NC State Recruiting Year

That Confirms It!

NC State is going to be very good, or come June they are going to be looking for a middle infield.

Jeff Bianchi, from Pennsylvania, is in the same mold. Jeff is very similar to Synans player.

The one thing I should mention, Jeff's dad is an educator, and everytime I talk the draft to him, he wants Jeff to get a college education!

The nice thing, all these kids are working hard and we get the opportunity to say good things about them! What a wonderful world.

Enjoy the holidays!
Al McCormick
www.mostvaluableplayer.biz

 

LEt me clarify - never said Jeremy could not play short or Miclat could not play there - Ive seen em both dozens (Miclat hundreds) of times there. Both are strong up the middle. I just think they'd be even better at 3rd and center respectively. But I was wrong once before and this is pure speculation/opinion anyway. Great kids. Great discussion. I only wish em both the absolute best

 

No disagreement here on the need for pitching. But Moneyball is not about not spending money (evidence LA and Boston), it is about spending money wisely. It is about a disciplined approach to evaluating players based on what they have done statistically rather than on their promise, the scout's feel, and solely on tools. It is about relying on statistics that correlate to wins over the long term, -- like strikeouts to walks and ground ball percentage for pitchers, like walks to strikeouts, on base percentage, slugging percentage, and BA with runners in scoring position for hitters. At this point the key statistics have not been developed as much for pitchers as for hitters -- peolple haven't been tracking fly balls vs. ground balls very long, but you can bet these Ivy league grads turned GMs will get there soon. For them it is about finding an advantage, using important stats to find undervalued players, and to determine who the over valued players are and letting them go. It is, simply, about making good business decisions with the assets available to you. It is, for example, why Pedro will no longer be in Boston next year.

But, this is off the subject of this thread.

On the subject of the thread, there is another third baseman headed to NCSU who has been my favorite offensive player in the class of '05 since I first saw him, and that player is Drew Martin (Gastonia Ashbrook). The kid can play, he is the consummate team player, he is the best hitter his age in the clutch, when the pressure is on, I've seen. The kid just finds ways to win. He hits the ball hard virtually every time up and he rarely strikes out, andd the beter the pitcher, the more he steps up. He may not make the spectacular plays on defense, but he makes all the plays he should make, and that is an under-rated quality. I'll put his errors per chance up against anyones.

 

No contentions here. You are right on about Drew. Love him too as a player and a young man. State has some great options (no chance Upton will play there or they'd really be unbelievable!)

 

There is a good possibility you will see Jeremy at 3rd for the first year or two. Could even see him in LF. Realize that the SS at NC State last year made 3 errors the whole year and he was only a freshman.

AS I have told his Dad................with that BAT from the left side he "WILL" play somewhere!! They will find a position. Offense is what the PACK needs. They have pitching and defense.

 

welllllllll...

Miclat would make a GREAT CF i speculate haven t had a chance to see ALOT of him but sooooomme quality time! Main thing with the SS is you gotaa be CONSISTENT.. IMHO

 

What a great segue...Drew is up next on my interview. Some players are naturally gifted (and Drew certainly is that) but not all are "Gamers" (guys that you want up to bat or a ball hit to them at a critical time). Drew Martin is simply a consummate team player willing to sacrifice anything in order to win a game. If you need a hit...bring Drew up...if you need a key out...hit it in his direction. The kid can flat out play!!! I've followed Drew since his freshman year and I have told him this many times...he is a my favorite player to watch. He just does everything the right way.

 

With the players they have this season, as well as the new facilities they enjoy at NCSU, the indoor facility at Doak is awesome, plus the addition of Coach Guzzo, who is a fine head coach in his own right, they have the right combination of coaching experience to lead their players well this season. If you haven't seen Doak since the renovation, you need to, it is awesome!!