5/24/10

DRAFT: - Bobby Dombrowski, James Paxton, Micah Gibbs...and Chevez Clarke

Bobby Dombrowski:

5-24:  - Powered by three home runs, including a pair from senior Bobby Dombrowski, the Monmouth University baseball team earned an 8-5 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson in Northeast Conference action on Friday afternoon. The victory also clinches the Hawks' fourth straight NEC Tournament appearance, and 14th overall in program history. Dombrowski, the game's designated hitter, connected on a three-run homer in the first inning, and a solo shot in the sixth, while Nick Pulsonetti laced a three-run shot of his own in the seventh, to help Monmouth improve to 21-23 overall and 14-15 in league play.

James Paxton:

5-22 from: - link  - Paxton went through an unfortunate situation this spring when he was essentially forced to leave Kentucky in order to continue playing baseball. He's landed with the Grand Prairie AirHogs and has a month or so to show to scouts that he should be a high pick. Law, along with plenty of scouts, got to watch Paxton at his latest outing, a three-inning effort. Paxton was 89-93 in his three-plus innings of work, touching 93 several times but not matching the 95 he'd shown scouts earlier this month. He gets on top of the ball with good downhill plane and there's not much effort to his velocity. His breaking ball was inconsistent, and he only flashed the power slider he'd shown last year, throwing a few at 80-82 that had good tilt, with the majority of his breaking balls coming in as 77-79 mph slurves with curveball shape but not much depth. He showed a straight change at 83-85 with almost no action. He's a good two months behind the college starters with whom he's competing for draft position, and it's possible that he will just be rounding into mid-season form as the draft takes place

Jesus Valdez:

5-19 from: - http://baseballbeginnings.com/2010/05/19/jesus-valdez-update  - A scouting source of mine who has more playing, managing and scouting experience than you and me combined had a look at Hueneme’s Jesus Valdez recently. These are his words, not mine. I was in Dana Hills scouting Tago. “I like him as a hitter more than as a pitcher. He came out of the bullpen and took a loss. Right now he has the look of a guy playing out the string. He threw hard, I’d say 90-92, but they hit his fastball. The harder he threw, the flatter he got. His change-up is better but not where it needs to be. He has no curveball that he trusts. I know his slider is his best pitch, but he doesn’t like to throw it. I didn’t like how he came off the mound. I got the impression that he didn’t handle adversity well and that would be a concern for me.”

Micah Gibbs:

5-21 from: - http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/beyond-bryce  - To rank draft-eligible catchers, I used all that information (offense, defense and baserunning) for each of the last three seasons, with more recent seasons weighted more heavily. The familiar names land near the top, but not always in the order you'd expect. And a stats-only approach unveils some sleepers for draft day. 5. Micah Gibbs – LSU - Gibbs started the season higher on draft boards, but like his LSU squad in general, he hasn't quite lived up to the hype. His defense numbers have sagged this year after an impressive four runs above average last season, and his bat hasn't been enough to lift him into elite territory. If the scouts were right about him all along, he may turn out to be a pleasant surprise.

Chevez Clarke:

5-24 from: - http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/MLB_Draft  - One player in particular had a rough go of it--Marietta High School outfielder Chevez Clarke. "Defensively, he's got everything you're looking for in a run-it-down centerfielder," the scout said. "But Chevy just looked overmatched at the plate. Great kid, but there was a lot of swing-and-miss there this year." Once thought of as a possible first-rounder, Clarke has dropped a tad on draft boards, but his potential, athleticism are so appealing that teams will think of him enough to lure him away from Georgia Tech. Like Kvasnicka, Clarke is a switch-hitter and does look like your stereotypical leadoff man. He's got a little loop in his swing, which hampers him out of the box, but after he's underway he's like a jackrabbit.

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