2021 12th round pick (347): Justin Armbruester - RHP - (Senior) New Mexico

[lovetoaster]

6'4 235

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=armbru000jus

[baltfan]

He struck out 17 in March against Fresno State.  I wonder if the scout on Ryan Higgins saw him that day.

Of course in May against Fresno State he had his worst outing of the year, so maybe saw the good and the bad.

[lovetoaster]

Mountain West Pitcher of the Year

Quote

The ace of the Lobo squad earned his spot as Pitcher of the Year after leading the Mountain West with a 3.58 ERA, an opposing batting average against of .231, and a total of 101 strikeouts through 78.0 innings pitched. Armbruester earned a total of four Mountain West Pitcher of the Week honors, serving as the first time a pitcher tallied as many in program history.

https://golobos.com/news/2021/06/03/armbruester-and-castillo-named-all-mw-first-team-armbruester-named-pitcher-of-the-year/

[lovetoaster]

Quote

Armbruester has since been on an impressive roll, employing a mix of 90-to-94 mph fastballs with sliders and occasional changeups. He was at his best during a March 13 outing at Fresno State that rates as one of the top pitching performances in UNM history. Armbruester worked nine shutout innings, allowing two hits and striking out 17 in the Lobos’ 1-0, 10-inning win.

“A lot of fastballs,” Armbruester replied when asked about the outing. “I threw 91 fastballs out of 117 pitches. The umpire had a good strike zone and Fresno State was swinging at everything, so that was a lot of fun.”

The only bad news about Armbruester’s outing was that no one outside the ballpark saw it. The game was not carried on video stream.

“That was a shame,” Higelin said. “That was one of the best performances I’ve seen by a college pitcher. National scouts should have been able to see that.”

https://www.abqjournal.com/2373937/armbruester-makes-a-pitch-for-high-draft-pick.html

[baltfan]

Just now, lovetoaster said:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2373937/armbruester-makes-a-pitch-for-high-draft-pick.html

There goes my theory. 

[Can_of_corn]

Elias took our concerns about a lack of pitching to heart.

[lovetoaster]

2 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Elias took our concerns about a lack of pitching to heart.

He's always listening. 

[Tony-OH]

7 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Elias took our concerns about a lack of pitching to heart.

There was little doubt he was going to go pitching heavy in Day 3 after his first two days. This draft looks a lot like 2019.

[Can_of_corn]

Do senior signs have much of a record of making the majors?  I don't honestly care about how good the filling out the Minor league rotation guys are.

[forphase1]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

Do senior signs have much of a record of making the majors?  I don't honestly care about how good the filling out the Minor league rotation guys are.

As previously noted, most of these aren't 'true' senior signs.  With only 5 rounds last year many juniors that would have normally been drafted went back to school, and now they are seniors.  While they may only sign for the 10k as they have no real other choice, from a talent standpoint I'm not sure calling them all senior signs is accurate.

[SteveA]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

Do senior signs have much of a record of making the majors?  I don't honestly care about how good the filling out the Minor league rotation guys are.

Well, we do have to take into account Covid.   A 5 round draft last year, most college seasons extremely truncated.   Many of the college seniors getting picked would have played a full junior season, then gone as juniors in a 20 round draft last year.  Instead, a lot came back.

Still, the fact that we will be drafting probably the oldest draft class in major league history certainly means SOMETHING.   (Have to admit, when webbrick mentioned that about 4 round in yesterday I thought it was just his typical negative hyperbole.   But now it is coming to fruition).

[Hallas]

This is such a weird draft all around.  I get that covid had something to do with it, but ehhhhhh....

 

I am not really a fan of drafting college senior pitchers.

[Ruzious]

If we don't already, we're going to have the oldest average age in the minor leagues.  

Remember, if we have the best records in the minors, that means we had the best drafts.  

 

[Frobby]

21 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Do senior signs have much of a record of making the majors?  I don't honestly care about how good the filling out the Minor league rotation guys are.

Jay Flaa made it for a day.  

This year is a little different than usual because many 2020 juniors who weren’t drafted in the 5 round draft stayed in college rather than signing for $20,000.    So, being a senior sign doesn’t have quite the same stigma as in the past.  
 

[Tony-OH]

4 hours ago, Frobby said:

Jay Flaa made it for a day.  

This year is a little different than usual because many 2020 juniors who weren’t drafted in the 5 round draft stayed in college rather than signing for $20,000.    So, being a senior sign doesn’t have quite the same stigma as in the past.  
 

I'm not sure how many times we have to say this before it sinks in with some people.