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Draft  | Follow List | 6/3/2010

KENTUCKY

2010 FOLLOW LIST
 
COMPILED by ALLAN SIMPSON
 
STATE OVERVIEW
Kentucky is still better known for horse racing and basketball, but baseball is undergoing a renewed interest, particularly at the college level, and rapidly moving up on the outside as a viable sport.
 
Most of the spark has come from vastly improved programs at Kentucky and Louisville, which in the previous four years both set and subsequently tied school records for wins in a season. Louisville then eclipsed that mark this spring and took an impressive 48-12 record into NCAA tournament play as it sought its second College World Series appearance in four years.
 
Both schools have used first-rate new facilities as the catalyst to taking their programs to a new level. They have significantly broadened their recruiting efforts and successfully enticed players from traditional baseball hotbeds like Florida – and more-distant locations – to come to Kentucky to play baseball. They have also done an excellent job of keeping most of the state’s best high-school talent at home.
 
With the deep and varied talent pool on both rosters, Louisville and Kentucky should have a profound influence on the 2010 draft. The Cardinals could have upwards of 12 players selected this year, and yet Kentucky could trump that total by producing the state’s first two draft picks in junior second baseman Chris Bisson and junior lefthander Logan Darnell. Both are expected to be taken in the second to fourth rounds.
 
The Wildcats might well have had an even higher pick had lefthander James Paxton, an unsigned supplemental first-round pick from the 2009 draft, not elected to drop out of school in late February when he refused to comply with stricter NCAA guidelines regarding the use of agents. Paxton (a client of the Scott Boras Corporation) would have had a fair shot of being drafted in the first round as a senior, but relinquished his remaining eligibility when he signed with the Grand Prairie Air Hogs of the independent American Association.
 
Even without a formidable talent like Paxton, Kentucky’s 2010 draft crop has a decided slant towards college talent. The accompanying state follow list has 24 college players projected to go in the top 20-30 rounds, but just three from the high-school ranks.
 
Those totals paint a revealing picture of Kentucky’s baseball profile.
 
Much as the state has improved its stature on the field and in the draft in recent years, most of the surge has been at the college level. The high-school ranks haven’t kept up with the hot pace set by Kentucky and Louisville, and other Kentucky colleges, though it should be noted that one of the very best talents in this year’s draft is actually a Kentucky prep product, third baseman Zach Cox. He is one of the few players in the last few years to escape the grasp of Kentucky and Louisville, in particular, and ended up at Arkansas.
 
Without a sufficient stream of in-house prep talent to fortify their rosters and no junior colleges in the state any longer that field baseball teams, the state’s four-year college programs (notably Louisville and Kentucky, and Western Kentucky, on an increasing basis) have been forced to import a lot of their talent, and much like the college baseball dynamic in the Carolinas, Kentucky has become a prime destination state to play baseball in college. Of 36 players on Louisville’s 2010 roster, 24 were from out of state; Kentucky (22 of 33) had the same ratio.
 
From 2004-09, Kentucky high schools were credited with just 91 players who were selected in the draft. That placed the state just 27th nationally. For schools like Kentucky and Louisville, it was readily apparent that to have any hope of sustaining their rapidly improving programs, they would have to reach outside the state’s boundaries for superior talent.
 
Kentucky has taken its recruiting efforts to an extreme as its best prospect, Bisson, is from Canada. Had Paxton remained at the school and pitched his senior year with the Wildcats, he would have been a second Canadian at the top of the Kentucky draft board. Under insightful second-year head coach Gary Henderson, previously the school’s recruiting coordinative, the Wildcats have reached far and wide to secure talent.
 
The school that symbolizes Kentucky’s rapid development as a meaningful baseball state, though, is Louisville, which won 47, 41 and 47 games from 2007-09, and reached new heights with its 48-win season (and counting) and No. 7 national seed in this year’s NCAA tournament.
 
Fourth-year coach Dan McDonnell’s team was forced to rebuild much of its pitching staff this year, and two home-bred junior righthanders, in particular, answered the challenge. Thomas Royse (9-1, 2.91) became a stabilizer as the Friday starter, and Neil Holland (8-0, 2.00, 16 SV) was dominant in a closing role. The 6-foot-5 Royse should be Louisville’s highest draft, while the previously unknown Holland substantially upgraded his draft worth.
 
The real strength of the Cardinals, though, has been one of the nation’s top run-producing lineups, with sophomore outfielder Stewart Ijames (.335-14-61, junior third baseman Phil Wunderlich (.357-20-58) and senior first baseman Andrew Clark (.377-12-58) symbolic of the kind of production the Cardinals have gotten from every demographic on its roster. Louisville’s best draft pick among its wave of position talent, however, may end up being highly athletic sophomore outfielder Josh Richmond, who was lost for the season after just 19 games with a broken hand.
 
The Cardinals hardly skipped a beat in Richmond’s absence, and their impressive season only underscores the depth of talent of Louisville’s roster. Not only is the team making a serious run at a trip to Omaha, but it also may produce more draft picks than any college team in the country.
 
IN A NUTSHELL
STRENGTH: Deep college crop.
WEAKNESS: High-school position players.
OVERALL RATING (1-to-5 scale): 4.
 
BEST COLLEGE TEAM: Louisville.
BEST HIGH SCHOOL TEAM: Lexington Catholic HS.
 
PROSPECT ON THE RISE: Rye Davis, rhp, Western Kentucky. Big righthander has overcome a serious eye injury (hit in the face with a line drive) that caused him to miss 2009, and dominated with 90-plus fastball.
PROSPECT ON THE DECLINE: Logan Darnell, lhp, Kentucky. May be closer to fourth round than second now after lackluster junior year (5-3, 5.62).
WILD CARD: Josh Richmond, of, Louisville. Even with a season-ending injury (broken hand from running into outfield wall), his superior athletic ability/tools might be tempting in an early round.
 
BEST OUT-OF-STATE PROSPECT, Kentucky Connection: Zach Cox, 3b, U. of Arkansas (Attended high school in Louisville).
TOP 2011 PROSPECT: Alex Meyer, rhp, Kentucky.
TOP 2012 PROSPECT: Taylor Rogers, lhp, Kentucky.
 
HIGHEST DRAFT PICKS
Highest Pick, Draft History: Drew Hall, lhp, Morehead State U. (1984, Cubs/1st round, 3rd pick).
Highest Pick, 2006 Draft: Ryan Strieby, 1b, U. of Kentucky (Tigers/4th round).
Highest Pick, 2007 Draft: Ben Revere, of, Lexington Catholic HS, Lexington (Twins/1st round, 28th pick).
Highest Pick, 2008 Draft: Christian Friedrich, lhp, Eastern Kentucky U. (Rockies/1st round, 25th pick).
Highest Pick, 2009 Draft: James Paxton, lhp, U. of Kentucky (Blue Jays/1st round, 36th pick).
 
BEST TOOLS
Best Hitter: Andrew Clark, 1b, Louisville.
Best Power: Phil Wunderlich, 3b/1b, Louisville.
Best Speed: Chris Bisson, 2b, Kentucky.
Best Defender: Jeff Arnold, c, Louisville.
Best Velocity: Rye Davis, rhp, Western Kentucky.
Best Breaking Stuff: Logan Darnell, lhp, Kentucky.
 
TOP PROSPECTS
Full scouting reports available on players ranked on national Top 250 list (click on National Top 300)
 
GROUP ONE (Projected ELITE-Round Draft / Rounds 1-3)
1. CHRIS BISSON, 2b, University of Kentucky (Jr.)                                            National Top 250 (Rank 96)
Scrappy little player, excels in leadoff role, 6.5 speed, polished bat (.329-5-35), settled in at 2B; ++ instincts

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