{"id":7486,"date":"2013-09-05T13:35:25","date_gmt":"2013-09-05T17:35:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com.\/?p=7486"},"modified":"2014-01-30T09:28:46","modified_gmt":"2014-01-30T14:28:46","slug":"season-statistical-review-of-all-nats-2013-draft-picks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=7486","title":{"rendered":"Season Statistical Review of all Nats 2013 draft picks"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jake<\/a>

Jake Johansen led the Nats 2013 draft. Photo via DBU website<\/p><\/div>\n

Last year, minorleagueball.com’s John Sickels<\/strong> started a\u00a0quick-hit review of every 2012 draft pick with snap judgements and quick stats. \u00a0I thought it was a great project, a nice little way to see how the draft picks were faring. \u00a0He petered out around the 17th round, and I took up his cause for just the Nationals picks and went through all 40 rounds\u00a0at this link here.<\/a>\u00a0 Apparently 2012’s project was too much work for Sickels; he doesn’t seem to be doing it this year. \u00a0So I picked up the torch and did a Sickels-style analysis for all 40 of the Nats 2013 draft picks below.<\/p>\n

(Note: stats are pulled from\u00a0milb.com<\/a>\u00a0and\/or\u00a0fangraphs.com<\/a>; put the player name into the search bar to get his seasonal stats). \u00a0MILB has nice consolidated seasonal stats while fangraphs has better advanced stats. \u00a0They do not include any playoff stats for those still playing after 9\/2\/13).<\/p>\n

Finally, at the end of each writeup i’ll put in a color coded trending line for the player:\u00a0Green for Trending Up<\/span>,\u00a0Blue for Trending steady<\/span>,\u00a0red for\u00a0Trending Down<\/span>. \u00a0 This is just my knee-jerk opinion of the prospect status of the player system-wide. \u00a0And yes I realize this is their first pro ball season, short-sample sizes, etc etc.<\/p>\n

Without further ado:<\/p>\n

Round 1<\/a>: forfeited w\/\u00a0Rafael Soriano<\/strong>\u00a0signing, which as I noted in this June 2013 post<\/a> cost the Nats a shot at one of several highly regarded pitchers drafted just behind our vacated spot.<\/p>\n

Round 2<\/a>:\u00a0Jake Johansen<\/strong>, Coll Sr. RH Starting Pitcher. \u00a01-3, 1.92 ERA with 51\/23 K\/BB in 51 2\/3 innings between Auburn and Hagerstown,\u00a034 hits. \u00a0After signing quickly for slot (very quickly, like in 24 hours or so), Johansen joined short-A Auburn and was essentially unhittable through 10 starts. \u00a0He was promoted up to low-A, got hit around in two starts and finishes the season with a 1.92 ERA, and a sub 1.00 WHIP. \u00a0Johansen outperformed his poor college numbers somewhat, still walks too many batters, and still flashes a dominant fastball. \u00a0Scouts continue to believe he’ll end up in the bullpen, but until that situation presents itself Johansen will stay as a starter. \u00a0He seems like he’s bound for the opening day start in Hagerstown in 2014. \u00a0Trending Up<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Round 3<\/a>:\u00a0Drew Ward<\/strong>, HS 3B. \u00a0.292\/.402\/.387\u00a0with one homer, 25 walks, 44 strikeouts in 168 at-bats for the GCL Nats in the rookie league. \u00a0A good average and a great OBP, but where’s the power? \u00a0Ward was reported to have a ton of power coming up but his slugging was lower than his OBP. \u00a0He produced at a 142 wRC+ for the season, which is great, but I think he needs to show more power going forward. \u00a0That won’t be easy in his next stop; the stadium in Hagerstown is old and cavernous with huge walls; you earn every homer up there. \u00a0Trending Up<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Round 4<\/a>:\u00a0Nick Pivetta<\/strong>, Juco RH Starting Pitcher. \u00a01-1, 3.41 ERA with 18\/12 K\/BB in 29 innings between GCL and Short-A, 28 hits. \u00a0Pivetta started 8 games but averaged less than 4 innings a start. \u00a0 For such a big guy (6’5″ 220) with such a reported fastball (upper 90s in short spurts) I would have hoped for more K’s (18 in 29 innings). \u00a0 Outlook; bound for Hagerstown but seems like someone who may convert to short relief soon where he can maintain higher velocity in shorter outings. \u00a0Trending Steady.<\/span><\/p>\n

Round 5<\/a>:\u00a0Austin Voth<\/strong>, Coll Jr RH Starting Pitcher: 3-0, 1.75 ERA with 55\/6 K\/BB in46 1\/3 innings between three levels, 33 hits. \u00a0You read that correctly; 55 to 6 strike out to walk ratio for this U of Washington product. \u00a0 He pushed his way through two promotions on the season, ending up in the Hagerstown rotation. \u00a0Another interesting stat: Zero home-runs in his 55 innings on the year. \u00a0And these stats were done with pretty normal looking BABIPs; his FIP values were lower than his ERAs in short- and low-A. \u00a0He seems like an exciting draft find and should be in the Hagerstown rotation in 2014. \u00a0Trending Up.<\/span><\/p>\n

Round 6<\/a>:\u00a0Cody Gunter<\/strong>, Juco 3B. \u00a0\u00a0.229\/.294\/.313 with 3 homers, 20 walks, 62 strikeouts in 214 at-bats for Auburn. \u00a0 62 punchouts out of 214 at-bats; that’s more than 25%. \u00a0With so many Ks and so little power (.084 ISO), I’d be concerned about Gunter’s future at the corner. \u00a0Its possible he was just a bit young for Auburn as a 1st-year JuCo grad. \u00a0Trending down.<\/span><\/p>\n

Round 7<\/a>:\u00a0Jimmy Yezzo<\/strong>, Coll Jr 1B. \u00a0.267\/.282\/.342 with 2 homers, 5 walks, 37 strikeouts in 243 at-bats for Auburn. \u00a0 Five walks in 243 at-bats?? \u00a0That shows a pretty significant plate discipline issue. \u00a0Yezzo came to the Nats with such a good hitting reputation in a decent baseball conference (the CAA); what has happened? \u00a0Drafted as a first baseman, Yezzo needs to show some serious power improvement to continue at a spot which normally is where lesser defenders “end up” to keep their bat in the lineup. \u00a0Trending down.<\/span><\/p>\n

Round 8<\/a>:\u00a0David Napoli<\/strong>, Coll Sr LH relief pitcher. \u00a01-0, 1.14 ERA with 28\/10 K\/BB in23 relief innings in Auburn, 16 hits. \u00a0He had a very wild reputation coming out of college, but seems to have toned it down at Auburn to become an excellent relief pitcher. \u00a0 I’m a little disappointed to see him already get converted to relief, but his size and stuff seems to point towards situational lefty anyway. \u00a0I could see him in Potomac in 2014 quickly turning into the next\u00a0Ian Krol<\/strong>. \u00a0Trending up.<\/span><\/p>\n

Round 9<\/a>:\u00a0Jake Joyce<\/strong>, Coll Sr RH relief pitcher. \u00a01-3, 5.22 ERA with 25\/12 K\/BB in 29 relief innings in Auburn, 37 hits. \u00a0Joyce was unlucky (.381 babip) and his FIP reflects that (3.03 versus 5.22 era), but he still gave up a ton of base-runners (1.67 whip) and a ton of air-outs (0.62 GO\/AO on the year). \u00a0 Given the fact that Joyce was a senior sign for very little money, he could seem rather expendible if he doesn’t start strong in 2014. \u00a0Trending down.<\/span><\/p>\n

Round 10<\/a>:\u00a0Brennan Middleton<\/strong>, Coll Sr SS\/2B. \u00a0Did not play an inning in 2013; I cannot find any details of the injury. \u00a0There are some reports that he injured his ankle towards the end of his senior season at Tulane; perhaps that injury carried over into the summer. \u00a0He signed for a pittance and was not highly regarded; he could struggle to make a team out of spring. \u00a0Trending down.<\/span><\/p>\n

A quick note before continuing: you can see the effect very clearly of the new MLB draft rules by looking at the Nats draft picks here; our 8th,9th and 10th round guys signed for a combined $40,000 so the team could over-pay earlier in the draft. \u00a0We got mostly cheap guys, senior signs with zero leverage as we got closer to the 10th round and the production shows. \u00a0 Then, starting at round 11 (where the slot per pick is a flat $100,000 and the signing bonus cap re-sets) we start to see more significant prospects get signed and coaxed out of remaining college eligibility. \u00a0Its almost as if we should treat the 8th-10th rounders as closer to 30th round picks, all things considered.<\/p>\n

Round 11<\/a>:\u00a0John Simms<\/strong>, Coll jr RH relief pitcher. \u00a00-4, 5.70 ERA with 34\/7 K\/BB in 30 relief innings mostly in Auburn, 41 hits. \u00a0His walks were low but hits were high. \u00a0His ERA looks ugly but look beyond the top layer and you discover that Simms actually didn’t pitch that badly this year. \u00a0A ridiculously high BABIP of .438 contributed to his inflated short-A ERA; his FIP was just 2.38. \u00a0Combine that with his 5\/1 K\/BB ratio and he has the makings of at least a good reliever in the system. \u00a0 Look for him in Hagerstown or Potomac’s bullpen, where shorter stints should allow him to maintain velocity. \u00a0Trending steady.<\/span><\/p>\n

Round 12<\/a>:\u00a0Andrew Cooper<\/strong>, Juco RH relief pitcher. \u00a02-1, 3.86 ERA with 16\/7 K\/BB in 25 2\/3 relief innings mostly in Auburn, 29 hits. \u00a0Drafted as a project, and so far he’s pitched like a project. \u00a0His numbers aren’t bad or great in any direction. \u00a0I’d suspect the team knew he needed some complex time so I could see him staying in Viera until next season’s short-A starts up and repeating the level. \u00a0Trending steady.<\/span><\/p>\n

Round 13<\/a>:\u00a0John Costa<\/strong>, Juco RH relief pitcher. \u00a0Did not pitch an inning in 2013; he had Tommy John surgery in March and won’t be healthy until mid 2014. \u00a0 Likely stays in the complex league until short-season starts, then heads to the rookie league. \u00a0Trending down.<\/span><\/p>\n

Round 14<\/a>:\u00a0David Masters<\/strong>, Juco SS. \u00a0.178\/.246\/.237\u00a0with 0 homers, 9 walks, 33 strikeouts in 152 at-bats for Auburn. \u00a0Masters showed little power, little hit tool in general. \u00a0He had a wRC+ of just 51 and slugged lower than his OBP. \u00a0He’s apparently a genius in the field though. \u00a0But, you’ve got to hit to advance. \u00a0If he’s the defensive whiz that the scouting reports say, then he may get another shot in 2014. \u00a0Note; as others have noted, Masters is a 2nd cousin to\u00a0Mad Men<\/em> star\u00a0John Hamm<\/strong>. \u00a0I hope this wasn’t the reason we drafted him :-). \u00a0Trending down.<\/span><\/p>\n

Round 15<\/a>:\u00a0Isaac Ballou<\/strong>, Coll Sr OF\/CF. \u00a0.273\/.381\/.366 with 2 homers, 32 walks, 37 strikeouts in 238 at-bats mostly for Auburn. \u00a0Ballou was Auburn’s leading hitter by average and earned a promotion up to Hagerstown, where a 3\/27 start dented his seasonal numbers. \u00a0 No reason not to see him in low-A again starting in 2014. \u00a0Trending up.<\/span><\/p>\n

Round 16<\/a>:\u00a0Willie Allen<\/strong>, Juco Corner OF from Oklahoma\/Newtown, MA. \u00a0Did not sign; I cannot find any reason; there’s a link to his hometown paper<\/a> that seemed to indicate that he was ready to sign and report. \u00a0 Perhaps something came up in his medicals. \u00a0Allen also does not appear to have transferred to a 4-year school. \u00a0Interesting question; how did a kid from Boston end up in an Oklahoma junior college program?<\/p>\n

Round 17<\/a>:\u00a0Geoff Perrott<\/strong>, Coll Sr C. \u00a0.308\/.308\/.308 in 12 at-bats for Hagerstown; Perrott was hurt most of the year and is providing late-season cover for the Suns’ playoff push. \u00a0A lost season for Perrott; hopefully he gets a chance to prove himself next season. \u00a0Trending down.<\/span><\/p>\n

Round 18<\/a>:\u00a0Cory Bafidis<\/strong>, Coll Sr LH relief pitcher. \u00a02-0, 2.73 ERA\u00a0with 22\/13 K\/BB in 26 1\/3 relief innings mostly in Auburn, 18 hits. \u00a0He got pushed to low-A too early, settled into short-A where he probably belonged to begin with, and pitched relatively well for 20 innings. \u00a0\u00a0Too many walks for a relief pitcher, though, he’ll have to work on that. \u00a0 He mostly worked in 2 inning stints and never got any looks at starting. \u00a0Trending steady.<\/span><\/p>\n

Round 19<\/a>:\u00a0Niko Spezial<\/strong>, Coll Sr LH relief pitcher. \u00a01-0, 3.32 ERA with 21\/8 K\/BB in 19 relief innings mostly in the GCL, 16 hits. \u00a0Spezial started the season with Auburn but got the quick demotion after just 3 1\/3 relatively non-descript innings. \u00a0A college senior draftee, he did not belong in the rookie league. \u00a0Nonetheless he pitched effectively for the record-setting GCL Nats. \u00a0Spezial needs to show how he fares against someone his own age, which hopefully he’ll get a chance to do in 2014. \u00a0Trending steady.<\/span><\/p>\n

Round 20<\/a>:\u00a0Brenton Allen<\/strong>, Coll Jr Corner OF. \u00a0\u00a0.186\/.319\/.271 with 1 homer, 15 walks, 31 strikeouts in 113 at-bats mostly for Auburn. \u00a0A disappointing pro debut for Allen, a 9th rounder out of HS who chose UCLA at the time. \u00a0 Which makes his signing all the more curious; if he was a 9th rounder at one point, why sign for 20th round money? \u00a0Why not go back for your senior season to try to build draft value? \u00a0Nonetheless, he seems like he’ll compete for a full season OF job in 2014 but will have to show a better hit tool. \u00a0Trending down.<\/span><\/p>\n

Round 21<\/a>:\u00a0Justin Thomas<\/strong>, Coll Sr LH relief pitcher. \u00a01-0, 3.13 ERA with 28\/3 K\/BB in 23 IP split between FOUR levels. \u00a0Thomas was well traveled this summer; he started in the GCL, got promoted to Auburn, then again to Potomac before settling back in Hagerstown for the bulk of the 2nd half. \u00a0 All he did in Hagerstown was post a 21\/1 K\/BB ratio in 15 2\/3 innings. \u00a0His ERA was a bit inflated versus his low-A FIP (2.56) and he remains the sole member of his draft class to broach high-A on the year (even if it was just for a game or two). \u00a0He’s clearly a leading situational lefty candidate with his control and should feature for Potomac in 2014. \u00a0Trending up.<\/span><\/p>\n

Round 22<\/a>:\u00a0Cody Dent<\/strong>, Coll Sr SS. \u00a0.222\/.310\/.242 with 0 homers, 19 walks, 47 strikeouts in 153 ABs for Auburn. \u00a0A light hitting senior sign middle infielder who strikes out one out of every three times isn’t going to go far in this game unless he fields like\u00a0Ozzie Smith<\/strong>. \u00a0 What’s interesting is this: Dent is actually hitting BETTER than he did at Florida this year. \u00a0A blogger on fangraphs<\/a> dug into the numbers and found that Dent had an amazingly low babip his senior year in college. \u00a0Trending down.<\/span><\/p>\n

Round 23<\/a>:\u00a0Garrett Gordon<\/strong>, Juco Corner OF. \u00a0.257\/.356\/.317 with 0 homers, 12 walks, 27 strikeouts in 101 ABs for the GCL Nats. \u00a0 We’d hope for some more power here for the undersized Gordon; he’s listed as an outfielder but he caught in high school. \u00a0Perhaps he’s considering going back to the position. \u00a0Trending down.<\/span><\/p>\n

Round 24<\/a>:\u00a0Matt Derosier<\/strong>, Juco RH relief pitcher. \u00a02-1, 2.43 ERA with 20\/5 K\/BB in 19 relief innings mostly in the GCL, 24 hits. \u00a0 Derosier may have been a Juco guy but he’s young; he turned 19 in July of this year. \u00a0After a brief stint to start the season in Auburn he pitched in middle relief for the GCL Nats, getting at least 4 long enough stints to earn a “grade” in my monthly starter grades. \u00a0 He posted good, solid numbers, nothing flashy, nothing bad. \u00a0A 4\/1 K\/BB ratio is great. \u00a0He’ll move up next year, looking to stick as a younger member of the bullpen in low-A. \u00a0One interesting point related to Derosier: despite his young age, he’ll achieve rule-5 eligibility as if he was a college draftee, so he could run out his eligibility when he’s in the very low-minors. \u00a0 Trending up.<\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Round 25<\/a>:\u00a0Travis Ott<\/strong>, HS LH starting pitcher. \u00a03-0, 4.03 ERA with 32\/12 K\/BB in 29 innings in the GCL, 24 hits. \u00a0The rare mid-20s round high schooler who signs, Ott was used as a starter in the GCL and was mostly good all year. \u00a0His seasonal numbers were skewed by one bad outing where he gave up 6 earned runs in 1 2\/3 innings in mid-July. \u00a0This tall, lanky left-hander (6’4″ 170lbs) seemingly has room to grow and is very young; he turned 18 at the end of June. \u00a0Looks like the Nats might have a find here. \u00a0Trending up.<\/span><\/p>\n

Round 26<\/a>:\u00a0Garrett Hampson<\/strong>, HS SS from Reno, NV. \u00a0Did not sign; honored committment to Long Beach State (as confirmed by a local media site<\/a> as well as PerfectGame<\/a>). \u00a0Hampson was a well regarded prospect \u00a0heading into the draft (BA had him #84<\/a>) and may have been a typical casulty of the new MLB draft reality; unless you’re picked in the first couple rounds and will sign for slot, you’re dropping.<\/p>\n

Round 27<\/a>:\u00a0Bryce Harmon<\/strong>, HS LH starting pitcher from Richmond, VA. \u00a0Did not sign; honored committment to East Carolina University. \u00a0A big lefty clocked 87-91 but recruited by lesser baseball schools (per PerfectGame<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Round 28<\/a>:\u00a0Joey Webb<\/strong>, Coll Sr LH relief pitcher. \u00a02-0, 1.89 ERA with 25\/6 K\/BB in 19 innings in the GCL, 13 hits. \u00a0 A college senior who turns 23 in a few weeks pitching in the rookie league? \u00a0The definition of “too old for the level.” \u00a0But, Webb comes from a very small baseball school (NAIA’s\u00a0Menlo College in California<\/a>) and may not have been ready to compete with a bunch of Division I guys in Short-A. \u00a0 Webb has almost no baseball pedigree (PerfectGame doesn’t even have a profile of him) so he’ll have to earn it going forward. \u00a0Trending steady.<\/span><\/p>\n

Round 29<\/a>:\u00a0Mike Sylvestri<\/strong>, Coll Sr RH relief pitcher. \u00a03-1, 5.40 ERA with 14\/9 K\/BB in 18 innings split between Short-A and the Rookie league. \u00a0Sylvestri started in Auburn, got shelled (12 runs in 8 2\/3 innings) then threw a shutout in the rookie league (9 2\/3 innings, 9 hits, zero runs). \u00a0 He’s undersized (5’10”, 180) and could have trouble getting out of rookie ball (as evidenced by his short-A experience). \u00a0May not be long for the organization. \u00a0Trending down.<\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Round 30<\/a>:\u00a0Ryan Ullmann<\/strong>, Coll Sr RH Starting pitcher. \u00a03-2, 4.74 ERA with 38\/13 K\/BB in 49 1\/3 innings, 64 h its. \u00a0Ullman, like Webb, started in the rookie league being a senior coming from an NAIA (small). \u00a0 By the end of the season, Ullmann was in the Auburn rotation. \u00a0He got 6 starts in Auburn with some up and down results (3 decent, one ok, two bad) that resulted in a 5.30 ERA all told. \u00a0 You can’t teach size (he’s 6’6″, 230). \u00a0Ullmann closed in college and may return to the pen. \u00a0Trending down.<\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Round 31<\/a>:\u00a0Willie Medina<\/strong>, Coll Sr SS. \u00a0.228\/.315\/.237 with 0 homers, 9 walks, 24 strikeouts in 114 ABs for the GCL Nats. \u00a0 A .552 OPS playing as a 22-yr old in the rookie league is disappointing. \u00a0Medina may struggle to make it out of Viera next spring. \u00a0Trending down.<\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Round 32<\/a>:\u00a0Pat Boling<\/strong>, Coll Jr LHP: Did not sign, chose to return to U. of Georgia for his senior season. \u00a0Bolling missed all of the 2012 season with an injury and redshirted, then had an uneven 2013 season<\/a> (going from weekend starter to bullpen guy). \u00a0 Probably looking to either complete his degree or try to compete for a full time starter job a year removed from injury in 2014.<\/p>\n

Round 33<\/a>:\u00a0Andrew Dunlap<\/strong>, HS C\/RHP from Houston. \u00a0Did not sign. \u00a0Honoring a committment to Rice University. \u00a0Research on Dunlap finds an interesting story<\/a>; he apparently went to 3 different \u00a0high schools<\/a> all told (he moved around b\/c because at the time he was a catcher and was blocked at the varsity level), was committed to Texas Tech at one point but then de-committed when he decided to become a pitcher and discovered he could hit 95-96 on the mound, transferred again and tried to gain a 5th year of high school eligibility, apparently failed, and had no “team” to play for this past spring. \u00a0Nonetheless, he had multiple offers for scholarships (Rice, UNC and U San Diego) before going to Rice. \u00a0BA did a Q&A feature<\/a> on him in Feb 2013, so I’m guessing he was supposed to go much higher than the 33rd round.<\/p>\n

Round 34<\/a>:\u00a0Jake Walsh<\/strong>,<\/strong>\u00a0Coll Sr LH relief pitcher. \u00a00-0, 1.40 ERA with 17\/5 K\/BB in 19 1\/3 innings closing in the Rookie League. \u00a0Promoted to Hagerstown on 9\/3\/13 to provide lefty bullpen coverage in the playoffs. \u00a0 \u00a0He was probably too old and too experienced for the rookie league but showed enough promise to get a two-level call-up for the post-season. \u00a0Lets see how he does in 2013, likely as a situational lefty\/closer for Hagerstown. \u00a0Trending up.<\/span><\/p>\n

Round 35<\/a>:\u00a0Lukas Schiraldi<\/strong>, Juco RHP from Texas. \u00a0Did not sign. \u00a0The son of\u00a0Calvin Schiraldi<\/strong>, Lukas was a 2nd year All-American Juco pitcher ranked #162 by Baseball America<\/a>\u00a0who has decided to transfer to U Texas Austin<\/a> (like his father) instead of signing. \u00a0 Understandible; if Schiraldi succeeds for Texas next spring, he’ll come into the 2014 draft as a high-powered college junior with much better earning potential.<\/p>\n

Round 36<\/a>:\u00a0Reid Humphreys<\/strong>, HS SS from Missouri. \u00a0Did not sign. \u00a0Honoring committment to Mississippi State<\/a>. \u00a0Humphreys was the 2013 “Mr. Baseball”<\/a> for the state of Missouri. \u00a0He is also the brother of the Nationals’ own Tyler Moore<\/b>, who also was Mr. Baseball for Missouri and also attended Mississippi State.<\/p>\n

Round 37<\/a>:\u00a0Karsten Whitson<\/strong>, RH starting pitcher from Florida. \u00a0Did not sign, returning to U Florida for his senior\/4th year. \u00a0 Whitson is an interesting story. \u00a0He was San Diego’s 1st round pick (9th overall) in 2010<\/a>\u00a0and was drafted just behind\u00a0Matt Harvey<\/strong> and just ahead of\u00a0Chris Sale. \u00a0<\/strong>In a move that surprised the Padres, Whitson refused to sign for slightly above-slot money and chose to go to school, turning down a $2.1M offer<\/a>. \u00a0 \u00a0After a great freshman year, Whitson struggled with arm pain his sophomore year and turned to\u00a0Dr. James Andrews<\/strong> this past spring, performing a “cleanup” surgery<\/a> on his shoulder to alleviate an “impingement” and costing him the whole season. \u00a0Clearly Whitson needs to return to school and complete a full healthy season to regain draft value, so I don’t entirely understand this pick. \u00a0Maybe the Nats wanted to see if Whitson wanted to sign and rehab with the team as opposed to on his own (they did something similar with\u00a0Robert Orlan<\/strong> last year). \u00a0But that would have made no sense for Whitson; he’s already in college on scholarship; why would he possibly have signed for round 37 money at this point in his career?<\/p>\n

For me Whitson confirms what\u00a0Keith Law<\/strong> always says when it comes to significant bonus money; take the money; you can always go back to college if you wash out of the minors. \u00a0But you just never know what may happen; if Whitson suffers another injury or performs badly next spring, he’ll be lucky to be offered $10k and will really wish he’d have taken that life-changing $2M bonus. \u00a0When proposed with this scenario, my wife says “I want my kid to go to college” but the reality is this; that money may not ever be there again, and the kid can always go to college later. \u00a0You have to take it if it is there.<\/p>\n

Round 38<\/a>:\u00a0Caleb Hamilton<\/strong>, HS SS from Washington State. \u00a0Did not sign; honoring committment to U of Washington. \u00a0Seems like Washington’s area scout liked Hamilton, so they made an impression<\/a> on the kid and drafted him late.<\/p>\n

Round 39<\/a>:\u00a0Robbie Tenerowicz<\/strong>, HS 2B\/SS from California. \u00a0Did not sign; honoring committment to UC Berkeley. \u00a0He looks like an excellent Oakland-area product staying close to home. \u00a0Made the Area Code team and was on some all-american lists. \u00a0The Nats have drafted two middle infielders from Cal lately (Kobernus<\/strong> and\u00a0Renda<\/strong>) so perhaps Tenerowicz will be a third in a few years.<\/p>\n

Round 40<\/a>:\u00a0Shaun Anderson<\/strong>, HS RH starting pitcher from Florida. \u00a0Did not sign; honoring committment to U of Florida. \u00a0Baseball America had a nice little writeup<\/a> on the 2013 draft’s Mr. Irrelevant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last year, minorleagueball.com’s John Sickels started a\u00a0quick-hit review of every 2012 draft pick with snap judgements and quick stats. \u00a0I thought it was a great project, a nice little way to see how the draft picks were faring. \u00a0He petered out around the 17th round, and I took up his cause for just the Nationals […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,4,2039],"tags":[1968,1990,1815,1820,1976,1984,1995,1190,1169,1978,1816,1974,1970,1818,1813,1979,1983,1973,1695,1971,1812,1819,1991,842,392,1966,1985,1969,1980,590,1967,1977,1137,110,1992,1981,1994,1986,1965,1975,652,1989,1398,1993,1996,1290,1987,1997,853,1271,1982,235,1972,1988],"class_list":["post-7486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-draft","category-minorspitching","category-rule-5","tag-andrew-cooper","tag-andrew-dunlap","tag-austin-voth","tag-brennan-middleton","tag-brenton-allen","tag-bryce-harmon","tag-caleb-hamilton","tag-calvin-schiraldi","tag-chris-sale","tag-cody-dent","tag-cody-gunter","tag-cory-bafidis","tag-david-masters","tag-david-napoli","tag-drew-ward","tag-garrett-gordon","tag-garrett-hampson","tag-geoff-perrott","tag-ian-krol","tag-isaac-ballou","tag-jake-johansen","tag-jake-joyce","tag-jake-walsh","tag-james-andrews","tag-jeff-kobernus","tag-jimmy-yezzo","tag-joey-webb","tag-john-costa","tag-john-hamm","tag-john-sickels","tag-john-simms","tag-justin-thomas","tag-karsten-whitson","tag-keith-law","tag-lukas-schiraldi","tag-matt-derosier","tag-matt-h-arvey","tag-mike-sylvestri","tag-nick-pivetta","tag-niko-spezial","tag-ozzie-smith","tag-pat-boling","tag-rafael-soriano","tag-reid-humphreys","tag-robbie-tenerowicz","tag-robert-orlan","tag-ryan-ullmann","tag-shaun-anderson","tag-tommy-john","tag-tony-renda","tag-travis-ott","tag-tyler-moore","tag-willie-allen","tag-willie-medina"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7486","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=7486"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8461,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7486\/revisions\/8461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}