Seeing Purke again

[QBsILLEST1]

Saw him for a little while during the rain delayed CWS game(It was a replay from yesterday). Its pretty amazing how polished of an arm he is considering he is just a freshman. He has 3 really solid pitches and seems to command all 3. His fastball didn't have quite the advertized velocity, but it is later in the year and still looked good. I would say he has an above average FB with command, plus slider and a changeup that I would project to be an above average to plus pitch in the future.

If his fastball when he is fresh really does sit low 90's touching 94, I would certainly consider that a 3rd possible plus pitch with that strong command.

I would have to say Purke was the most impressive of the 2 higher profile 2011 draft eligible collegiates I saw today(Between Bauer and Purke). Both have some projection, but Purke has more now stuff IMO and much better polish despite the fact Purke is only a freshman and Bauer is a Sophomore.

[QBsILLEST1]

Just curious. What was he sitting at, velocity wise, from what you saw?

like 90-91, topped out at 92 from what I saw, but I saw him from like the 2nd inning to the 4th......The slider is nasty and the changeup was pretty nasty too. He wasn't extremely sharp, but he was still hitting his spots a lot and seemed to be missing low rather than high from my memory....

[bluehens45]

What impressed me the most about Purke is his poise. He seemed like a vet out there on the mound and he had me cracking up with those glasses and hat to left side. I thought he looked fantastic and im kicking myself if im the Rangers right now.

[panick]

Since Purke is a freshman, why is he eligible for next year's draft?

[QBsILLEST1]

Since Purke is a freshman, why is he eligible for next year's draft?

I would guess it has something to do with his age?

And yes, the glasses, the hat and the facial hair make him unrecognizable from how I last remember seeing him......

[Stotle]

He's a beast on the mound -- gets really fired-up and comes right at hitters. We'll see how his pitch plane ends-up playing against more advanced bat, but he has a nice little slider that could be above average down the line. His CH has been plus when I saw it this year. FB is solid above-average to plus and should get better as he improves his command.

All just my opinion. Definitely put himself in preseason Top 10 talks, I'd think. Should be fun to watch him with Team USA (that team shouldn't lose a game all year, considering the staff it might have).

[QBsILLEST1]

He's a beast on the mound -- gets really fired-up and comes right at hitters. We'll see how his pitch plane ends-up playing against more advanced bat, but he has a nice little slider that could be above average down the line. His CH has been plus when I saw it this year. FB is solid above-average to plus and should get better as he improves his command.

All just my opinion. Definitely put himself in preseason Top 10 talks, I'd think. Should be fun to watch him with Team USA (that team shouldn't lose a game all year, considering the staff it might have).

So, you wouldn't consider the slider the his best secondary and not a plus offering right now? I guess his command of the pitch could improve.....

I can definitely see him being a top 10 pick. He has the best combo of stuff/command/polish of the top college pitchers for the 11 draft that I have seen. What this upcoming draft looks like to me, as far as pitching is concerned is tremendous upside, but a lack of polish with the top guys. This is why IMO Purke has a very good chance of going quickly IMO, but Cole's and Jungmann's stuff outweighs the polish and consistent command that Purke has, atleast the way it stands right now IMO...

I like Cole because he has a big arm and will probably have nothign but plus stuff across the board, but am worried that his feel for pitching lags behind every other top college pick for the 11 draft because his stuff has been so good for so long, he has gotten by on just throwing by hitters. If he could harness his stuff he has a Strasburg-ian ceiling.

If you take all aspects of pitching into consideration(stuff,command,polish,feel for pitching) I really like Jungmann because IMO he knows how to pitch and has nearly as good of stuff as Cole. His command can be great and after reading some tidbits from you Stotle, it would seem pretty fair to project him to have very good command in the future because his mechanical shortfalls are all VERY fixable.....

[bluehens45]

I know this is off topic a little but what do you guys think about Harold Martinez SS from Miami? If i remember correctly he was a big time prospect and had a bad senior year and fell in the duy draft. Is he a guy that will stay at SS and does he project as a 1st rounder? I have gotten the chance to see him a few times and like what I see. Sweet stroke and Im pretty sure we talked alot about him when he was in HS.

[QBsILLEST1]

I know this is off topic a little but what do you guys think about Harold Martinez SS from Miami? If i remember correctly he was a big time prospect and had a bad senior year and fell in the duy draft. Is he a guy that will stay at SS and does he project as a 1st rounder? I have gotten the chance to see him a few times and like what I see. Sweet stroke and Im pretty sure we talked alot about him when he was in HS.

I don't know a ton about him, but I just saw him listed as a 3B.......Could be a 1st rounder though, dunno if he is a slam dunk 1st rounder yet....Stotle is much more qualified to answer that....

[Stotle]

I know this is off topic a little but what do you guys think about Harold Martinez SS from Miami? If i remember correctly he was a big time prospect and had a bad senior year and fell in the duy draft. Is he a guy that will stay at SS and does he project as a 1st rounder? I have gotten the chance to see him a few times and like what I see. Sweet stroke and Im pretty sure we talked alot about him when he was in HS.

He was 1B as a Fr. and is now a 3B -- no way I see him going back to SS. Good power with some swagger; will be a huge summer for him. Potential Top 50 guy, I'd imagine.