Big Lead Sports Bar

6/08/2010

DRAFT HIGHLIGHTS, DAY 2



Day two featured a recurring theme for the Pirates, and many players with local ties taken in the MLB Draft. After the jump is a recap of both.


-The Pirates selected right-handed pitcher Stetson Allie of St. Edward High School in Lakewood, Ohio, in the second round with the 52nd overall pick. The 19-year-old Allie was 9-1 with a 1.29 ERA and 134 strikeouts in 60 innings last season. He's been clocked as high as 101 mph.

Baseball America had Allie ranked as the eighth-best prospect in the country, with the second-best fastball among all high school pitchers. Who was first on the list? That would be Pirates first-round pick Jameson Taillon, who trains with the same instructor as Allie.

-Baseball Prospectus' Kevin Goldstein tweeted, "If the Pirates sign Allie, this has the POTENTIAL to be a franchise-changing two days," and told John Seibel on 93.7 The Fan that he would grade the Pirates' draft an A+ if they sign both pitchers. 

Goldstein also added that "Sources indicate that Stetson Allie's price tag is $3 million".  

-CF Mel Rojas Jr. was the Pirates' 3rd-round pick, out of Wabash Valley College in Mt. Carmel, IL. MLB.com calls Rojas a "toolsy, athletic outfielder who has the defensive skills to play a very good center field".

-In rounds 4-8, the Pirates selected right-handed pitchers - all of them high-schoolers with the exception of Oregon State junior Tyler Waldron. All in all, the team took 13 righties, two lefties, and 10 position players on the day. Of their 25 picks, 12 were high-schoolers.

-Pitt 3B Joe Leonard (Connellsville HS) was chosen in the 3rd round by Atlanta.  Two of his teammates were taken as well: Panthers C Cory Brownsten also went to Atlanta in the 15th round and SS Danny Lopez to Seattle in the 17th round.

-Penn State C Ben Heath went in the 5th round, 153rd overall, by Houston.

-Canevin C Patrick Leyland, the son of Jim, was taken in the 8th round by Detroit. Leyland has a scholarship to Maryland, but papa says he'd like his son to get into professional baseball sooner rather than later. 

-Duquesne utility-man Mark Tracy went to Colorado in Round 22. Tracy is the son of current Rockies manager and former Pirate skipper Gentleman Jim Tracy.

Is it any coincidence that Tracy and Leyland both went to their father's teams? I think not.

-IUP IF Paul Bingham (Hanover, PA) was selected by San Diego in the 20th round.

- Xavier LHP Tom Shirley (Norwin HS) was chosen by Houston in the 9th round.

-Tennessee Tech LHP Adam Liberatore (Blackhawk) went to Tampa Bay in the 21st round.

Draft tracker: Pirates [MLB.com]


Draft tracker: Pennsylvania players [MLB.com]

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2 comments:

Mathias said...

WVU's Jedd Gyorko 59th overall to the San Diego Padres....which of course in German means a whale's vagina

okel dokel said...

Toolsy? - WTF