2012 Draft Update
Checking in on the first rounders from the 2012 MLB Draft
1. Houston Astros - Carlos Correa, SS, Puerto Rico Baseball Academy
Has hit safely in each of his first four games in the Appy
League since being promoted from the Gulf Coast League. Struggled early on, but
has shown all the same tools that he did in high school that made him the first
overall choice. He's very raw and has a very long way to go to reach his
ceiling.
2012 Stats:
.250/.296/.375 in 163 ABs in Rookie ball in the Gulf Coast League
2. Minnesota Twins - Byron Buxton, OF, Appling County High School (Ga.)
Like Correa, Buxton started in the GCL, but was recently
promoted to the Appy League. Another raw talent, Buxton has insane potential.
His overall skill set cannot be rivaled by any other offensive prospect in this
class, it will just be a matter of refining the tools, especially making enough
consistent contact.
2012 Stats:
.216/.324/.466 in 88 PAs in rookie ball in the Gulf Coast League
3. Seattle Mariners - Mike Zunino, C, Florida
Zunino began his pro career in the Northwest League and
dominated as expected. What came as a surprise, however, was his recent
promotion to AA, skipping both full season low-A ball and high-A. He will always
strike out a fair share of times, but the power and patience at the plate,
defense and leadership will carry him to be the Mariners catcher of the future
with Montero most likely moving off the
position.
2012 Stats:
.373/.474/.736 in 133 PAs in Low-A. Recently promoted straight to AA.
4. Baltimore Orioles - Kevin Gausman, RHP, Louisiana State
Gausman has carried his quirkiness with him from college to the
pro ranks and basically dominated in his first two outings in the New York-Penn
League. He was recently promoted to high-A, but the Orioles will continue
bringing him on slowly due to his heavy college workload. The stuff looks just
as good as it did in college and the plus fastball/changeup combo give him
frontline potential.
5. Kansas City Royals - Kyle Zimmer, RHP, San Francisco
Zimmer’s pure stuff was arguably the best in this draft class
and the only knocks on him were a lack of experience on the mound and
questionable velocity reports. Despite the concerns, he has looked excellent
thus far in pro ball. After dominating the much younger competition in the
Arizona Summer League he was promoted to low-A, where he has only had one bad
outing out of 4. Most recently he struck out 10, while allowing only 3 hits and
no walks over 6.2 innings.
2012 Stats:
3.04 ERA, 36 K's in 26 innings between the AZL and A Ball.
6. Chicago Cubs - Albert Almora, Mater Academy (Fla.)
Almora was not a favorite of ours heading into draft day, even
with his polish and advanced approach to the game for a high schooler, but he
has shown what we expected thus far. Debuting in the AZL, he raked against
inexperienced pitching and was just promoted to the Northwest League, where he
went 2-5 with a homer in his debut yesterday. He makes consistent contact and
should continue to hit well as he moves up the ladder, but it remains to be seen
what kind of power he will develop. His speed and instincts will play both on
the bases and in centerfield.
2012 Stats:
.350/.365/.513 in 85 PAs in rookie ball.
7. San Diego Padres - Max Fried, LHP, Harvard-Westlake High School (Calif.)
Fried was a divisive player here at Coast2Coast, with West Coast
liking him more than East Coast. He has undeniable frontline upside, but has a
lot of work to do to get there. In 1-2 inning outings in the AZL since signing,
Fried has shown the strikeout potential that we saw in him pre-draft, but has
experienced some inconsistencies as expected for a teenager. There is a lot to
like here, but lots of patience will be necessary.
8. Pittsburgh Pirates - Mark Appel, RHP, Stanford
Did not sign, will return to Stanford for his senior season.
9. Miami Marlins - Andrew Heaney, LHP, Oklahoma State
Heaney was a favorite of West Coast’s heading into draft day,
but was even selected higher than his ranking. He did not dominate the GCL’s
younger hitters, even though he was effective enough to earn a promotion to the
SAL, where he was rocked in his first start there. Heaney’s upside is more of a
mid-back end of the rotation starter due to his lack of plus stuff, but if he
commands his pitches as effectively as he did in college, he has a chance to
move quickly.
10. Colorado Rockies - David Dahl, Oak Mountain High School (Ala.)
A favorite of ours, especially East Coast’s, who had him number
4 on his big board heading into the draft, Dahl has been incredible thus far in
the Pioneer League and is riding a 27 game hit streak right now. It's a hitter
friendly league, but for a high schooler playing mostly against older
competition, his performance is definitely noteworthy. He has above average-plus
tools across the board and has a very good idea of what he’s doing on the
field.
2012 Stats:
.371/.412/.590 in 210 PAs in rookie ball in the Pioneer League.
11. Oakland Athletics - Addison Russell, SS, Pace High School (Fla.)
Russell absolutely murdered AZL pitching in his first 26 games,
hitting .415/.488/.717, earning a quick promotion to the NY-PL, where he has
remained hot. We are still unsure whether he will be able to remain at short
long term, but either way the bat looks very good. We felt he was a bit of an
overdraft for the A’s assuming he would have to move off of short, but he
appears to have slimmed down and has good actions in the field, which would make
the bat exponentially more valuable than at third
base.
12. New York Mets - Gavin Cecchini, SS, Barbe High School (La.)
Cecchini struggled a bit to start his pro debut, but has been
hitting better of late in the Appy League. We really liked his instincts and
defensive tools and that has not changed much, but we still strongly question
his ability to make consistent contact as well as hard
contact.
2012 Stats:
.257/.327/.360 in 126 PAs in rookie ball in the Appalachian League
13. Chicago White Sox - Courtney Hawkins, OF, Carroll High School (Tex.)
Hawkins recently received a puzzling promotion to low-A ball
after only holding his own in the Appy League. His power, speed and raw
athleticism are off the charts, but he looks to always be a high strikeout guy,
with 40 k’s through 42 games thus far.
2012 Stats:
.272/.314/.401 in 148 PAs in the Appalachian League. Recently promoted.
14. Cincinnati Reds - Nick Travieso, RHP, Archbishop McCarthy High School (Fla)
Travieso did not rank on either of our top 50 draft prospect
lists heading into the draft, as we viewed him more as a reliever than a
starter, but it appears the Reds will give him every opportunity to start. He
has been effective in short stints thus far in the AZL, but these stats are
basically meaningless since he can dominate most young hitters with his upper
90s-100 mph fastball.
15. Cleveland Indians - Tyler Naquin, OF, Texas A&M
Naquin will always carry the "tweener" label as an outfielder.
He has a cannon for an arm and above-average speed, but many doubt he will ever
develop the power for a corner or the instincts and range for center.
Regardless, he's very refined and off to a decent start in short season
ball.
2012 Stats:
.285/.384/.400 in 130 PAs in Short-Season A Ball
16. Washington Nationals - Lucas Giolito, RHP, Harvard-Westlake High School (Calif.)
Giolito was a huge risk/reward pick here for the Nationals. He
was coming off an elbow injury heading into the draft, but just made his debut
two days ago, only giving up 2 hits and no walks while striking out 1 in 2
innings of work.
17. Toronto Blue Jays - D.J. Davis, OF, Stone County High School (Miss.)
Davis is a speed machine who flew up draft boards late thanks to
improved reports with the bat. If he puts it all together, which is a very big
if, he could find a place at the top of a Major League line-up for years to
come.
2012 Stats:
.233/.339/.374, 18-25 SB in 163 PAs in rookie ball (Gulf Coast League)
18. Los Angeles Dodgers - Corey Seager, SS, Northwest Cabarrus High School (N.C.)
Seager was drafted higher than we had him ranked, but we really
like his potential. Like Dahl, he is an advanced high school hitter who is
succeeding in the hitter friendly, but mostly college heavy Pioneer League. His
tools are average-above average across the
board.
2012 Stats:
.303/.361/.462 in 132 PAs in rookie ball (Pioneer League)
19. St. Louis Cardinals - Michael Wacha, RHP, Texas A&M
A favorite of West Coast’s, Wacha is a big, athletic righty who could move quickly
up the St. Louis system. He's thrown 13 innings to date, but preliminary reports
look good as he has already tallied 26 strikeouts.
20. San Francisco Giants - Chris Stratton, RHP, Mississippi State
Both East and West Coast agree that Stratton was great value at
the 20th pick as a durable righty with the potential to capably fill a rotation
spot for many years. He's only thrown 12 innings to date, but he's one to watch
next year.
21. Atlanta Braves - Lucas Sims, RHP, Brookwood High School (Ga.)
Sims is a local product for the Braves whose athleticism and power stuff provide some
serious upside. He's thrown 28 innings so far and has tallied a 2.54 ERA with and more
than a strikeout per inning.
22. Toronto Blue Jays - Marcus Stroman, RHP, Duke
Stroman was a polarizing prospect as a smaller righty with some
power stuff and outstanding stats. He's just begun his professional career, but
he certainly has some high upside and strikeout potential.
23. St. Louis Cardinals - James Ramsey, OF, Florida State
Ramsey was one of the best college players in the nation last
year and does everything well on a baseball field. He's struggled out of the
gate, but don't be surprised if he finds his form
soon.
2012 Stats:
.234/.330/.318 in 157 PAs in High A ball.
24. Boston Red Sox - Deven Marrero, SS, Arizona State
Marrero is definitely a glove first shortstop and his eventual
value is largely tied up in the development of his bat. There's not a lot of
power to speak of here, but Marrero could end up with four solid tools if
everything works out.
2012 Stats:
.255/.355/.356 in 188 PAs in Short-Season A Ball.
25. Tampa Bay Rays - Richie Shaffer, 1B/3B, Clemson
Shaffer was one of the best power hitters in the college class
this year and that power potential had him in the discussion as early as the Top
10 selections. He only has around 50 at-bats to his name so far, but he's a high
level power follow for 2013 and beyond.
26. Arizona Diamondbacks - Stryker Trahan, C, Acadiana High School (La.)
A favorite of East Coast’s, who rated him 3rd on his pre-draft top 50,
Trahan simply rakes and does everything a scout looks for in a hitter, making
consistent hard contact, with patience and speed on the bases. This has led to
a .282/.438/.492 line with 6 steals in 37 AZL games. It's a whole other story
on defense, however, where Trahan has only thrown out 11 out of 51 base
stealers (22%) while also allowing 15 passed balls in 30 games. A move to the
outfield may be necessary sooner rather than later, but the bat will play
wherever he moves.
27. Milwaukee Brewers - Clint Coulter, C, Union High School (Wash.)
Coulter was lauded for his power bat out of high school and the
development of consistent power will be a key to his success. He's off to a
solid start in rookie ball where has shown a patient approach to go along with
some good power production.
2012 Stats:
.293/.422/.436 in 133 PAs in the AZL
28. Milwaukee Brewers - Victor Roache, OF, Georgia Southern
Roache is another power bat here for the Brewers. He had a breakout campaign
at Georgia Southern in 2011 when he hit a preposterous 30 HRs. A broken wrist
sidelined him for most of 2012, but the power potential is very intriguing.
29. Texas Rangers - Lewis Brinson, OF, Coral Springs High School (Fla.)
Brinson has plenty of tools and is one of the most athletic
outfielders in his class. He needs a lot of refinement and he won't fly up the
system, but there's plenty of upside here. He's off to a very good
start.
2012 Stats:
.292/.352/.523 in 195 PAs in rookie ball.
30. New York Yankees - Ty Hensley, RHP, Santa Fe High School (Okla.)
Hensley is solid value here as he is a classic, projectable high school righty.
He has the frame, athleticism and stuff to profile as a solid starter at the next level.
31. Boston Red Sox - Brian Johnson, LHP, Florida
Recent reports on Johnson have been good and while he doesn't have a huge amount of
upside, he's a relatively polished arm from the left side.
A couple others also of note:
32. Minnesota Twins - Jose Orlando Berrios, RHP, Papa Juan High School (PR)
Berrios got off to a blistering start to his pro career in the GCL, earning a promotion to the Appy League
recently. He has mainly been used out of the bullpen in short stints and has been dominant to the tune of a
32:4 K/BB, with only 8 hits allowed in 20.2 inning. It will be interesting to follow Berrios' progress and whether
the Twins bring him along as a starter or reliever.
39. Texas Rangers - Joey Gallo, 3B/1B, Bishop Gorman High School (NV)
Gallo got off to an unprecedented start to his pro career by hitting 18 home runs in just
43 games in the AZL. His defensive metrics do not look very good at third base at this
stage and a move to first is most likely in his future.
2012 Stats:
.293/.435/.733 in 193 AZL PAs. He was recently promoted to short season A ball in the Northwest League.
1. Houston Astros - Carlos Correa, SS, Puerto Rico Baseball Academy
Has hit safely in each of his first four games in the Appy
League since being promoted from the Gulf Coast League. Struggled early on, but
has shown all the same tools that he did in high school that made him the first
overall choice. He's very raw and has a very long way to go to reach his
ceiling.
2012 Stats:
.250/.296/.375 in 163 ABs in Rookie ball in the Gulf Coast League
2. Minnesota Twins - Byron Buxton, OF, Appling County High School (Ga.)
Like Correa, Buxton started in the GCL, but was recently
promoted to the Appy League. Another raw talent, Buxton has insane potential.
His overall skill set cannot be rivaled by any other offensive prospect in this
class, it will just be a matter of refining the tools, especially making enough
consistent contact.
2012 Stats:
.216/.324/.466 in 88 PAs in rookie ball in the Gulf Coast League
3. Seattle Mariners - Mike Zunino, C, Florida
Zunino began his pro career in the Northwest League and
dominated as expected. What came as a surprise, however, was his recent
promotion to AA, skipping both full season low-A ball and high-A. He will always
strike out a fair share of times, but the power and patience at the plate,
defense and leadership will carry him to be the Mariners catcher of the future
with Montero most likely moving off the
position.
2012 Stats:
.373/.474/.736 in 133 PAs in Low-A. Recently promoted straight to AA.
4. Baltimore Orioles - Kevin Gausman, RHP, Louisiana State
Gausman has carried his quirkiness with him from college to the
pro ranks and basically dominated in his first two outings in the New York-Penn
League. He was recently promoted to high-A, but the Orioles will continue
bringing him on slowly due to his heavy college workload. The stuff looks just
as good as it did in college and the plus fastball/changeup combo give him
frontline potential.
5. Kansas City Royals - Kyle Zimmer, RHP, San Francisco
Zimmer’s pure stuff was arguably the best in this draft class
and the only knocks on him were a lack of experience on the mound and
questionable velocity reports. Despite the concerns, he has looked excellent
thus far in pro ball. After dominating the much younger competition in the
Arizona Summer League he was promoted to low-A, where he has only had one bad
outing out of 4. Most recently he struck out 10, while allowing only 3 hits and
no walks over 6.2 innings.
2012 Stats:
3.04 ERA, 36 K's in 26 innings between the AZL and A Ball.
6. Chicago Cubs - Albert Almora, Mater Academy (Fla.)
Almora was not a favorite of ours heading into draft day, even
with his polish and advanced approach to the game for a high schooler, but he
has shown what we expected thus far. Debuting in the AZL, he raked against
inexperienced pitching and was just promoted to the Northwest League, where he
went 2-5 with a homer in his debut yesterday. He makes consistent contact and
should continue to hit well as he moves up the ladder, but it remains to be seen
what kind of power he will develop. His speed and instincts will play both on
the bases and in centerfield.
2012 Stats:
.350/.365/.513 in 85 PAs in rookie ball.
7. San Diego Padres - Max Fried, LHP, Harvard-Westlake High School (Calif.)
Fried was a divisive player here at Coast2Coast, with West Coast
liking him more than East Coast. He has undeniable frontline upside, but has a
lot of work to do to get there. In 1-2 inning outings in the AZL since signing,
Fried has shown the strikeout potential that we saw in him pre-draft, but has
experienced some inconsistencies as expected for a teenager. There is a lot to
like here, but lots of patience will be necessary.
8. Pittsburgh Pirates - Mark Appel, RHP, Stanford
Did not sign, will return to Stanford for his senior season.
9. Miami Marlins - Andrew Heaney, LHP, Oklahoma State
Heaney was a favorite of West Coast’s heading into draft day,
but was even selected higher than his ranking. He did not dominate the GCL’s
younger hitters, even though he was effective enough to earn a promotion to the
SAL, where he was rocked in his first start there. Heaney’s upside is more of a
mid-back end of the rotation starter due to his lack of plus stuff, but if he
commands his pitches as effectively as he did in college, he has a chance to
move quickly.
10. Colorado Rockies - David Dahl, Oak Mountain High School (Ala.)
A favorite of ours, especially East Coast’s, who had him number
4 on his big board heading into the draft, Dahl has been incredible thus far in
the Pioneer League and is riding a 27 game hit streak right now. It's a hitter
friendly league, but for a high schooler playing mostly against older
competition, his performance is definitely noteworthy. He has above average-plus
tools across the board and has a very good idea of what he’s doing on the
field.
2012 Stats:
.371/.412/.590 in 210 PAs in rookie ball in the Pioneer League.
11. Oakland Athletics - Addison Russell, SS, Pace High School (Fla.)
Russell absolutely murdered AZL pitching in his first 26 games,
hitting .415/.488/.717, earning a quick promotion to the NY-PL, where he has
remained hot. We are still unsure whether he will be able to remain at short
long term, but either way the bat looks very good. We felt he was a bit of an
overdraft for the A’s assuming he would have to move off of short, but he
appears to have slimmed down and has good actions in the field, which would make
the bat exponentially more valuable than at third
base.
12. New York Mets - Gavin Cecchini, SS, Barbe High School (La.)
Cecchini struggled a bit to start his pro debut, but has been
hitting better of late in the Appy League. We really liked his instincts and
defensive tools and that has not changed much, but we still strongly question
his ability to make consistent contact as well as hard
contact.
2012 Stats:
.257/.327/.360 in 126 PAs in rookie ball in the Appalachian League
13. Chicago White Sox - Courtney Hawkins, OF, Carroll High School (Tex.)
Hawkins recently received a puzzling promotion to low-A ball
after only holding his own in the Appy League. His power, speed and raw
athleticism are off the charts, but he looks to always be a high strikeout guy,
with 40 k’s through 42 games thus far.
2012 Stats:
.272/.314/.401 in 148 PAs in the Appalachian League. Recently promoted.
14. Cincinnati Reds - Nick Travieso, RHP, Archbishop McCarthy High School (Fla)
Travieso did not rank on either of our top 50 draft prospect
lists heading into the draft, as we viewed him more as a reliever than a
starter, but it appears the Reds will give him every opportunity to start. He
has been effective in short stints thus far in the AZL, but these stats are
basically meaningless since he can dominate most young hitters with his upper
90s-100 mph fastball.
15. Cleveland Indians - Tyler Naquin, OF, Texas A&M
Naquin will always carry the "tweener" label as an outfielder.
He has a cannon for an arm and above-average speed, but many doubt he will ever
develop the power for a corner or the instincts and range for center.
Regardless, he's very refined and off to a decent start in short season
ball.
2012 Stats:
.285/.384/.400 in 130 PAs in Short-Season A Ball
16. Washington Nationals - Lucas Giolito, RHP, Harvard-Westlake High School (Calif.)
Giolito was a huge risk/reward pick here for the Nationals. He
was coming off an elbow injury heading into the draft, but just made his debut
two days ago, only giving up 2 hits and no walks while striking out 1 in 2
innings of work.
17. Toronto Blue Jays - D.J. Davis, OF, Stone County High School (Miss.)
Davis is a speed machine who flew up draft boards late thanks to
improved reports with the bat. If he puts it all together, which is a very big
if, he could find a place at the top of a Major League line-up for years to
come.
2012 Stats:
.233/.339/.374, 18-25 SB in 163 PAs in rookie ball (Gulf Coast League)
18. Los Angeles Dodgers - Corey Seager, SS, Northwest Cabarrus High School (N.C.)
Seager was drafted higher than we had him ranked, but we really
like his potential. Like Dahl, he is an advanced high school hitter who is
succeeding in the hitter friendly, but mostly college heavy Pioneer League. His
tools are average-above average across the
board.
2012 Stats:
.303/.361/.462 in 132 PAs in rookie ball (Pioneer League)
19. St. Louis Cardinals - Michael Wacha, RHP, Texas A&M
A favorite of West Coast’s, Wacha is a big, athletic righty who could move quickly
up the St. Louis system. He's thrown 13 innings to date, but preliminary reports
look good as he has already tallied 26 strikeouts.
20. San Francisco Giants - Chris Stratton, RHP, Mississippi State
Both East and West Coast agree that Stratton was great value at
the 20th pick as a durable righty with the potential to capably fill a rotation
spot for many years. He's only thrown 12 innings to date, but he's one to watch
next year.
21. Atlanta Braves - Lucas Sims, RHP, Brookwood High School (Ga.)
Sims is a local product for the Braves whose athleticism and power stuff provide some
serious upside. He's thrown 28 innings so far and has tallied a 2.54 ERA with and more
than a strikeout per inning.
22. Toronto Blue Jays - Marcus Stroman, RHP, Duke
Stroman was a polarizing prospect as a smaller righty with some
power stuff and outstanding stats. He's just begun his professional career, but
he certainly has some high upside and strikeout potential.
23. St. Louis Cardinals - James Ramsey, OF, Florida State
Ramsey was one of the best college players in the nation last
year and does everything well on a baseball field. He's struggled out of the
gate, but don't be surprised if he finds his form
soon.
2012 Stats:
.234/.330/.318 in 157 PAs in High A ball.
24. Boston Red Sox - Deven Marrero, SS, Arizona State
Marrero is definitely a glove first shortstop and his eventual
value is largely tied up in the development of his bat. There's not a lot of
power to speak of here, but Marrero could end up with four solid tools if
everything works out.
2012 Stats:
.255/.355/.356 in 188 PAs in Short-Season A Ball.
25. Tampa Bay Rays - Richie Shaffer, 1B/3B, Clemson
Shaffer was one of the best power hitters in the college class
this year and that power potential had him in the discussion as early as the Top
10 selections. He only has around 50 at-bats to his name so far, but he's a high
level power follow for 2013 and beyond.
26. Arizona Diamondbacks - Stryker Trahan, C, Acadiana High School (La.)
A favorite of East Coast’s, who rated him 3rd on his pre-draft top 50,
Trahan simply rakes and does everything a scout looks for in a hitter, making
consistent hard contact, with patience and speed on the bases. This has led to
a .282/.438/.492 line with 6 steals in 37 AZL games. It's a whole other story
on defense, however, where Trahan has only thrown out 11 out of 51 base
stealers (22%) while also allowing 15 passed balls in 30 games. A move to the
outfield may be necessary sooner rather than later, but the bat will play
wherever he moves.
27. Milwaukee Brewers - Clint Coulter, C, Union High School (Wash.)
Coulter was lauded for his power bat out of high school and the
development of consistent power will be a key to his success. He's off to a
solid start in rookie ball where has shown a patient approach to go along with
some good power production.
2012 Stats:
.293/.422/.436 in 133 PAs in the AZL
28. Milwaukee Brewers - Victor Roache, OF, Georgia Southern
Roache is another power bat here for the Brewers. He had a breakout campaign
at Georgia Southern in 2011 when he hit a preposterous 30 HRs. A broken wrist
sidelined him for most of 2012, but the power potential is very intriguing.
29. Texas Rangers - Lewis Brinson, OF, Coral Springs High School (Fla.)
Brinson has plenty of tools and is one of the most athletic
outfielders in his class. He needs a lot of refinement and he won't fly up the
system, but there's plenty of upside here. He's off to a very good
start.
2012 Stats:
.292/.352/.523 in 195 PAs in rookie ball.
30. New York Yankees - Ty Hensley, RHP, Santa Fe High School (Okla.)
Hensley is solid value here as he is a classic, projectable high school righty.
He has the frame, athleticism and stuff to profile as a solid starter at the next level.
31. Boston Red Sox - Brian Johnson, LHP, Florida
Recent reports on Johnson have been good and while he doesn't have a huge amount of
upside, he's a relatively polished arm from the left side.
A couple others also of note:
32. Minnesota Twins - Jose Orlando Berrios, RHP, Papa Juan High School (PR)
Berrios got off to a blistering start to his pro career in the GCL, earning a promotion to the Appy League
recently. He has mainly been used out of the bullpen in short stints and has been dominant to the tune of a
32:4 K/BB, with only 8 hits allowed in 20.2 inning. It will be interesting to follow Berrios' progress and whether
the Twins bring him along as a starter or reliever.
39. Texas Rangers - Joey Gallo, 3B/1B, Bishop Gorman High School (NV)
Gallo got off to an unprecedented start to his pro career by hitting 18 home runs in just
43 games in the AZL. His defensive metrics do not look very good at third base at this
stage and a move to first is most likely in his future.
2012 Stats:
.293/.435/.733 in 193 AZL PAs. He was recently promoted to short season A ball in the Northwest League.
