Sunday, May 31, 2009

Academic All-Big Ten Honors, Draft Reports

Congrats to the following baseball players for earning academic All-Big Ten Honors.

Matt Carr, Jr., Sport Marketing & Management, Indianapolis, Ind.
Evan Crawford, Jr., Marketing, Reynoldsburg, Ohio
Chris Hervey, Sr., Physical Education, St. James, N.Y.
T.C. Knipp, So., Sport Marketing & Management, Carmel, Ind.
Jerrud Sabourin, So., Biology, San Diego, Calif.
Kipp Schutz, Jr., General Studies, Evansville, Ind.
Ethan Wilson, So., Sport Communication-Broadcast, Pendleton, Ind.
Wes Wilson, So., Spanish, Lexington, Ky.


MLB.com Draft Reports

Eric Arnett
Summary: One of the biggest late risers in the Draft class, Arnett is a big right-hander who put himself into first-round consideration with a breakout junior season. He's got an above-average fastball and a slider that, while inconsistent, could be an out pitch as well. He struggles at times with his release point and arm angle, which hurts the effectiveness of the slider. He's come a long way in a short time, and the lack of track record may make some pause, as will the high pitch counts he had late in the year. But if he can develop an effective offspeed pitch, he's the kind of workhorse who could be a future No. 2 or 3 starter in the big leagues.

Josh Phegley
Summary: Few question whether Phegley can hit. He's got great skills at the plate. The questions are about his abilities behind it. He does some things well as a catcher, like calling his own game, but he has real trouble with pitchers who have a lot of movement. The more you believe in the bat, the higher you may take him. If a team thinks he can catch every day, he'll go plenty early because of the offense. If not, he's still a solid MLB backup, though that's not the type you take as quickly.

7 comments:

  1. The "high pitch count" reference again...

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  2. We seem to see it time and time again. With us losing probably at least 2 pitchers and maybe more to the draft I hope he doesnt do it to the pitchers next year. But, I think Smith might try to leave IU this year bc it is his best chance to leave before he has to fill a lot of spots next year.

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  3. ESPN has Arnett as a 1st round (mock draft) pick to the Mariners at #27. It should be fun on Tuesday to see how high Eric goes and how much money he will get. Good luck Eric at the next level.

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  4. Arnett had his draft opportunities grow better and better as he continued to show he can battle and has a will to win, not sit and count pitches. A scout of two may choose to add the "pitch count" issue to the discussion of any top pitcher, but most will take guys with guts any day over the overly cautious, "foot in tomorrow" type kid. Arnett and Bashore were both undrafted out of high school and not recruited by their local Big Ten school, OSU. They have been awesome at IU and have gotten better and better. That's gonna continue at the next level because they learned how to pitch for wins and play for the team and not themselves.

    On a side note, if you think Smith will leave, you know him not at all.

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  5. I thought Smith might leave too. He hasn't been able to get the facilities he needs yet and IU will always be a basketball school. It seems as though he has the personality to want to be at the big school with the big program and be the big coach. Plus, he is going to lose a LOT of talent. I think we will be able to rebuild the offense with guys on the bench this year that could have played for most other Big Ten schools, but the pitching will probably struggle next year especially if we lose more than Arnett and Bashore to the draft. But, maybe his ties to Indiana and the lack of other openings will keep him at IU.

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  6. Arnett and Bashore will both get better because they should receive more instruction at the next level. Good luck boys! I hope too many pitchers don't leave or we could REALLY struggle on the mound next year!

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  7. ...someone will step up.

    GO HOOSIERS!!!

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