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2059 Nokes Draft Grades - mattynokes - 11-24-2015 Are you ready for your 5th edition? If so, you'll be glad to know that I plan on doing a 5 year review of each class after the season. Which means the 2055 draft will be up for review after the 2059 season! ---------- 01. :tex2: SP Gerard Cantrill Funny how I trade up with WP one year to get the guy I want and now he trades up. Sometimes I think WP made the right move and other times I think he made wrong choice. This one is the former. Rarely do you get a pick where you can say literally without any actual progression (and just getting his career window boost), he's major league material. Even if he totally flames out, he's long man material. With just one jump, he's #5 material. There's lots to love about this guy. Good control, obviously already great movement, and what I L-O-V-E – low HRs. You might think his repertoire isn't anything special, however, his Fastball should level out at or near his future overall. While he won't have a great second pitch, his circle change should still be fairly good with two other average offerings. We have plenty of pitchers in the file that have a 90's top pitch to go with an 80's and 70's to round out their pitches. This guy could be good, I mean real good. As if all of that wasn't superb, he fell from a 94 to just a 93 when he aged. A 94 on Mogul '14 could either be 94 or 95, so it's possible (and probable) that he fell 2 points. I wouldn't necessarily expect a 2 point drop every year, but it bodes well for him having plenty of time to develop. Grade: Future Skills: 87 Con, 75 Pow, 95 Mov Scouting File Rank: 6 Scouting File Score: 89.80 02. :sfg2: 1B James Nixon Nixon looks in the mold of Shane McGee and Alan McGaw. After seeing how useless McGee has been since he's declined, I'm now back on the train of not fully liking these builds. There's no denying and full peak McGee was very good. However, the issue I had with him on draft day all the way back in 2047 was that I thought his low K’s inflating his contact and he would never hit up to expectations. As it turns out, it appears that if these builds peak out very high and contact gets to the mid to upper 90’s, then there’s no issue. But if they don’t or once decline takes contact even to the low 90’s, there could be production issues. However, you can’t deny the power and walk potential. And while defense at 1B isn’t of the utmost importance, I’ve long come to feel that very high fielding from 1B save errors from your infielders. Despite all of the hashing over what McGee has become, these type of players are still good. We have no idea what his exact peak range is nor his longevity rating. Those are some of the biggest factors in whether you get a “good” player or a HOF player. Staying in peak years longer and having a slow and graceful decline will help Nixon replicate McGee’s 2051-53 more often. Grade: Future Skills: 93 Con, 91 Pow, 96 Eye Scouting File Rank: 1 Scouting File Score: 94.93 03. :phi2: 2B/3B Jason Chew A smart man once said, “He looks like another Jose Vargas.” That man was me. Another smart man said, ”I would agree with that.” That man was Andy. I am in full man crush with Chew’s power potential. He looks like he’ll be a complete terror in the box. Something like 30 2B and 35 HR is what I see from him. Like Vargas, he doesn’t project to hit for a great average. Though unlike Vargas, he doesn’t project to walk a lot. Chew will still walk a decent amount, but I would expect more in the 40-45 range rather than around 70 like Vargas did. The big question is where to play him? He has a better arm and fielding at 3B, but has better range at 2B. Overall, I think he projects better at 3B, however, 2B is a more important defensive position and he’ll still be very good there, so I would leave him at 2B. With likely struggling to hit for average and walking at a below average clip, I doubt he’ll put up a great OPS. However, he’ll hit bombs and being able to play a premium position gives him tons of value. Grade: Future Skills: 77 Con, 93 Pow, 75 Eye Scouting File Rank: 16 Scouting File Score: 87.79 04. :tex2: SP Samuel Delacruz Except for the strikeout ability, he could have Kyle Arrington written all over him. Like Arrington, he’s 16 on draft day, well advanced for his age, and looks like he has those low-low HRs. One issue is that he already progressed. It’s never necessarily a bad thing (many draftees seem to not jump in their first year). It’s just that he shouldn’t be viewed and valued quite as a 90 peak. His Curve could be a bad thing as well. It’s well behind all the others as well as his overall. I’ve never figured out whether Mogul uses pitch selection by order of the repertoire or if recognizes it’s a bad pitch and doesn’t throw it often. If the game makes him rely too much of his craptastic Curve, it could hold him back. In the end, he’s still very young and may very well peak out in the 90’s. I’d expect his overall to progress beyond his 71 Fastball and Sinker, but they’ll still both be very good. Not in-game Overall – Peak upside, but his expressive upside is very good and could easily beat his draft day scouting projections. Grade: Future Skills: 83 Con, 70 Pow, 85 Mov Scouting File Rank: 19 Scouting File Score: 87.48 05. :bal3: LF/DH Gary Cutforth I’m not so high on him. I think he falls prey to the Podcast Mafia trifecta of “Can’t Run. Can’t Power. Can’t Defense. Forget about him!” Granted, the can’t power is a little harsh, he still doesn’t project to have great power. And he can probably play defense, but he’s far from the ideal defender and rather easy to upgrade. Especially since I see LF as Little CF. In Mogul, I try to align my defense so that if possible, the less fortunate defender is in RF. What he has going for him is a great eye and he should walk a lot. Being 18, his contact looks like it could take off and get into the 90’s. How his power will or won’t develop is a real question mark. Almost regardless of the build type, Mogul seems to curb power when it starts out low on draft day. He could have solid power, like projected, or he could have usual middle infielder 30/10 pop. In the end, I see his career looking like Elvis Aspuria. Good eye, good looking contact with decent power, and decent enough defense to use if you have to and can deploy a defensive sub. However, without speed, truly good power and defense, it’s tough see a ton of value in them. Grade: Future Skills: 94 Con, 84 Pow, 90 Eye Scouting File Rank: 11 Scouting File Score: 88.71 06. :sea2: CF Tony Woolland There’s some things to not like about him. He looks like a low walk, low strikeout guy. This is bad twofold. First, it means a good amount of his contact is eaten up by the low K’s and then, obviously, the low walks limit his ability to get on-base. Woollan’s splits are a little less than idea, but are not terrible. A lot will depend on where exactly his contact levels out. Then you have his health. It’s as big of a deal as some make it out to be, but lower health not only suggests a higher risk of injury. It’s also directly tied into the amount of off days needed (so even if fully healthy, he’ll play less). Lastly, you have his June birthday. Now as I’ve said in the past, it’s not the birthday coming up that you should be concerned about. It’s the birthday in a peak year that should be concerning. In Woolland’s peak year, he’ll only have 5 sims to jump (3 when you consider prospects usually don’t jump in April). Whereas someone with a November birthday, has the entire season to jump (from May through August, that’s 8 sims to jump). But even with all that nay saying, he’s still a good prospect. His speed and defense are excellent and that with contact that’ll boom, makes him great. At the end of the day, I just wonder if he’ll look more like Albert Detejeda than Tom Veilleux. But again, taking that chance to see if you can get a Veilleux is worth the risk. I just wonder if this is a “good pick” rather than a “great pick”. Grade: Future Skills: 93 Con, 64 Pow, 82 Eye Scouting File Rank: 3 Scouting File Score: 92.06 07. :mil2: DH/RF Julio Tapian Yep, I label him as a “DH”. While he should wind up with decent range, he has no arm and his glovework (62 right now) is terrible. He doesn’t have enough speed/range to make up for the amount of plays that he’ll screw up. I do give him the slash in RF, because he’s capable of playing for a sim or two in a pinch. With that said, he does have tremendous power potential. Maybe the best power bat in the draft. Yes as a hitter, I like him more than Chew. Tapian’s power has more room to grow than Chew’s, so I agree with the scouting file that Tapian will have the better power when they peak. He also should have good contact and an eye that’ll produce walks. He’s not a bad pick at all, if you plan on making him your DH, but if you plan to play him in the field, he’ll hold you back with the defensive miscues. Grade: Future Skills: 85 Con, 99 Pow, 86 Eye Scouting File Rank: 18 Scouting File Score: 87.69 08. :sfg2: C Phillip Truett This grade is tough. I really like Truett, but I think he was taken a good bit too early. He was certainly the best catcher in the draft, but it was a pretty weak draft for catchers and I don’t think lack of depth makes it alright to reach. What he has going for him is excellent defense and a pretty good hitting profile. He has friendly split vitals and should make for a good contact-eye combo. Despite showing double digit home run numbers on two occasions, I doubt he’ll be a big power threat. I don’t know that I have a FCM comparison that pops up, but Jason Kendall is close. Obviously, Truett will have less speed than Kendall displayed and Truett should show a little more pop. Overall, I don’t expect Truett to be a premiere offensive threat, but will be very good behind the dish. Just like Kendall. Grade: Future Skills: 85 Con, 80 Pow, 85 Eye Scouting File Rank: 14 Scouting File Score: 87.98 09. :stl2: SP Zack Cracknell Looking at his profile, he looks very good. However, I notice a big issue. As many have come to know, I don’t put a ton of stock into GB%’s. With the way Mogul calculates them, they can be quite wonky. GB% is supposed to indicate the risk of flyballs and subsequently HRs. The difference is that in Mogul HRs are independent of GB% completely and adjusting GB% in the pitcher’s predicted stats does nothing to effect his vitals or projected performance. I mean, Donovan Pace had a low GB% and he didn’t have HR issues and as of now stands as our best pitcher in the league’s history. However, when GB% is low and HRs look a high, I take it as a red flag. We’ve seen pitchers with great vitals struggle. If a pitcher struggles, it’s because of too many walks, too many hits, or too many home runs. If it’s either of the first two, allowing a lot of homers will only exasperate the problem. If you look at the HOF inductees, very few have a HR/9 over 1.00 (about average) and many have quite dominant HR/9 metrics, because dominate pitchers keep the ball in the park. I believe Cracknell will follow suite with the arms that have good looking vitals, but struggle to produce. He should end up with a very nice Fastball-Circle Change combo that’ll help give him an edge, but overall I’m just not highly impressed. Grade: Future Skills: 84 Con, 83 Pow, 83 Mov Scouting File Rank: 15 Scouting File Score: 87.74 10. :mil2: SP Aaron Tyler I think you can pretty much co-sign Tyler for the Cracknell review. I see the same HR and low GB% issue with him, though I’m not as concerned with Tyler since he has three years of good HR/9 and one of the bad years was his first year of college ball. Still, I’m not high on Tyler. I would expect his overall to pass his three pitches (Fastball, Circle, and Cutter), but those pitches should still be quite solid. I also like his projected build better than Cracknell’s. I think there’s more hope for his HR issues to dissipate, especially if he exceeds his current 88 peak. Grade: Future Skills: 81 Con, 86 Pow, 83 Mov Scouting File Rank: 22 Scouting File Score: 86.95 11. :tor3: 2B Kirk Mitchell Sometimes it’s tough to see the end result of a player. I remember back in Seattle, a few people didn’t like Bradley Lamp when he was in the 80’s. Understandably, he didn’t have really good looking vitals at the time. However, he was budding to just take off with high 70’s contact and power with 80’s speed and eye. As we know, he took off and became a rare all 80+ vitals player. Offensively, he could and, I think he will, get there. I don’t think I’d have a hard time convincing many that he could get to 80+ power and eye (and obviously speed is already there). Contact is another story, but you have to remember that he’s just 16. He has splits that are easy on the eyes and with all that upside, there’s plenty of time for his contact to blossom. His defense also doesn’t look to swell at the moment, and we know that defense doesn’t progress terribly much. Though, good for him, middle infielders tend to see the most improvement and with him being just 16, I wouldn’t count him out for having 90+ range. It’s true his arm and fielding won’t ever be great. How it all plays out is good speed plus good range equals a good defender at 2B. I think some people were scared off because he doesn’t have that, “oh yeah, he looks nice” right now vitals package. I think he’ll be pretty good and part of his grade is helped by teams passing him up for players that I think have a lesser potential. Grade: Future Skills: 90 Con, 87 Pow, 89 Eye Scouting File Rank: 2 Scouting File Score: 94.20 12. :sfg2: SP Samuel Apolouio I like him. Hell, I tried to take him at #51 while I was on the road and forgot to cross off many 1st rounders already taken. When DLee said something about people must like his picks, I said, “Or maybe they thought they were 2nd round talent.” I was half serious about Apolouio. I saw him as late 1st to early 2nd talent. He has fantastic control, a Fastball that should be damn good, and a Curve that should stay above his overall as well. He has nice health and endurance without either being too high, where it takes from a player’s peak rating either. The issue I see is 21 upside and 20 years old. And that’s actually 17 upside when you factor in the career window boost. I fear that there’s not much time for him to progress. He should wind up a solid pitcher, but there’s multiple other pitchers left that I feel have star potential. Grade: Future Skills: 85 Con, 75 Pow, 85 Mov Scouting File Rank: 13 Scouting File Score: 88.08 13. :hou3: SP Donald Rugg Here’s one of those pitchers that I think could have star potential. He was my number 2 pitcher. So, that means I think he was passed up by 4 other teams that selected lesser SPs. I think I just love everything about him. Rugg is the same as I said with Apolouio, the perfect balance of health and endurance. He’s 18. March is my favorite birthday month in Mogul and we only saw him drop 2 points when he aged. “Why do I like March birthdays?” I’ll hop down that bunny trail for a minute. I like it because we see a prospect age before the draft, so we know what to expect and aren’t shocked when an assumed to be stud has a 7 or 8 point peak drop after draft day. I also like it because (as I said early), we get a full season of development and aren’t racing the clock in a peak year, hoping a player jumps before his June or August birthday. Anyways, his HRs are tight, tight, tight. Yeah! He won’t have an amazing repertoire, but his Circle Change and Curve should still be very good and close to his overall. And for anyone who thinks you need a real good Fastball to dominant, go check out George Marks on CHC. I’ll wait... See, told ya! His vitals are just beautifully orchestrated. His control is a good deal above his overall and movement, but not too much above movement. He has solid enough power, that if he peaks out in the 90’s, it should reach close, if not at, 80. The people who missed out... :( Grade: Future Skills: 88 Con, 77 Pow, 88 Mov Scouting File Rank: 4 Scouting File Score: 91.46 14. :sfg2: DH Tony Wenden While he looks like he could have a quality bat, this guy concerns me. He can’t run, he can’t field, and he looks like he could be a very low strikeout guy, which we know from the Nixon write-up, mean some of his contact is tied up in low K’s rather than suggesting an even better batting average. He should be a heavy power hitter and even though that a lot of his eye is tied up into low strikeouts, he should still walk to a decent clip in the future. How he’ll hit for average is a real wild card. That along with being a DH would concern me enough to avoid him at this point in the draft. Plus I don’t even think he’s the best DH available. Grade: Future Skills: 94 Con, 89 Pow, 85 Eye Scouting File Rank: 26 Scouting File Score: 86.85 15. CF Pedro Donado He reminds me of a poor man’s Keith Oshel. Solid defender with solid speed. Donado actually looks like he’ll have some solid power too. His contact probably won’t get to great levels, but he’ll be that guy who can do a little bit of everything. Plus a little extra icing on the cake is that he can has predicteds at the corners, so if you get a better fielder in central, he should be able to slide to LF or RF without Mogul doing it’s weird, “You can play CF well, but because of no or poor predicted in RF, you’ll suck and not be able to catch fly balls.” Grade: Future Skills: 85 Con, 77 Pow, 91 Eye Scouting File Rank: 5 Scouting File Score: 90.06 16. SS Dave Jenkins RH said he was concerned what his draft grade would be, and he was right. Like, RH, if you looked at my scouting file, you know in the “Notes” tab I rank my own target list. I put them in number values. Partially for sorting reasons and also to grade them on how I value them and see their development playing out. Jenkins got a lowly, 81.5 – a third round grade. A huge reason is that he’s already jumped, so you cannot believe that 88 peak. Another big reason is that I highly question if his contact will get above the 70 threshold. Plus without projecting as someone who’ll walk much, he’s a one trick pony with his good power. He’s already good defensively, but that alone doesn’t make him worth taking in the first round. Unfortunately, that just makes him a good utility infielder to platoon against lefties. Grade: Future Skills: 69 Con, 84 Pow, 73 Eye Scouting File Rank: 104 Scouting File Score: 77.39 17. :mil2: SP Tom Little This seems like a pick that Andy would normally rip on, so I’m unsure where he’s going with this for an open Brewers team. Like Jenkins above, Little has already jumped, so you can’t buy into that 92 peak. His vitals don’t look very good compared to an already inflated overall/peak due to his very high health and other than a kickass Fastball, his repertoire looks quite unappealing. His Slider and Curve should be solid, but his overall is bound to surge past those two pitches. His amateur stats don’t appear to be bad, but I do notice in most years, he has a HR issue and I believe the K-BB ratio looks good because of the far advanced power since he still walked around 4-5 batters per nine. It just seems like a wasted pick. Grade: Future Skills: 70 Con, 88 Pow, 80 Mov Scouting File Rank: 148 Scouting File Score: 71.19 18. :sfg2: SP Kerry Kirkpatrick If you saw my target list in my scouting file, I had Delacruz ahead of Kirkpatrick. However, I was on the road when scouting and didn’t see Delacruz’ progression, which would have had Kirkpatrick slightly above Delacruz. Above, I referenced “multiple pitchers” ahead of Apolouio. Had I properly scouted, Kirkpatrick would’ve been my third best pitching prospect. I love his starting build and someone who I think has a chance to be dominant. His HRs due appear a tad high, but he’s only 18. You’d also prefer to have a better Fastball or second pitch, but his Sinker should be downright filthy! His low health can be a bit concerning for his chances to run into injuries, but it also will help his peak be more of skill progression rather than health weighing it down. He’s another guy that I’m not only high on, but others passing him up helps his draft grade. Grade: Future Skills: 86 Con, 77 Pow, 90 Mov Scouting File Rank: 8 Scouting File Score: 89.43 19. :mil2: 2B/SS David Horn There was a decent amount of middle infield talent in this draft and if there was ever a guy that had a starting build that you immediately felt comfortable with and didn’t have to wait until the 80’s for the build to make sense, this guy is it. He’s not only fast, but a very good base runner. As or right now, I’m not sure his contact will grow into the impressive range, but it’ll still be quite solid. Then his defense. Will it be 2B or SS? You could make a case for either. He has better fielding at 2B, but a better arm at SS. SS is also a more important position. Still, I would prefer to keep him at 2B due to the higher chance if miscues at SS. However, I’d have no problem playing him at SS, should the need arise. Grade: Future Skills: 83 Con, 60 Pow, 85 Eye Scouting File Rank: 15 Scouting File Score: 87.97 20. :was2: SP Mark Snively I’m a solid fan of Snively. I think he embodies a lot of what I like in Rugg and Kirkpatrick. He has another solid starting build and is someone who should’ve gone before some of the other pitchers were taken. He should have a fantastic Circle Change and a quality Fastball. One thing that keeps me from liking him as much as the other two is his higher OBAs each year in high school. I know he was just a 49 and only 17 on draft day, but his ERA numbers were still solid, so it concerns me if he’ll be a guy who struggles with allowing too many hits in the majors. Grade: Future Skills: 85 Con, 74 Pow, 88 Mov Scouting File Rank: 10 Scouting File Score: 89.19 21. :mia: SP Carlo Degean Much like some of the other youngsters so far, I like this guy too. He should wind up with really good control and a dominant Fastball. It’s almost tiring to have to write a lot of the same stuff as I said for guys like; Rugg, Kirkpatrick, and Snively. But, I think it’s true. He’s a lot of the same. Should have a good vitals display with one real good pitch. The thing that separates my interest in Degean from the others is he looks to have true home run issues. Even at just 18, HR/9 ranging from 1.2 to 1.6 is alarming enough to curb his appeal slightly. Grade: Future Skills: 91 Con, 73 Pow, 88 Mov Scouting File Rank: 7 Scouting File Score: 89.53 22. :nyy2: LF Ben Dolan I hope Erick plans on playing him in LF, otherwise he’s in for a big disappointment. Aside from fielding, Dolan is terrible at 3B (53 arm and 46 range). I do think he’s quite solid in LF and Mogul has him underrated there (70 rating). His offense leaves some questions. He doesn’t have much of an eye as he rarely walks. I would actually tag him as a low walk and normal to high strikeout hitter. He’s got solid speed, but isn’t much of a base runner. His contact is obviously low and with a 3 drop to both contact and power, it’s a bit alarming. However, he’s still very young and he doesn’t have high health working against what looks like a ton of upside. He could have elite power. The question for me is how close the scouting file has his contact and eye development down. Grade: Future Skills: 82 Con, 97 Pow, 81 Eye Scouting File Rank: 20 Scouting File Score: 87.48 23. :sea2: SS/2B Jesper Catling I like him and then I don’t. I think he profiles a little better at SS (80, 90, 72) than at 2B (76, 85, 79) and should wind up pretty solid defensively. A problem I have is I don’t think he’ll be much offensively. He looks like a low walk, low strikeout eye, which of course inflates an already not so impressive contact rating. He has decent speed and then not much power. Then, he has a little drastic splits. That of course doesn’t bode well for inflated contact vs RHP. I think he’s going to struggle to put up a .650 OPS and without offering at least near-elite defense, he’s not a great option. He’s someone you take a chance on in the mid-to-late 2nd round. Grade: Future Skills: 83 Con, 66 Pow, 84 Eye Scouting File Rank: 39 Scouting File Score: 84.82 24. :tor3: DH Bryan Schexnayder I quickly wrote him off in draft scouting. To start, I wasn’t much interested in 1B or DH types and his vitals didn’t look inspiring. However, after looking him over thoroughly, if you needed a DH, this may be your guy! He may be the best DH prospect in the draft. It’s true his contact isn’t going to get absurdly better to where he looks like vitals sexy masher. However, he’s so young, that I see no issue with his contact getting into the mid-to-high 70’s. Being a lefty helps his case as well. Then, I look at his eye and gush. He looks like a guy who could flirt with 200 K’s. He will be a heavy strikeout player. So, that actually means his 69 eye isn’t that bad and he’ll probably walk a good amount. How much? I don’t know. I’d be comfortable with saying walking 75 times once peaked is very plausible and I wouldn’t be surprised if he walks close to 100 times either. The only thing I question is actually his power. I don’t put much stock in his low Jr and Sr year totals, I think he’ll hit his share of HRs. What I question are his doubles output. I wonder if he’ll be like Antonio Zamorez of DET, who to date (June 4) has 32 HR and only 11 2B. Worst case scenario, Schexnayder projects like Zamorez, is younger than Zamorez on draft day, and selected a good deal later in the 1st round. Grade: Future Skills: 77 Con, 100 Pow, 89 Eye Scouting File Rank: 27 Scouting File Score: 86.67 25. :chw2: SP Joe Prinzivalli I like him, but I’m not jumping for joy over him. He’s got vitals all above his overall and I’m not even concerned over his slightly high HRs as he’s just 17 and he should certainly grow out of them. And it’s definitely not his repertoire as it’s quite good and deep. Granted, I expect his overall to most past his Sinker and probably past his Fastball and Cutter too. The problem is I don’t think his control starts out high enough to get to the optimal starter levels. Do I think he can still be a rotation arm? Sure. He’s just going to tire faster and has just average starter endurance, so I feel his control will hold him back from what otherwise should be good power and movement. Grade: Future Skills: 79 Con, 81 Pow, 88 Mov Scouting File Rank: 21 Scouting File Score: 87.32 26. :oak2: RP Tyler Eamigh I like two things about him; he’s 17 and he should have a pretty good Fastball. After that, I do not like him at all. You probably noticed I listed him as a RP when he has the endurance of a SP. I don’t think he profiles as a SP. Sure, Prinzivalli and him are close, but Eamigh has slightly less control and movement while a decent amount less power (yeah, 5 is a significant enough difference on draft day). Then there’s where Eamigh shows some clear HR issues and I’m not a fan. If he gets into the 90’s then maybe he profiles closer to Prinzivalli, but I still think the HRs will be an issue. This is simply too early to select a risky pitcher with uncertain vitals. Grade: Future Skills: 76 Con, 75 Pow, 85 Mov Scouting File Rank: 60 Scouting File Score: 82.09 27. :mil2: SP Elliott Toledano This is another pick where I’m not too sure where Andy is going with it. He’s got some things to like about him, but I think he’s borderline starter material. Ultimately, I wonder if he’ll be better used in the bullpen. His high endurance can be a double edged sword. It means a pitcher will go deeper into games and/or cover up some control issues by not getting tired as quickly. However, we also know that it inflates and takes up some of the player’s expected room to grow. He should have fine power and movement along with having what looks like solid stats. And although most of his years are fine on HRs, he was terrible during his freshman year. I’ve found that if one year, no matter when it occurred, is vastly worse than the others it could mean something. Like when a position player has a single digit walk total or goes 0-for-4 on stolen bases. Mogul usually doesn’t put red flag stat years in there for the hell of it. Grade: Future Skills: 76 Con, 86 Pow, 88 Mov Scouting File Rank: 30 Scouting File Score: 86.32 28. :laa2: 1B Max Ponpillo This is a guy that before the draft, I said was quite interesting. I still think he has appeal, but he already jumped and had a large increase to both his overall and peak, which could indicate that he’ll also see a sizable peak drop when he ages. What we know is that he should have great power and eye. His eye will be one that walks a lot too. The big question will be where his contact ends up. With the high power/eye combo builds, contact usually doesn’t progress much. However, if he can get to the mid 70’s he should be pretty good. Grade: Future Skills: 75 Con, 95 Pow, 95 Eye Scouting File Rank: 23 Scouting File Score: 86.92 29. :tor3: SS Jose Plazas I think he might be the best SS prospect in the draft. While he doesn’t have great speed or awe inspiring defense right now, he’s just 17 and should see enough progression to his defense to make him an above average defender up the middle. I like that his splits are basically switch hitter-like. In time I think his contact and eye will be quite solid. He also looks like a guy who will hit for a little power as well. An under the radar plus that I notice is his base running skills are better than his speed and I’ve always taken that as a player who understands his abilities, doesn’t try to force the issue, but takes the extra bases when the situation and leverage is in his favor. In the end, I don’t see him being one of our all-time greats, but I see him as a player we look back on and go, “yeah, he was quite solid and reliable in the batter’s box and on the field defensively.” Grade: Future Skills: 84 Con, 81 Pow, 80 Eye Scouting File Rank: 25 Scouting File Score: 86.86 30. :sea2: DH Joel Tice This guy has some serious hitting potential, but not much in field. Unlike middle infielders, third base just doesn’t progress like it’s infield counterparts. He’s doubtful to crack the 80 barrier with any of the three defensive skills. What he does have going for him is some pretty good bat potential at just 16 years old. He has a very good eye (should walk a good amount), his contact should eventually be very good, and since he’s so young, his power should be very nice. Unless his eye really carries him, I doubt he’ll be an elite hitter, but I think he could still be very reliable and great value for the end of the 1st round. Grade: Future Skills: 91 Con, 87 Pow, 97 Eye Scouting File Rank: 9 Scouting File Score: 89.34 31. :mil2: RP Craig Halverson He should have a very good Fastball-Slider combo and I like a lot of what he has to offer – as a reliever. If some of the others are behind the 8-ball on having good enough control to be a starter, then Halverson definitely is. It’s not a terrible slight though. I think he could profile as a very good reliever. Certainly a setup man and possibly closer material. He’ll have solid strikeout ability a good movement to limit hits. While his control won’t be great, a lot of other things about his makeup profile pretty well for him to be a useful arm in the majors. Grade: Future Skills: 75 Con, 83 Pow, 88 Mov Scouting File Rank: 100 Scouting File Score: 77.85 32. :mil2: 1B Jacob Wilkinson He reminds me of my own Jameson MacIntyre. The hitting vitals are all above his overall and with a real good jump, it really puts him on the map of being a very good starting option. Even if he peaks out in the mid 80’s, he’s still a quality option. I’d expect him to walk a pretty good amount and should certainly have solid pop in his bat. His contact isn’t lagging too far behind his power, so he could be all 80+ across the board for hitting vitals. Grade: Future Skills: 83 Con, 84 Pow, 90 Eye Scouting File Rank: 62 Scouting File Score: 81.80 33. DH Saru Takeda Here’s the good: He has loads of power potential. He should walk a lot. Here’s the bad: Even being a lefty, his contact is concerning. He’s Asian. For whatever reason, Mogul just seems to love to spite our Asian Persuasion friends. For every one that you can name in FCM history that did good things, there’s 10 others that failed miserably. Some who Mogul dangled as forbidden sweet, sweet Chinese Donuts like you find at buffets before it snatches them away and torments you with unforgiving drops. The real question for him is if his contact can get above 70. As-is, he looks like he’ll get there. However, it appears that there will be a fine line between him being very useful and complete crap who can’t connect with a baseball. He needs to hit 90+, 88 in the least, in order to be good. Grade: Future Skills: 72 Con, 99 Pow, 87 Eye Scouting File Rank: 46 Scouting File Score: 83.99 RE: 2059 Nokes Draft Grades - mattynokes - 12-01-2015 All finally completed RE: 2059 Nokes Draft Grades - Rhendricks - 12-02-2015 I was so ready for that grade! Thanks as always for putting this together. I always enjoy reading them.