Draft 13 – Austin Wilson, Notre Dame, Florida Gulf Coast, Top 50 H.S. Prospects
Bad News: Stanford junior OF Austin Wilson will be out for up to eight weeks with a stress reaction in his right elbow. Wilson, a particular favorite of mine, was a projected early first round pick come June.
It will be interested to see how teams will deal with this. Last year’s version of this was Georgia Southern University’s Victor Roache who was favorite to be a top five pick until he was lost for the 2012 season. His drop in the draft was minimal, falling to the 28th pick overall, owned by the Milwaukee Brewers.
Two new teams entered the BA top 25 rankings.
When you think the Fighting Irish (5-1, 0-0), it’s always football first and then, maybe, basketball. What you don’t do is run to the D1 baseball website to check the baseball scores.
Notre Dame went into Tulane last week and swept a three-game series, the first time the Green Wave was shut out at home by a non-conference team since 1997. It was a team pitching effort, giving up only a total of five runs. Freshman Nick McCarty (4 IP, 1 H, 0 R), senior Adam Norton (5 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K), and junior Sean Fitzgerald (6.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER) were standouts.
Top draft prospect, IF/OF Eric Jagielo, leads the team in batting (.500) while McCarty (0.00) has now posted ten scoreless innings in three outings.
They now head off to Cary, North Carolina for the Irish Baseball Classic, against 25th ranked Virginia Tech, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.
The problem you have with teams like Florida Gulf Coast (5-1, 0-0) is they usually don’t get a shot at playing decent teams during the season. You simply can’t figure out if they legitimately should be ranked with the big boys.
Well, what about this year where the Eagles are 3-0 against top-25 teams?
No one was ready for a three-game weekend sweep of Florida, but that’s exactly what happened. This is a team that had only beat the Gators one time… ever. And this series was played in Gainsville!
There are so many heroes here, but you have to tip your hat to junior RHP Rickey Knapp (2-0, 1.20), who threw up a 6-hit complete game Friday night against Jonathan Crawford. He was joined by fellow junior, LHP Brian Bixler (2-G, 1-0, 1.00), on Saturday (5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K).
Leading hitter so far this season is 1B red-shirt senior Brooks Beisner (.520, 4-HR, 11-RBI, 1.120-slugging %)
1. Clint Frazier, OF, Loganville HS (GA)
Plus/plus bat speed, plus speed (6.42/60), plus arm (98 mph), power to all fields and a very high character make the 6’-1”, 200-pound right-hander number-one on my list. He hit .424 with 24 home runs and stole 14 bases over 114 at-bats as a junior. Draws comps to Mike Trout for his style of play. Has hit three home runs in his first two games of the season.
2. Austin Meadows, OF, Grayson HS (GA)
At 6’-4” and 200 pounds, the left-hander already has a major league body. A true five-tool talent, his plus speed, plus arm and instincts should allow him to stick at center field. Great bat speed allows him to hit the ball all over the field and the power potential is huge. Like best friend Frazier, he has a great make up and high understanding of the game.
3. Jonathan Denney, C, Yukon HS (OK)
At 6’-2” and 205 pounds, the right-hander has some of the best power in the draft, and his defense is good enough to keep him behind the plate. Has been one of the most impressive prep players over the last year and, in a draft loaded with prep catchers, has very few holes on either side of the plate.
4. Dominic Smith, 1B/OF, Serra HS (CA)
In my opinion, Smith is the best pure hitter in the draft. Over his 77-game high school career, he is hitting .568 with 14 home runs, 126 RBI, 29 stolen bases and has fanned just 13 times. He recently went 10-for-13 with four walks and two stolen bases at the MLK Tournament sponsored by Perfect Game, garnering MVP honors. The 6’-1”, 190-pound left-hander has an incredible batting eye and more power should come as he matures. If he can stick at a corner outfield position, his value goes way up.
5. Trey Ball, LHP/OF, New Castle Chrysler HS (TX)
At 6’-6”, the southpaw hits the low/mid 90s with an easy delivery and there is still room for more. He adds a low-80s slider and change-up but both are still inconsistent at times. A great athlete, his future should be on the mound despite his potential on offense.
Read more at http://throughthefencebaseball.com/2013-mlb-draft-top-50-high-school-prospects/29585/#vhgZkyzZ5CC2Ap9S.99
Eight weeks out has him coming back in late April. I think that’s enough time to rebound and prove he’s top 10 material.
Considering everyone always says (Could Drop if the big breakout that’s expected doesn’t happen) when they put him on a list or mock or whatever.
Stanford in General I stay away from for hitters but in Wilsons case especially I think someone would be wise to stay away.If I’m whoever running my organizations draft I’m letting someone else take their chances with him.And as you guys know I’m all for taking the risk for the jackpot.But with Wilson I don’t think there’s a jackpot on the otherside of that risk.I personally think Michael Taylor 2.0 is on the other side of that risk and I doubt anyone wants a 26-27 year old AAAA hulk of a man who can’t really hit for power but makes solid contact at least in the minors.
Heard from Austin:
“Mack, I honestly I do not think it will be that long, but as you said: Getting healthy is the key.”
I think his biggest knock is that he has tools but it doesn’t manifest itself on the diamond. So maybe the biggest issue with this injury is it limits his opportunities to show he can live up to the potential.
That’s pretty much it.He deffinately has the ability to be special I’d say.He just hasn’t figured out how to put it all together as far as in game situations go.But that’s what I was trying to get at is that with the injury cutting his season short it’s not like he can go out and have some huge breakout successful season.Even when he comes back it’s going to take a little bit at least to get back in game mode.So the best he could do is show some flashes like he has been in the past which if he can at least do that he probablly stays right in the range everyone has had him in that 6-12 range for the most part.Personally for me I have him closer to the 20s on my board like 21-22
I really can’t say it any better than Kevin did. I love Wilson’s tools, but I would love to see them translate more and this is going to cut into that opportunity.
Stanford is one of those schools where the players threat of a senior year is a lot more real than others. You have to think if Wilson drops very far he’s in an Appel type situation. Get better quick, and get those tools in-game. I think the Stanford hitting approach hasn’t done him any favors, as others have noted.