With the second pick of the night and the 43rd overall, the Cubs have selected Pierce Johnson from Missouri State. He was Baseball America's highest rated draft prospect not yet drafted. Here's what they say about him.
Few colleges can match Missouri State's recent track record for producing pitchers. Since 2001, the Bears have had three hurlers drafted in the first or sandwich rounds and sent a total of seven to the big leagues. The next in line is Johnson, who started to come on at the end of his sophomore season a year ago and ranked sixth in NCAA Division I in strikeouts per nine innings (11.5) in mid-May. The 6-foot-3, 180-pounder misses bats with a lively 92-93 mph fastball that reaches 96 mph and a hard three-quarters breaking ball. He'll mix in an 86-87 mph cutter a few times per game and has improved his feel for his changeup. While scouts have no quibbles with Johnson's stuff, they do have some concerns, most notably his health. He missed two starts this spring with a forearm strain, an issue that also cropped up in high school and during the fall of his freshman year. He wasn't as sharp in his first three starts after his layoff, which could drop him from the first round to the supplemental first. He also dislocated a knee while warming up in the bullpen last summer in the Cape Cod League, and missed much of his high school senior season after breaking his hand on a comebacker. Johnson has just decent control and command, though he has improved in both regards this year. He also can fall in love with his breaking ball a bit too much.
Stats on College Splits can be found here.
Struckout 119 in 99.2 innings and walked just 28. It's college, but those are pretty good numbers.
With the 56th pick the Cubs went with Paul Blackburn out of Oakley California.
Blackburn stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 180 pounds. He is a good athlete and shows a clean delivery that he repeats well. His fastball sits in the 90-92 mph range and tops out at 94. Scouts can still project on Blackburn. His curveball and changeup show promise and he could eventually have three plus pitches. Because of his athleticism and smooth mechanics, scouts believe he will also eventually pitch with above-average control and command. He shows good feel and poise on the mound, too. Blackburn has consistently pitched well throughout the spring and is interested in professional baseball, so scouts don't believe he'll wind up at Arizona State, where he has committed.
The Cubs are done for the night and so am I.
32nd ranked prospect by BA. Pretty good. Gotta like this pick.
hey, in this weak ass draft taking a guy who has a big arm but might need TJ is fine with me. go upside
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
… and loneliness.
That didn’t work out the way I thought it would.
i’ve been thinking on what MD said about how he enjoys how this cba is making the best players get picked vs weird shit like Daniel Moskos or Tyler Colvin. I actually agree. I still hate this CBA but its refreshing to see guys picked where they should
what the FUCK is Reynolds saying!?
@ shawndgoldman:
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
Ben Wells left his start with an injury after 2.
Fuck
@ dylanj:
I think this CBA does a good job putting the correct value on amateurs. I like that about the new CBA, even if it does screw the Cubs’ ability to get good fast.
Updated this with some stats and a youtube
I can’t wait for this guy to have his first highlight reel on Baseball Tonight.
/5th grader
shawndgoldman wrote:
The National Science Foundation and Cornell have been trying to unload this telescope for years, make them an offer. Maybe Carlos Correa will kick in.
How bad was the arm injury? That set off major alarm bells in my head although I guess they wouldn’t have drafted him if it was hanging-on-by-a-tendon bad.
@ SVB:
Best part about buying that one? I’d already know my way around the scaffolding from way too many hours of Goldeneye on the N64.
@ dylanj:
It’s been much better to watch the talent go off the board rather than seeing teams reach for guys who would be picked in the 4th or 5th. The Cubs weren’t the only teams doing it either. It was annoying.
I don’t know what the CBA is going to result in to be honest and I don’t think anybody else does either. The fact that small market teams hate it as much as large market teams tells me that people just don’t know what’s going to happen. If large market teams hate it, small market teams should be seeing some benefits from it, but they all hate it. Reminds of me of people hating change.
@ mb21:
That YouTube would be better if the 4 year old in the background would SIT DOWN. (dying laughing)
Sori needs to show Pierce how to wear his socks.
I hate it because Theo had a system that worked- Throw money at it. Now, its just so fucking random. What can I say I’m just a free market devotee (dying laughing)
Yeah but his career W-L record is under .500!
/MLB Network asshats
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Blame the offense and defense for keeping the man down.
/I’m down with FIP
Updated the post with Blackburn’s scouting report. He was ranked 57th.
Sounds like a tougher sign due to a college commitment.
@ shawndgoldman:
yeah, yeah, but did you get to go out with Jodie Foster? That’s what really matters right? Not SETI and exoplanets.
I fly over this telescope about 6 times a year and I never get tired of looking at it. Pretty amazing instrument, if you ask me. I hope UPR doesn’t end up the primary managers of it, because it’ll get f’d up fast.
Rice Cube wrote:
Do they get an extra pick next year if they don’t sign him, or is that only in the 1st round?
@ Aisle424:
I don’t think comp round picks come with compensation at all. If they don’t sign, they lose the money and the pick as far as I know.
What do the Cubs have to offer Almora to get a comp pick next year if he doesn’t sign? If he doesn’t sign, can the Cubs use his money to sign other picks lower down and just take the #7 pick in a better draft next year? That way the Cubs could be picking #1 and #7 in a better draft class. Probably #3 & #7 at worst.
@ Aisle424:
Law was saying today next years might be worse
They really really like Almora and he isn’t seen as a tough sign.
I like the 3 picks. Also, the San Antonio Spurs now have a 3 game losing streak to follow up they’re 20 game win streak
@ SVB:
Sweet. I’d buy it and reenact the ending of Golden Eye for, like, days.
@ josh:
I’d take pity on Sean Bean and let live this time.
Fuck I have Jarrod Parker on my bench in fantasy. Didn’t want him to face Texas
SVB wrote:
this is the opposite of what it does (dying laughing)
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/06/first-rounder-brinson-close-to-signing-with-rangers.html
That was quick.
@ Rice Cube:
Rangers: “Son, here’s a metric shitton of money.”
Kid: “Thank you.”
MLBTR says the Astros have until July 13th at 4 PM Central to sign Correa. So I guess that’s the deadline for most signings as well?
Saw the I-Cubs in person tonight.
1) I-Cubs had numerous TOOTBLANs. Rizzo and Jackson among them.
2) Don’t know if Vitters was having an off night but he was a butcher in the field tonight and didn’t look much better at the plate. Made 1 error, but had 2 other chances that went for hits where he could have made a play (although one would have been pretty amazing diving stop on the line)
3) Jackson walked twice and whiffed three times in five trips. He waved at a number of balls out of the strike zone.
4) Rizzo dropped two doubles down the LF line which was nice. He also absolutely destroyed a pitch that went for a loud foul ball. (edit: the box score says one of those doubles was a single, so my memory betrays me).
5) Chris Rusin was trying to set a record for most hard hit balls given up. Somehow he went the first three innings without giving up a hit but had around 5 balls crushed right at people. He also pulled a Ted Lilly glove slam after giving up the lead
6) The OKC Redhawks feature both Scott Moore AND Brad FUCKING Snyder.
@ shawndgoldman:
That’s great, they’ll be able to see planets the size of our largest planet (dying laughing)
I enjoy that our minor league teams are all around the same record.
Iowa – 25-32
Tennessee – 25-33
Daytona – 24-31
Peoria – 26-32
But none of the teams are Major League ready yet:
Chicago – 16-36
Can’t wait for the day Mike Francesa decides Al Almora doesn’t exist.
Chet Masterson wrote:
Sounds like a team with a lot of Young Talent.
@ Chet Masterson:
Thanks for the write-up, Chet. As for Vitters, I’d just say it’s because he’s not very good at baseball. He has a .314 OBP in a league that has a .343 OBP. He’s probably destined for 1st base and he doesn’t have the on-base skills or the power to play there at the big league level. At 3rd he probably doesn’t have the defense to stick there. Even if his defense is passable you’ve got a guy who can’t get on base and only occasionally shows you some power. He might be a decent utility infielder who could play against lefties if he can play some 2B and I don’t think he has played any yet. He can definitely play some 1st and corner outfield.
Brett Jackson is on pace to strike out for the 100th time this season at 325 plate appearances. That will probably be about the all-star break. Damn. That’s a lot of strikeouts.
@ WaLi:
That’s actually impressive, given the equipment. Exoplanets are extremely difficult to see.
Sandusky jury selection today, several people showed up wearing Penn State apparel
Normally Glanville is a decent writer, but this argument is kind of flaccid. Basically, he says that if we had instant replay then Johann wouldn’t have his no-hitter. Let’s ask the Cardinals what they think of that.
http://ideas.time.com/2012/06/05/baseball-is-never-perfect/
Why is it so bad to assume that as the competition, money, and level of play increase, the level of perfection demanded by the fans shouldn’t also increase? I say the fans want more than “meh, shit happens” as a reason for blown calls.
@ josh:
We also should consult Armando Galarraga. That would have been like the one thing he had in his career.
new shit up
new shit: http://www.obstructedview.net/minor-leagues/2012-mlb-draft-best-available-prospects.html
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