Here's a new twist on Pirates baseball: it's June 1st, the Pirates are in first place by 2.5 games over the Giants, with several teams 4 to 6 games back, and we're picking last in the amateur draft. It's a whole new world for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Because I have the time and I'm lacking inspiration for a Lang Thomason article, let's do a recap of the first round of the June amateur draft.
1)
Charlie "The Mayor" Smith, LF/RF, California Angels
Smith was far and away the top prospect available in the draft this season. The 18-year old out of Fly Creek, NY has no holes in his game: he hits for average, he hits for power, has decent plate discipline, plays good defense in the corner outfield spots and can swipe you a bag from time to time. He reminds me of Cap Marcrum, though better defensively.
2)
Glen Campas, 2B, Philadelphia Phillies
Campas is a smart player, good defensively with an arm that might give him a shot at playing shortstop as well. He's above average with the bat, but a good student of the game. The college boy isn't particularly fast, but he's got a good eye for pitcher's moves and runs the bases well.
3)
Dino Dinardo, CF, Chicago White Sox
A sweet-swinging lefty with serious pop in his bat. He's a bit of a free-swinger with an uppercut in his swing that allows him to elevate his line drives, but puts a bit of a hole in it for pitchers to potentially exploit. He's a capable defender with average speed. The worry is that he's a home-run hitter in an organization where home runs go to die at the major-league level.
4)
Vic Lewisson, SP, Atlanta Braves
The first pitcher taken in the draft, Lewisson is a control artist with a ball that moves all over the place. Just 19, he's already got the skills to go directly to AA at least and could move quickly through a building Braves organization.
5)
Bogey Heffner, 1B, Washington Senators
The Sens, whose top offensive prospects are all far down in the minors, picked up a major-league ready player in the 21-year old Heffner. It wouldn't be a surprise at all to see Heffner skip the minors entirely. With the Senators currently 18th in the league in runs scored, they don't have much reason not to try him out.
6)
Dick Justus, 3B, New York Mets
The Mets, who have struggled mightily since breaking the .500 mark midway through last season, picked up a defensive wizard at the hot corner in Justus. Scouts are already raving about the 21-year old's defense. He's not too bad at the plate, though there are some that say he could stand to hack at a few more pitches. He's well-developed and could see major league action by the end of the season.
7)
Chris Mikela, C, Baltimore Orioles
The Orioles are the surprise of the league this season, currently in first place in the AL. They got a nice looking player in Mikela, a capable offensive player with decent skills behind the plate. He's not Hall of Fame caliber, but he should be a quality backstop in a couple of years.
8)
Jim Jayas, SP, Houston Astros
An extreme groundball pitcher, everything Jayas throws is down, down, down. The college product shouldn't spend too long in the minors, but is probably a couple of years away even still. The southpaw looks to have a good shot at a career in the Astrodome.
9)
Barry Hartt, 2B, Kansas City Athletics
Hartt is typical of the sort of prospects available in this year's draft. After the top few players, we get into average bats and decent defense. Hartt is similar. Not much pop, but he makes good contact and won't embarrass himself going after rotten pitches.
10)
Eddie Millan, SP, San Francisco Giants
As the Giants restock their farm system, Millan immediately becomes one of their better prospects. He's not going to strike out a lot of guys, but with a good defense behind him, the control and movement artist ought to be a successful pitcher. He's a few years away, but at age 19, he's got time.
11)
Jerry Winslow, CF/RF, New York Yankees
Winslow's another nice player, nothing spectacular with the bat, but capable. Average speed, but good instincts on the basepaths. He's a better right fielder than center fielder, but he won't embarrass himself in either spot.
12)
Montey Lewis, RF, Los Angeles Dodgers
A good defensive right fielder with above average speed, Lewis will hit enough to be a starter someday, but to really excel, he'll need to work on picking out his pitches and putting good wood on them.
13)
Gabe Frau, 3B, Minnesota Twins
Frau is a little above average in all offensive areas, but he's a below-average defender at third base and might be better suited for the other corner. He's got decent power, but may not hit for a high average in the majors.
14)
Garrett Shanks, SP, Chicago Cubs
Immediately after being drafted, the Cubs sent Shanks to the Cleveland Indians in a trade for Floyd McCumber. Shanks is more of a strikeout artist, and if he expects to see much success in Cleveland, might want to work on keeping the ball down. He's had some injury problems in the past that the Tribe will be keeping a close eye on.
15)
Harry Hinze, 2B, Detroit Tigers
The rebuilding Tigers made a nice pick this late in the round with Hinze. He's a good defender with good speed and instincts, though he's going to need some work in the cage to have much of a career with the stick.
16)
Don Potsworth, RP, St. Louis Cardinals
Potsworth has outstanding control and keeps the ball down, and will keep just enough batters off-balance to strike out a few guys as well. He projects as a middle reliever, with the ability to pitch quite a few innings out of the bullpen.
17)
Floyd Cacy, SP, Cleveland Indians
The Indians get a back-of-the-rotation guy with their first round pick. He's slightly above average in all aspects, with good control. He has the potential to eat up a lot of innings, but will need a good outfield defense behind him, or he'll be watching a lot of baserunners end up on second and third.
18)
Lamar Carbo, 1B, Cincinnati Reds
Carbo is an average offensive player with no outstanding secondary skills, but the most impressive thing about his game is that he almost never strikes out. Scouts say that they once watched Carbo foul off 15 straight pitches before dumping an RBI double to win a game in his high school state tournament.
19)
Sandor Vajda, SP, Boston Red Sox
The New Jersey product is a strikeout pitcher who can get a little wild when he loses concentration. He could project out as a middle of the rotation guy if he works on his control.
20)
Lou Hamberrez, P, Pittsburgh Pirates
Our pick in the first round is a swingman, who could either be an innings-eater out of the pen or a back-end rotation/spot starter depending on how he handles his workloads. His best attribute is his control, and if he can keep runners off the bags, he could project out as a starter, which is where he'll be slotted in the minors. Hamberrez is a tall drink of water (6'7", 215) from Texas and throws a slider from a three-quarters arm slot to go with a decent fastball.