While I can't say I know more about the MLB draft than your average serious baseball fan, I was initially disappointed by the Sox's first pick,
taking 6-foot-7-inch lefty Aaron Poreda with the 25th pick. I'd never heard his name before, but
the Baseball America scouting report made my stomach turn:
Scouting Report: Poreda wasn't on the radar screen in high school; he
focused more on football as a defensive end/tight end. He did pitch a
bit, even tossing a no-hitter, but was awkward and had suspect arm
action. In three seasons at San Francisco working with pitching coach
Greg Moore, however, he has developed into a first-round candidate and
one of the nation's hardest-throwing lefthanders. Poreda works off the
fastball almost as much as UC Riverside's James Simmons (No. 47), and
like Simmons, it's his only above-average pitch. While his fastball was
flat and 89-90 mph in his 2007 opener, he has been consistently in the
low 90s since then, touching 96-97 and regularly hitting 94. He throws
plenty of strikes (though he lacks true command), and with his
6-foot-6, 240-pound frame, he should prove durable. He doesn't pitch as
downhill as he should at his size, in part because of his low
three-quarters arm slot. Poreda's arm action and lower slot make his
breaking ball a fringe-average pitch at best, though it has improved.
He has the makings of a changeup but hasn't thrown it much, sticking to
his fastball. He had experimented with a higher slot to aid his
breaking ball, but the move cost his fastball some of its late life and
was back to his old slot.
My first thought was: Doesn't this sound an awful lot like Andrew Sisco or Matt Thornton?
You can read
an extended scouting report here, and see
video of him in action here.
At any rate, it does signal the promised departure from taking low-ceiling strike-throwers. And there's really no use in being negative for an extended period of time because I can't see the future. But it could very well be the case that White Sox fans follow Detroit's first-round pick, Rick Porcello, just as closely.
Porcello, a high-school pitcher with a 96-m.p.h. fastball and three other quality pitches,
was ranked as high as No. 1 on some lists, but being that Scott Boras represented him, he fell down the list considerably. The Tigers ended up taking him two picks after the Sox did, and given that they were presented with
a similar situation last year with Andrew Miller, chances are they'll do what they can to sign him.
Second round: Nevin Griffith, a Tampa high school right-hander with a 91-93 m.p.h. fastball, three other pitches in the works and a reportedly admirable level of poise. MLB.com said
he'd be picked in the supplemental round, and
John Sickels would've picked him in the first. Thumbs up, for all I know.
Conor Glassey
interviewed Griffith a couple days ago at Stop the Wave, and it's a good read. For instance, you'll learn how he approaches left-handed hitters, and also find out that he hates pizza. I didn't think that was possible.
Third round: John Ely, a 6-foot-1-inch righty from Miami of Ohio. He's
a Homewood-Flossmoor kid with
a delivery that reminds me of Mike MacDougal's -- kinda jerky with a head snap. This is more of a traditional Sox pick, favoring college performance over physical specimen or raw stuff, but the radar gun readings on that video show he can change speeds quite significantly.
Fourth round: Leroy Hunt, a 6'6" righty with
a lot of movement on his fastball out of a three-quarter slot. It's hard to imagine him throwing a quality breaking ball from that angle, though. He is white, which I wouldn't have assumed if I had to guess.
Fifth round: Nathan Jones, a 6'5" righty. *shrug*
It's a little disappointing to see the Sox go hitterless, especially when it's been a long time -- what, since Aaron Rowand's fluke season? -- since we've seen a homegrown hitter actually hit at the major-league level. Then again, considering the luck the Sox have had with hitters in the first round, maybe they should stick with their strengths.