Today concludes the draft. Use this posting to discuss all of the picks taken. I will be completely off the grid and will not be able to comment/update the picks. I’m hoping that Ryan will be able to update the list, but if not, I’ll update it when I get home from work tomorrow. If you have comments, articles, or scouting reports on any of the guys taken on Day 2, please post it in the Day 2 list so it will be easier for me to find when I begin to write up the draft.
Check below for the picks….
I know most of you are wrapped up in draft mania right now so I thought I would distract you with another column idea. I will be the middle man in a Q and A with Jarred Cosart and Brody Colvin. I read a lot of posts and comments regarding both of these players, so I thought it would be interesting for them to answer your questions. All questions MUST come to me via email at mschwimer@yahoo.com. If you ask a question in the comments section I can promise you that it will not be answered by them.
This is going to be a fairly short posting. The draft is a little over half way complete, and there are still 20 picks to come tomorrow. I was away from the computer for much of the afternoon, so I wasn’t able to update the list, but a big thanks to Ryan for helping to add the players. I posted a few scouting reports of some of the early picks, and when I do my full recap, I will try and scrape together information on every pick made. My draft writeup will probably be done over the weekend, as I don’t envision having time to do it this week, but we’ll see. I’m not going to dissect every pick here, but I’ll give you a few of my general thoughts below the cutoff…
I was going to use one post for all of the comments, but with 350+ comments, its going to really take forever to load and reload, so I’ll just split things up and put the rest of the selections here. Some really interesting guys still on the board, including Stetson Allie, Austin Wilson, Brandon Workman, AJ Cole and Micah Gibbs. It should be an interesting day. Check below the fold for all of the picks.
I am going to put up a post for the remaining picks later, and we’ll use that spot to discuss Day 2. Until tomorrow, here are a bunch of guys I find interesting that haven’t been picked yet.
Stetson Allie, RHP, AJ Cole, RHP, Austin Wilson, OF, Micah Gibbs, C, Brett Eibner, RHP, Chad Bettis, RHP, Yordy Cabrera, SS, Marcus Littlewood, SS, Kevin Gausman, RHP, Jordan Swagerty, RHP, Adam Plutko, RHP and many others. Should be an interesting day.
Check out PNR Scouting’s Top 100 and look at some of the names on there.
Check below for a position breakdown on PNR’s rankings
Biddle was a fast riser up draft boards in the last month, and with the local connection, it wasn’t a huge surprise that the Phillies took him. You’ll hear the Phillies braintrust talk about how they “have to take the best player available”, but that wasn’t the case here. They took a guy they knew they could sign, with a bunch of premium talent still on the board. Biddle isn’t a reach of Anthony Hewitt proportions, but he wasn’t the best player available, and there were 4 or 5 premium prep prospects still on the board at this pick. Still, this isn’t a big reach, and he wouldn’t have gotten to the Phillies at #77
You can read his scouting report here and here is an older report from Summer 2009
You can see his scouting bureau video here and an older video of him here.
He’s a big, tall LHP with plus velocity and the chance for two average secondary pitches. He is projectable, and LHP is something the Phillies lack in their system, at least the high ceiling variety. This is certainly a good pick, but there were much better players on the board. As is the case every year, what the Phillies do later in the draft will determine the ultimate grade. I view this pick as a little above average, maybe a B? The real action starts tomorrow.
Update —> Something else to consider. Biddle, on raw talent, was probably in the 30-50 range. The Phillies next pick wasn’t until 77. If they’d waited, he’d have been gone by then. This might have been a reach, but it wasn’t a huge reach. He was getting consideration at #14 overall, he’d have definitely gone in the sandwich round. This isn’t an Anthony Hewitt or Kelly Dugan-esque reach. This is a solid pick, even if its not the guy I really wanted.
This post will serve as the master list for all the draft picks. I’m going to update THIS post (along with the help of reader “Ryan”) as the picks are made today/tomorrow. I’m going to do the entire 1st round, and then after Round 1 just the Phillies selections. You can use this posting to discuss anything related to the draft. All the details are below the fold..
Draft day is one of the highlights of the year for me, and with the Phillies actually having a first round pick this year, its all the more exciting. The draft will kick off around 7PM tonight on MLB Network. I will attempt to post updates as they are available this evening leading up to the pick. After the pick is made, Ill create a separate posting to discuss the player taken. Check below for more, and all updates will come below the fold
Recap: The ‘Claws took it up several notches and had their best week of the year, going 6-2 (including the completion of a suspended game) and winning several games in improbable, comeback fashion, including a walkoff home run by Leandro Castro to end the suspended game in the bottom of the 14th. The ‘Claws pulled to within 2 games of first place Hickory in the SAL North.
Phuture Phillies 