2023 MLB Draft Day 2 Thread

[Doctor Wu]

16 hours ago, IA Bean Counter said:

Jay Harry, SS — Penn State

Straight up, Harry is one of my favorite players in the 2023 MLB Draft. He’s not the most physically gifted player in this class, but there’s not another player in the country who night after night comes into the clubhouse with a filthier jersey. He’s a scrappy kid who gets the most out of his ability. Harry had a strong year posting a .299/.376/.463 slash with 6 homers and 6 stolen bases. He had nearly as many walks, 20, as he did strikeouts (21). Harry saw 45 breaking balls inside the zone north of 80 mph. He made contact on 97 percent of those swings and averaged 94 mph on those batted balls. To be fair to the process, it should be noted Harry had a ton of foul balls on those swings. But the balls he kept between the white lines were pummeled.

 

As previously mentioned, Harry doesn’t have the most intimidating physical tools, but he’s a gritty player who might belong somewhere on day three. All of his raw power presents itself to the pull-side thanks to a whippy bat path. He more often than not utilizes an inside-out swing that neutralizes his power. The whole package will likely never be a double-digit dinger guy, but he’s the type of guy who could run into 25 doubles in a season if given the opportunity. On the high end, maybe he’s a Brad Miller type of profile. Harry is very fun to watch on defense and has a shot to stick at shortstop moving forward.

Thanks for that extra information. Also, reading the original report, this struck me:

A hard-nosed player who generally eschews batting gloves, Harry has minimal movement to get his swing started. He lifts his front foot up, stays relatively still with little rhythm in his swing before punching his hands at the ball. 

Man, I love this guy already! Doesn't strike out much, hustles, gets his uniform dirty ... looking forward to seeing him play!

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

14 hours ago, wabene said:

I agree but aren't the picks made by Sean Johnson who has been with the team forever? Maybe it's a combination of him getting better at his job and the Twins doing a better job of developing some of these players?

Honestly I think it is 2 things working together.   

1.  The front office has had the scouts focus on a few particular traits,  a high K/9 ratio,  and having at least 1 elite pitch.  

2. The pitching coaching in A and A+ ball I think is very very strong.  They are giving these players a strong base to possibly succeed in the higher levels.  Often increasing their velocity and tweaking a couple of their pitches.  

The coaching and scouts and ultimately the front office is very in sync with their philosophy on drafting pitchers.  

 

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

14 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Dang. I still argue it was with the risk. 

I still think its a good pick.  He just needs to come back healthy next year.  If not injuries may just derail his potential.  

[twinkiesfan11]

9 minutes ago, IA Bean Counter said:

I still think its a good pick.  He just needs to come back healthy next year.  If not injuries may just derail his potential.  

Terrible news. Any specifics on the plan for him? Does he need another surgery or just shutting him down?

[MN_ExPat]

6 hours ago, davidborton said:

Bethune Cookman Div III. Not sure how tough opposition was but scout surely was familiar with it. Lots of unearned runs relative to total ERs in Santos' stats. Some sloppy ball.

Threw two games against Div I (Univ So Fla/South Carolina) and got hammered. https://bcuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/nolan--santos/4716

BCU is a D1 school.  Not a terribly good one, but none the less... still a D1 .

[DJL44]

11 hours ago, DocBauer said:

As far as catchers go, I believe to this day they are undervalued as to their importance. And one of my pet peeves with the FO has been ignoring the Latin market for catching options, even though history has produced a tremendous amount of talent there. 

They spent $1M on a Venezuelan catcher last January.

[Dave Borton]

1 hour ago, MN_ExPat said:

BCU is a D1 school.  Not a terribly good one, but none the less... still a D1 .

Good catch. I just assumed based on watching their football program. Goes to show...