Will the O's take Hobgood?
As of about 5 p.m. this afternoon, Baseball America projects these players as the first eight picks in tonight's draft.
1 - Nats take RHP Stephen Strasburg
2 - Mariners take UNC 1B Dustin Ackley
3 - Padres take High School OF Donovan Tate
4 - Pirates take Boston College C Tony Sanchez.
5 - Orioles take High School RHP Matt Hobgood
6 - Giants take High School RHP Zack Wheeler
7 - Braves take Vanderbilt LHP Mike Minor
8 - Reds take UNC RHP Alex White
The 18-year-old Hobgood goes 6'4", 245 and played for Norco High in California.
He was reported to be quite a power hitter, but his future in the pros is as a pitcher. On the mound this year, Hobgood went 11-1, 0.92 in 68 1/3 innings. He walked 26 and fanned 101 batters.
Scouting reports list his fastball between 90 and 94 and it tops out around 95. He can maintain solid velocity late into games and also has a solid curve and changeup.
He has "clean" mechanics, said to be better than most high school pitchers.
At the plate, he batted .475 with 21 homers and 55 RBI and he named the National High School Player of the Year by Gatorade.
Here is where the O's pick in the early rounds:
Round one - 5th
Roud two - 54th
Round three - 85th
Round four - 116th
Round five - 146th
Round six - 176th
This will be Joe Jordan's fifth draft as O's scouting director. His previous first-round picks:
2005 - Brandon Snyder, 13th overall
2006 - Billy Rowell, 9th overall
2007 - Matt Wieters, 5th overall
2008 - Brian Matusz, 4th overall
The Orioles are picking in the top five for the third year in a row and the top ten for the 8th time in the last nine years.
Tonight, the draft will run through the end of supplemental picks after the third round, the 111th pick overall. Tomorrow the draft will resume at Noon with rounds 4 through 30. Thursday, beginning at 11:30am, the draft continues with rounds 31 through 50.
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Categories (click for archive)Orioles News | Steve Melewski |
Boy, I hope BA is wrong, and we don't pass on Wheeler for Hobgood. That would be really a mistake.
Most of the latest mock drafts have Grant Green falling out of the 1st round. Would the O's consider him in round 2 if he's still there? Any feel for the O's interest in Matt Davidson in round 2 or beyond? Supposedly a big stick in H.S. that projects as a 1B and we need big sticks.
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I would be suprised if Green fell to 54th pick. - Steve
here's what i find is funny. i have a preference in the draft like most fans. i would like to see the o's take matzek, though i usually don't have a lot of confidence in drafting high school players. that said, fans have their picks and the amazing thing is almost everyone's opinion is solely based on what one reads. i would think less than 1% of anyone writing in their opinion has ever seen any of these kids play. everyone's opinion is based on what they have read or maybe seen in a 30 second spot. the baseball draft is nothing like the football or basketball draft because h.s baseball isn't on tv and college baseball is seen by about 45 people.
Steve, Sorry about missing your up-dates on Mahoney. I guess the Ravens have backed off on him. Losing 40 lbs. means a lot to this kids drive to get better. Thanks. Pedro Floriman might be the real deal. Hope Billy R can some how get to the bigs. Thanks.