Kentucky freshman lefthander Taylor Rogers isn’t the reason six scouting directors and some 60 scouts are in Conway, S,C., this weekend for the four-team, three-day Caravelle Resort Tournament that coincided with the opening weekend of the Division I college season. But they took note of Rogers, and will be sure to file his name away for the 2012 draft.
Scouts are here mainly to see a number of top prospects, mostly pitchers, for this year’s draft, but every one of the high-profile arms has been upstaged so far by Rogers, a 6-foot-3, 170-pound southpaw from Colorado, who was making his college debut.
Rogers retired the first 10 hitters he faced, and went on to work 7-1/3 scoreless innings as Kentucky defeated West Virginia 6-0. He threw first-pitch strikes to 25 of the 29 hitters he faced, walking just one while striking out two and allowing six hits.
His fastball was routinely in the 88-89 mph range, but he spotted it with precision and mixed it effectively with a solid breaking ball and changeup. He worked efficiently, making just 85 pitches.
With his long, loose frame and easy arm action, it’s apparent Rogers will add velocity as he matures physically and gains experience. It was also apparent, from just one outing, that he’ll be a prospect to reckon with in the draft two years from now.
“To be able to go out there and pitch that efficiently with that much poise is amazing,’ Kentucky coach Gary Henderson said. “He looked like a junior. He was really good. He crammed the ball in the strike zone the entire time and as soon as he gave up a hit he got right back in the strike zone. We are really pleased with that effort today.”
Rogers, a 37th-round pick of the Baltimore Orioles in the 2009 draft, combined with another highly-touted freshman, righthander Jordan Cooper, to shut out West Virginia, one of the nation’s top hitting teams a year ago. The 6-3, 185-pound Cooper, a 17th-round selection of the Pittsburgh Pirates last June, got the final five outs.
The performance by the two freshmen was an encouraging development for Kentucky. The Wildcats have a prospect-rich pitching staff that might be the equivalent of any college team in the country in terms of raw potential, but senior lefthander James Paxton is notably absent from the rotation this weekend, and his status is clouded going forward.
A supplemental first-round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays last year, Paxton elected not to sign in favor of returning to Kentucky for his senior year. But the NCAA enacted legislation prior to the 2010 season that required college players to sign a consent form to the effect that they have had no prior dealings with agents, and Paxton thus far has refused to sign the document, preventing him from playing. It is common knowledge that the 6-foot-5 Canadian was being advised by agent Scott Boras in last year’s draft.
Paxton’s absence from the Kentucky rotation could be critical to his own chances in this year’s draft, and also to the Wildcats post-season hopes if he is unable to pitch much, and perhaps all of the 2010 season. But the performance of Rogers Saturday was an encouraging development for the Wildcats.
Rogers is just one more arm on a Kentucky pitching staff that is deep in prospects. In addition to Paxton, whose fastball has reached 97-98 mph, the Wildcats also feature 6-foot-8 righthander Alex Meyer, whose fastball touched 93-95 mph in Kentucky’s opening game on Friday; junior lefthander Jordan Darnell, who is scheduled to start for Kentucky today; and sophomore closer Braden Kapteyn, a significant two-way prospect who has batted in the 3-hole and played first base this weekend.
Meyer is projected to be an early first-round pick in 2011, and Darnell and Kapteyn second- to third-rounders—Darnell in this year’s draft, Kapteyn in 2011. Darnell’s fastball normally is in the 88-91 mph range, but he gets excellent movement on the pitch from a low three-quarters delivery. Kapteyn can reach 94 in short bursts.
Coincidentally, Darnell and Kapteyn were the No. 1-ranked prospects the last two summers in the New York Collegiate League.
While Rogers performed the best of all the pitchers who worked Saturday, scouts were more attuned to Virginia Tech righthander Matt Price, who started strong by retiring the first eight Coastal Carolina hitters, but worked only four-plus innings as the host and 16th-ranked Chanticleers came roaring back from an early 5-0 deficit to score 13 unanswered runs and win going away, 13-5. He allowed seven earned runs and struck out five.
Price, a draft-eligible sophomore, flashed a fastball that topped out at 95 and a plus slider, but may not have done enough overall to convince scouts yet that he’s a possible second- to fourth-rounder in this year’s draft—especially after going just 3-4, 6.90 for the Hokies as a freshman.
Coastal Carolina countered with another sophomore righthander, Anthony Meo, who also reached 94 mph, but his stay was even shorter than Price’s as Virginia Tech jumped to its early lead. Unlike Price, though, Meo won’t be eligible for the draft until 2011, so scouts did not bear down on him as hard.
While scouts have seen more than their share of intriguing pitching prospects this weekend, the best may be yet to come as Virginia Tech will start 6-foot-6 righthander Jesse Hahn in its final game of the weekend on Sunday. Hahn, the No. 1 prospect in the Cape Cod League last summer (per PG Crosschecker) is projected to be selected in the top 10 picks in June. He can run his fastball up to 99 mph, but like Price has little demonstrated track record of success as a starter.
Virginia Tech was scheduled to meet West Virginia in the first of two games Sunday—a match-up of 0-2 teams, but one that scouts will pay particularly close attention to, especially when Hahn and his big fastball go head-to-head with the lightning-fast bat of West Virginia shortstop Jedd Gyorko, another possible first-rounder.
Kentucky’s Darnell will keep most scouts around for the second game of the day, the contest between the No. 34-ranked Wildcats and Coastal Carolina. But that game will be of greater appeal to a local fan base, which produced a sellout crowd Sunday, especially with tournament bragging rights at stake as both teams are 2-0.