In The Classroom:
Philip Pfeifer: Commits to Vanderbilt
Dillon Maples: Commits to North Carolina
Christian Lopes: Transfers from Valencia High School to Edison High School
Whatever type of player a team is looking for, the draft class of 2011 has it. Speed, power and fielding are all obvious in the players, but what 2011 has an abundance of are power arms. Lefty or righty, college or high school, there is a surplus of pitchers, especially in high school already clocking in above 90 MPH. Velocity isn't everything to look for in a pitcher, but along with their speed, these top pitchers have the location and secondary stuff to make 2011 a very interesting and strong draft class.
Here are some pitchers at the college level to follow the next two years (no order):
Taylor Jungmann: A right-handed pitcher from the University of Texas, Jungmann is not used to losing. In his four years of varsity baseball during high school, he complied 4 total losses and continued the trend into the spring semester of his freshman year. The 6'6 195 Longhorn complied a line of 11-3, 2.00 era, 101 K, 35 BB in 94 2/3 innings. This led him to becoming a Louisville Slugger Pre-season All-American for the upcoming 2010 season. With his mid 90's fastball, Taylor is sure to improve his previous draft status, 24th round by the Angels in 2008, and become one of the elite pitchers in the 2011 draft class.
Gerrit Cole: This 6-4 220 right-handed pitcher from UCLA has already made a big impact on the baseball world. Already being a first round pick by the Yankees in 2008, Cole should have repeated success in 2011, only having his name called a lot earlier in the first round. With a heavy fastball around the low-to-mid 90's, reaching the upper 90's and good secondary pitches, Cole should have a nice follow up year to his freshman year, in which he went 4-8. But don't let his record fool you, as UCLA had a down year as a team last year, but Cole's other stats were great. Posting a 3.49 ERA while striking out 104 and only walking 38 in 85 innings last spring helped propel him to Team USA. Once getting down to North Carolina with the team, Cole didn't slow up, goign 4-0 with a 1.06 ERA, striking out 46 and walking 10 in 34 innings. And one of the most impressive stats from his summer ball, might have been the opponents batting average, hitting a meager .106.
Sonny Gray: Sonny Gray is a competitor out of the University of Vanderbilt. By scouts standards Gray would be "undersized", standing at 5'11, but that doesn't matter, as he goes out there an competes. The right-handed pitcher was originally drafted by the Cubs in the 27th round and slipped so far due to such a strong commitment to Vanderbilt. If not, Gray wouldn't have lasted past the second round in 2008, most likely not even past the first round. Like Cole, Sonny had a strong freshman campaign, with which he followed it up with a superb summer circuit. At Vanderbilt, he went 5-1 with a 4.30 ERA, recording 5 saves and striking out 72 and walking only 20 in 58 2/3 innings. Not impressing you? Gray then went on to do equally great things with Team USA, going 3-1 in 24 innnings pitched, with a miniscual .75 ERA, averaging 1 strike out an inning and only walking 8. Another elite pitcher,that will have his name called early come 2011.
Jack Armstrong Jr.: Gray's teammate at Vanderbilt, Armstrong didn't pitch much this past spring, only 7 2/3 innings, but did record 8 strikeouts. Then this past summer, as a member of the Wareham Gatemen of the CCBL, Jack went 4-1 wit ha 2.57 ERA, averaging almost a strikeout an inning and only walking 18 in 35 innings pitched. While filling out his 6'6 frame since high school, now up to 226lbs, Armstrong has seen his velocity jump, now sitting consistantly in the low 90's and found himself pitching in Fenway, as a member of the Cape Cod All Star team. Look for Armstrong to get more innings this year and for him to prove himself as a top of the line prospect.
Brett Mooneyham: A lefty from the University of Stanford, the 6'5 235 Mooneyham towers over the opposing batters. He had a nice spring this past year, recording a 6-3 record, second most wins on the team behind Drew Storen, a first round pick by Washington. He appeared in 67 1/3 innings, which were the most on the pitching staff and had 72 strike outs. The only problem was his control, where he walked 54 batters this spring. But with a great pitching frame, being a lefty, throwing mid 90's and having a good breaking ball and an above average change up, Brett Mooneyham will the ace of Stanford this year and will be followed very closely here at JJScouting.
Matthew Purke: The only freshman to make the list, Purke decided to attend TCU rather then sign with his home town team, the Texas Rangers who selected him in the mid-first round last year. The highest first round pick not to sign from 2009, Purke is the second such player on the list, Cole in 2008. Coming out of high school, the 6'3 170 Purke found himself as the number 2 ranked high school prospect according to pgcrosschecker.com, equipped with a mid-90's fastball coming in from the left side. Along with his fastball, Purke has a nice change up with good tail and a breaking ball with loads of potential. He will also be the only freshman on the list, as most would be eligible for the 2012 draft, but Purke is one of the hard to find draft eligible sophomores, like Zach Cox for the 2010 draft.
