With snow and wintery conditions still blanketing many of the northern states, the NCAA Division I baseball season officially kicked off Friday. Almost all of the teams in PG Crosschecker’s pre-season top 100 were in action, so scouts virtually had their pick of which teams to see.
The place of choice appeared to be Conway, S.C., just a long home run from Myrtle Beach and home of No. 16 Coastal Carolina. Some six scouting directors and upwards of 60 scouts were on hand for the Caravelle Resort Tournament, a four-team, three-day event that featured the Chanticleers, No. 34 Kentucky, No. 55 Virginia Tech and No. 84 West Virginia.
Coastal beat West Virginia 4-2 in one game Friday, while Kentucky dismantled Virginia Tech 15-6 in the other. But scouts were a lot more interested in the high-quality talent on each team than they were in results.
All four clubs feature at least one potential early-round pick, and there may be as many 10 players in all who have a shot to go in the top 2-3 rounds, either this year or next.
Unfortunately, the player with potentially the highest upside for this year’s draft, Kentucky senior lefthander James Paxton, didn’t make the trip. An unsigned supplemental first-round selection of the Toronto Blue Jays a year ago, Paxton remains in limbo as he has refused to comply with new, stricter NCAA regulations, requiring players to sign a waiver that they have not had prior dealings with agents.
Even without Paxton, there was plenty of talent on hand to whet the appetite of scouts.
The one player who may have made the best impression was West Virginia shortstop Jedd Gyorko, a consensus second-to-third rounder entering the 2010 season. Gyorko launched a long, attention-getting home run down the left-field line his first time up, crushing a 92-mph fastball off Coastal Carolina ace lefthander Cody Wheeler, himself a candidate for the top 2-3 rounds in June.
Wheeler had tried to get Gyorko off balance with an assortment of fastballs in the 84-88 mph range, and then tried to bust him on the inside corner with a much faster pitch. But it was like Gyorko knew it was coming, and crushed the pitch some 400 feet. Even if he didn’t fully recognize the increase in velocity, he turned on it with a smooth, lightning-fast swing—the one tool that could conceivably elevate him into the first round.
Gyorko, who drove in both West Virginia runs Friday, hit a robust .421 with eight homers and 48 RBIs as a sophomore for West Virginia, but his stock took a significant surge when he displayed one of the quickest bats last summer in the Cape Cod League. He quickly developed a reputation there for punishing balls on the inner half of the plate, and if Friday is any indication, his home-run count could surge this spring.
Identifying a set position may be the biggest hurdle Gyorko has to overcome.
A second baseman as a freshman at West Virginia, Gyorko moved to shortstop as a sophomore and remains at that position. But he split his time last summer in the Cape between second and third, and the consensus among scouts is that his actions and physical profile are better suited on the corner, or possibly even left field. He doesn’t move overly well as a middle infielder, limiting his range.
Regardless of where Gyorko ends up playing down the road, his bat should be a significant weapon.
Wheeler, who spent last summer as a member of Team USA’s college national team, settled down after surrendering his first-inning homer to Gyorko. He pitched six innings, walking one, allowing three hits and striking out five.
Not only did Wheeler confuse hitters with the fluctuation in velocity on his fastball, which ranged all the way from 82 to 93 mph, but he befuddled scouts, too. Just when they were resigned that his fastball was an unimpressive mid- to high-80s offering, he would suddenly reach back and grab a 92 or 93. But it didn’t happen often.
The slightly-built Wheeler nonetheless impressed scouts with the quality of his slider and overall command. If nothing else, scouts gained a better appreciation of Wheeler’s knowledge of pitching and advanced ability to set up hitters.
Possibly the most impressive talent of all was 6-foot-8 Kentucky sophomore righthander Alex Meyer, a top prospect for the 2011 draft. His fastball was consistently in the 92-94 mph range, and he flashed a plus slider to strike out eight in five innings. But he struggled with his command, walking three and going deep in the count consistently.
Meyer’s teammate, junior second baseman Chris Bisson, had the most productive day among all hitters, going 4-for-5 with two RBIs and a walk. He has a polished lefthanded approach to hitting and ideal top-of-the-order skills. He’s an average to slightly above average runner, but maximizes his speed with superior base-running instincts.
In the past, Bisson has played second, third and short, but seems to have found a home at second. He has good hands, and gets rid of balls quickly.
The same scouts that were there Friday will no doubt be around through the weekend, particularly to see Virginia Tech righthanders Jesse Hahn, scheduled to start Saturday, and Matt Price, scheduled to start Sunday. Hahn, whose fastball can reach the upper-90s, is projected to be one of the top 10 picks in June. Price’s status is a little more unclear because of his sophomore standing, but he also has the raw stuff to be an early-round selection.
The one Virginia Tech player of note that scouts did get to see Friday, Austin Wates, drew mixed reviews. He went 2-for-3 with two walks and two RBIs, but was out of position at first base.
With his 6.5-second speed in the 60, he was expected to settle into center field this spring. But it was still apparent that Wates is a very good athlete with good hitting tools, and may well work his way into the back end of the first round as the spring moves along.