The fifth weekend of college baseball wrapped up today with one of the higher ranked college pitchers on the mound. Check out the draft preview posted here and the recap of the fourth week’s action here. Just a reminder, the Pirates pick #9 and #14 in this year’s June amateur draft, so for the duration of the college season, leading up to draft day, we are following the players closely that are ranked in that range. The amateur draft will take place from June 6-8 this year.
Ryne Stanek from Arkansas came into this season as one of the three best college players, along with fellow pitchers Mark Appel from Stanford and Sean Manaea from Indiana State. While the other two pitchers have performed well, Stanek has had trouble going deep into games and that trend continued today against Ole Miss. He went 4.2 innings today, allowing three runs(one earned) on four hits and three walks, while striking out four batters. Stanek continues to show good stuff though, which will keep him near the top of the draft. He was throwing 91-94 MPH today, hitting 95 and his slider was in the low 80’s according to Kendall Rogers.
Colin Moran hit his fourth homer of the season today, as North Carolina moved to 18-1 with a 4-1 win over Miami. Moran went 1-for-3, with a walk and two runs scored. Dale Carey, the 2010 draft pick of the Pirates, who is currently at Miami, continued his struggles. He was hitless this weekend, going 0-for-2 today, dropping his average to .172 through 58 AB’s.
From Saturday night, Ryan Eades from LSU went seven innings during a 7-3 win over Mississippi State. He gave up one run on six hits, two walks and he struck out eight batters. Baseball America ranked him as the 12th best college draft-eligible player in their pre-season rankings, and Keith Law recently ranked the right-hander 15th overall in the entire draft class. In five starts, Eades is 4-0, 1.69 in 32 innings, with 36 strikeouts.
Minor League Ball has an in depth scouting report of the Friday match-up between Sean Manaea of Indiana State and Tom Windle of Minnesota. They also posted plenty of video from the duel between two of the best starters in college ball.
Brandon Thomas, the fourth round pick of the Pirates last year, went 3-for-5 today, with two runs scored. He also had three hits on Saturday and hit a home run and triple on Friday. Thomas hits third and plays center field for a Georgia Tech team that now has a 17-2 record. In 19 games, he is hitting .479, with a 1.215 OPS. Thomas re-enters the draft this year as a senior and could go in the top two rounds.
Aaron Brown, a 2011 draft pick of the Pirates, has been pitching this year for Pepperdine. Drafted as an outfielder in the 17th round, Brown went four innings today, allowing three runs on four walks and two hits. He failed to record a strikeout. He has a 5.40 ERA in 13.1 innings this year. Also on that pitching staff is Jackson McClelland, a 2012 draft pick of the Pirates. He has been moved to the bullpen, where he threw one inning on Friday night. McClelland has throw 23 innings this year, posting a 1.57 ERA. He has allowed eight unearned runs and has just nine strikeouts, two of them coming Friday night.
The Pirates drafted Trea Turner in the 20th round in 2011, but couldn’t sign him. He went to North Carolina State and last year as a freshman, he hit .336 and stole 57 bases in 61 attempts. He is hitting .464 through 14 games this year and has added power to his game, hitting five home runs already. He hit five homers all of last year and while in HS, he didn’t hit a home run until well into his senior year.
