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Top 100 Draft prospects: Prep flamethrowers lead the way
- Updated: April 28, 2016
Though Jason Groome and Riley Pint headline MLBPipeline.com’s new Top 100 Draft Prospects list, the odds that they will actually go first and second in the Draft are as long as the odds of scoring off Jake Arrieta.
Groome, a Barnegat (N.J.) High product, is a 6-foot-6 left-hander who dazzles scouts every time he takes the mound and could have three plus pitches in his 92-96 mph fastball, tight curveball and improving changeup. Pint, a right-hander from St. Thomas Aquinas High (Overland Park, Kan.), has even better stuff, with a heater that has reached 102 mph, a more powerful curve and a more advanced changeup, though his command isn’t as consistent.
• MLB Draft, June 9-11: Day 1 on MLB Network/MLB.com; Days 2-3 on MLB.com
However, only three times in the first 51 Drafts did a high school pitcher go No. 1 overall, and none of those three left-handers worked out for the club that selected them. The Rangers rushed David Clyde (1973) to the big leagues as a box-office attraction, the Yankees’ Brien Taylor (1991) topped out in Double-A after hurting his left shoulder in an off-field fight and Brady Aiken (2014) didn’t sign with the Astros after a physical raised concerns about his left elbow.
Only once did prep arms go first and second in the Draft. After the Astros took Aiken two years ago, the Marlins followed with Tyler Kolek. Aiken had Tommy John surgery last March and Kolek had his right elbow reconstructed earlier this month, further strengthening the industry’s belief that high school pitchers are the riskiest demographic in the Draft.
That presents a quandary for the clubs choosing at the top of the 2016 Draft, starting with the Phillies at No. 1, the Reds at No. 2 and the Braves at No. 3.
• 2016 Top 100 Draft Prospects list
“Would you want Pint or Groome in your system? Yes,” said a scouting executive from a team with an early choice. “But do you want to take a high school arm in the top three picks? No.”
Making the decision process even more …
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