Philly Management Disappointed by Amateur Draft

After a string of solid draft classes, upper-management in the Flash organization seemed a little downtrodden after the recent Amateur Draft. Of course, the Flash cut back on their scouting budget this season due to a reduction of draft picks caused by no compensation picks this season. Even so, and this is no sleight against some of the players included in the class, the Flash felt this was one of their worst drafts. Below is a quick summary of their selections in the first 5 rounds.

Round 1, Pick 28 - Ethan Rivera, 1B, Pepperdine University, 22-years-old
The Flash hope this mature player will eventually become their long-term solution at 1B. However, though he is pretty solid at the plate, he struggles against left-handed starters. While not terribly deficient, it does seem as though a better 1B could come around by the time hometown boy Rivera is ready to make the leap to the bigs.




Round 2, Pick 74 - Woody Flaherty, C, San Diego State University, 21-years-old
Another solid hitter with some upside, but a couple of flaws as well. For a catcher, he does not handle pitching staffs as well as major league Bench Coach Harold Willoughby would like. He, too, suffers from a slight deficiency when facing left-handed pitching, but is otherwise a very complete hitter, and could easily be a solid bench player some day. He does not seem to have the stamina to play every game in the bigs anyway.



Round 3, Pick 106 - Jake Hogan, SP, Truman State University, 22-years-old
Nothing but a career minor league starter, Hogan brings a lot of heat and a nasty screwball, but his control problems will make him prone to big innings, and he just cannot seem to get premiere hitters out. Still, with five pitches in his arsenal and the ability to pitch deep into games, he should eat plenty of innings throughout his career, wherever he ends up.

Round 4, Pick 138 - Tike Duncan, SP, Aiken Technical College, 19-years-old
The first player drafted by the Flash younger than 20, Duncan brings more control and about equal velocity to the table as Hogan, but Duncan's pitches are just too flat to ever sniff the majors either. Opposing hitters will likely post a high OAV against him, if his brief collegiate career is any indication.

Round 5, Pick 170 - Bruce Corbin, RF, Mott Community College, 19-years-old
While he plays a very servicable RF and has a lot of pop in his bat, Corbin is too streaky of a hitter to be considered a major league prospect either. Of course, power hitters tend to have the edge in the minors, so he could post big numbers during his career, but the higher he climbs, the sharper his AVG and OBP will fall.

For the second year in a row, the Flash drafted exclusively college players in the first 5 rounds. It seems likely they will go in a different direction next year, given the lack of top prospects as you go deeper into the draft at the collegiate level.