Nationals Arm Race

UVA’s Derek Fisher is likely a mid-first round pick, the area’s highest projected for 2014. Photo via pennlive.com

I enjoyed writing about our local players and their draft prospects in 2013 (full 2013 draft results for players with DC/MD/VA ties here).  So here we go for a similar look in for 2014.  Believe it or not, local High Schools kick off play this week, despite the 6 inches of snow we just got.  Perfect Game just released their pre-season All-Atlantic Region team (and the Washington Post All-Met team did a nice review of it);  it  includes some names listed below in our local section.

I’ll talk about local prep kids, then MD/VA college prospects and then branch out to a larger MD/VA prep collection of players mentioned on various draft prep lists (links to which are at the bottom).

Here’s some names to keep an eye on for the 2014 season:

Washington DC Area Local Prep Players

• Jacob Bukauskas, a 16-yr old rising senior (he reclassified to skip a year of HS) who plays for Stone Bridge HS in Ashburn, is already up to 93 on the gun in showcase events and is going to graduate early to qualify for the 2014 draft.  He is committed (incredibly early) to UNC, but you generally don’t graduate HS a year early so you can go play 3 years in college.  #162 on MinorleagueBall’s list.  Pre-season PG all-Atlantic 1st  team.
• Justin Morris is a C from DeMatha HS who plays for the newly crowned 2013 PerfectGame national champions EvoShield Canes.  He’s a Maryland commit but may improve his draft stock with a strong 2014 spring.  #295 on minorleagueball’s list.  Pre-season PG all-Atlantic 1st  team.
• Tommy Doyle is a big (6’6″) RHP from my home town of Vienna, playing at Flint Hill Academy in Oakton.  PG has him at 91 and he’s committed to UVA.  I wonder if the competition he’ll face at the small private school Flint Hill will hamper scouting efforts.  Not in minorleagueball’s top 300.  Pre-season PG all-Atlantic 1st  team.
• Brodie Leftridge, a CF from Highland, MD (outside of Columbia) but going to local power St. Johns Prep.  Committed to Tennessee.   Profiles as a leadoff/CF type; ran a sub 6.6 60 per perfect game.  Ranked #256 on MinorleagueBall.com.   Pre-season PG all-Atlantic 1st  team.

Slim pickings of local HS guys this year unfortunately.  I may have to venture out to Ashburn to see Bukauskas throw.

College Guys in MD/VA:

• Derek Fisher is a lefty corner outfielder at UVA who passed up 6th round money out of HS and now projects as a possible mid 1st rounder.  Law has him higher than others, ranked 14th on his top 50.  MLBDraftInsider has him 16th, as does minorleagueball.  But we have seen relative talent ranking does not always equate to draft positioning in the modern bonus-limit era.  Minorleaguebaseball.com posted this profile of Fisher in early Feb, with a pretty detailed overview of his game and a prediction for middle-of-the-first round.  Nonetheless, he profiles as a good college bat in a draft that doesn’t have a ton of them, and he’ll probably go high.
• Mark Zagunas, C from Virginia Tech, #41 on MinorleagueBall’s list.
• Nick Howard, RHP from UVA, #111 on MinorleagueBall’s list.  He’s a weekend starter, but may be in trouble of losing his spot thanks to two standout sophomore starters who look to be your friday/saturday guys and the addition of freshman Connor Jones (who was a 1st round talent last year out of HS).
• Brandon Downes, CF from UVA, #145 on MinorleagueBall’s list.
• Mike Papi,1B/corner OF from UVA, #176 on MinorleagueBall’s list.
• Troy Stokes, OF from UMaryland, #209 on MinorleagueBall’s list.
• Brandon Cogswell, ss/2b from UVA, ranked #225 on MinorleagueBall’s list.
• K.J. Hockaday, SS from Harford Community College (which is in Bel Air, MD; I had to google it).  #235 on MinorleagueBall’s list.
• Jake Stinnett, sr RHP from UMaryland, has started the season strong and is getting some notice.

Five players in the top 225 draft prospects on UVA’s squad; no wonder they’re getting some heady pre-season praise (#1 on Baseball America’s pre-season rankings, ahead of NC State which boasts two potential top 5 overall picks).  Keith Law wrote specifically about UVA’s talent pool 2/25/14, saying that they’ll likely have their top five guys drafted in the first 3 rounds this year.

High School MD and VA Guys, from around the rest of the State

• Charlie Cody is a 3B from the same Great Bridge HS in Chesapeake that just graduated Connor Jones.  He’s committed to UVA.  Sullivan has him as the #34 HS prospect in the country in mid 2013.  He is known for his speed: a 6.6 60 time.  It should be interesting to see how he fares this spring and whether his stock rises enough to merit a top draft pick.  Here’s some video of a couple at-bats from baseballinstinct.com.  Ranked only #208 on MinorleagueBall’s list.  Pre-season PG all-Atlantic 1st  team.
• Jeff Harding is a senior RHP from Cambridge, MD committed to South Carolina.  PG has him up to 94 on the gun but he’s really undersized (listed as 5’11” 165).  Sullivan lists him as #44 HS prospect in the nation in mid 2013.   Minorleague ball has him at #75.  He seems like a good bet to head to school.  Fair or not, pitchers are considered too small these days unless they’re 6’4″.  Pre-season PG all-Atlantic 1st  team.
• Hunter Williams is a two-way lefty player from Cosby HS in Chesterfield, VA who has skills both on the mound at at the plate.  He’s limited to first base in the field, which may make it tougher for him to get drafted and developed.  91 on the gun.  Another UNC commit, it should be interesting to see which way he focuses.  Minorleagueball has him at #103.  Pre-season PG all-Atlantic 1st  team.
• Jack Gerstenmaier is a SS from Freeman HS in Richmond with a UVA commit.   #232 on MinorleagueBall’s list.   Pre-season PG all-Atlantic 1st  team.
• Devon Fisher is a solid catching prospect from Portsmouth, VA who is either at Greenbriar Christian Academy (a decent baseball development school) or Western Branch (per PG).  UVA committed.  He’s rising in the ranks by virtue of good showcase efforts.  Pre-season PG all-Atlantic 1st  team.
• Hunter Taylor is a C from a small HS on the Delmarva peninsula in Olney, VA (which I had to look up), who also plays with EvoShield and is committed to South Carolina.  Pre-season PG all-Atlantic 1st  team.
• Chase Pinder (brother of Va Tech 2013 2nd rounder Chad Pinder) is a senior SS from Poquoson, VA, committed to Clemson.  Pre-season PG all-Atlantic 1st  team.
• Taylor Lane is a taller SS/3B prospect also from Great Bridge HS in Chesapeake, committed to Florida.  Pre-season PG all-Atlantic 1st  team.
• Troy Stokes is an undersized OF with power from Calvert Hall College in Baltimore with a Maryland commit.  Pre-season PG all-Atlantic 1st  team.
• Derek Casey is an RHP from Mechanicsville, VA with a UVA commit.  Ranked #223 on MinorleagueBall.com.  Pre-season PG all-Atlantic 1st  team.

Lots of local guys on EvoShield; click here http://canesbaseball.net/canes-alumni/ for a look at their alumni.  AAU/Travel baseball is taking over the world.  Also, every guy listed here was on PG’s All-Atlantic team, so that’s clearly a good list to start from for prep interest.

A reminder; there’s almost no baseball talent within the District itself.  The DCPS baseball programs are in terrible shape (as talked about in this excellent WP Magazine article from a couple weeks ago), and the colleges within the city limits that do play baseball (GW, Georgetown in Division I, Gallaudet in Division III NEAC Conference and Catholic in Divison III Landmark Conference) are generally not power-house programs.

Lastly, Here’s some links to draft prep lists that profile national high school talents.

• Matt Garrioch‘s post from minorleagueball.com,
• Garrioch’s top 300 2014 draft prospects post in February
• Jeff Sullivan from 9baseball’s early 2014 draft proffer
• John Manuel ‘s early 2014 draft top-50 at Baseball America
• an early 2014 draft review from mlbdraftinsider.com
• Keith Law‘s early 2014 top-30 lists