Austin Voth remains the “class” of the 2013 draft class. Photo mlb.com official
(Coming back to this series post Winter Meetings hoopla). Fourth in our set of Draft class Reviews for the 2016 season. First was the 2016 class, then the 2015 class then the 2014 class.
Web links to use while reading:
- Stats are pulled from milb.com and/or fangraphs.com; put the player name into the search bar to get his seasonal stats
- The 2016 MLB.com Draft Tracker (which I believe is the best draft tracker out there) is the best place to get draft class information.
- The 2016 Bonus Tracker
- The Big Board and the Draft Tracker are the goto resources for prospects for any Nats fan.
- More obscure stats on players are sometimes found at places like thebaseballcube.com, perfectgame.org, their college websites, twitter accounts for the players, and good old fashioned deep-dive googling.
- My historical list of Nats prospect rankings, updated for all 2016 mid-season rankings.
This review is especially important to follow because the college-age draftees in this 2013 class are Rule-5 eligible this coming off-season. I think its a big reason why several of these guys are in the AFL right now, and their performance may or may not influence the team’s decision to protect or leave exposed. We’ll put a pin in this post when we eventually do Rule-5 Analysis later this month.
With out further ado…
Round 1: forfeited w/ Rafael Soriano signing, which as I noted in this June 2013 post cost the Nats a shot at one of several highly regarded pitchers drafted just behind our vacated spot (the Cardinals actually took Kaminsky, but I doubt the Nats would have; i think they would have taken Manaea). Here’s a quick summary of 2016’s season for the guys I liked at the time in that spot (Rob Kaminsky, Sean Manaea, Ryne Stanek, Ian Clarkin):
- Kaminsky: 11-7 with a 3.28 ERA in a full season starting for AA in his age 22 year. Was flipped in 2015 to Cleveland from St. Louis (his drafting team) in the Brandon Moss deal.
- Manaea: 7-9 with a 3.86 ERA in 24 starts for Oakland this year. Was flipped in 2015 to Oakland from Kansas City (his drafting team) in the Ben Zobrist deal.
- Stanek: split time between AA and AAA, was removed from the rotation and struggled in relief.
- Clarkin: went 6-9 with a 3.31 ERA in High-A as a 21-yr old after losing all of 2015 to injury.
I’ve more than said my peace on how much I disagreed with the Soriano signing and its opportunity cost. Lets move on.
Round 2: Jake Johansen, Coll Sr. RHP (Starter, now a Reliever) Dallas Baptist U. 4-1 3.19 ERA across 3 levels in 2016. 29/22 K/BB in 36 2/3 mostly middle relief innings. 1.64 whip. Johansen started the year in Potomac, walked 11 guys in 6 appearances and was dumped back to XST. Once the GCL started he threw a few innings in Florida before joining Hagerstown for the rest of the year. He had 11 appearances and 19 IP in Low-A with good numbers … but at this point in his career (he’ll turn 26 in a couple of months) and given where he was drafted, the fact that he can’t seem to cut it anywhere above Low-A ball seems like a pretty succinct judgement of the pick. I’m guessing he hangs around until he hits 6-years in the system, but any hopes of him turning into even a marginal middle reliever seem shot. If he was anything other than a big-bonus 2nd rounder he would have likely been released already. He’s toiling in the AFL and (as of this writing) had only given up one run in 9 innings, but had a measly 3 punch-outs against the elite hitters of the minors. With any luck, this confidence boost will carry over into 2017. Trending Down.
Round 3: Drew Ward, HS 3B. Slashed .252/.348/.412 across 2 levels, ending the year in Harrisburg. 121/56 K/BB in 408 ABs, 14 homers. Ward’s age 21 season went pretty well; he started the year in Potomac but posted an .868 OPS there in 53 games to force his promotion to AA. He hit just .219 once he got there though, which means we’re likely seeing him back there in 2017. His strikeout rate remains a problem: 121 Ks in 408 Abs is a 30% clip. But the team clearly rates him; he’s in the AFL for the 2nd straight off-season and is hitting .327 against the best the minors has to offer. And he was a 21 yr old in AA; lots of 21 yr olds are still in Short-A. He’s also starting to get some prospect notice; generally getting ranked in the 12-15 range in the system. I’m going to say Trending Up … lets hope he can put up .800 OPS figures in AA in 2017.
Round 4: Nick Pivetta, Juco RHP (starter) New Mexico Juco. Traded 7/28/15 to Philadelphia for Jonathan Papelbon. He had a solid year starting between AA and AAA and could feature for the Phillies as a 9/1 callup next year. For all of us that can’t stand these moves for closers (see above lost 1st rounder), this may have the jeopardy of haunting us for years if Pivetta becomes a regular rotation member of an NL East rival. Maybe they’ll leave him off their 40-man roster this coming off-season and we can Rule5 draft him 🙂
Round 5: Austin Voth, Coll Jr RHP (starter) UWashington: 7-9, 3.15 ERA in 25 starts for AAA Syracuse. 133/57 K/BB in 157 IP, 1.24 whip, 3.53 FIP, .279 BABIP. Another year, another solid season for Voth. I’m not sure what else there is for him to accomplish in the Minors at this point; he seems to be the pitcher that he is. His BABIP was in-line with his career numbers, he’s slightly regressed in a K/9 rate since arriving at AAA, and his ERA seems to be in line with his career numbers. As discussed in this space earlier this year, I’m not quite sure why the team didn’t add him at the 9/1 roster expansion date; clearly they’re going to add him ahead of Rule-5 (which they did) but instead chose to leave him on the sidelines while they had September tryouts for Mat Latos. Clearly he’s behind several of his AAA rotation mates on the depth chart, but I feel like he could still be a valuable rotation member for the Nats or someone else. Given our starter depth, one has to think he’s trade bait at this point (he’s behind Lopez, Giolito and Cole clearly). He seems like the kind of guy a team like Oakland would love. Trending Up. Post writing update: with the firesale of Nats SP candidates, Voth suddenly is like 2nd in line for getting MLB starts, so we look forward to seeing him in a Nats uniform at some point in 2017 and seeing if he’s the 2nd coming of Tanner Roark … or if he’s more like Taylor Jordan.
Round 6: Cody Gunter, Juco 3B/RHP (reliever) from Greyson College: 0-0 in 2/3rds of an IP for GCL before getting shutdown for the season. He looked halfway decent for Auburn in 2015 while converting from his drafted position (3B) to the mound, but 2016 is a big step-back. I don’t know what to expect in 2017; perhaps a shot at the Hagerstown pen or an outright release. Trending Down.
Round 7: Jimmy Yezzo, Coll Jr 1B from UDelaware. Released on 7/22/15. Played a full season with the Washington PA team in the Indy Frontier League, hitting .220.
Round 8: David Napoli, Coll Sr LHP (relief) from Tulane. Released 3/16/16 after four seasons where he never got above A ball.
Round 9: Jake Joyce, Coll Sr RHP (reliever) from Va Tech. Released in 7/7/14.
Round 10: Brennan Middleton, Coll Sr SS/2B from Tulane. Released on 6/30/15.
Round 11: John Simms, Coll jr RHP (starter) from Rice. 8-5, 3.30 ERA in 29 games (11 starts) for AA. 79/28 K/BB ratio in 92 2/3rds innings, 1.08 whip, 3.84 fip, .254 babip. Simms was the opening day starter for Harrisburg in 2016, but never seemed destined for the rotation; he was mostly a long reliever/spot starter, never throwing even 90 pitches in an outing. He did not go to the AFL this year after going last year; what is his planned usage going forward? His numbers look good; is he destined to move up to AAA and be a 6th starter again? He seems to be able to compete, so we’ll see how he does against more veteran/mature competition in 2017. Trending Steady.
Round 12: Andrew Cooper, Juco RH relief pitcher from Sierra College. Released on 1/12/16, not even getting a chance to compete for a spot in the High-A bullpen. Seems like the team let him try to earn his way up on the field and it never happened.
Round 13: John Costa, Juco RH relief pitcher from Palm Beach CC. Released 4/1/15.
Round 14: David Masters, Juco SS/3B from Central Arizona College: Slashed just .174/.259/.280 with 56/23 K/BB in 236 ABs in High-A. 6HR, 1SB. Masters seemed to play every other day in a utility role for Potomac, posting anemic batting stats but staying with the team the whole year. I thought he was in trouble after hitting just .226 LAST year but he stuck around the whole season. I said this last season, but it seems like Masters isn’t long for the organization. Trending down.
Round 15: Isaac Ballou, Coll Sr OF/CF from Marshall (via Germantown, MD). Slashed .255/.332/.386 mostly for AA Harrisburg. 77/42 K/BB in 373 AA at-bats, 6hr, 7SB. Ballou split time between the corner OF spots and had a couple of stints covering for Syracuse. Ballou didn’t stick as a starter in AAA, instead repeating AA for the most part. Depending on how the MLB roster numbers shake out, he may have the same issue in 2017. Trending Steady.
Round 16: Willie Allen, Juco Corner OF from Oklahoma/Newtown, MA. Did not sign; transferred to Lewis-Clark State (ID), where he played for a year in 2015, then has apparently disappeared. He was not on their 2016 roster, and he does not appear to still be playing.
Round 17: Geoff Perrott, Coll Sr C from Rice. Retired 1/5/2015
Round 18: Cory Bafidis, Coll Sr LH relief pitcher from Texas Wesleylan. Released 7/7/2014.
Round 19: Niko Spezial, Coll Sr LH relief pitcher from Wake Forest. Released 5/28/14.
Round 20: Brenton Allen, Coll Jr Corner OF from UCLA. Released 6/21/14.
Round 21: Justin Thomas, Coll Sr LH relief pitcher from Southern Arkansas. 3-2, 4.75 ERA while repeating High-A. 36/21 K/BB in 47 1/3 relief innings, 1.37 whip, 4.50 fip, .281 babip. Last year I liked Thomas and thought he’d easily move up to AA. Didn’t happen; he repeated Potomac and his numbers went down. His lefty-lefty splits aren’t especially good, which precludes his value as a lefty specialist, so I wonder what his role is going forward at this point. I’d guess he’ll compete for AA spot but may be a release candidate. Trending down.
Round 22: Cody Dent, Coll Sr SS from UFlorida. Released 7/15/16 after getting demoted out of High-A and hitting just .195 as a 24-yr old in low-A. Even his pedigree (he is the son of legendary Bucky Dent) couldn’t save him.
Round 23: Garrett Gordon, Juco Corner OF. Released in 3/26/15.
Round 24: Matthew DeRosier, Juco RHP (starter/reliever) from Southwestern College (CA). 3-3, 4.54 ERA in 14 low-A starts before hitting the D/L on 6/30/16 for the rest of the season. 59/18 K/BB in 67 1/3 innings, 1.32 whip, 3.25 fip, .325 babip. DeRosier was in the opening day rotation for Hagerstown and lasted there for 3 months before getting hurt. DeRosier was a young JuCo signee; he just finished his 4th pro season but he turned 22 in July, so we’re not too worried that he’s still in Low-A. But he needs to start making some progress before he ages out of the system. His FIP is better than his ERA, but we have no idea what the injury was. I’d guess he’ll compete for the Potomac rotation in 2017. Trending Steady.
Round 25: Travis Ott, HS LH starting pitcher. Traded 12/17/14 along with Steven Souza in the Trea Turner/Joe Ross deal. Repeated Short-A for the *third* year and was phenomenal in 2016. Why keep him there? I know Tampa is “conservative” when it comes to promoting pitching prospects, but keeping a talented HS pitcher in the same classification for three years running seems dumb.
Round 26: Garrett Hampson, HS SS from Reno, NV. Did not sign; honored commitment to Long Beach State. Had a monster collegiate career and was drafted in the 3rd round by Colorado. Signed a $750k bonus and had an .845 OPS in Short-A Boise. Could be one that got away.
Round 27: Bryce Harman, HS LH starting pitcher from Richmond, VA (Byrd HS). Did not sign; honored commitment to East Carolina University. Hit .242 his Junior year starting and was not drafted.
Round 28: Joey Webb, Coll Sr LH relief pitcher. Released 6/25/15.
Round 29: Mike Sylvestri, Coll Sr RH relief pitcher. Retired on 6/13/14.
Round 30: Ryan Ullmann, Coll Sr RH Starting pitcher. Released 6/25/15.
Round 31: Willie Medina, Coll Sr SS. Released in Jan 2015.
Round 32: Pat Boling, Coll Jr LHP: Did not sign, chose to return to U. of Georgia for his senior season. He posted a 4.94 ERA his senior year, was not re-drafted, and does not appear he played any independent ball.
Round 33: Andrew Dunlap, HS C/RHP from Houston. Did not sign. Honoring a commitment to Rice University. He has struggled to find the field for Rice, not playing in 2014 or 2015 and hitting .197 in limited PT his junior year in 2016.
Round 34: Jake Walsh, Coll Sr LH relief pitcher. Released 3/16/16, before the season started. This one I still do not get to this day. Look at his minor league numbers: he has a career 1.65 ERA!! All his peripherals look good. I just don’t get this at all. I thought he’d be at least in the AA rotation in 2016; instead he’s out of the game.
Round 35: Lukas Schiraldi, Juco RHP from Texas. Did not sign; instead transferred to U Texas. Drafted in 2014 in the 15th round by Seattle; in 2016 he struggled with the jump to High-A (with the caveat that he’s in the California league).
Round 36: Reid Humphreys, HS SS from Missouri. Did not sign. Honoring commitment to Mississippi State. Drafted in the 7th round in 2016 by Colorado, signed for $227k, and threw a few games in the rookie league. Btw, he converted to the mound in college and is now a RHP reliever.
Round 37: Karsten Whitson, RH starting pitcher from Florida. Did not sign, returned to U Florida for his senior/4th year. Was drafted by Boston in 2014 as an 11th rounder (likely bonus; max of $100k), released on 3/9/16. An ignominious ending to a career that started with him declining 1st round money. As Keith Law says: “Always take the money.”
Round 38: Caleb Hamilton, HS SS from Washington State. Did not sign; honoring commitment to U of Washington. He was drafted in the 23rd round this year by Minnesota and signed. He hit .207 for their rookie league team.
Round 39: Robbie Tenerowicz, HS 2B/SS from California. Did not sign; honoring commitment to UC Berkeley. He was drafted in the 27th round this year by Tampa Bay and signed. He hit .291 with some pop for their rookie league team.
Round 40: Shaun Anderson, HS RH starting pitcher from Florida. Did not sign; honoring commitment to U of Florida. At Florida he was a significant part of their pre-season #1 team, serving as the closer. He was drafted in the 3rd round by Boston, signed for $700k, and then gave up 12 hits and 9 runs in his Short-A debut. He’ll try it again fresh in 2017.
Trending Summary:
- Trending Up (2): Voth, Ward
- Trending Steady (3): Simms, Ballou, DeRosier
- Trending Down (4): Johansen, Gunter, Masters, Thomas
- Did Not Sign in 2013 (11): Allen, Hampson, Harman, Boling, Dunlap, Schiraldi, Humphries, Whitson, Hamilton, Tenerowicz, Anderson
- Released/Retired (17): Yezzo, Napoli, Joyce, Middleton, Cooper, Costa, Perrott, Bafidis, Spezial, Allen, Dent, Gordon, Webb, Sylvestri, Ullmann, Medina, Walsh
- Traded (2): Pivetta, Ott
Executive Summary
Wow; this class is really looking poor. Just two players who I still think are trending up in Voth and Ward. And even though I rate Voth, I sense he’s perhaps he’s limited to being a 4-A/5th starter. As noted before, no 1st rounder and a blatant fail on Johansen the 2nd rounder have made this class look pretty weak. It’d look a bit better if Ward (3rd rounder) turned out, but the cashing in of the 4th rounder (Pivetta) for a short-term head case rental looks equally wasteful in hindsight.
On the bright side … it makes Rule 5 decisions pretty easy. We’ll circle back to this post when we do the Rule5 analysis, but right now the only candidate here worth protecting is Voth. (Update post-writing: we were right; the only one added was Voth and nobody here got drafted).