NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL 2018 DRAFT SUMMARY
PITCHING
Pitcher Breakdown
STL: 18 Signed | 17 C | 1 JC/CC | 14 RHP | 4 LHP
CIN: 17 Signed | 14 C | 3 HS | 15 RHP | 2 LHP
PIT: 16 Signed | 14 C | 2 HS | 13 RHP | 3 LHP
CHC: 15 Signed | 12 C | 2 JC/CC | 1 HS | 12 RHP | 3 LHP
MIL: 13 Signed | 7 C | 2 JC/CC | 4 HS | 9 RHP | 4 LHP
Cumulative Stats for 2018 Draft Class (Pitchers)
CHC: 3.34 ERA | 1.282 WHIP | 250.1 IP | 13 Active Pitchers
MIL: 3.86 ERA | 1.313 WHIP | 330.2 IP | 12 Active Pitchers
STL: 4.03 ERA | 1.304 WHIP | 618.1 IP | 17 Active Pitchers
PIT: 4.22 ERA | 1.348 WHIP | 474 IP | 16 Active Pitchers
CIN: 4.73 ERA | 1.396 WHIP | 467.2 IP | 16 Active Pitchers
Position Player Breakdown
STL: 20 Signed | 17 C | 3 HS | 2 1B | 4 2B | 3 3B | 2 SS | 5 OF | 4 C
CHC: 17 Signed | 12 C | 1 JC/CC | 4 HS | 1B | 2 2B | 2 3B | 3 SS | 9 OF
PIT: 17 Signed | 16 C | 1 HS | 2 1B | 2 2B | 3B | 2 SS | 7 OF | 3 C
CIN: 12 Signed | 7 C | 2 JC/CC | 3 HS | 1B | 3B | SS | 5 OF | 4 C
MIL: 9 Signed | 2 C | 1 JC/CC | 6 HS | 2 SS | 4 OF | 3 C
Cumulative Stats for 2018 Draft Class (Position Players)
STL: .260/.353/.392/.745 | 19 Active Players
CIN: .258/.351/.396/.747 | 12 Active Players
PIT: .255/.354/.389/.743 | 17 Active Players
CHC: .255/.338/.353/.690 | 17 Active Players
MIL: .254/.360/.369/.729 | 9 Active Players
MLB Pipeline Top 30 Prospects
MIL: 5 Total (HS RHP, JC/CC LHP, HS SS*, HS OF*, HS OF)
STL: 4 Total (C RHP*, C LHP, C 1B, HS 3B*)
CIN: 3 Total (HS RHP, C 3B*, HS OF*)
CHC: 3 Total (C SS*, 2 HS OF)
PIT: 2 Total (HS RHP, C OF*)
*Top 10
NL CENTRAL DRAFT CLASS NOTES: PITCHERS
The Cubs pitchers may have the best cumulative pitching stats, but they only had two pitchers exceed 30 innings and none of them were promoted above Short Season A so it's hard to get a good handle on the group. And it's really difficult to get too excited about the Reds pitching class as they not only put up lackluster numbers, but all but one of them put up those numbers for rookie league teams. In addition, the Reds traded one of their best pitching prospects (RHP Josiah Gray) to Los Angeles. The Cardinal's group of pitchers deserves an incomplete for their inaugural season with prospect RHP Griffin Roberts pitching only 9.2 innings (and now serving a 50-game suspension) and LHP Steven Gingery, another highly ranked prospect, sitting out the season as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. The Brewers 2018 Draft pitching class skews young and raw, so it will take time to see how the high school and juco players from the class develop, but in the meantime, Milwaukee was fairly aggressive in promoting some of their higher round college players and most responded nicely. There could be a nice payoff from one or two of the college players as they wait for the younger pitchers to mature. On the other side of the coin, the Pirates 2018 pitching class is college-heavy. Although their cumulative stats weren't the best of this division, there were a number of pitchers who outperformed the rest of the group with excellent seasons. I like the depth of this group and think that some of these college pitchers will move quickly through the Pirates system.
NL CENTRAL DRAFT CLASS NOTES: POSITION PLAYERS
The Brewers went young on their position players as well. Of the nine players signed, only two are college players. Those two college players had very good freshman seasons and, as would be expected, the younger players were a mixed bag. This class is very much a high risk/high reward proposition, particularly considering that two of these high school prospects are on the Brewers top 10 prospect list and expectations will be high. The Reds have a good mix of younger and older players and, overall, they performed well. However, all but two of the players did not appear above rookie level so it is going to be hard to judge some of those performances until the players are challenged to a higher level of play. However, the Reds top prospect from this class, college 3B Jonathan India (5th overall pick), did get his feet wet in Full Season A. The Cubs were much more college-heavy with their 2018 picks, but they also had a couple of high round high school picks. The top two picks in the class played well but in a very limited number of games. Overall, the class looks to be top heavy and not terribly deep (but only in terms of early results). The Pirates class only included one high school player way down in the 30th round. Top round picks were challenged to higher levels with mixed results, but the experience should prove to be valuable in their development. As a whole, the class performed as would be expected considering their age and level of play. St. Louis was very aggressive in promoting their players, including the promotion of their top 2018 pick, HS 3B Nolan Gorman. The Cardinals class exhibited a lot of depth with several players outperforming expectations.
Cincinnati Reds Draft Review
Milwaukee Brewers Draft Review
Pittsburgh Pirates Draft Review
St. Louis Cardinals Draft Review
Incredible work here. You took this on and are doing great.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Personally, I find this stuff interesting and I want to write more about what interests me even if it isn't always 100% Astros-centric. Thanks for reading.
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