Pitt players selected in 2014 MLB Draft
- Thread starter JD1976
- Start date
Thoughts .......
- Congratulations to the 3 Pitt players, all pitchers, taken in the 2014 MLB Draft !!!
- I thought Joe Harvey would be the 1st Panther to be drafted .... IMO he was our best pitcher.
- A bit of a surprise that Luke Curtis was taken ahead of Harvey but Luke improved a lot this season as a relief pitcher, had a good ERA and the scouts had his fastball at 91-93 mph so he will get a chance.
- I was pleasantly surprised that Matt Wotherspoon came back for his senior season as I thought he would leave last year after getting drafted in the 20th round.... unfortunately, he didn't have a very good senior season and dropped to the 34th round.
- Also, a little surprised that Casey Roche did not get drafted ....... he had a poor senior season but still was our leading hitter batting average wise and I thought someone would take a chance on him based on his overall career at Pitt.
- Congratulations to the 3 Pitt players, all pitchers, taken in the 2014 MLB Draft !!!
- I thought Joe Harvey would be the 1st Panther to be drafted .... IMO he was our best pitcher.
- A bit of a surprise that Luke Curtis was taken ahead of Harvey but Luke improved a lot this season as a relief pitcher, had a good ERA and the scouts had his fastball at 91-93 mph so he will get a chance.
- I was pleasantly surprised that Matt Wotherspoon came back for his senior season as I thought he would leave last year after getting drafted in the 20th round.... unfortunately, he didn't have a very good senior season and dropped to the 34th round.
- Also, a little surprised that Casey Roche did not get drafted ....... he had a poor senior season but still was our leading hitter batting average wise and I thought someone would take a chance on him based on his overall career at Pitt.
Re: Thoughts .......
I was surprised about Curtis as well, but I guess it's all about projecting guys into the future, not what they are now. I know Luke had an outing where he was throwing 95mph so I guess that must have got the scouts attention. Plus, he hasn't pitched a whole lot since high school so maybe that worked in his favor. Hopefully he's fully recovered from his Tommy John surgery and pitches really well because he's a really great guy.
Wotherspoon did struggle this year with some bad outings. It seemed like he was a better #2 with Mildren here then #1 having to deal with the pressure of being the "ace" of the staff.
I was shocked that Roche wasn't drafted last year, and the same goes for this year. He's a good athlete that has some power and a good throwing arm. He had some issues with the coaching staff so maybe that scared some people off?
I was surprised about Curtis as well, but I guess it's all about projecting guys into the future, not what they are now. I know Luke had an outing where he was throwing 95mph so I guess that must have got the scouts attention. Plus, he hasn't pitched a whole lot since high school so maybe that worked in his favor. Hopefully he's fully recovered from his Tommy John surgery and pitches really well because he's a really great guy.
Wotherspoon did struggle this year with some bad outings. It seemed like he was a better #2 with Mildren here then #1 having to deal with the pressure of being the "ace" of the staff.
I was shocked that Roche wasn't drafted last year, and the same goes for this year. He's a good athlete that has some power and a good throwing arm. He had some issues with the coaching staff so maybe that scared some people off?
I could absolutely see Roche being a contributor an A or AA title-caliber team. That kid is a pro.
Boo was the biggest surprise to me. Baseball America had him as the 12th best ACC prospect going into the season after an impressive Cape Cod showing. Even with the struggles in ACC ball, the Trib put out an article where coach still had him going in the first 15 rounds... then nothing. Bizzare. Way more weird to me than Casey or even Soto when he didn't get picked out of HS after being on the USA U18 team.
He's limited defensively, but there are positions where you can hide that.
This post was edited on 6/11 3:26 PM by singregardless
Boo was the biggest surprise to me. Baseball America had him as the 12th best ACC prospect going into the season after an impressive Cape Cod showing. Even with the struggles in ACC ball, the Trib put out an article where coach still had him going in the first 15 rounds... then nothing. Bizzare. Way more weird to me than Casey or even Soto when he didn't get picked out of HS after being on the USA U18 team.
He's limited defensively, but there are positions where you can hide that.
This post was edited on 6/11 3:26 PM by singregardless
Vazquez is very average defensively in the outfield ..... maybe he would have to transition to first base at the next level...... he led the team in home runs (6) and RBI's (39) which are modest figures but he only hit .246 not very impressive at all ..... I still think that he may get drafted next year but he really is going to have to pick his game up a notch or two IMO.
I'm not arguing his performance this year was where it needed to be. It wasn't. That said, his performance went up - not down - in ACC play (BA, OBP, and SLG% all higher, >50% of his RBI & TB came in ACC play), which means something. Additionally, yes, 1B - or DH - could minimize his defensive limitations. Either way, he was never getting drafted for his field work. He was getting drafted for his frame & his overall track record with the bat both in NCAA & in summer leagues.
My larger point was that no one expected the kid to be back next year. Jordano's round 15 bracketing, already factored in unfulfilled 2014 performance, as he was viewed as a potential round 3-5 prospect earlier in the year by Baseball America's projections. MLB.com & Baseball America had him as the best prospect on the team going into the draft, as well. This all after being drafted out of HS.
Nothing in his resume suggested being undrafted this time around. Nothing. That was my argument. That said, I'm hardly disappointed. Next's year team needs talent in the worst way. And his dad is good people and a quality supporter of the club, from the few interactions I've had him with at games.
My larger point was that no one expected the kid to be back next year. Jordano's round 15 bracketing, already factored in unfulfilled 2014 performance, as he was viewed as a potential round 3-5 prospect earlier in the year by Baseball America's projections. MLB.com & Baseball America had him as the best prospect on the team going into the draft, as well. This all after being drafted out of HS.
Nothing in his resume suggested being undrafted this time around. Nothing. That was my argument. That said, I'm hardly disappointed. Next's year team needs talent in the worst way. And his dad is good people and a quality supporter of the club, from the few interactions I've had him with at games.
I agree with you that everything going into this season pointed toward Boo being drafted and most expected him to be drafted .... he was not drafted .... why ? .... to me it had to be his performance this season and that was my point ..... MLB doesn't usually draft players that are below average fielders and bat .246 ..... heck, Casey Roche averaged better then .330 for his first 3 years, is a better fielder then Boo, has a better arm then Boo, runs better then Boo and didn't get drafted last year nor this year when he didn't play as well yet hit better then Boo.
I hope Boo gets drafted next year but if he has another season like this year, I doubt that he will ..... he has to improve ..... he needs to improve his fielding and his hitting ..... IMO he has to hit the curve better and has to develop better bat speed to utilize his power ...... I've watched several games in the NCAA Baseball Tournament this year and on the good teams, the good hitters have so much better bat speed and power then our hitters it is not even close...... just my opinions.
I hope Boo gets drafted next year but if he has another season like this year, I doubt that he will ..... he has to improve ..... he needs to improve his fielding and his hitting ..... IMO he has to hit the curve better and has to develop better bat speed to utilize his power ...... I've watched several games in the NCAA Baseball Tournament this year and on the good teams, the good hitters have so much better bat speed and power then our hitters it is not even close...... just my opinions.
