2045:05 Bucharest Times: Analyzing all batter draft picks in Amateur Draft

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2045:05 Bucharest Times: Analyzing all batter draft picks in Amateur Draft

Post by allenciox » Sun Dec 13, 2020 2:23 pm

This is the second part of our series on draft picks in this year's amateur draft. Please see viewtopic.php?f=112&t=37288 for the first part, which focused on pitchers.

This time we focus on batters. We have noted in the past that the GM likes to focus on players with good raw defensive tools. He has often been quoted as saying, in his customary broken English, "You teach hit, but no teach defense". This season is no different. As we will see below, all but one of the players drafted has at least plus defensive abilities. What is more marked though, is how all the positions on the diamond are represented by at least one player. Since drafts in following years are apt to have considerably less dominant players, this depth is of great importance. Out of the eleven batters drafted, the number of players with at least plus defensive ability for the different positions are (note that the totals exceed 11 since some players are counted at more than one position):

C: 2
1B: 2
2B: 4
SS: 1
3B: 1
LF: 2
CF: 2
RF: 3

Details about each of the draft picks continue below:

Rnd 1 (7th pick): Tadataka Yoshikawa has either the best potential of any batter in the draft or the second best (behind second pick Zephyr Orphanides ) depending on your criteria. He has the third best hitter potential of anyone in the draft (Zephyr is the best) with potential for plus to plus-plus contact, plus-plus gap, plus-plus power, and plus Eye. One might think that with such hitting potential that he would be a liability in the field, but nothing could be further from the truth. With plus to plus-plus range in both Infield and outfield, and a good strong arm in OF, he projects to be a slightly above average defensive CF, but a plus 2B, or a plus-plus LF or RF. His defensive ability is similar to Zephyr's in the outfield, but Zephyr can't play in the infield and Tadataka can, so there is more flexibility there. And Tadataka is not plagued by a low work ethic as Zephyr is rumored to be. However, Zephyr could step into the majors on day one, if desired, and is much better on the basepaths.

At any rate, certainly these were the two most elite batters available in the draft, by a considerable margin, and likely perennial all-stars in the UMEBA after some seasoning in the minors.

Rnd 3 (23rd pick): Cameron Patmore is a good strong pick for the third round. He projects to be a plus-plus defender at 2B, along with plus-plus contact at the plate. Plus-plus contact with that kind of defense is a true rarity at 2B.

Rnd 4 (31st pick): Shirai Matsumoto currently plays RF, but projects to be a plus to plus-plus defender at CF, or plus-plus at both left and right. In addition, he could be a plus defender at 2B. He also projects to have plus contact, plus-plus gap, and plus power. He could be a prolific base stealer in the future if he can avoid his tendency to try to take a base when the odds aren't in his favor.

Having overall plus hitting for a defensive position like CF could be a definite boon for Bucharest in the future.

Rnd 6 (47th pick): Aarre Möttölä should develop, defensively, as a plus 3B or an average to plus RF with a rocket for an arm. He projects to be the second best hitter (behind Tadataka) drafted by Bucharest this season, with plus contact and plus-plus gap and power with average eye.

Rnd 7 (55th pick): Dick van Capelle was the first catcher drafted and, while he projects to be only the third best hitting catcher in the draft he was clearly one of the two best fielding catchers available: with his plus-plus arm that would-be base stealers will ignore at their peril. At the plate, he projects to be roughly average (or slightly above) across the board, which is actually very good for a catcher, since hitting isn't what they are known for. And his strong work ethic might mean that his bat develops better than expected.

We talked with the GM and he explained that one of his chief reasons for drafting him here was that he is a lefty. Being able to platoon the catcher position can give a notable advantage since wear and tear on catchers means they have to take more off days than most players. Dick was the only lefty among the top fifteen available catchers, so making this a priority makes sense to us here at the paper.

Rnd 8 (63rd pick): Ricardo De Jesús . It amazed us at the paper that Ricardo, perhaps the best 1B available in the draft, was not picked until the eighth round (after three other 1B were picked). Yes, I am sure that a lot of teams were turned off by his complete inability to reach the outfield fences. But his plus to plus-plus contact and gap and plus-plus eye are absolutely extraordinary. The intangible? He is one of the best base stealers this reporter has ever seen. Put it all together and you have the ideal leadoff hitter, with projected OBA that could routinely lead the league. They just aren't built any better than him for that role. And his high IQ should help him develop faster than most players.

So, what about defense? He projects as plus-plus in that department. And in a pinch, he could even play a decent LF. Wrap all that together and you have a truly extraordinary pick this late in the draft.

Rnd 11 (87th pick): Craig Ablett was clearly picked for his defense. He projects to be a plus-plus CF and, with his rocket arm, could be a plus-plus-plus? RF. He could develop into a plus-defender 2B or 3B. With an average to minus projected contact, though, he would likely find a batting average in the low .200s. But his plus-plus power, and plus eye and gap, do point to better wOBA ratings. Still he projects to only average or slightly above as a hitter --- although he might outperform expectations due to his high work ethic.

Overall, the only really extraordinary thing was that an elite defending OF with decent hitting was able to be picked up after more than half the draft was complete. For that reason, we consider him the best pick by a team in the eleventh round.

Rnd 15 (119th pick): Reardon Searle is listed as a 1B, but we believe 2B would be a better spot for him. He is still only an average defender at 2B (though perhaps plus at 1B), but adds a lot of pop with his bat -- especially his plus-plus ability to hit for extra bases and his plus power. At this point in the draft, it is all about taking flyers on players, but we at the paper are concerned by rumors that he likes to party more than commit to do the hard work to become an elite player.

Rnd 16 (127th pick): Carlton Inions . We feel much better about this fifteenth round catcher pick. Throughout the minor leagues, catcher is the sole weak spot for the Impalers. But immediately after the draft, the two best catcher prospects should be the two they picked up. Carlton should be as good a hitter as Dick (picked earlier) and still has plus defense at catcher, though slightly worse than Dick. We would not be surprised to see them both in the major leagues in a few years as a productive platoon. To pick up such a gem in the 15th round? Incredible.

Rnd 19 (151st pick): Lance Tautor Huh? I mean, seriously? What were they thinking here? Ok. I mean, Lance is the only high school batter chosen by Bucharest in the draft this year (although he is still 18 years old). And normally, you want to take flyers on players in the last rounds... but this guy? He rates to be a minus fielder in either LF or RF, and his hitting is only slightly above average. Meaning DH is probably his destination. But wouldn't you want to put somebody with more pop in his bat at DH? Sorry, there were better players available at this spot, and I can only believe the GM had a brain fart.

Rnd 20 (159th pick): Daniel Watson Okay, remember I said there were better picks available in the 19th round than Lance? Well, this is one of them. The only real shortstop drafted by Bucharest this season, he projects to be a plus-plus fielder with hitting only a little below average, though the worst projected hitting of any player drafted by Bucharest this season. But, you know, elite defending SS are almost always below average hitters, most significantly worse than Daniel is projected to be. It is completely baffling how this player wasn't picked until the second-to-last pick. Yeah, yeah, I know the Impalers are already stocked with high potential shortstops in the minor leagues now, but, this has to be the best pick of the final round, if not the best of the last three rounds.

In summary, Bucharest had a decent haul on pitchers, but for batters... well, it is nothing short of AWESOME! I can't believe any other team got a better spectrum of talent for batters than Bucharest did, and I expect it will help them retain their edge in UMEBA for years to come.


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Re: 2045:05 Bucharest Times: Analyzing all batter draft picks in Amateur Draft

Post by RichY » Tue Dec 15, 2020 4:33 am

Good stuff. It's like's a reason your org is in such good shape. BTW when you said during the draft that you hope a particular guy is still around because you missed picking him I said to myself "De Jesus" I swear. I really liked him too and was a bit bummed when you grabbed him.
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Re: 2045:05 Bucharest Times: Analyzing all batter draft picks in Amateur Draft

Post by allenciox » Tue Dec 15, 2020 6:37 pm

Yep, de Jesus was who I was referring to. I had actually planned to pick him up in round 7 and I talked myself into picking Capelle instead, even though there were a number of catchers of pretty equal strength available. Fortunately, I was still able to get him.

Round 19 was an auto-pick, and I instantly regretted letting the computer pick for me.

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Re: 2045:05 Bucharest Times: Analyzing all batter draft picks in Amateur Draft

Post by chicoruiz » Wed Dec 16, 2020 10:54 am

I saw. De Jesus as a left fielder all the way, and shoot...he could be Lou Brock. I wanted him too, but the draft was just so full of great prospects, and you can’t get all of them.
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Re: 2045:05 Bucharest Times: Analyzing all batter draft picks in Amateur Draft

Post by RonCo » Fri Dec 25, 2020 1:26 pm

Just getting around to reading these. Nice breakdown, of course. Focusing on defense is sometimes hard to do.
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