next years baseball team.........will this off & on middle of the road crap ever stop??????? It's killing me I love UK baseball...................
Who are top recruits for ........
- Thread starter blufvr4evr
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The top 2 recruits for UK are...Nick Shumpert a SS out of Colorado, and son of former UK great Terry Shumpert. Also Nick Plummer a LH hitting outfielder from Michigan, both are expected to be drafted in the first couple of rounds next week. Also have 2 other SS's who could be drafted fairly high, one from Atlanta, the other from Ohio maybe. We have several pitchers also who could help as well.
Only 3 of our commits are listed in the top 500 prospects by Baseball America and its very likely that all 3 of them turn pro instead of heading to Lexington. No offence, but this incoming recruiting class seems to be rather mediocre.
I am not sure that the Baseball America top 500 prospects list is a good measuring stick for how good our class will be or can be. In 2011 we had a pretty solid recruiting class when we hauled in Reed and Cousino (among others), however, I don't think any of the guys that actually made it to UK from the 2011 class were listed in the top 200 recruits by BA (they didn't do a top 500 back then). Reed was rated the 405th best high school player by PG in 2011 and Cousino was rated the 214th best high school player in 2011. Oddly enough, the highest rated was Jeff Boehm. Those are just the rankings of high school and not including where the guys would be if you added college players like the BA top 500.
What is going to be bad is that we are going to lose some very good players in this class. Then we have to look at what is left. Plummer is rated by BA as a top 15 player in next week's draft. That pretty much means he's gone. He's rocketed to the top of the draft board and unless we get extremely lucky he will be heading to the pros. Shumpert is another that can get drafted pretty high. We have the fact that his dad played at UK helping us to bring him in, but will it be enough? If we just lose these two, and/or SS Blankenhorn then I think our class still rounds out nicely, especially if we get some JUCO guys. However, if we lose much more than that then I think we could be hurting.
What is going to be bad is that we are going to lose some very good players in this class. Then we have to look at what is left. Plummer is rated by BA as a top 15 player in next week's draft. That pretty much means he's gone. He's rocketed to the top of the draft board and unless we get extremely lucky he will be heading to the pros. Shumpert is another that can get drafted pretty high. We have the fact that his dad played at UK helping us to bring him in, but will it be enough? If we just lose these two, and/or SS Blankenhorn then I think our class still rounds out nicely, especially if we get some JUCO guys. However, if we lose much more than that then I think we could be hurting.
Plummer, Shumpert and Blankenhorn will be drafted in the first 5 rounds. I'd be shocked if any of them went to UK. Chances are high that Cody, Beggs, Barret and Tom also go pro as well.
UK adds a commitment from Daniel Tillo, Mr. Basketball in Iowa. Fastball has been clocked as high as 90 mph.
Sounds like Tillo has been a guy that has blown up as of late. Any lefty throwing 90 is a good pickup.
A recent UK commit, Dima Ballard from LCA, made 1st team all-state. Some good news lately in recruiting.
Was looking at PG commit page, and we have added a 6'4" OF from Ontario Canada named Tristian Pompey, who is a switch hitter. Isiah Lewis the SS from Atlanta is also a switch hitter, 2 in this current class.
The Pompey kid has a brother in the Majors -- maybe with Toronto? Looks like the kid has some tools. Surprised he didn't get a look in the draft to be honest -- given the bloodlines.
And the Tillo kid was Mr. Basketball in Iowa -- also QB in football. Good athlete.
And the Tillo kid was Mr. Basketball in Iowa -- also QB in football. Good athlete.
Tristan Pompey was drafted in the 31st round by the Twins. I would expect to see him at UK.
UK adds two 2016 commitments from a pair of 6'6 pitchers. Nick Hanson out of Minnesota and Trevor Hillhouse from Georgia. The 2016 recruiting class could be the best class Henderson and staff have put together.
I wonder how good Hanson is. Looking at the fact that he only throws a FB 83, you have to imagine that he has some strong junk or excellent location, or at the very least, a lot of good movement on that fastball.
For 2015 I am highly disappointed at this juncture. I really like the looks of Tillo and I like Josh Smith. Never hurts to have two lefties that are 6'5 and throw 90mph. Sean Hjelle being as big as he is makes him extremely intriguing. I wouldn't want to face a guy throwing 89 that is 6'11. After that, though, the pickins start to get a bit slim. I think that Lewis can be a good player, but we're talking about a guy that is just 5'9 and 160 pounds. He looks to project as a top of the lineup hitter, or he could end up looking like our past two short stops and struggling at the plate. Where the real disappointment comes in is that we did not bring in anyone to provide any immediate help at the plate. Kyle Cottam and Tristan Pompey both could turn out pretty good, but I don't think either of them is going to come in and immediately provide more home run or gap power for our team. So, we will be looking to replace our two best hitters and unless we get the production from the JUCO level I don't see where it comes from. I don't think it is going to be coming from any high schoolers, unfortunately.
I think the return of Beggs is going to be very big for us. It will be extremely hard to replace two weekend starters. Having to replace just one will be a bit more manageable. However, Beggs and Brown need to pitch as good as they did this year, or possibly better, if we plan to make post season tournaments.
For 2015 I am highly disappointed at this juncture. I really like the looks of Tillo and I like Josh Smith. Never hurts to have two lefties that are 6'5 and throw 90mph. Sean Hjelle being as big as he is makes him extremely intriguing. I wouldn't want to face a guy throwing 89 that is 6'11. After that, though, the pickins start to get a bit slim. I think that Lewis can be a good player, but we're talking about a guy that is just 5'9 and 160 pounds. He looks to project as a top of the lineup hitter, or he could end up looking like our past two short stops and struggling at the plate. Where the real disappointment comes in is that we did not bring in anyone to provide any immediate help at the plate. Kyle Cottam and Tristan Pompey both could turn out pretty good, but I don't think either of them is going to come in and immediately provide more home run or gap power for our team. So, we will be looking to replace our two best hitters and unless we get the production from the JUCO level I don't see where it comes from. I don't think it is going to be coming from any high schoolers, unfortunately.
I think the return of Beggs is going to be very big for us. It will be extremely hard to replace two weekend starters. Having to replace just one will be a bit more manageable. However, Beggs and Brown need to pitch as good as they did this year, or possibly better, if we plan to make post season tournaments.
6'6 gives you a weird angle to go up against at any speed...ideally you'd probably want it with a little more velocity but he might get excellent movement.
6'10 Chris Young pitches/ed in the MLB with a FB from 83-90...this year his avg 4 seam is 87.
6'10 Chris Young pitches/ed in the MLB with a FB from 83-90...this year his avg 4 seam is 87.
Also, remember that Marshall Gei, who hit something like .330 in fall ball, as well as Trey Miller who transfered from Michigan and sat out this year. Also big 6'5 RHP Justin Lewis RS this season. These 3 players could help us quite a bit if everything falls into place.
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Gei did hit extremely well during the fall and could find himself taking the place of Bernal at 3rd, or could improve us defensively at catcher. However, he seems to be more of a base hit type guy rather than a extra bag type hitter. Nothing wrong with that, but our team could really use more speed with the loss of Tom and Barrett or more power. Also, I like what he did in the fall, but I'm not sure how good hitting .329 against our pitching staff is. haha
Trey Miller is another guy that can step in at 3rd base in the absence of Bernal. However, nothing about Miller really stands out as being the guy that is going to improve us offensively. He didn't hit a lot at Michigan, but he still only hit .140 in 43 at bats. He looks like he has some good tools to help, but with such a small pool of information on him (at least for me personally) it is hard to say that he will be someone to really provide us with better consistent offensive production.
Justin Lewis is definitely someone to keep an eye on. I believe he went to the redshirt due to injuries, right? We will see how he recovers from his injuries and if he can bounce back. He was throwing in the low 90s. Is he still hitting that? Also, how much has he been able to throw and work on his stuff? Will he need to take the time to get back and develop his stuff again being better suited for midweek or bullpen or will he be sharp enough to be someone who lifts a heavy load?
I think we definitely have some guys in the wings that could step up, but they are pretty big question marks. There really wasn't anyone this year that we can point to and for certain say that they are going to be the next guy to come in and take over for Barrett, Tom, and/or Cody. Not to mention that we need a ton of bullpen help.
Comeback do you or anyone else know much about Dima Ballard from LCA ? He was just named 1st team all-state, I believe he is a position player, he committed a couple of weeks ago.
I don't know much about him, but looking at his stats on Perfect Game it looks like he will be a bullpen guy, possibly a closer. At least that is just my opinion. Kid threw 84mph a year ago. That could have changed and could have increased since then. I think he is a bullpen guy because I cannot remember the last time we had a starting pitcher that was under 6 feet tall. Usually this staff wants bigger and taller starters. Ballard is 5'11, so he doesn't really fit that mold. Still, if he put some more speed on his fastball then he could be a good middle reliever or closer.
Sounds like Tristan Pompey will be heading to Lexington. I'd say he's likely to start in Left field.
http://m.mississauga.com/sports-story/5673862-spiwak-pompey-taken-in-mlb-draft
http://m.mississauga.com/sports-story/5673862-spiwak-pompey-taken-in-mlb-draft
Sounds like we got a terrific prospect, he may contribute a lot next season !
Prepbaseballreport lists Nick Hanson as the top prospect in Minnesota with a fastball in the 87-89 mph range.
http://www.prepbaseballreport.com/profiles/MN/Nicolas-Hanson-6851240397-8361705942
http://www.prepbaseballreport.com/profiles/MN/Nicolas-Hanson-6851240397-8361705942
^^^ That is good. His time on PG was also clocked in October. That was a long time ago and it will be a long time before he steps onto a college campus to pitch. So, he very well could have or can add some velocity to that fastball between now and then, if he hasn't already.
when's fall ball....date they start it.........
It usually starts in October, I think. It runs into early November.
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