DRAFT 04

Unsure on Thornburg. Good pitcher, however. How about Marcus Covington? I thought that he was throwing 96 or 97 mph as reported by Impact Baseball and Andy Partin. I am no scout, but it seems that if he was throwing that hard he would get drafted higher than the 46th round by the Braves. Heck, the Braves drafted him last year in the 42nd round out of high school. I guess that doesn't say much for Louisburg and their helping him develop.

 

I would be careful making a general statement base on only where one player might be picked in the draft. Marcus may have let the Braves know that he prefered to remain at Louisburg another year to develop. Marcus has worked very hard this past year and has improved much. I am sure in another year he will have other opportunities, D1 to professional, plus one more year of education.

 

Concerning Marcus:

The MLB teams talk to the players and try to determine their signability prior to actually drafting them. Marcus may have been considered unsignable by many teams after a single year at Louisberg. He may want another year to polish his game and improve his potential position in the draft. So why would he be drafted? Many MLB Teams use the DFE (Draft, Follow, Evaluate) for players either headed for Juco or with still a year of eligibility left in Juco. This gives the player an additional year of JUCO work and the drafting team has up until a week before next year's draft to actually sign him.

Atlanta (and Marcus) may feel he's still a year-away, but wanted to secure the rights to him. If a DFE is signed, the bonus is usually much higher than the drafting position alone would dictate. It's more likely to be based on next springs performance and improvement. It remains to be seen if the Braves will opt to use the DFE on Marcus.

 

I am not downing Covington. I just thought that a pitcher throwing 96 mph as stated by Andy Partin from Impact Baseball would be a little higher pick than the 46th round. I know they had another pitcher at Louisburg that supposedly transferred there from Old Dominion to get drafted, but he didn't. His name is Renfrow and he supposedly threw 93-94 mph. Just wondering how scouts had missed the boat a kid throwing 96 mph and one throwing 94.

 

Yeah, I heard that Covington was heaving the pill this spring. I know that, back in HS the year before, he was more likely to be 87-89. That's a big improvement in velocity, but when you get a new toy like that (7-8 MPH jump), you have to learn how to control it and become a pitcher, not a thrower. I'm not saying that Marcus was just a thrower (I didn't see him this year). But you need more than 1 pitch to be considered a prospect, and you have to be able to control that pitch.

If you look at only one stat on a pitcher, look at his WHIP (Walks/Hits per Inning Pitched). That's the best indicator of control and pitchability. Louisburg doesn't have any stats available on their website, so I can't comment on either of them myself.

 

The fact that he was drafted low as a rising sophomore indicates to me that he's just being tracked. When I saw Marcus last year, he was playing centerfield. I thought with his speed, that would be an ideal place for him.


On the other hand, Brevard College's Chad Lanier passed up a middle (12th- to 14th-round) chance last year for Top 10 round money, and he went undrafted this year. Coach Payne said he thought Lanier had passed on his best chance, and apparently he had.

 

I can't imagine the same scout drafting him 4-5 rounds lower or not signing him if he had REALLY picked up 7-8 mph and was REALLY throwing 96 mph. Maybe Partin got his numbers mixed up, or is dislexic and he was throwing 89 and Partin thought it was 98. Anyway, but of luck to ALL the players that got drafted.

 

Kunta Hicks was Louisburg's best player in my mind. Jason Bowes was the top pitcher we saw when facing them.

Where is Thornburg heading next season?

 

Velocity isn't everything or even the main thing that the scouts are looking at. Experience, make-up, mound presence other intangibles weigh very highly in projecting a pitcher. Here's a couple of examples from the first round draft picks:

Pick #29 (1st Round): Matt Campbell, LHP, USC
... he touched the low 90s out of the pen last summer, he worked in the 85-89 mph range for most of the spring.

Pick #25 (1st Round): Kyle Waldrop, RHP, Farragut HS (TN)
...he throws an easy 88-91 mph fastball with an above-average spike curveball, while showing a feel for his changeup.

... as the old saying goes, "in the pro's, everyone can hit the fastball. You have to have that 2nd pitch".

 

bbfan123 -

I can read a radar gun with anybody big guy...

It wasn't me that clocked him at 96 mph back in the fall. I had him topping out at 94 mph. It was the Louisburg College radar gun that had him reaching 96 mph - I was sitting beside them when it happended.

Grab an anchor...