The 2007 1st round draft class was highly pitcher centric with 17 of the first 30 picks being pitchers, of those 9 were from college and 8 were from high school. 14 of these pitchers have started their minor league seasons with 4 being sidelined due to injury including Andrew Brackman who was drafted by the Yankees under the knowledge of his necessity for Tommy John surgery. These pitchers are distributed throughout the minor league levels with 2 at AA, 7 at High A Ball and 4 at Low A Ball. Surprisingly the High Schoolers are currently having more success. Overall the High Schoolers of which 2 are in High A and 4 are in Low A have a 2.62 ERA and a record of 25-17. In comparison the Collegians of which 5 are in High A Ball and 2 are in Double A, have an 18-17 record with 3 saves and an ERA of 3.81. The Collegians K rate, Walk Rate, Average against and WHIP are all higher than the High Schoolers average.
If I put money on one player making the big leagues first I would probably gamble on Casey Weathers who is a reliever for the Rockie from Vanderbuilt. Currently in Double A Weathers has 22 appearances all in relief and has an ERA of 2.05, over a strike out per inning and a WHIP of 1.18. Many of these teams are drafting relievers out of college and putting them on the fast track to the majors (see Houston Street & Chad Cordero). I wouldn't be surprised if Weathers got called up later this season to get a look.
#1 pick David Price threw a ton in extended Spring Training but in 3 starts in Triple A he has yet to give up a single run. So he too could be on the fast track to the major leagues.
The High Schooler currently having the most success is left handed pitcher Madison Bumgarner in the Giants organization. The #10 pick in the draft is 5-2 with a 2.10 ERA and a WHIP of 1.01 as well as a K rate of 10.34 per 9 innings. Blake Beavan (Rangers), Phil Aumont (Mariners) and Rick Porcello (Tigers) are all playing very well and are not far behind Bumgarner's production.All in all these pitchers are looking like the real deal so far. Only 3 of the active pitchers have an ERA above 3.50 thus far this season. All of these players happen to be Collegians. Once again you can't judge a baseball draft pick by his first 2 months but its nice to see your 18 year old throwing 95 miles per hour and retiring professional hitters with ease.
| 1 | David Price | LHP | Devil Rays | Vanderbilt | Vero Beach (FSL) | HiA |
| 4 | Daniel Moskos | LHP | Pirates | Clemson | Lynchburg (CAR) | HiA |
| 6 | Ross Detwiler | LHP | Nationals | Missouri State | Potomac (CAR) | HiA |
| 8 | Casey Weathers | RHP | Rockies | Vanderbilt | Tulsa (TEX) | AA |
| 9 | Jarrod Parker | RHP | Diamondbacks | Norwell HS, Ossian, Ind. | South Bend (MWL) | LoA |
| 10 | Madison Bumgarner | LHP | Giants | South Caldwell HS, Hudson, N.C. | Augusta (SAL) | LoA |
| 11 | Phillippe Aumont | RHP | Mariners | Gatineau, Quebec | Wisconsin (MWL) | LoA |
| 17 | Blake Beavan | RHP | Rangers | Irving (Texas) HS | Clinton (MWL) | LoA |
| 19 | Joe Savery | LHP | Phillies | Rice | Clearwater (FSL) | HiA |
| 20 | Chris Withrow | RHP | Dodgers | Midland (Texas) Christian HS | ||
| 22 | Tim Alderson | RHP | Giants | Horizon HS, Paradise Valley, Ariz. | San Jose (CAL) | HiA |
| 23 | Nick Schmidt | LHP | Padres | Arkansas | ||
| 24 | Michael Main | RHP | Rangers | Deland (Fla.) HS | ||
| 25 | Aaron Poreda | LHP | White Sox | San Francisco | Winston-Salem (CAR) | HiA |
| 26 | James Simmons | RHP | Athletics | UC Riverside | Midland (TEX) | AA |
| 27 | Rick Porcello | RHP | Tigers | Seton Hall Prep, West Orange, N.J. | Lakeland (FSL) | HiA |
| 30 | Andrew Brackman | RHP | Yankees | North Carolina State |
Comments