The 2009 class is growing increasing top heavy with college players, with 20 of the top 35 on the PG Crosschecker Top 250 list for the June Draft currently playing college baseball. That total doesn’t include right handed pitchers Tanner Scheppers (Fresno State/St. Paul Saints) and Aaron Crow (Missouri/Fort Worth Cats), who played college ball in 2008 and are currently signed with independent clubs in the American Association.
With the draft now approximately five weeks out, we thought we’d take a quick look on how those 20 collegians did this weekend. The PG Crosschecker overall ranking is listed in brackets.
(1) RHP Stephen Strasburg/San Diego State: On one hand, Strasburg “only” struck out 12 in 8 innings against Santa Clara. On the other, he allowed on 3 hits and no runs in a 5-0 San Diego State win. Season totals: 10-0, 1.38 with 147 K’s in 78 innings (only 15 walks).
(4) RHP Kyle Gibson/Missouri: Gibson was business-like against a floundering Nebraska club on Friday, going 8 innings (6 hits, 4 runs, 1 BB, 8 K’s, 124 pitches) in a 6-4 Missouri win.
(5) RHP Alex White/North Carolina: White was cruising through 6 innings against Maryland on Friday before giving up 3 runs before retiring the side in the 7th. He picked up his 7th win against 1 loss in the Tar Heels 7-4 win.
(6) SS Grant Green/Southern California: Green went 3-11 with 1 Rbi and a double as the Trojans were swept in three games at Washington. He’s hitting .363-2-25 for the year with 13 steals but 15 errors.
(7) 1B Dustin Ackley/North Carolina: Ackley went 3-11 with a home run (13th) and 3 Rbi’s as North Carolina swept three games at home from Maryland. He’s hitting .384-13-40.
(11) LHP Rex Brothers/Lipscomb: Brothers allowed a three spot in the first against Belmont but Lipscomb came back to win 5-4 as Brothers evened his record at 5-5 in a complete game (7 hits, 2 BB’s, 10 K’s, 130 pitches) win.
(14) OF Jared Mitchell/Louisiana State: Mitchell, who had been slumping in SEC play after a fast start, had a nice weekend as LSU took 2 out of 3 games from Arkansas. The left handed hitter went 5-12 with 4 Rbi’s, hitting leadoff against RHP’s and seventh against Arkansas ace Dallas Keuchel, a southpaw.
(16) LHP James Paxton/Kentucky: The Canadian lefty earned his fifth win of the year (5-2, 5.40), going 8 innings while allowing 2 runs and striking out 12 against Tennessee. He threw 132 pitches and has now struck out 97 hitters in 65 innings this spring.
(18) LHP Mike Minor/Tennessee: Minor got hit hard in a matchup against South Carolina’s Sam Dyson, allowing 7 runs in 5 innings of work, walking 4 hitters while only striking out 1. He’s now 4-4, 3.93 on the year.
(20) RHP Mike Leake/Arizona State: Leake was his usual dominant self, running his record to 11-1, 1.59 with a 3 hit complete game win Friday over Oregon State. It was his fourth complete game of the year and he’s only allowed 53 hits in an NCAA leading 90 innings
(22) RHP Drew Storen/Stanford: Storen picked up his 5th win (5-1) on Saturday and his 7th save on Sunday as Stanford won two out of three from Washington State. He’s struck out 46 in 30 innings this year, allowing only 5 walks.
(23) LHP Joe Oliver/Oklahoma State: Oliver took the loss in OSU’s 5-3 loss to Kansas State on Friday, throwing 8 2/3 innings, allowing 9 hits and 5 runs while striking out 9. He’s now 5-5, 4.99 on the year.
(25) OF Tim Wheeler/Sacramento State: Wheeler only played 2 games over the weekend but went 5-8 with 2 home runs, 4 runs and 4 Rbi’s against San Jose State. He’s hitting .393-17-62 this spring.
(26) RHP Joe Kelly/Cal Riverside: Kelly had best hope that few scouts were sitting on college relievers on Friday night. The hard throwing right hander inherited a 5-2 lead in the top of the 9th against Pacific on Friday night and promptly allowed 6 runs in an eventual 9-5 UOP win.
(28) OF/LHP Brooks Raley/Texas A&M: Raley had a no-decision in the Aggies 4-3 win over Dallas Baptist, going 7 2/3 innings, allowing 7 hits and all 3 runs. He went 4-12 at the plate while scoring a couple of runs.
(29) 1B Rich Poythress/Georgia: Poythress went 5-16 with his 21st home run and 3 Rbi’s as Georgia dropped three games to Florida by a combined four runs. He’s now hitting .406-21-75 on the season.
(31) C Tony Sanchez/Boston College: Miami native Sanchez faced off against U. Miami this weekend, going 3-9 and scoring 4 runs, including a 3 walk, 3 run outing in a 13-3 BCU victory on Sunday. He leads BCU in runs scored this spring with 56 (.358-14-41), impressive for a catcher.
(32) RHP Eric Arnett/Indiana: Throw out the 5-run 7th inning against Purdue this weekend and Arnett had an outstanding start, throwing a complete game win (140 pitches) in a 10-6 Indiana win. He’s now 10-1, 2.86 on a team that is 12-23 when he doesn’t start.
(33) OF A.J. Pollock/Notre Dame: Pollock went 3-14 with 3 runs scored as the Fighting Irish dropped 2 out of 3 to UConn. He’s hitting .354-6-37 this season, primarily out of the leadoff spot.
(35) RHP Sam Dyson/South Carolina: Dyson was one out away from a complete game win over Vanderbilt Friday night but ended up with the win, going 8 2/3 innings (9 hits, 5 runs, 2 BB’s, 7 K’s). On the negative side, the draft eligible sophomore threw 139 pitches. He’s now 7-3, 5.05 this year in 73 innings.