April 17, 2011
Anonymous -> “NatsGM, can you give us a preview of whom the Nationals might be selecting with the #6 pick in this upcoming June’s baseball draft?”
Great question! I plan to do much more draft coverage going forward, as I spend a significant amount of time scouting and watching college baseball. (as Mrs. NatsGM can attest to) While we are still about seven weeks away from draft day, things are beginning to shake out a bit and rumors are beginning to swirl. Keith Law this week tweeted that the Nationals were focused on “a college starting pitcher”, which makes sense as the organization always preaches pitching and the strength of this draft at the top is quality starting pitching.
As of today, the top two prospects are RHSP Gerrit Cole from UCLA and 3B Anthony Rendon from Rice University. Cole was drafted by the Yankees in the 1st round three years ago, but decided to spurn their offer, rumored to be over $4 million, and attend college. Cole has most everything you would want in a college starter and compares similarly to Stephen Strasburg in prospect profile. Rendon has dominated with the bat his first two seasons at Rice and last summer with Team USA. However, an ankle injury last year and some shoulder issues this year have forced him to DH for most of this season and his hitting is off a bit as well. That said, he profiles as a third baseman with an elite bat and slightly above average to plus defensive skills when healthy. Cole and Rendon should go #1 and #2 in some order unless something very surprising happens.
Behind Cole and Rendon is a group of three High School players( OF/RHP Bubba Starling of Kansas, RHP Dylan Bundy of Oklahoma, and SS Francisco Lindor of Florida) and six college starting pitchers (LHP Danny Hultzen University of Virginia, LHP Jed Bradley Georgia Tech, RHP Sonny Gray Vanderbilt, RHP Taylor Jungmann University of Texas, Matt Barnes UConn, and LHP Matt Purke TCU) battling to round out the top ten. While there are some other names worth mentioning in this spot, likely the Nationals will be making a choice between the nine prospects listed above. I have seen all the college players play but unfortunately have not seen anything besides clips of the high school players. I will be dedicating more time in the upcoming weeks spotlighting many of these players, but in general, I think Bradley and Purke have the highest ceilings, Hultzen is the safest choice, and Jungmann and Barnes need more polish than the others.
Sara C. from Lancaster, PA -> “Hey NatsGM, what are your favorite seats in Nationals Park?”
Another great question, I love my readers… Overall, I think that Populous, the group that built Nationals Park, did a great job of making every seat in the park a quality place to watch the game. In the three plus seasons that the park has been open, I have been fortunate enough to sit in most areas of the stadium, including the prime seats right behind home plate. While the prime seats are really nice (especially on someone else’s dime) I always tend to sit in the outfield in right center field. If I am trying to focus and watch the game, I personally like sections 141, 142, and 143, as they provide a nice view of the pitcher throwing to the batter and into the catcher’s mitt.
However, if I am going with friends to soak up the atmosphere more so than tilt on the starting pitcher’s curveball, I tend to migrate up to the Miller Lite Score Board area and sit in sections 240-243. This area tends to have a larger group of young people and a more social environment, with some focused on the play on the field and others enjoying the outdoor bar and socializing with friends. Both areas are great for watching the game and the ticket price is below $25, so both provide solid value for your money.
Edgar from Lancaster, PA -> “What is your favorite and least favorite unwritten rule(s) in baseball?”
Who knew I had such a big audience in Lancaster, PA? I have been sitting on this question for a few days as I wanted to give it some thought.
My least favorite “unwritten rule” is easy: I despise the football style collisions at home plate and the take out slides at second base to break up double plays. Just in the past year we have seen Carlos Santana from Cleveland and Tsuyoshi Nishioka from Minnesota severely injured their legs in plays of this nature. Far too often the line between clean play and dirty play gets blurred and I see nothing gained from these violent collisions. The game would lose nothing if feet first slides at home plate and sliding directly into second base were mandatory, yet the fans, owners, and even the players would benefit from the reduced number of injuries that would result.
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Honorable Mention
-> Using your closer if you are up 3 runs in the ninth inning, but using an “inferior” reliever if up four runs.
-> Building off the previous rule, using your “best” reliever strictly in the ninth inning as your closer, rather than using him in the most pivotal situation during a game.
-> The players in the bullpen rushing to engage themselves in bench clearing brawls. By the time they show up the “brawl” is complete.
-> Starting pitchers are automatically tired after 100 pitches, if not before.
My favorite “unwritten rule” was much tougher to identify but after overthinking the question, the answer was relatively simple: “Always run out ground balls, even routine ones.” I take it a step further and state “Run EVERYTHING out, every play and every base”. It infuriates me when I see players jog out of the batter’s box and fail to beat out a play at first base or fail to take the extra base. The worst example occurs when a player fails to back up a base or a throw and allows a runner to take an extra base or costs the team a run. Baseball has very few moments when you must be moving, there is no excuse not to hustle.
Honorable Mention
-> Pitchers must retaliate for egregious acts committed by opposing pitchers, but must never throw at a batter’s head or above the letters.
->A batter should never show up an opposing pitcher after hitting a home run off him.
I wonder if I am more popular in Lancaster than David Hasselhoff is in Germany?
Email me at NationalsGM@gmail.com with questions or general feedback and follow me on twitter @natsgmdotcom. Thanks for reading and please continue to spread the word.