The first year player draft was held for the Continental Baseball League last night. Your Indianapolis Arrows had the 1st overall pick. The following is a pick by pick break down and the teams thoughts on each selection.
Round 1: Pick 1 (1st Overall): RF Jeff Hanson Brown University Age: 21| Bats: R | Throws: R (OSA .5/3.0) (Ki-chun Ahn 1.0/4.0)
This may have been a surprise for most of the league. Word around the league is most scouts didn’t have Hanson rated as highly. Hanson was the 2nd best player in the draft according to Ahn.
Scouting Report: Report on CF Jeff Hanson from Ki-chun Ahn: Jeff Hanson currently plays in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for the Brown University Brown Bears. He projects to hit for a high average with his smooth swing. He has plus power potential. He has plus speed that will put pressure on the defense. Hanson has enough power potential in his swing to profile as a future middle-of-the-order candidate.
GM Notes: “Our minor league system is very weak at right field behind Channon. So drafting someone that was natural RF was a high priority for us. Ahn had Hanson as best RF on the board and 2nd best overall, behind a later draft pick of ours. So it was a logical decision for us to draft him. Only other options for 1st pick was starting piching, unfortunately none of our scouts felt the draft pool warranted a 1st overall pick on them”
Round 2: Pick 1 (26th Overall): SP Dave Dolgin Cathedral Preparatory Age: 17 | Bats: R | Throws: R (OSA 0.5/3.0) (Ahn 0.5/3.0)
Dolgin was the 1st of 6 starting pitchers taken by the Arrows.
Scouting Report: Report on SP Dave Dolgin from Ki-chun Ahn: Dave Dolgin currently plays in the National Federation High School State Associations for the Cathedral Preparatory School Red Storm. He should headline a three-pitch repertoire with a swing-and-miss circle change. He has great raw stuff, although his command is still coming around. Dolgin should end up near the top of any major league rotation.
GM Notes: “As our fans know, pitching and especially starting pitching has been a weak spot for our entire organization. So pitching was a area we wanted to get some good depth at.”
Round 3: Pick 1 (45th Overall): 2B Steve Dunckel East High School Orcas Age: 17 | Bats: S | Throws: R (OSA 0.5/2.0 (Ahn 0.5/3.0)
Dunckel was rated at 10th best player in the draft by Ahn and was highest rated second baseman. They Arrows are currently ranked 20th in postion ranking at 2B, with Kyu-jin Bhang as the every day starter this season. The highest rated prospect at that position is 21 year old Norberto Márquez.
Scouting Report: Report on 2B Steve Dunckel from Ki-chun Ahn: 17 -year old second baseman Steve Dunckel is from Metairie, Louisiana. He has plus power potential. He has plus speed that will put pressure on the defense. He has an excellent eye at the plate, which should inflate his on-base percentage. Dunckel is projected to be an above average, everyday big league player.
Round 4: Pick 1 (64th Overall): CL Artie Cooper USC Trojans
Age: 21 | Bats: R | Throws: R (OSA 1.5/5.0 (Ahn 1.5/3.5)
Cooper was the highest rated player in the draft according to OSA. Ahn also had him as the 4th best player overal and #1 closer.
Scouting Report: Report on CL Artie Cooper from Ki-chun Ahn: Artie Cooper is a power pitcher who tops out at 98-100 mph and was born in Lakeland Highlands, Florida. He throws a fastball and curveball. Everyone raves about his elite stuff. Cooper may eventually settle in toa key role in the bullpen.
Round 4: Pick 21 (84th Overall): 1B Kevin Christopherson Seneca High School Wolf Pack. Age: 17 | Bats: R | Throws: R (OSA 0.5/0.5 (Ahn 0.5/4.0)
Christopherson may be the biggest unknown in the draft. OSA did not think highly of him, however Ahn raved about his natural talent. He was ranked #1 overall by the Arrows scouting department.
Scouting Report: Kevin Christopherson is a big 6-foot-4, 205-pound first baseman from New River, Arizona. He should have excellent plate discipline and will take a walk if he doesn’t geta pitch to hit. Once he fully develops he should have enough power to be a home run threat at the plate. He has a quick bat that handles most fastballs, but off-speed stuff can challenge him. Expecta batting average around .250. Scouts project Christopherson to fill a key role for a contending team in the big leagues.
GM Notes: “I know the consensus wasn’t as high on Christopherson as we were and 4th round may have been a bit of a reach as we believe he would have been there later. But it was too much of a gamble. We are already pretty deep at 1B in the organization but when your scout says he’s ranked #1 you take the gamble.”
The 2nd day of the draft (auto portion) wasn’t as exciting for Arrow fans but they did get some nice depth at pitching. The 5th round 1st pick 86th overall was the 2nd starter pitcher taken by the Arrows. This time it was 17 year old Darrell Ellis . Followed at pick 105 with 21 year old Ed Gibeault.
125th Overall: SP Clarence Nicastro
145th Overall: SP Dave Shelhamer
165th Overall: SP Stephanie Rudes
185th Overall: MR Jim Remmers
Authors Note: I may have went a bit overboard on the pitching but it seems to be so hard to come by. So at least know I have some good minor league depth in the future.