The DDT - Draft Day 1 thread

[imsorry4beatinU]

PICK ANALYSIS: Bickford had as much late helium as anybody. The Blue Jays were continuously linked to high-upside high school players and Bickford fits the bill.

 

 

Phil Bickford (Photo by Hiromi Fujita)

SCOUTING REPORT: Bickford intrigued scouts with his projectable 6-foot-4, 195-pound body and 88-92 mph fastball last summer at the Area Code Games, and his velocity has jumped this spring, as has his draft stock. He pitches comfortably in the 90-93 mph range and regularly runs his fastball up to 95-96. He has a clean arm action and a three-quarters slot that gives his fastball good life, and he commands it well to both sides, prompting some scouts to grade it as a 70 pitch on the 20-80 scale. He’s a short strider with an upright finish, and sometimes his slot drops below three-quarters, causing him to pitch uphill. Bickford’s secondary stuff lags behind his fastball. He shows glimpses of a fringe-average slider, but he needs to do a better job staying on top of it. He tinkers with a changeup but seldom uses it because he can dominate high school hitters with his fastball. Bickford pumps strikes and works quickly, and his upside could get him drafted in the back of the first round, but many scouts are more comfortable with him as a second-rounder because of his underdeveloped offspeed stuff. Bickford could be a tough sign away from Cal State Fullerton.

 

WHERE HE FITS: The Jays are loaded with high-upside pitchers, but Bickford should fit into Toronto’s top 10.

 

From BA

[G-Snarls]

Pirates are going to get Meadows AND Shipley

 

They must be stunned and ecstatic

[digiblader]

Hunter Renfroe? WTF are the Padres thinking?

[Laika]

Anybody upset about this one particular draft pick is a moron...

 

But anybody NOT upset about the organization's affinity for arms / high school arms is an even a bigger moron.

 

10 Phil Bickford RHP HS

17 D.J. Davis (minors) OF HS

22 *Marcus Stroman (minors) RHP 4Yr

50 *Matt Smoral (minors) LHP HS

58 *Mitch Nay (minors) 3B HS

60 *Tyler Gonzales (minors) RHP HS

21 Tyler Beede (minors) RHP HS

35 *Jacob Anderson (minors) OF HS

46 *Joseph Musgrove (minors) RHP HS

53 *Dwight Smith (minors) OF HS

57 *Kevin Comer (minors) RHP HS

11 Deck McGuire (minors) RHP 4Yr

34 *Aaron Sanchez (minors) RHP HS

38 *Noah Syndergaard (minors) RHP HS

41 *Asher Wojciechowski (minors) RHP 4Yr

 

11/15 first rounders in this regime have been pitchers

8/15 first rounders in this regime have been high school pitchers

 

It's pretty gross. Shooting yourself in the foot, basically.

 

And their 2nd rounders: 5 high school pitchers, and Kellen Sweeney.

[GD]

Keep in mind that many prospects will not be picked until later due to signability concerns. Shipley was a risk.. as he has a good shot of going back to school.

 

So does Bickford you f***ing joke.

[jays_fever]

Hunter Renfroe? WTF are the Padres thinking?

 

Log back into your High85 account and slam the Jays pick. We will wait here

[ace3113]

Nice view to the right of Peterson there.

[RIPEXPOS]

Bickford could be touching triple digits with consistency in a few years.

[Angrioter]

[GD]

50 *Matt Smoral (minors) LHP HS

 

You can't really complain at all about this.

[jays_fever]

Anybody upset about this one particular draft pick is a moron...

 

But anybody NOT upset about the organization's affinity for arms / high school arms is an even a bigger moron.

 

10 Phil Bickford RHP HS

17 D.J. Davis (minors) OF HS

22 *Marcus Stroman (minors) RHP 4Yr

50 *Matt Smoral (minors) LHP HS

58 *Mitch Nay (minors) 3B HS

60 *Tyler Gonzales (minors) RHP HS

21 Tyler Beede (minors) RHP HS

35 *Jacob Anderson (minors) OF HS

46 *Joseph Musgrove (minors) RHP HS

53 *Dwight Smith (minors) OF HS

57 *Kevin Comer (minors) RHP HS

11 Deck McGuire (minors) RHP 4Yr

34 *Aaron Sanchez (minors) RHP HS

38 *Noah Syndergaard (minors) RHP HS

41 *Asher Wojciechowski (minors) RHP 4Yr

 

Theres some good arms there, but I dont mind a preference to arms since its easier to go buy a bat.

[RIPEXPOS]

When the club has been desperate forever for good starting pitching, how can you complain? Raw elite stuff, that goes to college, generally doesn't fall out of the top 5. You take it when you can.

[ace3113]

I'm calling Reese McGuire here for the Bucs.

[GD]

McGuire shouldn't surprise me either but wtf, still no Shipley eh?

[GD]

I'm calling Reese McGuire here for the Bucs.

 

You're a smartie lol.

[Angrioter]

[Laika]

You can't really complain at all about this.

 

Did I f***ing do that? No.

[G-Snarls]

Pirates will probably take McGuire.

 

Yep

[dineke]

God Mlb Draft is boring, they should allow trading of picks like in the nba and nfl.

[ace3113]

Got it. lol

 

Shipley is a no brainer for the White Sox. I think Crawford goes to Arizona or Philly. Stanek is more likely for Arizona though I think.

[G-Snarls]

McGuire shouldn't surprise me either but wtf, still no Shipley eh?

 

Shipley the player who dropped the most in the draft?

[GD]

Did I f***ing do that? No.

 

I didn't say you did.

[GD]

Shipley the player who dropped the most in the draft?

 

There's always the one guy who no one expects to slide but does. I wonder how far he slips.

[imsorry4beatinU]

when is our next pick? 40 something right?

[GD]

Hey I called it first! Pretty obvious.

 

I think they at least considered taking Shipley there.

[GD]

when is our next pick? 40 something right?

 

47.

[theblujay]

I'm not sure I'm a fan of taking the player who recently shot up the draft boards. I think I'd rather buy low on someone who fell, like Meadows. Too bad we missed him.

[GD]

There's Shipley.

[ace3113]

Ok, Stanek or Anderson to Chicago then, and Crawford to Philly.

[GD]

I wonder if Manea reaches us in the 2nd. I know, Boras, but still, that would be awesome.