2012 Draft: Stock Up, Stock Down: Pitchers

04/16/2012

Here’s a quick breakdown of who’s trending up, and who’s trending down among the top players in the 2012 Draft. Every other position should follow, and updates should as well as June creeps closer.

College RHP:

Stock Up	Marcus Stroman, Duke: The Division I leader in strikeouts has slowly but surely trended upward throughout this spring. He’s showing teams that he can command the strikezone with plus stuff.  (Honorable Mention: Kevin Gausman, LSU)
Stock Down	D.J. Baxendale, Arkansas: Still a perfectly fine selection in June, his command has tapered off a bit this year. Not quite as sharp, he’s been more hittable and as such he’s punching out less guys.

College LHP:

Stock Up	Andrew Heaney, Oklahoma State: He’s been on fire since summer ball. Heaney is quickly making the case that he’s the best college lefty available with big K numbers, strong velocity, command, and quickly-improving off-speed stuff.
Stock Down	Holby Milner, Texas: After showing promising stuff in Cape Cod league play, the lefty hasn’t done much to build on it this spring. Milner hasn’t been particularly bad, but a number of other lefties have done more, pushing him down the charts.

High School RHP:

Stock Up	Zach Eflin, Florida HS: Seems to be the one big name that has been, and continues to, fly up the high school pitching ranks. Good velocity, and already showing impressive breaking stuff, along with a frame ready for pro ball.
Stock Down	Walker Weikel, Florida HS: As a projection-first arm (even more so than other HS arms), his stock has been a little volatile. No one denies his potential, but you can definitely question his ultimate ceiling. The velocity and command isn’t always there, though projecting a guy like Weikel is exactly what scouts do best.

High School LHP:

Stock Up	Max Fried, California HS: He began the year as the top prep lefty in the country, and it’s not looking like he’ll be surrendering that title before June comes. Fried has show great velocity for a prep lefty, and his off-speed stuff is also among the best of all prep lefties. (Honorable Mention: Hunter Virant)
Stock Down	Matt Smoral, Ohio HS: It’s not that he’s short on talent- definitely not. It’s more about the broken foot bone he suffered recently. He most likely falls into the same situation as Luc Giolito: scouts have seen enough to know the talent is there. And in Smoral’s case, it’s not even an arm injury.

 

Next Up: College and High School Catchers, First Basemen