Time to once again check in on the college players the Blue Jays may select with their first pick in the June draft.
Note - these are unadjusted stats. Adjustments for park and competition, however, have been made in the '04 Burley Rankings'. Stats are through May 3rd.
Pitchers:
Luke Hochavar, RHP, Tennessee 6'5', 205 lbs, 9/15/83 04 Burley Ranking - 215
Year Inn ERA K/9 BB/9 HR/9 2005 88.2 1.83 9.5 2.8 0.2 2004 63.0 2.86 8.6 3.3 1.0 2003 77.2 4.64 8.5 2.8 1.0
Mike Pelfrey, RHP, Wichita St 6'7", 215 lbs, 1/14/84 04 Burley Ranking - 27
Year Inn ERA K/9 BB/9 HR/9 2005 98.2 1.64 9.6 2.1 0.3 2004 115.1 2.18 9.8 1.9 0.2 2003 104.2 2.49 8.5 1.3 0.8
Ricky Romero, LHP, Cal St Fullerton 6'1", 195 lbs, 11/6/84 04 Burley Ranking - 11
Year Inn ERA K/9 BB/9 HR/9 2005 96.2 2.70 10.0 2.5 0.2 2004 155.0 3.37 7.3 2.4 0.5 2003 56.1 3.20 7.4 2.9 0.6
Hitters:
Alex Gordon, 3B, Nebraska 6'1", 205 lbs, 2/10/84 Hits: L – Throws: R 04 Burley Ranking - 5
Year ABs Ave Obp Slg 2005 159 0.396 0.553 0.761 2004 211 0.365 0.493 0.754 2003 216 0.319 0.426 0.495
Ryan Zimmerman, 3b, Virginia 6'3", 210 lbs, 9/28/84 Bats: R - Throws: R 04 Burley Ranking - 558
Year ABs Ave Obp Slg 2005 184 0.402 0.472 0.614 2004 249 0.361 0.395 0.454 2003 221 0.308 0.340 0.376
Jeff Clement, C, USC 6'1", 205 lbs, 8/21/83 Bats: L - Throws: R 04 Burley Ranking - 339 Year ABs Ave Obp Slg 2005 144 0.361 0.497 0.653 2004 198 0.293 0.416 0.515 2003 208 0.298 0.402 0.649
Stephen Head, 1B, Mississippi 6'2", 220 lbs, 1/13/84 Hits: L – Throws: L 04 Burley Ranking - 60
Year ABs Ave Obp Slg 2005 183 0.311 0.388 0.612 2004 228 0.346 0.419 0.583 2003 208 0.337 0.385 0.490
Troy Tulowitzki, SS, Long Beach St 6'3", 200 lbs, 10/10/84 Bats: R - Throws: R 04 Burley Ranking - 530
Year ABs Ave Obp Slg 2005 98 0.367 0.461 0.663 2004 230 0.317 0.410 0.491 2003 196 0.270 0.307 0.408
Jeremy Slayden, OF, Georgia Tech 6'0", 196 lbs, 7/28/82 Bats: L - Throws: R Year ABs Ave Obp Slg 2005 173 0.358 0.462 0.572 2004 35 0.286 0.366 0.400 2003 218 0.294 0.394 0.523 2002 256 0.348 0.442 0.625
Ryan Braun, 3b/SS, Miami FL 6'2", 205 lbs, 11/17/83 Bats: R - Throws: R 04 Burley Ranking - 132 Year ABs Ave Obp Slg 2005 158 0.424 0.505 0.778 2004 155 0.335 0.439 0.606 2003 242 0.364 0.446 0.665
Tyler Greene, SS, Georgia Tech 6'2", 188 lbs, 8/17/83 Bats: R - Throws: R 04 Burley Ranking - 785
Year ABs Ave Obp Slg 2005 185 0.324 0.413 0.514 2004 256 0.273 0.371 0.434 2003 228 0.316 0.391 0.474
In addition to those 11 players Wade Townsend, and Stephen Drew and Jered Weaver if they don't sign prior to the draft, could be in the mix at the top of the draft.
Recently spectulation has the Jays being interested in LHP Ricky Romero - JP Ricciardi was reportedly at a Cal St Fullerton / Long Beach St game a couple weeks ago presumably scouting Romero and Tulowitzki. Last season Romero's numbers weren't overwhelming, but he pitched in a hitter's park against good competition so his adjusted stats came out quite well. This season he's improved on his numbers to the point where he's getting consideration around the Jays pick.
High schooler Justin Upton and Gordon seem to be locks to be top 5 picks, and are likely to go 1-2. Cameron Maybin, another highly regarded HS'er, is also likely to be a top 5 pick. (It'd be interesting to see what the Jays would do if he were to be available at the sixth pick.)
After those three players the top players look to be pitchers - Hochaver, Pelfrey, and Romero. Among hitters Clement (C) and Zimmerman (3B) look to be the top hitting prospects in the draft.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20050501121942840