1st Round Pick - Matt Hobgood - RHP - HS

[AgentOrange]

I just heard Wheeler interviewed and I must say, he didn't seem like the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Come on Frobby, that was tough for him I am sure. Huge part as his house and it didn't sound like he could hear what they were saying.

[Austin]

I just heard Wheeler interviewed and I must say, he didn't seem like the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Agreed, he couldn't hear a question asked of him and he responded "Do what?"

Not to crap all over Wheeler, but that's not particularly professional. I'm sure he's just nervous, though.

[Hank Scorpio]

I just read what Tony said in his newest thread....Makes me feel a little better about the pick...But I think we should have gone another way.

Oh well, hopefully this kid can get in here, stay in good shape, develop that change and be a big dominant type pitcher.

Certainly there are discussions to be had about whether or not we agreed with it, and I'm sure many won't agree with it.

Call me a homer, whatever... I'll go with the guy Jordan likes best and judge the pick a few years down the road. We really don't know what we've got at this point.

[Three RBI Homer]

Joe Jordan comments

http://masnsports.com/2009/06/joe-jordans-comments-on-pickin.html

I have a very hard time believing it wasnt about the money.

[BringBackMagic]

Matzek finally taken by the Rockies. Don't worry about a productive career from him, poor guy.

[rolliefingers]

I'm not overly thrilled or upset, just waiting to learn more about him.

That sums it up for me, as well.

[Why Not?]

That's because they react based on what they're told by the Churchill's, Law's, etc... of the world.

They don't know any better than you, me, or JTrea.

Truer words have never been spoken...or typed.

As with every and any draft pick, we'll have to start the engine and see what he can do.

[Three Run Homer]

Apparently the kid throws 98 and I saw somewhere that said he is comparable to Beckett.

That's not what I read. I heard he's 89 to 92, but with heavy sink.

The pluses--he's a big kid, should be durable, is touted as having the best curve ball of the HS kids. Good poise on the mound.

The minuses--doesn't have the velocity you'd associate with a top of the rotation starter. Doesn't have a changeup (which you could say about a lot of the other HS arms). Command is only average at this point.

Overall--maybe Jordan just likes him better than the other HS arms; we'll probably never really know. But this smells like a signability pick. If Jordan wants to swim against the tide, that's fine, but if it doesn't work out (and assuming it really was his call, rather than a dictat from AM) then his job should be on the line.

[Tony-OH]

I was hearing 89-92...As I just said, I just read what you wrote about him...so it makes me feel better about the pick.

Good. I also just got this nugget about him, "He is not a reach, a stretch or a pre-draft deal. He's the real thing."

Makeup off the charts and velocity really came on throughout the spring.

[TonySoprano]

How hard did Ponson throw?

Hobgood, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound righty, bares a little too much of a resemblance to Sidney Ponson for comfort. He's not as hard of a thrower as his build suggests, as he tops out at 92 mph, but he does have an excellent curveball. He'll have to come up with a changeup over the next few years.

source - rotoworld

[Sports Guy]

Definitely a reach at #5, no doubt about that.

Only potential saving grace for this pick is if Jordan truly thinks he's worth the pick and all the other scouts have got it wrong, he's great at his job so hopefully that ends up being the case. Also, we're very likely to spend a lot in the mid-late rounds on signability guys now, which is a good thing.

I don't think any of us can actually be happy with this pick. The best anyone here can say is that we trust Jordan and hopefully we'll eventually see what he says. Anyone who says they genuinely like this pick over any of the other top HS for any reason other than "In Jordan We Trust" is just being overly optimistic and orange-colored in their view. This is a guy nearly none of us had heard of before 4pm today, so there is no way anyone can genuinely like this pick over the more touted guys.

So, lets hope Jordan is as smart as we hope he is!

Yep....It appears that Hobgood has a ton of upside but Jordan seems to be one of the only people that has him ahead of Matzek and Wheeler...let's hope he is right.

[Frobby]

Time will tell.

At least this is a guy we have a chance to get into the system right away and get into the minors this year, rather than waiting till 11:58 on the last possible day to get him signed, then waiting till the Arizona Fall League to get a first glimpse. :rolleyestf:

Looks like the guys got a power curve. I'm not overly thrilled or upset, just waiting to learn more about him.

We won't really have any idea how good or bad a pick this was until the end of next season, at the earliest. My hope would be we sign himm quickly, get him to Bluefield and hopefully he does well enough there to merit a month or so at Aberdeen. Then we can start him at Delmarva next year.

[bigelow]

This could end up being a great pick and the best thing for the organization. When i hear Brad Penny and Josh Beckett Comps i feel better about it.

That being said im going to start drinking now and hope when i come back Purke, Scheppers, or anyone fell to us because of signability. Time to over slot

[ccbird]

Stuff looked great in the video they showed. John Hart said he had the highest upside of all the prep pitchers with the lowest risk.

Something to keep in mind is while we started hearing recently that the O's would stay away from some of these guys with high demands(Matzek) they were worked out and were heavily linked to Wheeler who was considered a relatively easy sign and near concensus top 10 -15 talent. Unless Wheeler uped his demands at the last second the fact that they took Hobgood over Wheeler tells me they truely see something special in Hobgood. Dosn't mean they will necessarily be right but I don't think this was strictly a signabilty guy. I like Hobgood and his potential over guys like Minor and Leake who easily could have been our pick as well.

[O's fan from NC]

I think Jordan might be a step ahead. Watching this kid's scouting video impressed me. His fastball has a ton of life and was sitting consistently at 94 on the video. His curve also looked excellent. He will just need to take some time to develop the changeup. I think we will be pleasantly surprised if we are patient and don't crucify Jordan and the O's yet.