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Kiley McDaniel Chat - 4/4/18

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Greg

12:24

Is it too early to connect teams to players? Any White Sox draft inklings?

Kiley McDaniel

12:26

Nope, we are hearing some stuff along those lines at this point, but still early to have decent intel on each team. Hearing college bat for the White Sox, they really like Swaggerty.

North Side Nihilist

12:26

I like the video I've seen of Tristen Lutz and he seems to be a dude if he develops well with the hit/power tools he already has. Any word on his makeup/work ethic?

Kiley McDaniel

12:26

I'm all in on Lutz, feel free to join me

Balls on Base

12:26

Don't people know they can ask you non-prospect questions too?

Kiley McDaniel

12:26

I think so? It's true!

Gavin

12:26

Did you see Kershaw pitch last night? Back-to-back starts with diminished velocity--any reason for concern yet?

Kiley McDaniel

12:27

Look, I found one! Nah, I wouldn't panic, you could say he's built up some goodwill being the best in the planet at his job

Bravesy McBravesface

12:27

Do you think Ethan Hankins' quick pace is gimmicky? Is his stuff playing up because of the pace he pitches with, or is it that good regardless?

Kiley McDaniel

12:27

Stuff was really good last summer, been a little less this spring but he's been banged up and it's been cold/rainy in a few of his starts. It's gimmicky and useless for some guys, it seems like he has better than usual feel for it

12:27

What do you make of Pint repeating Asheville? Legit in a vacuum? Or more about minimizing his exposure to Lancaster?

Kiley McDaniel

12:28

When I saw him last summer his command was a 30, so I can't argue with that

Mike

12:28

I'm sure the Tigers are still looking at a lot of guys, but if you had to guess who their top 4 guys would be right now, who do you think they would be?

Kiley McDaniel

12:30

Mize fits their type to a T: power arm performing in the SEC. Those may be the two top qualities they like and there's a long track record with this same scouting group of them picking types that are one or the other, so you have to assume they like a guy that's both.

Reverend John

12:30

Can you talk a bit about Tristen Lutz? I've read that some of his exit velo readings are highly impressive, but his swing doesn't look all that "lofty" to me. Think he'll have trouble with over-the-fence power?

Kiley McDaniel

12:32

LOL congrats on a truly terrible question. There's hard evidence he hits the ball really hard but could that really put the ball over the fence? How about the 9 homers in 40 games after he signed?

Bravesy McBravesface

12:32

Where would you rank Cole Winn among the prep pitchers in this class?

Kiley McDaniel

12:34

Right there with the best ones. Hankins, Liberatore, Stewart, Denaburg, Rocker, Winn is the top group and, at this point, you could put them in a lot of different orders. Minus injuries or weird signability maneuvers, they should all go top 25. There's some velo popping up in the northeast, so one of those guys or Ryan Weathers in TN could jump into that group

Grayson Rodriguez in TX also just behind that group

Michael Scott

12:34

Saw your tweet last night. Can Gunnar Hoglund sneak into the back of the first round?

Kiley McDaniel

12:35

Don't think he can go that high. More 2nd-4th depending on whom you ask and the asking price will be steep, so he may not end up going there.

Raj

12:35

How do you rate Connor Scott? How does he compare to Kyle Tucker as a HS prospect?

Kiley McDaniel

12:36

I am also in on Connor Scott. Probably 10-15 overall right now. Here's more info on him

From Tuesday, here's Plant HS (FL) CF Connor Scott. Same high school & very similar swing to Kyle Tucker, but Scott… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

Jake

12:36

Have you or Eric seen the Indians J2 guys in Arizona? What's your first impression?

Kiley McDaniel

12:37

Saw them both (Valera/Bracho) as amateurs and liked them, but they're kinda opposites. Valera is super loose power bat with limited speed/defense and Bracho is feel for the game/defense/contact SS in the traditional VZ mold. I think Eric has seen them this spring? You'll have to ask him.

Sonny

12:38

Does the recent shortcomings in Red Sox pitching development effect your rankings on their prospect arms?

Kiley McDaniel

12:38

We rank the players based on how good we think they are/will be, not based on who their coaches are now, or what stadium they will play in the future, etc.

Bravesy McBravesface

12:38

Ryan Rolison seems to be struggling with his control of late, and he has a pretty high WHIP as a result. Is his still in the top tier of college pitchers in the draft?

Kiley McDaniel

12:39

It's still above average stuff from the left side with some feel in the SEC, so yes. More 7-15 right now.

Alec Asher Wojciechowski

12:39

How well are teams able to predict velocity improvement? Are there factors they can use to project velocity beyond how filled out a player's frame is?

Kiley McDaniel

12:40

Some teams have sports science divisions, some go really deep into trackman stuff, others have specific arm actions or velo training they do, etc. There's lots of approaches and little edges to be had, but there's no one size fits all solution. It's a combo of body, delivery and arm action mostly. Yankees seem to be very good at that stuff, Dodgers as well.

Mason

12:40

Do you have think Tyler Glasnow could be an effective starter or is he just a relief guy for you? Could he be an effective late inning relief pitcher?

Kiley McDaniel

12:42

He's in that Touki Toussaint/Albert Abreu/Andrew Miller kind of vortex for me now. They could probably all turn a lineup over a few times (or will in the future) and be ok. But with high octane stuff and either inconsistent command or lots of success in a relief role, it's hard to walk away from a nails 1-2 IP reliever and end up with a mediocre starter. I assume all these guys end up grabbing some starts but settling as a versatile relief option.

Ford

12:42

Impressions of Greg Jones from your most recent look?

Kiley McDaniel

12:43

Also in that article (that means hurry up, Carson). Really like him! 70 runner, may be more 2B/CF than shortstop and could stand to lift the ball more since he has some pop, but really athletic and has some feel for the game. First rounder as an eligible soph in 2019

Moe

12:43

I've heard some helium associated with Yankees SP prospect Luis Medina -- what kind of grades do his pitches have, and what's the command/control profile.

Kiley McDaniel

12:44

I have provided more information than you require at this link: https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/top-27-prospects-new-york-yankees/

North Side Nihilist

12:44

If you're an Astros decision-maker are you keeping Bukauskas in the starting role? I know he hasn't had a full year yet but what do you think about his tools to stay as a starter?

Kiley McDaniel

12:45

He may also fall into that Touki/Glasnow vortex I mentioned before. Knockout breaker, good velo, not sure its 2-3 times thru the order for the rest of his career, though. I would stretch him out and see how he fares, but it really feels like he's gonna be pitching in relief in October and throwing 37 sliders in a row, doesn't it?

Bravesy McBravesface

12:45

I've seen Kumar Rocker's name popping back up a lot lately when talking about the top prep pitchers this year. Has he done anything this spring to raise his draft stock?

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