{"id":6881,"date":"2013-06-08T11:14:38","date_gmt":"2013-06-08T15:14:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=6881"},"modified":"2013-06-08T11:15:39","modified_gmt":"2013-06-08T15:15:39","slug":"first-look-nats-top-10-rounds-of-2013-draftees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=6881","title":{"rendered":"First Look; Nats top 10 rounds of 2013 Draftees"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_6913\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/JohansenJake-Dbu-via-dbuwebsite.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6913\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-6913\" title=\"JohansenJake Dbu via dbuwebsite\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/JohansenJake-Dbu-via-dbuwebsite-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6913\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Meet Jake Johansen, the Nats 2nd round 2013 pick.  Photo via DBU website<\/p><\/div>\n<p>A quick glance on our high-end draftees from 2013 draft. \u00a0As with other posts, I&#8217;ll put in the <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/insider.espn.go.com\/mlb\/story\/_\/id\/9255085\/mark-appel-jonathan-gray-kris-bryant-top-prospects-2013-mlb-draft\">Keith Law<\/a><\/strong> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseballamerica.com\/draft-preview\/\">Baseball America<\/a> ranking after the player name where appropriate (though as we&#8217;ll see, Keith&#8217;s top 100 quickly runs out of names).<\/p>\n<p>Two other blogs are doing a far more in-depth look at these picks than I am here; definitely see <strong>Ryan Kelley<\/strong>&#8216;s fantastic scouting reports on each pick at <a href=\"http:\/\/baseballnewshound.com\/?p=4580&amp;utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BaseballNewsHound+%28Baseball+News+Hound%29\">BaseballNewsHound.com<\/a> and see <strong>Ryan Sullivan<\/strong>&#8216;s excellent draft day blog coverage at <a href=\"http:\/\/natsgm.com\/\">NatsGM.com<\/a> for more and better in-sight than what I&#8217;ve got here.\u00a0 Plus <strong>Tom Schad<\/strong> at <a href=\"http:\/\/mlb.mlb.com\/news\/article.jsp?ymd=20130607&amp;content_id=49920182&amp;notebook_id=49947790&amp;vkey=notebook_was&amp;c_id=was\">MLB.com<\/a> has posted nice per-player summaries for all the Nats picks. \u00a0 I&#8217;m just looking for a quick hit observation on our new guys.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Rnd #1\/#28 overall<\/span>: In what would have been the Nats first round pick, the Cardinals selected <strong>Rob Kaminsky<\/strong>, a <a href=\"http:\/\/mlb.mlb.com\/news\/article.jsp?ymd=20130606&amp;content_id=49838160&amp;notebook_id=49838188&amp;vkey=notebook_stl&amp;c_id=stl\">prep RHP from New Jersey<\/a>. \u00a0 However at that point in the draft high-end prep lefty <strong>Ian Clarkin, <\/strong>pre-draft\u00a0top-10 pick LHP <strong>Sean Manaea<\/strong> from Indiana State University and highly-regarded Arkansas RHP <strong>Ryne Stanek<\/strong> (another guy who was seen as an upper-end 1st rounder earlier this year with fantastic stuff)\u00a0were still on the board. \u00a0 Don&#8217;t you think the Nats wouldn&#8217;t have minded a shot at Manaea or Stanek at above-slot and then punted on below-slot guys the rest of the way (kinda what they did in 2012 with <strong>Lucas Giolito<\/strong> and a senior-heavy first 10 rounds)? \u00a0Both Manaea and Stanek dropped just in the past few weeks because of short-term injuries and both seem like steals at the end of the 1st round. \u00a0Man I would have liked to see one of these two guys added to the farm system.  Was this worth the <strong>Rafael Soriano<\/strong> signing?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Rnd #2\/#68 overall<\/span>: <strong>Jake Johansen<\/strong>, RHP from Dallas Baptist University. \u00a0Keith Law ranked #63, Baseball America ranked #180. \u00a0This is a classic <strong>Mike Rizzo<\/strong> pick; a big guy (6&#8217;6&#8243;) with a big arm (98-100mph on the fastball, sustained through out the game). \u00a0Its almost like they&#8217;re trying to replace <strong>Alex Meyer<\/strong> in the farm system. \u00a0Johansen&#8217;s college numbers leave something to be desired: 5.40 era this season, a career ERA &gt; 6.00. \u00a0Some have pointed out he has a very high BABIP on the year and that his conference is a hitter&#8217;s paradise; fair counter points). \u00a0For a guy who throws so hard, he had surprisingly few Ks this year (<a href=\"http:\/\/dbupatriots.com\/custompages\/2012-2013\/Baseball\/teamcume.htm\">75 Ks in 88 1\/3 innings<\/a>). \u00a0 His size and profile seems to trend towards an automatic reliever, but the Nats profile him as a starter. \u00a0You can&#8217;t teach velocity right? \u00a0The Nats execs are already on record saying that they&#8217;re drafting the tools and they believe they can coach him up. \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.federalbaseball.com\/2013\/6\/7\/4404978\/washington-nationals-select-rhp-jake-johansen-with-68th-pick-of-2013\">FederalBaseball<\/a> has a nice writeup on him with good quotes and the Nats press release on the pick too. \u00a0Masn&#8217;s <strong>Byron Kerr<\/strong>&#8216;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.masnsports.com\/byron_kerr\/2013\/06\/kline-johansen-more-than-just-a-fastball-pitcher.html\">write-up is here<\/a>. \u00a0Already some pundits questioning the pick (<a href=\"http:\/\/hardballtalk.nbcsports.com\/2013\/06\/07\/2013-mlb-draft-day-one-winners-and-losers\/\">HardBallTalk<\/a>). \u00a0My thought? \u00a0I would have liked to have drafted a polished guy with our highest pick, not a project.\u00a0 <strong>6\/8\/13 update<\/strong>: already signed for slot value.\u00a0 Wow that was fast.\u00a0 Clearly smells like a pre-draft deal here.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/mlb.mlb.com\/mlb\/events\/draft\/y2013\/drafttracker.jsp#ft=round&amp;fv=3\">Rnd #3\/#105 Overall<\/a>: <strong>Drew Ward<\/strong>, prep SS\/3B from Oklahoma. \u00a0BA #88. \u00a0Prep 3B who&#8217;s graduating a year early and with an Oklahoma commitment. \u00a0 \u00a0I don&#8217;t think he graduated HS a year early so he could get to college; he&#8217;ll sign. \u00a0Nice <a href=\"http:\/\/www.federalbaseball.com\/2013\/6\/7\/4406664\/washington-nationals-select-3B-drew-ward-with-the-105th-pick-in-3rd-round-2013-mlb-draft\">FederalBaseball<\/a> writeup about him. \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/espn.go.com\/sportsnation\/chat\/_\/id\/48192\/mlb-insider-keith-law\">Keith Law isn&#8217;t a fan<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/mlb.mlb.com\/mlb\/events\/draft\/y2013\/drafttracker.jsp#ft=round&amp;fv=4\">Rnd #4\/#136 Overall<\/a>: <strong>Nicholas &#8220;Nic&#8221; Pivetta<\/strong>, RHP \u00a0from a New Mexico Juco. \u00a0 BA #155. \u00a0The MLB scouting reports say he&#8217;s an upper 90s fastball in short spurts and may be headed for the bullpen. \u00a0Sounds like a Rizzo pick to me. \u00a0Are you sure we&#8217;re not drafting for need at the MLB level right now? \u00a0:-). \u00a0All signs point to reliever. \u00a0Maybe we&#8217;re so happy with our High-A rotation right now that we&#8217;re just focusing on relivers who can go straight to AA and matriculate up the ranks with our current set of starters?<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/mlb.mlb.com\/mlb\/events\/draft\/y2013\/drafttracker.jsp#ft=round&amp;fv=5\">Rnd #5\/#166 Overall<\/a>: <strong>Austin Voth<\/strong>, RHP from University of Washington. \u00a0BA #260. \u00a0Seems like an over draft, might be a signability pick, though Voth fits the profile of a good K\/9 guy. \u00a0He was the University of Washington&#8217;s friday starter, he was <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gohuskies.com\/sports\/m-basebl\/mtt\/austin_voth_736037.html\">2nd in the Pac-12 in strikeouts<\/a> to #1 overall pick <strong>Mark Appel<\/strong> and had pretty good stats for a sub-.500 college team.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/mlb.mlb.com\/mlb\/events\/draft\/y2013\/drafttracker.jsp#ft=round&amp;fv=6\">Rnd #6\/#196 Overall<\/a>: <strong>Cody Gunter<\/strong> 3B\/RHP from Texas Juco. \u00a0 BA #249. \u00a0Could be another reliever, but likely was drafted to play the field.\u00a0 MLB.com&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/mlb.mlb.com\/news\/article.jsp?ymd=20130607&amp;content_id=49920182&amp;notebook_id=49947796&amp;vkey=notebook_was&amp;c_id=was\">writeup on him is here<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/mlb.mlb.com\/mlb\/events\/draft\/y2013\/drafttracker.jsp#ft=round&amp;fv=7\">Rnd #7\/#226 Overall<\/a>: <strong>James Yezzo<\/strong>, 1B from UDelaware. \u00a0BA #290.\u00a0 You usually don&#8217;t like to draft 1B-only guys on NL teams, especially ones who are only 6&#8217;0&#8243;, but Yezzo clubbed his way to the CAA player of the year honor and hit .410 with power in a 3-big conference with some good baseball.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/mlb.mlb.com\/mlb\/events\/draft\/y2013\/drafttracker.jsp#ft=round&amp;fv=8\">Rnd #8\/#256 Overall<\/a>: <strong>David Napoli<\/strong>, LHP from Tulane.\u00a0\u00a0 Not BA ranked.\u00a0 A weekend senior starter for Tulane with a great BA against for one probable reason; he seems wild as heck.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tulanegreenwave.com\/sports\/m-basebl\/stats\/2012-2013\/teamcume.html\">33 walks in 66 innings and FOURTEEN Hbps this year<\/a>.\u00a0 He had a fantastic batting average against (.176) and was even better in H\/9 against (5.32 hits per 9, 2nd in the NCAA this year), but that&#8217;s easier to do when you&#8217;re all over the plate.\u00a0 Looks like a loogy to me; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tulanegreenwave.com\/sports\/m-basebl\/mtt\/david_napoli_468710.html\">undersized (5&#8217;10&#8221; 180lb)<\/a> and ok stuff (threw <a href=\"http:\/\/www.perfectgame.org\/Players\/Playerprofile.aspx?ID=202149\">87 in HS<\/a>, reportedly can hit 93-94 in short stints).\u00a0 We&#8217;ll see.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/mlb.mlb.com\/mlb\/events\/draft\/y2013\/drafttracker.jsp#ft=round&amp;fv=9\">Rnd #9\/#286 Overall<\/a>: <strong>Jake Joyce<\/strong>, RHP from Virginia Tech.\u00a0 Not BA ranked.\u00a0 A prototypical round 6-9 pick; college senior, little leverage, will sign for below slot to save cash.\u00a0 Per the MLB.com story on him, a <a href=\"http:\/\/mlb.mlb.com\/news\/article.jsp?ymd=20130607&amp;content_id=49920182&amp;notebook_id=49947790&amp;vkey=notebook_was&amp;c_id=was\">nats executive knows the family<\/a> and made the recommendation.\u00a0 95 out of the pen for Va Tech; you just hope that a reliever in college is going to be successful in the pros.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/mlb.mlb.com\/mlb\/events\/draft\/y2013\/drafttracker.jsp#ft=round&amp;fv=10\">Rnd #10\/#316 Overall<\/a>: <strong>Brennan Middleton<\/strong>, SS from Tulane.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tulanegreenwave.com\/sports\/m-basebl\/mtt\/brennan_middleton_468706.html\">Say hello to Auburn&#8217;s starting SS<\/a> this year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>First 10 round summary:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Four college RHP who mostly project to relievers<\/li>\n<li>One college LHP who definitely projects as a reliever<\/li>\n<li>Three college infielders; a 1B, a SS and a 3B.<\/li>\n<li>One prep 3B who may be a tougher sign with a college commitment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So far, pretty typical Rizzo draft; college heavy with a focus on power arms destined for the bullpen.\u00a0 Is there one big name in this list to get excited about?\u00a0 Unfortunately not so far, but not having a 1st rounder and a crack at a big name (as described in the &#8220;possible 1st round missed&#8221; bullet point will leave a draft class wanting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A quick glance on our high-end draftees from 2013 draft. \u00a0As with other posts, I&#8217;ll put in the Keith Law and Baseball America ranking after the player name where appropriate (though as we&#8217;ll see, Keith&#8217;s top 100 quickly runs out of names). Two other blogs are doing a far more in-depth look at these picks [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[262,1815,1820,265,1816,1818,1813,1809,1812,1819,1817,110,852,730,129,1814,1398,1808,1639,1611,1792,1810,1811],"class_list":["post-6881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-draft","tag-alex-meyer","tag-austin-voth","tag-brennan-middleton","tag-byron-kerr","tag-cody-gunter","tag-david-napoli","tag-drew-ward","tag-ian-clarkin","tag-jake-johansen","tag-jake-joyce","tag-james-yezzo","tag-keith-law","tag-lucas-giolito","tag-mark-appel","tag-mike-rizzo","tag-nicholas-pivetta","tag-rafael-soriano","tag-rob-kaminsky","tag-ryan-kelley","tag-ryan-sullivan","tag-ryne-stanek","tag-sean-manaea","tag-tom-schad"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6881"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6881\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7595,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6881\/revisions\/7595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}