of Missouri

Height/Weight: 6-6, 208 | DOB: 10-23-1987

2009 stats: 10-3 W-L | 3.47 ERA | 99 IP | 89 H | 123-18 K/BB

Going into the end of May Gibson was the top college pitcher in the draft class not named Strasburg, but BA reports that in his last start, on May 30th, his velocity was down and he admitted feeling forearm tightness. Then over the weekend it was revealed that he has a stress fracture and would be shutdown for six weeks. He will most likely drop considerably, and even previous to the injury there were concerns over his heavy college workload. He throws three pitches: a fastball that normally works in the high 80s and low 90s (it topped out at 87 mph in his May 30th start), a very good hard slider and a changeup. He has excellent control, but John Sickels, among others, question his future as an ace because of his lack of plus velocity. Scouts love his tall frame, which gives room to continue to add bulk. He pitched for Team USA in 2008 striking out 25 and walking only 4 over 17.2 innings. He was selected by the Phillies out of high school in the 36th round of the 2006 draft. (Posted by Dave Allen)

Marc: A stress fracture in the arm had Gibson fall all the way to the 22nd pick after being considered as a Top 5 pick.

Rich: I like it. Not as risky as it may seem at first blush. First of all, the injury is a stress fracture as Marc pointed out (and not an elbow or shoulder). He is supposed to be out no more than six weeks, which gives Minnesota the opportunity to work him out prior to the signing deadline. If he is fully healthy, the Twins just stole him. If not, they either take a chance and sign him at a big discount or they don't sign him and get the 23rd pick in next year's draft instead.

23. Chicago White Sox
AL Central | 26-29 | Third Place
General Manager: Kenny Williams
Scouting Director: Doug Laumann
2008 1st Round: Gordon Beckham, IF, Georgia
2007 1st Round: Aaron Poreda, LHP, San Francisco
2006 1st Round: Kyle McCulloch, RHP, Texas

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Gordon Beckham, SS, Majors
2. Dayan Viciedo, 3B, Double-A
3. Tyler Flowers, C, Double-A
4. Chris Getz, 2B, Majors
5. Aaron Poreda, LHP, Double-A

Organizational Needs: Outfield, First base, Second base, Left-handed pitching

Jared Mitchell, OF, Louisana State

Height/Weight: 6-0, 190 | DOB: 10/13/88

2009 stats: .327/.472/.558 | 199 AB | 65 H | 11 2B | 4 3B | 9 HR | 51-60 K/BB

Mitchell is a high-energy, fast-twitch player, especially on the base paths. He's incredibly athletic and stronger than he appears on first glance; he also plays college football. Mitchell displays raw strength with the bat, but it may never develop as usable power. He'll also need to eliminate the upper cut in his swing and he strikes out far too much for a top-of-the-order hitter. Despite his gifted running abilities, Mitchell has a weak throwing arm and does not get good read on balls. As such, he's going to end up in left field unless he significantly improves. In left, his bat will relegate him to a platoon or fourth outfielder role. He was drafted out of high school in the 10th round by the Twins but went to school when the team failed to meet his price tag (reportedly $1 million). (Posted by Marc Hulet)

Rich: This pick shouldn't surprise anybody. Kenny Williams likes his athletes and got a big-time one in Mitchell.

24. Los Angeles Angels (Compensation)
AL West | 28-26 | Second Place
General Manager: Tony Reagins
Scouting Director: Eddie Bane
2008 1st Round: Tyler Chatwood, RHP, California HS (2nd round)
2007 1st Round: Jonathan Bachanov, RHP, Florida HS (Supplemental 1st)
2006 1st Round: Hank Conger, C, California HS

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Nick Adenhart, RHP, In Memory
2. Jordan Walden, RHP, Double-A
3. Trevor Reckling, LHP, High-A
4. Hank Conger, C, Double-A
5. Mark Trumbo, 1B, Double-A

Organizational Needs: Outfield, Second base, Left-handed pitching

Randal Grichuk, OF, Lamar HS (TX)

Height/Weight: 6-0, 195 | DOB: 8/13/1991

2009 stats: .597 AVG | 72 AB | 43 H | 9 2B | 1 3B | 19 HR

Despite standing just 6 feet tall, Grichuk generates above-average power, thank in part to excellent bat speed. As a strict pull hitter, the prep prospect may struggle to hit for a high average in the upper levels of the minors. Defensively, he is pretty much limited to left field due to his weak arm and average range. Grichuk has good makeup. He is committed to the University of Arizona. (Posted by Marc Hulet)

Marc: Another set of back-to-back picks... A name that was not being talked about before... today, yesterday? What do you think, Rich?

Rich: I love it, Marc. A high school kid who plays outfield and hits for power. Just what the Angels need more than anything else. The numbers are there and, more importantly, he reportedly had some big BP sessions with more than one team during the past week. Although he didn't stand out when I saw him play at the Area Code Games last August, I'm very pleased with this pick, even if some view it as an overdraft.

25. Los Angeles Angels (Compensation)

Mike Trout, OF, Millville HS, New Jersey

Height/Weight: 6-1, 190 | DOB: 8/7/1991

2009 stats: .521 AVG | 71 AB | 37 | 5 2B | 1 3B | 15 HR

Trout has all the tools and his 18 home runs this past season - a New Jersey prep record - are going a long way in assuring scouts that his bat will develop. Baseball America's Aaron Fitt refers to Trout as an "Aaron Rowand kind-of player but with more speed". That will work. (Posted by Patrick Sullivan)

Rich: Yay! The Angels have really filled a huge need by drafting Grichuk and Trout. I had highlighted Trout's name in my Area Code Games program last year.

Marc: That is some serious outfield depth. I'll trade you Jenks... sorry Jenkins (body confused me) for Trout?

26. Milwaukee Brewers
NL Central | 33-23 | First Place
General Manager: Doug Melvin
Scouting Director: Bruce Seid
2008 1st Round: Brett Lawrie, 2B, British Columbia HS
2007 1st Round: Matt LaPorta, 1B, Florida
2006 1st Round: Jeremy Jeffress, RHP, Virginia HS

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Mat Gamel, 3B, Majors
2. Alcides Escobar, SS, Triple-A
3. Brett Lawrie, 2B, Low-A
4. Angel Salome, C, Triple-A
5. Jeremy Jeffress, RHP, High-A

Organizational Needs: Right field, Second base, First base, Left-handed pitching

Eric Arnett, RHP, Indiana University

Height/Weight: 6-5, 225 | DOB: 12-25-1988

2009 stats: 12-1 W-L | 2.58 ERA | 101 IP | 77 H | 103-35 K/BB

Arnett has been a late-riser up draft boards with his incredible 2009 junior year after just mixed success in his freshman and sophomore years. His fastball, which works in the mid-90s with good sink, and slider are both plus pitches, but his changeup is still a work-in-progress. Some scouts are worried that if the changeup doesn't come around he will have to be a reliever in the majors. He has a big frame and has been durable during his college career. On the other hand he doesn't have a track record of such a high level of success before this year and John Sickels notes that guys who burst onto the scene can implode just as rapidly. (Posted by Dave Allen)

Marc: He's a rising name, so it will be interesting to see if he continues to step up in pro ball. He's got some big-time stuff.

Rich: This was a big favorite of Harold Reynolds. Based on video, said he liked Arnett as much or more than any other pitcher not named Strasburg. A big, power arm. Has been likened to Josh Johnson.

27. Seattle Mariners (Compensation)

Nick Franklin, SS, Lake Brantley HS (FL)

Height/Weight: 6-1, 180 | DOB: 3/2/91

2009 stats: .538 AVG | 78 AB | 42 H | 12 2B | 3 3B | 10 HR

Franklin is not the most gifted prospect and he doesn't have one, big standout tool, but he does a lot of things well. He probably won't hit for power, but he has room to add some muscle and wright to his lean frame. Narrow shoulders, though, limit his growth potential. On the base paths, Franklin has average speed but it plays up because he's a smart runner and he could steal 10-15 bases in a full MLB season. He's also an average defender at shortstop with just enough arm to remain at the position. He future may be as an MLB utility player. Franklin is committed to Auburn University. (Posted by Marc Hulet)

28. Boston Red Sox
AL East | 33-23 | First Place
General Manager: Theo Epstein
Scouting Director: Jason McLeod
2008 1st Round: Casey Kelly, RHP/SS, Florida HS
2007 1st Round: Nick Hagadone, LHP, Washington
2006 1st Round: Jason Place, OF, South Carolina HS

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Lars Anderson, 1B, Double-A
2. Daniel Bard, RHP, Majors
3. Michael Bowden, RHP, Triple-A
4. Junichi Tazawa, RHP, Double-A
5. Casey Kelly, RHP/SS, Low-A

Organizational Needs: Left-handed pitching, Second base, Left field

Reymond Fuentes, OF, Fernando Callejo HS (Puerto Rico)

Height/Weight: 6-0, 160 | DOB: NA

2009 stats: Unavailable

The top offensive talent out of Puerto Rico has impressed a number of teams recently, including the Los Angeles Angels. Related to New York Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran, Fuentes is a fast-twitch, excitable player with a promising line-drive bat and blazing speed. He's a free swinger, but he has good plate coverage and a lightning-quick bat speed. Only 160 pounds, Fuentes could add home-run power with more muscle mass. His range in center field is above-average, but he has a weak throwing arm. (Posted by Marc Hulet)

Marc: Another fast-rising player and a GREAT athlete. Will the Yanks go with the big arm at 29 and nab Scheppers? I would.

29. New York Yankees (Compensation)
AL East | 32-23 | Second Place
General Manager: Brian Cashman
Scouting Director: Damon Oppenheimer
2008 1st Round: Gerrit Cole, RHP, California HS (Did not sign)
2007 1st Round: Andrew Brackman, RHP, North Carolina State
2006 1st Round: Ian Kennedy, RHP, Southern California

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Jesus Montero, C, Double-A
2. Austin Jackson, OF, Triple-A
3. Dellin Betances, RHP, High-A
4. Mark Melancon, RHP, Triple-A
5. Austin Romine, C, High-A

Organizational Needs: Infielders, Outfielders, Left-handed pitchers

Slade Heathcott, OF, Texas HS

Height/Weight: 6-1, 195 | DOB: 9/28/90

2009 stats: .457 AVG | 46 AB | 21 H | 8 2B | 1 3B | 4 HR

Heathcott is coveted by a number of teams picking in the last 10 picks of the first round and he has legitimate five-tool potential. The Texas athlete, who swings from the left side, is skilled at hitting for average and power, and he also shows good speed. Defensively, Heathcott has good range and a plus arm (He can hit the mid-90s on the mound), which could serve him well in center or left field. Injuries have been a bit of an issue for Heathcott as he's been playing with a knee brace after undergoing ACL surgery. He also injured his shoulder earlier this spring. The teenager would be higher on some teams' draft boards if not for some makeup concerns stemming from off-field incidents. Heathcott is committed to Louisiana State, where he could end up being a very talented two-way player. (Posted by Marc Hulet)

Rich: Heathcott wouldn't have been available had he not been injured or had personal issues. He might ask for more than slot but the Yankees can afford to give it to him. Don't see New York losing its first-round pick two years in a row.

Marc: Nice, nice pick by the Yankees. Definitely fell because of makeup issues and he has the talent to be a monster.

Rich: I saw Heathcott hit and pitch at the Area Code Games last August. I also watched how he carried himself after the game. The kid seemed a little cocky to me and has enough hot dog in him that he did a cartwheel and back flip before the Aflac Classic in honor of Ozzie Smith, who was the honorary chairman. But there is no doubting his talent. Hit 91 on the gun and struck out the side (although not in order). He hit a groundball single up the middle in one of the two ABs I witnessed. Grounded out to shortstop in the other. In the Aflac game, he went with a pitch on the outside corner and singled in a run against Zack Wheeler in the first inning that gave the West an early 1-0 lead. He also pitched the ninth inning and was saddled with the loss after giving up four runs. I wrote down "most athletic player" next to his name on my scoresheet even though I didn't care for his attitude.

30. Tampa Bay Rays
AL East | 29-28 | Fourth Place
General Manager: Andrew Friedman
Scouting Director: R.J. Harrison
2008 1st Round: Tim Beckham, SS, Georgia HS
2007 1st Round: David Price, LHP, Vanderbilt
2006 1st Round: Evan Longoria, 3B, Long Beach

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. David Price, LHP, Majors
2. Tim Beckham, SS, Low-A
3. Desmond Jennings, OF, Double-A
4. Wade Davis, RHP, Triple-A
5. Jeremy Hellickson, RHP, Double-A

Organizational Needs: First, second and third basemen, Left-handed pitching

LeVon Washington, 2B/OF, Buchholz HS, Florida

Height/Weight: 5-10, 170 | DOB: 7/26/1991

2009 stats: .400 AVG | 85 AB | 34 H | 4 2B | 1 3B | 7 HR

Washington is as highly ranked as he is for one reason only: his speed. He is a terror on the base paths and regularly beats out routine ground balls for base hits. His speed can also help him make up for spotty reads from time to time. The problem is that his power and arm are both limited, and his speed advantage will be less pronounced as he advances. Any team taking Washington will be banking on accelerated development from a kid who is obviously a standout athlete. He is a University of Florida commit. (Posted by Patrick Sullivan)

Marc: A good athlete, regardless of where he ends up on the diamond.

Rich: R.J. Harrison likes high school athletes and Washington fits the bill. If he can stick at 2B, Tampa Bay may be looking at Tim Beckham and LeVon Washington as the club's keystone combo down the road.

31. Chicago Cubs
NL Central | 27-26 | Fourth Place
General Manager: Jim Hendry
Scouting Director: Tim Wilken
2008 1st Round: Andrew Cashner, RHP, Texas Christian
2007 1st Round: Josh Vitters, 3B, California HS
2006 1st Round: Tyler Colvin, OF, Clemson

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Josh Vitters, 3B, Low-A
2. Jeff Samardzija, RHP, Triple-A
3. Andrew Cashner, RHP, High-A
4. Jay Jackson, RHP, Double-A
5. Starlin Castro, SS, High-A

Organizational Needs: Left-handed pitching, Left field, Right field, First base

Brett Jackson, CF, California

Height/Weight: 6-2, 210 | DOB: 8/2/88

2009 stats: .321/.407/.564 | 218 AB | 70 H | 17 2B | 6 3B | 8 HR | 61-29 K/BB

Ranked as the second-best college athlete in the draft by Baseball America, Jackson is a big, fast, "toolsy" center fielder who plays the game with more enthusiasm and flair than polish. Saw Jackson play a weekend series against Long Beach State early in the season and two games in the Regionals at Blair Field last year. He led off all three games vs. the Dirtbags and went 8-for-17 with three doubles but went 0-for-8 in the playoffs a year ago, including an oh-fer vs. Brian Matusz, the fourth overall pick in the 2008 draft. Jackson, who bats left and throws right, has had trouble making contact, striking out about once every four plate appearances as a junior. He stole 11 bases in 16 attempts. Was selected the eighth-best prospect in the Cape Cod League last summer. (Posted by Rich Lederer)

32. Colorado Rockies (Compensation)

Tim Wheeler, OF, Sacramento State

Height/Weight: 6-4, 205 | DOB: 1/11/88

2009 stats: .385/.494/.765 | 200 AB | 77 H | 16 2B | 3 3B | 18 HR | 29-28 K/BB

Exactly where Wheeler ends up is anybody's guess. The college outfielder has been linked to a few teams picking in the first half of the draft, but after that he could drop down into the last few picks of the round - or even the supplemental first round. Wheeler's swing does not lend itself to power, but he's shown flashes of it and he could end up with a similar offensive profile to Chicago Cubs outfielder Reed Johnson, albeit with the ability to make a little more consistent contact. Wheeler also has some good wheels (along with smarts on the base paths) and could provide 20 steals over the course of a full MLB season. Defensively, he's suited to left field, which lowers his overall ceiling a bit because he's not going to top 20 homers very often. The team that drafts Wheeler in the first round believes A) He can play CF, or B) His power display this season is for real (From 3 HR in 08 to 18 in 09). (Posted by Marc Hulet)

Marc: And with the final pick of the first round... Tim Wheeler. Solid athlete.

Marc: Some big names and arms still on the board... Tanner Scheppers, Rex Brothers, James Paxton, Everett Williams...

Supplemental First Round

Rich: With the 35th overall pick, the Arizona Diamondbacks just popped Matt Davidson, who worked out for the team at Chase Field a week ago today as we discussed in an interview that was published on Baseball Analysts yesterday. Look for Matt to sign for close to a million dollars within the next two weeks and get on with his professional baseball career. It will be interesting to see if Davidson or Borchering (Arizona's first selection and 16th overall) plays third base should they be assigned to the same rookie league team.

Matt Davidson, 3B, Yucaipa HS (CA)

Height/Weight: 6-4, 225 | DOB: 3/26/91

2009 stats: .553/.685/1.153 | 85 AB | 47 H | 18 2B | 0 3B | 11 HR | 7-27 K/BB

According to Baseball America, Davidson is the third-best power hitter among high school prospects. He went yard eight times in his final dozen high school games and won the home run derby with a wood bat during the AFLAC Classic at Dodger Stadium last summer. Davidson has a strong arm and was an outstanding pitcher during his freshman and sophomore seasons. Moved to third base as a junior and is still raw defensively but possesses enough athleticism that he should stick at the hot corner with additional instruction and experience. Although Davidson has signed a letter of intent to attend the University of Southern California, he is likely to go pro if he is drafted in the first or sandwich round. (Posted by Rich Lederer)

36. Los Angeles Dodgers
NL West | 39-19 | First Place
General Manager: Ned Colletti
Scouting Director: Logan White
2008 1st Round: Ethan Martin, RHP, Georgia HS
2007 1st Round: Chris Withrow, RHP, Texas HS
2006 1st Round: Clayton Kershaw, LHP, Texas HS

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Andrew Lambo, OF, Double-A
2. Josh Lindblom, RHP, Double-A
3. Ethan Martin, RHP, Low-A
4. James McDonald, RHP, Triple-A
5. Devaris Gordon, SS, Low-A

Organizational Needs: Left-handed pitching, Left field, Second base, First base

Aaron Miller, LHP/OF, Baylor

Height/Weight: 6-3, 220 | DOB: 9/18/87

2009 stats: 3-3 W-L | 5.12 ERA | 51.0 IP | 49 H | 65-26 K/BB

Miller has bounced back and forth between focusing on pitching and hitting. His preference was to hit in college but he struggled to make consistent contact in his junior year (.310 AVG, 50 Ks in 56 games). Baylor also lost a number of key pitchers to injury in 2008-09 so Miller stepped in and showcased a low-90s fastball that could creep into the mid-90s. His repertoire also includes a slider and he'll have to develop a changeup. Because of his inexperience, Miller could move slowly through the system but his ceiling could rise as he gains experience on the mound and improves his secondary pitches and command/control. (Posted by Marc Hulet)

At No. 43, the Cincinnati Reds nabbed Brad Boxberger, another Pac-10 pitcher to go along with first rounder Mike Leake.

Brad Boxberger, RHP, University of Southern California

Height/Weight: 6-2, 200 | DOB: 5/27/88

2009 stats: 6-3 W-L | 3.16 ERA | 94.0 IP | 69 H | 99-50 K/BB

I saw Boxberger make his college debut two years ago and his first start this season. In both cases, his fastball touched 94 in the opening frame but lost velocity quickly, sitting mostly at 89 after the first couple of innings. Boxberger's proclivity of hitting the wall early may force him to become a reliever rather than a starter. He performed that role at the end of his sophomore season as well as in the Cape last summer, recording nine saves and striking out 28 batters in 18 2/3 innings. Boxberger throws four pitches but a scout told me that he may need to choose between his slider and curve "because it takes a lot of feel to throw both." His father (Rod) went 12-1 with a 2.00 ERA and earned College World Series MVP honors for the 1978 USC national championship team before being drafted with the 11th overall pick by the Houston Astros. (Posted by Rich Lederer)

Second Round

Rich: With the 52nd overall pick, the San Diego Padres selected Everett Williams. Paul DePodesta says, "This is another highly athletic HS outfielder who we think can really hit. He's about 5'10" and 200 lbs and is another potential 5-tool guy." I saw Williams at the Area Code Games last August. He had a great BP session but struggled mightily in the game I attended, going 0-for-5 and striking out three times.

Everett Williams, OF, McCallum HS (TX)

Height/Weight: 5-10, 200 | DOB: 1-23-1991

2009 stats: Not Available

Williams is a toolsy center fielder. He is fast, but not a total burner, has great range in center, and an average arm. Most importantly he broke out with huge power this past spring, jumping up draft boards as a result. The power is slightly surprising give his small size, but he is very athletic. Some scouts doubt that he will stay a power hitter based on his size and its sudden appearance, but no one doubts the rest of his tools. He fits the image of a high-upside toolsy raw high schooler. He has committed to the University of Texas. (Posted by Dave Allen)

72. New York Mets
NL East | 29-25 | Second Place
General Manager: Omar Minaya
Scouting Director: Sandy Johnson
2008 1st Round: Ike Davis, OF, Arizona State
2007 1st Round: Eddie Kunz, RHP, Oregon State (Supplemental 1st)
2006 1st Round: Kevin Mulvey, RHP, Villanova (2nd round)

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Fernando Martinez, OF, Majors
2. Wilmer Flores, SS, Low-A
3. Brad Holt, RHP, Double-A
4. Bobby Parnell, RHP, Majors
5. Jenrry Mejia, RHP, Double-A

Organizational Needs: Outfield, Second base, Left-handed pitching

Steve Matz, LHP, Melville HS (NY)

Height/Weight: 6-2, 195 | DOB: 5/29/91

2009 stats: 6-1 W-L | 0.47 ERA | 44 IP | 81-15 K/BB

Dealing with some adversity based on where the organization had to pick, the Mets grabbed a projectable prep lefty with a promising fastball. Matz also features three other developing pitches with a slider, curveball and changeup, which currently rates as his second-best pitch. He's committed to Coastal Carolina University. (Posted by Marc Hulet)

75. Philadelphia Phillies
NL East | 32-22 | First Place
General Manager: Ruben Amaro Jr.
Scouting Director: Marti Wolever
2008 1st Round: Anthony Hewitt, SS, Connecticut HS
2007 1st Round: Joe Savery, LHP, Rice
2006 1st Round: Kyle Drabek, RHP, Texas HS

FanGraphs' Top 5 Prospects:
1. Dominic Brown, OF, High-A
2. Michael Taylor, OF, Double-A
3. Kyle Drabek, RHP, Double-A
4. Jason Knapp, RHP, Low-A
5. Carlos Carrasco, RHP, Triple-A

Organizational Needs: Left field, First base, Second base, Shortstop

Kelly Dugan, OF, Notre Dame HS (CA)

Height/Weight: 6-3, 195 | DOB: 9/18/90

2009 stats: NA

Dugan is a quality, switch-hitting prospect who was flying a little under the radar on draft day. His father is a Hollywood director best known for working on a number of Adam Sandler movies. The Phillies were attracted by Dugan's makeup, which is off the charts. Most of his skills currently grade out as average - both offensive and defensively - but he does possess above-average raw power. Dugan is committed to Pepperdine University. (Posted by Marc Hulet)

Be sure to refresh your browser or check back throughout the day to stay abreast of the latest news as we live blog the draft.

Permalink | Comments (1)

The Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft begins today at 6 p.m. ET. The MLB Network will broadcast the first round from its Studio 42 in Secaucus, N.J. with MLB.com providing on-air coverage of the remainder of the draft, including the supplemental through fourth round action this evening.

Baseball Analysts will be live blogging the first and supplemental rounds today for the fifth consecutive year. You can access the previous coverage by clicking on the links to the years: 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005. We will be on hand to bring you all the picks in real time, including player profiles complete with name, position, school, height, weight, date of birth, stats, and comments from our staff of writers/analysts. Be sure to refresh your browser or check back throughout the opening two rounds to stay abreast of the latest news as we live blog the draft later today.

In the meantime, we would like to preview the draft in a quick-hitting, back-and-forth discussion between the two of us.

Rich: Well, Marc, today's the big day. Or, with the draft being moved to the evening, should I say tonight's the big night?

Marc: I am so excited. I look forward to this day all year... It's kind of cool that they're "dragging it out" over three days this year.

Rich: There's really no question as to what the Washington Nationals are going to do with the first overall pick in the draft. The only intrigue is how much the ownership is willing to offer Mr. Strasburg. Given his status as perhaps the greatest college pitcher ever and arguably the most obvious No. 1 since the inception of the draft in 1965, the San Diego State junior deserves to be well compensated for what he brings to the table. I would offer him $15 million, a nearly 50 percent premium to the previous high bestowed upon Mark Prior in 2001. What say you?

Marc: I am definitely concerned because Mr. Boras has his hands all over this... It's probably going to get a little ugly between the two sides - and in the media. From the sounds of it, players in MLB baseball (and the Washington Nationals) aren't really fond of the idea of Strasburg getting a huge contract having never proven himself in The Show. I read an interesting article with Ben McDonald - one of the best college pitchers of all time - recently and he said he received a lot of hostility in the Baltimore clubhouse over his ground-breaking contract (Boras was also his advisor at the time). Regardless of how it plays out, Strasburg is going to have a lot of pressure to be the player who turns the franchise around. Going back to the original question, though, I agree that $15 million would be more than fair.

Rich: Once Strasburg is off the board, Seattle is expected to draft North Carolina first baseman Dustin Ackley with the No. 2 selection. Ackley is undoubtedly the best bat among the college class of prospects and should return to center field after his arm has fully bounced back from Tommy John surgery last summer. Like Strasburg, the only concern is whether the Scott Boras client's asking price (rumored to approach eight figures) is unrealistically high.

Marc: I like Ackley a lot, although I was concerned earlier in the season that he would be stuck at first base. For me, that swing is not going to produce power at the MLB level. I think a lot of people are overrating his power. He's going to be an excellent average hitter and he's going to steal some bases and possibly play Gold Glove defense in center during his career. For me, he's not a $10 million player.

Rich: Switching gears here, the Diamondbacks and Angels each have five of the first 48 picks in this year's draft (see the adjoining Picks By Team, courtesy of Baseball America). Due to big league promotions and trades in the case of Arizona, each club's once highly regarded farm system has been depleted of late. How do you see the D-Backs and Angels handling the multitude of draft choices today?

Marc: I wanted to love the Diamondbacks organization because I love the state so much. But, I just don't have a lot of faith in the organization as a whole. I have a strong feeling that they're going to "go cheap" with their picks. If they take the best available player at 16 and 17 then I'll eat my words. Unfortunately, with so much up in the air with the draft, I can't even fathom who might be there... Bobby Borchering, Matt Purke? I could see them being one of the teams on Mike Minor, if he "slips." As for the Angels, you pretty much know the organization is going to go heavy on the prep players. I keep hearing that the club is big on Puerto Rican outfielder Reymond Fuentes. The organization needs some pitching depth too, though.

Rich: I don't see the D-Backs popping for Purke, especially if you're concerned that the organization is going to go cheap. Signability and injuries always play a factor in each year's draft. Kyle Gibson (stress fracture in his right forearm) and Baseball Analysts Draft Spotlight Tanner Scheppers (recovering from a shoulder injury last year) are the biggest risks health-wise this year. As to signability, Strasburg and Ackley pose some risk but are likely to sign right before the deadline. However, I'm not so sure you can count on a handful of high schoolers rumored to be seeking out-of-the-box signing bonuses, such as Purke, Donavan Tate, and Jacob Turner, to sign unless they get exactly what they want. It says here that if you draft any of these players, you had better be willing to pay (close to) the anticipated freight.

Marc: I agree, but I like to think that pretty much any player drafted in the first round is going to sign... There are not that many Gerrit Coles in the world, who would turn down millions of dollars to play college baseball. With that kind of money, you can set yourself up for life and go to college later, if that's really what you want to do. It also sounds like a lot of teams are saying to heck with the slot so I think we're going to see everyone sign, despite some long drawn-out negotiations. Teams have really shifted to emphasizing in-house development. It's still far cheaper to give $3 million to an amateur as a signing bonus than $50M to a 30-year-old free agent coming out of his prime.

Rich: Last year's draft was dominated by college prospects, particularly position players. Aside from Strasburg and Ackley, this year's draft seems more geared to high school arms. There's Purke and Turner, as well as Tyler Matzek, who just may be the best prep pitcher of them all, Baseball Analysts Draft Spotlight Zack Wheeler, Shelby Miller, Tyler Skaggs, and Matt Hopgood, who was named the 2009 Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year on Monday. That's seven right there as compared to just three last year (Ethan Martin, Casey Kelly, and Gerrit Cole). In this regard, the draft feels a lot more to me like 2007 than 2008.

Marc: Last year, though, you have too keep in mind that signability played into things as well as possible first-round talents like prep pitchers Tim Melville and Ross Seaton slid past the third round but still signed for first-round money.

Rich: Well, that could always happen again this year, but I think most, if not all, of those high school arms will be drafted in the first round.

Marc: One thing I am curious about, though, is if teams are going to start straying from the all-college approach that teams like St. Louis, Toronto, and San Diego have been using for a few years now... Those teams really haven't had great drafts as of late, although Toronto has scored a few good players by looking to the prep ranks a little more often.

Rich: I've always been attracted to taking the best player available, irrespective of his status as a high school or college prospect. If you end up with a good mix of both, all the better, as it helps balance out the age of players in your farm system (and eventually at the major league level as well).

Marc: Rich, I know you've seen Grant Green play a fair bit... Where do you think he ends up when all is said and done. And what kind of impact do you see him having? Is his 2009 season the real Grant Green?

Rich: Although Green didn't live up to expectations as a junior, he is still a first-round talent. Heck, he's the best shortstop in the entire draft. Premium up-the-middle players are still hard to find so I'm confident that he won't slide much beyond the middle of the first round unless teams get spooked by his above-slot asking price. Kansas City could be the best fit. The Royals haven't backed away from Boras clients in the recent past (Luke Hochevar in 2006, Mike Moustakas in 2007, and Eric Hosmer in 2008). If KC passes at No. 12, then I would look for Oakland (13th) or St. Louis (19th) to step up and take Green. As to impact, I can see him hitting between .270 and .300 with 15-20 HR during his age 25-30 seasons. Those numbers will work just fine as long as he sticks at shortstop.

OK, Marc. Washington is on the clock...

* * *

Update: Jim Callis, in his Mock Draft 4.0 posted this morning, says bonus demands are adding more confusion to a wide-open draft.

According to multiple team sources, several of the draft's best high school players blew them away when they revealed their price tags. California lefthander Tyler Matzek, the best prep prospect in the draft, wants "precedent-setting money," which is interpreted to mean that he wants to surpass the record $7 million guarantee for a high schooler given to Josh Beckett and Rick Porcello. Texas righthander Shelby Miller, previously believed to be signable for around MLB's bonus recommendations, is asking for $4 million.

New Jersey outfielder Mike Trout (upwards of $2.5 million), Texas outfielder Slade Heathcott (upwards of $2 million), Florida third baseman Bobby Borchering ($2 million), North Carolina catcher Wil Myers ($2 million) and California outfielder Jake Marisnick ($2 million) all want top-10 pick money. Oklahoma southpaw Chad James seeks $1.75 million. Previously, Missouri righty Jacob Turner and Texas lefty Matt Purke alluded to Porcello money, while Georgia outfielder Donavan Tate will cost $6 million or more.

Teams are indignant about what they believe to be unrealistic expectations. Two different scouting directors remarked last night that they were getting seven-figure signability estimates for players their clubs hadn't even planned to draft. On the other side, agents are just as upset about commissioner Bud Selig's unilateral 10 percent reduction in the slot recommendations.

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Matt Davidson is one of the top high school bats in tomorrow's MLB Draft. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound third baseman is projected to go in the bottom half of the first round or early in the supplemental round.

A righthanded power hitter, Davidson hit .553/.685/1.153 with 18 doubles and 11 home runs during his senior year. He cranked eight homers in his final dozen games, going yard twice in three separate contests down the stretch.

Using a wood bat, Davidson put on a power display at the National Classic in the spring of 2008 and won the home run derby prior to the Aflac All-American Game at Dodger Stadium last summer. He went 1-for-4 with a run-scoring double down the left-field line in his second at-bat during the game.

Matt was born in Redlands, California on March 26, 1991. The Davidson family moved to nearby Yucaipa when he was a toddler. Davidson has wanted to play professional baseball since he was a young kid. He played four years of varsity and led Yucaipa HS (27-3 overall, 13-1 in the Citrus Belt League) to a national ranking this past season, bowing to Huntington Beach HS in the quarterfinals of the CIF, Southern Section Division II playoffs two weeks ago.

Davidson committed to the University of Southern California last year but appears to be leaning toward turning pro if everything goes as planned.

I spoke to Matt on the telephone for half an hour last Wednesday night. He had just returned from Phoenix after working out with the Arizona Diamondbacks the previous day.

Rich: I understand you not only played varsity baseball all four years at Yucaipa High School but you were the MVP of the league your freshman year.

Matt: Yes. I was mostly a pitcher my freshman and sophomore seasons, then I pretty much quit throwing my junior year and moved to third base to concentrate more on my hitting and fielding.

Rich: How did you do as a pitcher?

Matt: I was 10-1 with a 0.80 ERA in my freshman year. I was 9-2 with like a point 8 ERA as a sophomore. I think I was 4-2 as a junior and 5-0 this year as a relief pitcher.

Rich: Wow. You were quite the pitcher.

Matt: Thanks. I always hit when I pitched. As a freshman, I pitched and DH'd. In my sophomore year, I pitched and played first base.

Rich: What would you say to the cynics who question your ability to stick at third base longer term.

Matt: This is just my second year at third base. I've had absolutely no coaching there. I will be able to work with an infield coach in college or in the pros. I've only been able to take about 20 grounders a day at practice. I'm really raw right now. I'll be able to spend more time on my fielding in the future.

Rich: You signed a letter of intent to play baseball at USC, my alma mater.

Matt: Oh, that's good to know. My hitting coach, Danny Davidsmeier, was an All-American at USC in 1981.

Rich: I remember him.

Matt: I've been taking personal, private lessons from him since I was 10. He was drafted by Milwaukee in the third round. He didn't play in the majors but made it to Triple-A and also played overseas.

Rich: Can either one of us convince you to become a Trojan or are you set on turning pro?

Matt: I'm totally fine with both. Either one would be a great opportunity.

Rich: Do you have a preference?

Matt: I want to go out and play. My dream is to play pro baseball. But you have to make a smart decision. I just hope everything works out well so I can go out and play.

Rich: You sound like you're anxious to start your professional baseball career.

Matt: Yeah, definitely. I'm not looking for a ridiculous amount of money. I just want a fair amount for where I'm drafted. The big money will be there later.

Rich: That's what I like to hear, Matt.

Matt: Being drafted in the first round is a special thing. Not many people get to do that.

Rich: Who is your adviser?

Matt: Ryan Hamill of CAA.

Rich: How did you go about selecting an adviser and what made you choose Ryan?

Matt: You need to talk to your agent a lot. He works for us. He's young and relates well. It just felt comfortable. Everything clicked. I hope to work with him for a long time.

Rich: Coach Stout told me that you worked out with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday. How did that go?

Matt: It went really well. They have a beautiful stadium. I took BP and infield, and then I played in a simulated game with high school and college players.

Rich: Did the team interview you?

Matt: Not really. But the area scouts and I know each other well.

Rich: Arizona has the 16th and 17th picks plus three more in the sandwich round. Any idea where the D-Backs might draft you, if at all?

Matt: The Diamondbacks definitely have an interest but they can't tell you where they might take you. We'll be talking. We'll just have to see how it goes.

Rich: Have you worked out for any other teams?

Matt: San Francisco and St. Louis. I had a couple of professional team workouts as a group on Saturday and Sunday.

Rich: Do you have any others scheduled between now and the draft?

Matt: I'm going to Milwaukee on Friday.

Rich: From a scout's point of view, how would you rank your five tools (hitting for average, power, fielding, arm strength, and speed) in order from best to worst?

Matt: Hitting for power would be my best. Hitting for average second. My arm third. Then fielding and speed. But I want to make them all even.

Rich: Plate discipline and pitch recognition skills play important roles when it comes to hitting. How would you rate this area of your game?

Matt: I really improved on that this year from last year. Dr. Harrison and his son Ryan of Slow the Game Down helped me out a lot. They work with a lot of major leaguers. Dr. Harrison is an optometrist who works on eye training. I've learned to pick up pitches well and now see the spin of the ball better. I'm laying off pitches and waiting to get my pitch.

Rich: I noticed that you had 27 walks and only struck out seven times this year.

Matt: Yeah, and I was also hit by a pitch like 14 times.

Rich: Yikes. Were they throwing at you intentionally?

Matt: Sometimes. But it might also be because I get on the plate a little bit. That probably helps.

Rich: Do you tend to guess type of pitch and/or location when even or ahead in the count?

Matt: Umm... Sometimes I do. But Danny has taught me to be more of a react hitter. I don't really like to sit on pitches. I just like to react. I don't do as well when I get away from that.

Rich: Do you change your approach when behind in the count?

Matt: Not necessarily. I like to have a game plan of what I'm going to do. With two strikes, I want to put the ball in play. Hit it hard somewhere. I don't like to change my swing at all. Just keep it the same.

Rich: What is the biggest difference between hitting with a wood bat vs. an aluminum bat?

Matt: Bat speed. You need to have strong hands and arms. The sweet spot is smaller. You can't hit the ball off the handle like with an aluminum bat.

Rich: Do you like using wood bats?

Matt: I love hitting with wood bats more than aluminum.

Rich: You won the home run derby at the Aflac All-American Classic last summer using a wood bat.

Matt: I did. I hit six at USC and three or four at Dodger Stadium before the game.

Rich: Do you prefer facing lefthanders more than righthanders?

Matt: No, not at all. It doesn't matter to me. The ball still is coming out pretty much the same.

Rich: Who's the most difficult pitcher you've faced thus far?

Matt: I would say John Meyer, a righthander from Cathedral High School in San Diego. He is going to Clemson.

Rich: Have you patterned your game after another player?

Matt: Definitely. Alex Rodriguez, David Wright, and Cal Ripken Jr. I like to pick a little from each one. But you have to be your own player.

Rich: Who is your favorite player?

Matt: Cal Ripken or David Wright.

Rich: What is your attraction to them?

Matt: They play the game the right way. They play hard. They play every night. They present a good image, always working, showing how it's done. They're good role models.

Rich: Speaking of which, you were a member of Best Buddies, a non-profit organization founded in 1989 that is dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities.

Matt: I was heavily into it last year but haven't been as involved this year with all that has been going on. I've always had a soft spot for the less fortunate.

Rich: You have also given hitting and pitching lessons throughout your community.

Matt: I continue to do that. I enjoy helping kids. There were people who helped me when I was a kid. I like giving back.

Rich: It sounds like you've got your act together, Matt. Where will you be on draft night?

Matt: I'll be at home. It's the night before grad night. The team baseball banquet is that evening.

Rich: Good luck on Tuesday. I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me tonight.

Matt: I enjoyed it. Thank you very much.

Rich: Thank you, Matt. I look forward to staying in touch with you.

Matt: Definitely.

Rich: OK. Take care.

Thanks to Jeff Stout for coordinating the interview and to Aflac All-American and Max Preps for the photos.

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The powerhouse programs in college athletics were not always so. For many years the Florida Gators were the third best football program in their state much like in basketball, the Duke Blue Devils took a back seat to Dean Smith's North Carolina Tar Heels. But one recruit, one coach, one season can help a program turn the corner.

Thanks to the climate in which they find themselves situated, I am pretty sure that the Boston College baseball program will never enter such college athletics rarefied air but that's ok. For now, after a strong showing in 2009, the program is at least on the map and they have Tony Sanchez to thank. The nation's top ranked amateur catcher has helped give BC baseball unprecedented visibility. They compete in the ACC and given the urban, first-rate education they can offer recruits in a northeast corridor city, maybe they are here to stay.

Sanchez hit .346/.443/.614 this season and watched his professional stock skyrocket. A Miami product who was overlooked as a high school player, he proved the top southeast programs that would not give him a look wrong throughout his collegiate athletic career. On the cusp of professional baseball riches, he set aside a little time on Tuesday night to speak with me about his time at BC, playing 25 innings of baseball and his general outlook as he sets his sites on the next phase of his baseball life.

Patrick: What are you up to these days?

Tony: Well a lot of guys are taking time off but I am not. I need to get prepared. I just got back from a workout with one of my summer ball teammates - took a BP with the wood bat. I fly to Kansas City tomorrow to work out for the Royals. After that I come back to Miami to hang out with family and friends and wait for next Tuesday.

Patrick: What do you like most and what do you like least about this time in your life? I imagine it's a period of great excitement and anticipation but at the same time great uncertainty. How are you feeling?

Tony: Everything is so surreal right now. I am on cloud 9 coming off a good showing for BC baseball in Texas, playing in a game like that in that environment and now with the draft right around the corner...it's surreal. For much of the year my advisers would not tell me what they were hearing from teams around the league - they didn't want me to get a case of draftitis. But now that the season is over and they are opening up and filling me in on what they're hearing and I have to say, it's exciting.

As for the downside, I will miss my BC baseball teammates. I don't like being away from them and I don't like that I won't have the chance to play with them any longer as I head into the Minor Leagues.

Patrick: What made you choose Boston College?

Tony: They were the only school that gave me a shot. Playing in Florida, there is just so much talent down there that it is easy to be overlooked. But when BC called, the opportunity to play in that conference and make an impact immediately. When I visited the school, I fell in love with it.

Patrick: 25 Innings - what was that like?

Tony: First of all, playing in that atmosphere against the #1 team in the country...with a crowd of 7,000 genuine college baseball fans who know the game, it was unbelievable. They were obviously pulling for their hometown team but as the game wore on, they seemed to fall in love with us, too. It was just unbelievable to be a part of.

Patrick: I read your interview with David Laurila at Baseball Prospectus and what struck me is that you definitely are saying all the right things. "My defense comes first, offense is a bonus." Yadier Molina being your favorite player, etc. But you have to know somewhere in the back of your mind that, as long as your defense is steady, pounding the baseball is your ticket to the Big Leagues.

Tony: Definitely. Being a catcher, hitting is your ticket. That's how you skyrocket through the Minors. I will still say that hitting takes a backseat to my defense but I know what I have to do in order to advance.

Patrick: Speaking of hitting, when you look at your college numbers what clearly stands out is that your power numbers have improved dramatically each year. You slugged .425 freshman year, then .517 and finally .614 this past season. What do you attribute that to?

Tony: Hard work. I'm a grinder, man. I have worked out really hard in the Bubble in the off-season, with my coaches and trainers at BC and with the wood bat in the summertime. It has all added up over time to help me become the hitter I now am.

Patrick: What's your biggest developmental opportunity. In what area of the game will you need to improve quickly in order to succeed at the next level?

Tony: Pitch calling. I am looking forward to showing up for Rookie ball and getting in the bullpen with my pitchers, learning their pitches and what their comfortable with, reviewing film with coaches and learning players' patterns.

Patrick: Another level of baseball sophistication?

Tony: That's right, and I am going to have to learn quickly how to mentally adapt my game.

Patrick: Keith Law of ESPN.com has you going 4th overall to the Pittsburgh Pirates in light of a recent visit Pirates management made to Boston. Care to talk about that at all?

Tony: Pittsburgh did come meet. We had a great dinner, they were easy guys to talk to and I really felt that there was a strong connection. I would love to be a Pirate. But as you well know, nobody knows what's going to happen on Draft Day.

Patrick: Ok, let me ask you about some of the guys you've played with and against. Let me start with two guys that graduated from my alma mater, The Roxbury Latin School. Tell me about Chris Kowalski and John Spatola.

Tony: I have lived with Chris for three years and he is one of my best friends in the world. We will be together until we die. We have spent the very best times in our lives together.

John is one of the smartest kids I know. He's got a quick wit, he's a great teammate and he's just an all-around great guy.

Patrick: Ok, now for some other guys around the ACC. I have to start with Dustin Ackley.

Tony: He's a freak. Here is how I explain it. You are better off pitching to him 0-0 than you are 0-2. Because at 0-2 it seems like he's still gonna crush it while 0-0 at least there's a chance he will take the pitch.

Patrick: That's funny, I know there's a little hyperbole in there but point taken. I have never heard that description.

Tony: He's lethal, and the thing is you can't really pitch around him because Kyle Seager is up next. It's "pick your poison" with those guys.

Patrick: How about another Tar Heel, Alex White?

Tony: You're talking about one of the best pitchers in college baseball. He kept it down almost all game against us but elevated when he wanted to, he moved the ball around and kept us off balance. He's just a great pitcher.

Patrick: What are your impressions of Miami shortstop Ryan Jackson?

Tony: I have been watching him since we were 12 and I always knew he was going to be special. Guys like us don't necessarily impress everyone - like me, he has his critics. But he has that intangible that I think will help him become a Big League shortstop. Travel ball, high school ball and most recently in college I have watched him and he has it. His glove alone could probably make him a Big Leaguers and if he hits, sky's the limit.

Patrick: Talk about catching Mike Belfiore (ranked #91 in draft by Law).

Tony: Catching Mike is probably one of the easier jobs I had to do at BC. He's one of those guys that you know he's gonna put the ball whereever you want it and it's going to be firm but easy to receive. He has such good composure on the mound that even if he's got men on base, you know he's going to get out of the inning unscathed because he just has that confidence that it takes to be a dominant pitcher. I really enjoyed catching Belf but he and I are still hoping that we might have a chance to work together again. Right now, we're banking on getting drafted by the same team, which would be unbelievable.

Patrick: Ok thanks a lot, Tony, and best of luck to you on draft day and beyond.

Tony: You got it, man. Thank you.

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I asked another standout Boston College athlete, my friend Brooks Orpik's younger brother Andrew Orpik, whether or not he had seen Sanchez around the weight room and if he could observe anything about his work ethic. Andrew just finished up his college hockey career and is now a member of the Buffalo Sabres organization. Here he is on Sanchez:

All sports share a weight room at BC except football, so I saw (Tony) in there a lot. He was always noticeable because for one he was one of the stronger kids in the weight room and he would be in there more than just when he had to be, which doesn't surprise me when seeing how good of a player he is.

If teams think that Sanchez has the skill to make it as a big league catcher, they should enter draft day knowing that the kid will do everything he can to maximize his abilities. His work ethic has been his meal ticket to date, and I don't see any reason why that should change when he becomes a professional ballplayer. He's talented and hungry, and about to make one organization's farm system a whole lot stronger.

Thanks to the Boston College Sports Information Department for the first photo and all of their help. The second photo is courtesy of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

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Bryce Harper is on the cover of this week's Sports Illustrated and the subject of a featured article by Tom Verducci. The June 8 edition hits newsstands today.

The magazine calls Harper "The Most Exciting Prodigy Since LeBron."

His name is Bryce Harper. You don't know him, but every big league scouting director does. He hits the ball a desert mile, clocks 96 on the gun, and he's only 16, more advanced than A-Rod and Junior were at the same age. And his ambition is as great as his talent.

Readers of Baseball Analysts know "Baseball's Chosen One." We were one of the first to introduce him to the baseball world in an article last summer, entitled Remember This Name. We followed up that piece with Revisting Bryce Harper in January, including a photo and a YouTube video of his exploits at the third annual International Power Showcase High School Home Run Derby at St. Petersburg's Tropicana Field. Most recently, we detailed the stats from his sophomore season (.626/.723/1.339 with 14 HR in 115 AB and 36 SB in 39 attempts) in our High School, College, and Minor League Notes.

Owing to our past coverage, our site has been overwhelmed today by Google searches looking to learn more about Harper, causing occasional load issues.

In the meantime, the Las Vegas Review Journal wonders about Harper as it relates to the SI jinx, "which sometimes haunts athletes and teams that appear on the magazine's cover."

Hijinks (by the team lucky enough to draft and sign Harper in 2011 — or 2010 if he can get a "GED credential this summer and enroll in a junior college this fall" as Verducci mentions in his excellent article), yes. Jinx, no.

Remember this name.

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Continuing with our series of Draft Day Spotlights, I recently caught up with Zack Wheeler, a high school pitcher out of Georgia. Wheeler finished his high school season impressively, taking the East Paulding Raiders deep into the Georgia state playoffs. Recently he has been climbing the draft boards, drawing the most interest from teams selecting #4 through #8. The right-hander, long and lanky at 6'4'' and 170 pounds, has a tremendous arm and can throw up to 95 mph with good movement on his fastball and breaking pitch.

Scouting reports have described him as having a "projectable body", and cite his poise and make-up under pressure in addition to his obvious arm strength. From talking to him, Wheeler has a low-key and easy going manner about him, which likely helps keep his cool on the mound.

Zack was kind enough to answer a few questions for Baseball Analysts before the June 9th draft.

Zack Wheeler pitching during his no-hitter
(Photo from East Paulding Raiders Baseball website)

BA: Thanks a lot for taking the time to talking us today. You’re obviously one of the top prep pitchers eligible for the draft, and it’s been said you’re a lock to be a first round pick. Where will you be on draft day and who will you be watching with?

Wheeler: I’m going to be up at a place called Stars and Stripes. They’ve got bowling and everything, some big screen TV’s, it’s like a family hangout. That’s where I’ll be watching it. I’m going to have friends, old coaches, current coaches, family…that’s about it.

BA: What’s your favorite ballclub? Are there any teams you’re particularly hoping to be drafted by?

Wheeler: I really don’t have one. There’s really none….I don’t really don’t care who picks me, I just want to go out and play.

BA: I’m sure you’ve had a lot of scouts come watch you, including from what I understand, some general managers. How does it feel to be pitching in front of those guys? Any added pressure?

Wheeler: Ah, no, I don’t think so. I’ve been playing over at East Cobb, on the number one team, the past two summers. Playing over there on the number one team, you get that all the time. I think I’m pretty used to it. The Aflac All-American game, Under-Armor All-American game, those really helped a lot – all the people watching you all the time and stuff. I don’t think there’s really any more pressure than usual.

BA: Have any teams taken a particular interest in you?

Wheeler: Teams…the Pirates, the Orioles, the Giants, and Braves. Those are the main four.

BA: Speaking of pressure, you recently threw a no-hitter in the state playoffs. Describe what was going through your mind when you were on the mound?

Wheeler: I really didn’t know about it until the seventh inning, when I had three outs to go. My second baseman came up to me and told me I had a no hitter. He jokes around with people all the time, he’s like the jokester on the team – so he just let me know about it. I just tried to go up there and get three more outs. I really didn’t know about it until the 7th so, there was really no pressure until the end.

BA: Well congratulations, that must have been really exciting.

Wheeler: I appreciate it.

BA: Are there any pitchers that you really model yourself after?

Wheeler: No, not really, I don’t think so. I mean, I like Carlos Zambrano, but it’s kind of hard to model yourself after him. I just like how he loves the game and how he plays it.

BA: There’s definitely a lot of intensity with him.

Wheeler: Yeah.

BA: What’s your greatest strength as a pitcher? Something you’re really proud about?

Wheeler: I think my mound mentality. If something goes wrong behind me I just keep on pitching, you know, try to get more outs – don’t try let anything get to me really. I think that’s a good strong key to have.

BA: That’s definitely important. Can you describe the pitches in your arsenal and maybe your approach to facing hitters in terms of pitch selection?

Wheeler: I’ve got my 4-seam fastball, my 2-seam fastball. Then I’ve got my slurve, and I’ve got a change-up. When I get two strikes on somebody, I want to make them chase an 0-2 curve ball. I usually try to throw a swoopy curveball that just dives out of the zone. If I have a 3-2 count and I want to throw a curveball to strike them out, I’ll throw more of a harder curveball that has a bit more bite downward.

BA: You feel confident throwing that curve ball with a 3-2 count?

Wheeler: Yes sir.

BA: Have you given much consideration to pitching in college or are you pretty much set on going straight to the pros?

Wheeler: I mean, if it doesn’t work out when the draft comes around, I’d definitely consider pitching in college. But, you know, I want to go play, so I hope it works out.

BA: Your older brother Adam also played professional ball from what I understand. What lessons have you learned from watching him?

Wheeler: You know, just keep your poise on the mound. Don’t let anything bother you and just have command. Be strong every time out.

BA: What kind of personality do you have in the clubhouse? Are you a vocal leader? A lead by example guy? A prankster? What’s your personality?

Wheeler: I lead more by example. I’m not quite a vocal leader. But, you know I like to play jokes on some people too sometimes, just to keep things live in the locker room.

BA: First round draft picks can command a lot of money. Are you nervous at all about the contract negotiations? Do you have a plan for that?

Wheeler: I don’t know, me and my agent haven’t talked about it very much. We’re just gonna let it flow and everything. When the time comes around I’m sure we’ll figure it out.

BA: I'm sure you will. One more kind of fun question. You mention you like Carlos Zambrano, and I notice that you’re a switch hitter yourself, which is unusual for a pitcher. Do you think you’ll keep that up or do you think you’ll settle into one side of the plate?

Wheeler: I think I’ll keep it up – I still hit both ways right now. I mean, I hit better lefty, but I can hit righty too.

BA: Big Z certainly seems to handle it perfectly well himself.

Wheeler: Oh yeah.

BA: Well that’s all the questions we have for you today. I want to thank you for taking the time to talk to Baseball Analysts.

Wheeler: No problem.

BA: Thanks again and good luck on June 9th.

Wheeler: Alright – appreciate it.

Wheeler at the Under Armor All-American Game at Wrigley Field in 2008.

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In a draft that has very little debate over who is going first overall, there are still many interesting stories to be found. One of the most intriguing story lines revolves around pitchers Tanner Scheppers and Aaron Crow, two first-round talents from the 2008 MLB amateur draft that failed to come to terms with the clubs that selected them.

Scheppers, who suffered a stress fracture in his pitching shoulder before last year's draft, slid to the second round where he was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Crow, despite being selected ninth overall, could not agree on a contract with the Washington Nationals. Both pitchers chose not to return to their respective colleges for their senior seasons. Instead, they each headed off to play professional baseball in independent baseball leagues in hopes of improving their situations in the 2009 MLB amateur draft.

After making his second start of the year for the St. Paul Saints, of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, Scheppers was kind enough to speak with Baseball Analysts before taking to the field for a workout with The Saints. The night before his interview with us, Scheppers pitched four innings of two-hit ball. He did, though, struggle with his control. The right-handed starter walked five batters, although he also struck out six.

Fast-forwarding just over a week, Scheppers' statistics are still not matching the potential that he's shown. Despite some obvious signs of rust - which should be expected after such a lengthy layoff - the right-hander has wowed scouts and there is talk that on a pure talent level, he should go second overall. Some teams, though, will inevitably shy away from the Dana Hills High School alum because of the shoulder injury.

The Laguna Niguel, California native was born on January 17, 1987 to David (an accountant) and Ann (an interior designer) Scheppers. The younger Scheppers' hobbies include body-boarding and playing video games. He spent most of his prep career as a shortstop, but took to pitching in his senior year of high school. The Orioles drafted him as a pitcher in the 29th round of the 2005 draft, but he elected to play for Fresno State University.

In his freshman year, Scheppers appeared in just 12 games as a reliever and posted a 9.00 ERA. He eventually worked his way into the starting rotation in his sophomore year when he made 25 appearances and 15 starts. His ERA improved to 4.74 and he struck out 94 batters in 93 innings of work. Scheppers' game, though, really took off during his junior year before his shoulder problems, when he posted a 2.93 ERA and allowed just 54 hits in 70.2 innings of work. He walked 34 (4.3 BB/9) and struck out 109 (13.9 K/9).

Marc: So, how do you feel the game went last night?

Tanner: Ah, I've definitely had better days... that's for sure.

Marc: You did, though, allow just two hits over four innings, so that must be a positive.

Tanner: Yeah, there were definitely some positives. I mean, obviously when you have outings like that you learn a lot more than, say, if you go out there and do really well.

Marc: Can you put your finger on one thing that you learned last night?

Tanner: Yeah. Last night when things started to get a little out of control and things started hitting the fan, I really sped things up instead of going the opposite direction. I talked to Kerry Ligtenberg and sat down with him to just pick his brain and see what he had to say about the whole situation. He just said I was rushing things and falling forward a little bit. Those were all really good things to learn.

Marc: Have you had more than one opportunity to pick the brains of players like Ligtenberg and Mitch Wylie - guys that have played at a really high level?

Tanner: I actually room with Wylie so I can talk with him every day, which is really good. And Craig Brazell has taught me a lot about the hitter's aspect and what they're thinking up there and stuff.

Marc: And it must be nice not to have to face him. (Laughs)

Tanner: (Laughs) I'd love to face him. That'd be awesome.

Marc: What's the biggest difference between NCAA hitters and the professional hitters that you've been facing recently?

Tanner: So far what I seem to be noticing is that they're a lot more disciplined. They don't chase, really, anything. They have a lot better eyes. The wood-bat thing is a little bit different. You can pitch inside a little bit more. It takes some time to get used to that. Really, they're just more disciplined and developed hitters.

Marc: How else have you adjusted your game plan while pitching to batters now that they're using wood bats?

Tanner: Just pitching a lot more inside. I'm still learning. I've only had a few starts now and every start I'm learning something new. I'm starting to work in the changeup a lot more to keep the hitters off-balance a little bit.

Marc: How did it feel watching how your teammates were doing at Fresno State during the College World Series?

Tanner: It was good to watch; I was part of the team. We had a great run and I couldn't be more proud for them.

Marc: You made a lot of improvement between your sophomore and junior years at Fresno State. What do you attribute that improvement to? Was it just being able to pitch more and getting used to pitching full-time? I know you were recruited by Fresno as a shortstop out of high school.

Tanner: I think a lot of it had to do with repetition. I was getting out there consistently and feeling the game out. I was talking with my pitching coach and he really took me under his wing and helped me out there.

Marc: Do you ever miss playing everyday at shortstop?

Tanner: (Laughs) It's been so long... I love pitching.

Marc: Do you ever have regrets or second thoughts about signing with the Orioles out of high school?

Tanner: Oh, no. I was so young then. I didn't know anything about pitching. I only pitched like 30 innings my senior year. And that was all the pitching time I got. No real coaching at all. If I had signed, I would have been lost out there, I think. College was a good experience. I learned a lot from it.

Marc: Would you recommend, then, for kids - who are drafted out of high school - go and spend some time in college? Or do you think it depends on the kid and the situation?

Tanner: I think it definitely depends on the situation. I'm definitely more on the college side. You definitely don't often see high school players make it (to the Majors) in the first couple of years. To go straight to the big leagues is pretty rare for them. I think you gain a lot more experience by going to college and you get your education out of the way. You never know what can happen. An injury could end your career and then you don't really have any schooling. I have a back-up plan and I think it's a really good thing to have.

Marc: How's the shoulder doing?

Tanner: The shoulder's doing great.

Marc: Have you had any problems with it at all this year?

Tanner: Zero. All the hard work is paying off.

Marc: What sort of rehab did you do to get that shoulder back to where you're throwing like you were before getting hurt?

Tanner: I was at [the Athletes Performance Institute in Los Angeles]... and I worked out there for four months, strictly doing shoulder exercises to really build up the muscle around the [rotator] cuff. It was also about the arm, stretching it out. Ever since, it's been great.

Marc: Do you think the shoulder is stronger now than before the injury?

Tanner: Definitely. It's definitely stronger.

Marc: Did they pinpoint what caused the injury? Was it a pitching injury or was it from lifting weights or doing something else?

Tanner: Ah, no it was pitching. It was over-work. I've seen Dr. [Lewis] Yocum and he said it was normal wear-and-tear on an over-worked arm. I threw a lot of pitches and a lot of games.

Marc: Have you gained any other valuable experiences from spending time with the club in St. Paul, aside from the in-game pitching?

Tanner: Overall, I've just learned more about the game.

Marc: And does that come from just being at the ballpark everyday and being around professional ball players?

Tanner: Yeah, exactly - seeing a ball game everyday. Different stuff happens every game. You can see the different things that happen and how to handle it. With all the different situations you're always learning.

Marc: Obviously this time last year, injury aside, you were a really highly-regarded pitcher. You were expected to go very high in the draft and you still went in the second round to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Are you a better pitcher now than you were then?

Tanner: Definitely. I'm still working off a little bit of the rust, and I'm kind of getting my feet underneath me, feeling the field out there with the crowd. I'm just feeling the baseball game, really. I was a little more in control last year when I was in my prime. But I'm starting to come under my feet and get back into it. I'm starting to feel how I was last year and with the control part, which is nice. Once I get there, everything should fall into place.

Marc: Do you find the game is going really quickly when you're out on the mound right now?

Tanner: No, just in that last inning yesterday. Things sped up more for me a little bit. Other than that, not really.

Marc: What's been the most frustrating or challenging part of the last year?

Tanner: I dunno. It's just been a long period. It was just long.

Marc: What about the rehab? Was that challenging?

Tanner: No. The rehab was the easy part. Doing the work is the easy part... It was people not being able to see me.

Marc: What was the most rewarding part of the last year for you? Has anything positive come out of the injury?

Tanner: You know, I've learned a lot. I've learned a lot from the experience.

Marc: When you're on the mound, do you have a specific game plan, or approach when you're working? Do you try to pitch to contact or do you like to go for the strikeouts?

Tanner: I just try to fill up the strike zone. If they hit it, they hit it. If they don't then you just keep pounding the strike zone. That's what I just keep trying to tell myself.

Marc: Do you put much stock in statistics and in-depth analysis?

Tanner: Oh no, not at all.

Marc: Do you study a lot of scouting reports before your games?

Tanner: I just go over scouting reports on the hitters to see what tendencies they have and if they chase a lot of stuff or if they're a first-pitch hitter or do they hit the fastball... That sort of stuff. But I don't look at batting averages and that sort of stuff.

Marc: When you're facing a hitter for the first time, how do you attack them? Do you go away from their strengths or do you pitch to your strengths?

Tanner: I go with my strengths, because you want to be beat with your best stuff. You don't want to get beat by your second-best pitch. So definitely just attack it... If I get beat with my best, then I just tip my cap to them.

Marc: Then if you get beat with your best against a hitter, what approach do you take the second time that you face that same hitter?

Tanner: It's definitely a feel thing. You go with whatever approach feels right and what's going good for you that day. Every day is different. Some days the curveball is great. Some days it's just not doing that well.

Marc: You've mentioned the curveball. What other pitches do you throw?

Tanner: Fastball, curveball, slider, changeup.

Marc: And what do you feel is your best pitch?

Tanner: The fastball.

Marc: What has the heater been clocked at recently?

Tanner: Mid-to-high (90s) is what I've been clocked at. I've been 94-98 mph

Marc: Now, do you like to just go out and throw as hard as you can or do you try and take a little off to gain more command and control of the pitch?

Tanner: You know, I'm still learning. There are times when I think I'm over-throwing a bit and it causes me to be up in the zone. It's a feel thing and I am still learning a lot.

Marc: It's just two weeks before the 2009 MLB amateur draft. Can you give me a scouting report on Tanner Scheppers the pitcher? What is your biggest strength?

Tanner: I guess that I'm still young and I'm still learning. I have a pretty good fastball. The off-speed stuff is there... And I'm willing to get better, to work my ass off. (Laughs)

Marc: And if you were to highlight one thing that you need to work on to take your game to that next level, what would it be?

Tanner: Command. Command and consistency.

Marc: And what do you think can help you achieve improvements in those areas?

Tanner: Just more pitching.

Marc: Do you have any specific goals after signing. Do you think that far ahead or are you just taking things one day at a time?

Tanner: One day at a time, definitely... Pitch by pitch.

Marc: How close were you to signing with Pittsburgh last year?

Tanner: You know, I'm still confused by the situation. (Laughs) I don't really know exactly what happened there.

Marc: Did you think you were going to sign with them?

Tanner: Oh yeah, I thought I totally made it. But they told me it wasn't going to happen.

Marc: That must have been frustrating.

Tanner: It was definitely a big surprise.

Marc: So then what made you choose to go the independent league route, rather than return to Fresno State for your senior season?

Tanner: I'd rather not comment on that, if possible.

Marc: OK, not a problem.

Marc: So, the last mock draft I saw had you going fifth overall to the Orioles. Do you pay attention to that kind of lead-up to the draft, and the speculation?

Tanner: My teammates joke around about it and stuff but I really don't pay that much attention to it. You can't, really. I got caught up in it a little bit last year, you know, in the heat of everything. Being hurt and everything you realize that you just need to go and pitch and everything will sort itself out.

Marc: Are there specific teams showing more interest in you than others at this point, or are you getting interest from everybody?

Tanner: I think it's just in general.

Marc: Do you have a favorite team or a preference?

Tanner: Oh no, not at all. I'd be lucky to play for any one of them.

Marc: I take it, then, considering that you thought you'd signed last year, that you're looking forward to signing quickly and starting your career?

Tanner: I would love to sign as quickly as possible, get into the system and start off. Hopefully improve out there and just move up as quickly as I possibly can. I'm going to work as hard as I possibly can to make sure that happens.

Marc: Well, that's all my questions. I really do appreciate you taking the time, Tanner.

Tanner: Yeah, no problem.

Marc: And I wish you the best of luck for the season leading up to the draft.

Tanner: Thank you, I appreciate it.

Baseball Analysts would again like to thank Tanner Scheppers for speaking with us. As well, we'd like to thank the St. Paul Saints (and Sean Aronson) for accommodating the interview.

Credit to Keith Kountz for Fresno State photos of Scheppers in action.

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I picked up a copy of Baseball Between the Numbers, the Baseball Prospectus tome which debunks conventional baseball wisdom, and I couldn't help but be struck by the chapter in which it damned baseball's Earned Run Average as an archaic statistic. While of course, ERA has its problems, I was surprised that its prescription for ERA's shortcomings was to user the simpler Run Average (RA), which is calculated the same way as ERA except using total runs instead of earned runs. This idea was also championed by Michael Wolverton among others at BP. Disputing the notion was Kevin Shearer on Rob Neyer's blog site.

While the arguments are convincing on both sides, neither side convinced me to my satisfaction. I decided to examine things statistically via simulation. The key questions regarding ERA vs. RA concern the concepts of variance and bias. ERA was created for a reason - to remove the effects of defense from a pitcher's record. The creators knew that defense could be a source of bias in a pitchers record - a defense which makes a lot of errors will artificially inflate a pitcher's runs allowed, while a good defense will artificially deflate a pitchers runs allowed.

ERA does remove the bias - by reconstructing the inning without the error it indeed removes the effects of defense. Over the long run, ERA will be neither helped nor hindered by good or bad defense. While it does remove bias, the problem with ERA is that it is not very efficient in doing so. By removing the effect of defense, ERA also throws out a great deal of information - namely everything that happens after the third out of the inning should have been made. After a two out error, it matters not whether the pitcher strikes out the next batter or gives up 5 runs, all of this information is lost by ERA (the fact that ERA fails to capture additional outs as well as additional runs seems to be lost on those who simply claim ERA is too lenient and bails out pitchers with poor defenses). Simple RA captures this information (and thus reduces variance by effectively increasing sample size), but of course is subject to bias due to good or bad defense.

Simulation 1
I wrote a baseball simulation program, which keeps track of a pitchers runs allowed and earned runs. The program doesn't take into account different batters, relief pitchers, etc, but that's not the point here. In my simulation I ran 10,000 seasons of pitchers with 200 IP. Pitchers gave up 4.59 runs per 9 IP and 4.24 ER per 9 IP. The same pitchers pitching in an errorless environment also gave 4.24 ER per game, which was no surprise - as I said earlier, ERA is an unbiased metric of a pitcher's run prevention skills.

What's more interesting is to look at the standard deviation of these numbers. The better statistic will have a smaller SD. Of course, this is not quite a fair comparison because the SD of RA will be larger than the SD of ERA because RA is inflated by the errors. We can deal with this by deflating the RA back to an ERA scale by multiplying RA by a factor of 4.24/4.59. Now that we have this fair comparison we can take a look at the SD of these averages. The statistic which has the smaller SD will more closely adhere to the true ERA of 4.24, and thus be a more precise statistic. The results? The SD of ERA was .625 runs per 9 IP. The SD of the adjusted RA was slightly smaller at .608 runs per 9 IP. This indicates that indeed RA is superior in this situation - RA was more closely clustered around the true value of 4.24, whereas ERA was slightly more spread out.

In the ERA vs. RA comparison there are two competing forms of variability. With RA, variability increases due to the presence of errors which create random noise. However, as we've just shown, this is more than counteracted by the fact that the RA effectively has a larger sample size to work with than ERA, since it throws out no data.

Simulation 2
Of course, this assumes that the defense's rate of error is known and RA can be adjusted perfectly to account for unearned runs. In real life, the defensive liability due to errors is largely unknown. We know that teams make roughly around .017 errors per PA, but this can vary by team and other factors.

To account for this, I reran the simulation, this time making the error rate vary randomly in order to match the rough error rate distribution among major league teams. This change is likely to favor ERA over RA, since extra variability is now be added to RA, while no extra variability will be added to ERA. What were the results? In the end, this extra variability did very little to change the results. The SD of ERA was .628 runs per 9 IP while the SD of RA was .610 runs per 9 IP. The change in the SD of RA is almost negligible and is not significant. The end result is that adding this slight amount of variability into the simulation does virtually nothing to change the argument of ERA vs. RA. This indicates to me that indeed the people at Baseball Prospectus are correct and that RA is a better measure of a pitcher's run prevention skills than ERA.

A Combined Measure
But should ERA be thrown out all together, as BP suggests? Using the simulation data, I ran a regression on the simulated data with a fixed 4.24 ERA as the dependent variable and the pitchers' RA and ERA as independent variables to see the relative weights it would assign ERA and RA. Running the data through the regression (with no intercept), we get the following.

As you can see, RA gets the bulk of the weight, but ERA has usefulness as well. Nevertheless, the regression indicates again that RA is a better indicator than ERA. About 90% of the weight should be given to RA and only 10% should be given to ERA. The standard error on the regression indicates that the standard error of this combined average is .604 points of ERA - down from .610 when using RA alone. However, obviously this distinction is very slight, so using this combined measure is of questionable value, especially since if you are going to go with an advanced statistic, there are many other measures better than either RA or ERA.

Extreme Situations
So, we have shown that RA is a better statistic than ERA in the current MLB environment, but what about other environments? When the propensity for errors is much higher, does ERA become more meaningful? In fact, the opposite is true. With more errors, there will be more plays that ERA throws out. When a lot of errors are made, it actually provides us as observers more sample to observe a pitcher. When the % of PA reached on error is jacked up to 8%, the SD of RA actually decreases strongly from .608 to .533, while the SD of ERA remains the same. This makes RA even more superior in environments where many errors are made.

How about environments where the variability of error rate is high between pitchers? The variability in error rate among MLB teams is very narrow and we saw that factoring this in had little effect. However, if we increase this variation in error rate significantly to range from 0% to 2%, what happens? In this situation, indeed ERA does become a better statistic, with the standard deviations comparable and the importance of ERA nearly matching the importance of RA in a regression. Of course, this is not a realistic situation which occurs in baseball.

Conclusion
In conclusion, I hope I have advanced the debate between ERA and RA. The simulation approach is an advantage because it creates a controlled environment. While ERA does have some usefulness, it's unbiased nature is more than offset by its problems of throwing out too much information. It's neither too lenient nor too harsh on the pitcher, but is simply inefficient. Of course, some pitchers have certain characteristics which make unearned runs systematically more likely (such as extreme groundball pitchers and knuckleballers), which only RA can capture. The simulation didn't take these types of pitchers into account, but this is even another reason to use RA over ERA. While I first viewed the use of RA over ERA with skepticism, this simulation convinced me of its merits as the better of two imperfect statistics.

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