Rich Poythress, 1b, Georgia

[mark_beckens]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/draft/draft-tracker/2009/268094.html

Rich Poythress, 1b, Georgia

In a year where teams are looking for college bats, Poythress should still go high, perhaps in the back of the first round and second round at the latest. However, Poythress has slumped a bit of late, and it's looking more like the back of the first round for him than the top half. Some scouts have questioned his ability to hit quality pitching, and the numbers bear that out. While he's hitting a robust .375 in SEC play with nine homers, Poythress has done most of that damage on Saturdays and Sundays. Against the league's top pitchers on Friday nights, he's not fared as well. On the surface his nine games on SEC Fridays seems outstanding—.429, two homers, four doubles, and an 8-7 BB-K mark. But four of his 15 hits—including both homers and two doubles—came in one game, against Tennessee. In his last six Fridays, Poythress is 8-for-24 with two doubles, six strikeouts, six walks and no homers. He didn't far well against good velocity this past Friday, as Vanderbilt freshman Sonny Gray helped hold him to a 1-for-4 night. Poythress remains one of the '09 draft class' best hitters, but the consensus seems to be that he's a good hitter, rather than an elite bat.

Saw his named mentioned the other day in a thread, then read this, thought I would share.

[JTrea81]

I'd love to grab him in the second round if he's there. He really has dropped off as of late though after his red hot start.

[LookinUp]

It sounds to me like he'd be a steal at 2:5.

[Hutman]

At 2:5 I'd grab him in a heartbeat, but he won't be there.

[PaulBako]

Will he be the Dykstra of the 2009 draft? :scratchchinhmm:

[allstar1579]

Will he be the Dykstra of the 2009 draft? :scratchchinhmm:

Probably, but that's ok, because I actually like Towne better than him, and Towne will be there at 2:5 and maybe even 3:5.