Three O's in BA Top 100

[TheOtherRipken]

3 hours ago, Eric-OH said:

Thanks, I’m glad to contribute any way I can.  To answer your question I’d start with Gunnar.  I don’t know if you consider Delmarva the lower minors but I’d hype Drew Rom a bit more than most because of his size and stature as well as the ability to control ABs early on.  
It’s so early in their developmental curve so a guy off to a good start who has shown a pitch or a skill really has to harvest it.  Each and every starting pitcher I saw had no issue with stamina and pace.  
I think Hernaiz vs Ortiz at SS could spur competition for a couple seasons and if one emerges could be a fast riser-just not initially.  
A random name who didn’t put up exceptional numbers definitely showed me a serious ability to work counts and not get frazzled at the plate and that’s Josue Herrera.  He also has serious pop and a frame that could all weight from the waist up without being bulky.  He was relatively clutch too providing run scoring hits when needed more than once.  That stood out. 
There’s so much to accomplish and pass to make it up for these guys but some skills showed.  Just popping into my mind are how hard and gung-ho both Mason Janvrin and Craig Lewis shoot out of the box after contact.  

The one who showed the strongest combo of skill, size, attitude and focus however was clearly Gunnar.  It’s far away and he’s a teenager for many more months but he’s an athlete and finding his place on the field could be fun.  Speaking of that, he made adjustments pitch to pitch with positioning and guessed right very often.  To me that’s impressive.

If I was a coach I’d look forward to how high his skill set can go.  Strong hands and wrists, plays with good rhythm and can handle an 0-fer. The draft is not my specialty but watching him fail but still run out to his position and yell for his teammates it’s hard to say he was not one of the top few talents in his year.  Hope that helps. To me the optimism is because the floor has risen and at this time next year Gunnar, or one of a couple others could be a league recognized stud and the team could have just drafted yet another nucleus type player.  Look back at previous years and that type of talk is simply not true.

Also at this time next year I expect to have covered the minors much more specifically for OH and will have significantly better and more video evidence and numbers to corroborate.  Now THAT’S something to look forward to!

You seriously rock, thanks!

[VaBird1]

FYI - they listed Hays and Mountcastle in the Top 20 Rookies article in the section:  Ten More Rookies To Know.

[Enjoy Terror]