Here is a recap of how each of the top 2011 draft prospects did this past week. Click on their names to go to their tracker pages.
Rendon had a big week this past week, going 5-for-14 with three doubles and a home run. The home run came in the first game of a double header on Saturday, and was his first since March 6th against Baylor. As usual, Rendon drew five walks in his four games.
Rendon won’t be playing next week, as Rice is off until May 4th. That means he wraps up the month of April with a .372/.614/.558 line in 43 at-bats, walking at an incredible rate of 26 times, which is 37% of his plate appearances.
The big issues are the lack of power this year, and the shoulder injury which has kept him off the field. Baseball America did a mock draft of the first round, and those issues didn’t prevent the three writers from agreeing that Rendon should go first overall, ahead of Gerrit Cole.
Cole had another bad start, his second one in a row, this time giving up six runs on nine hits in 6.1 innings, with one walk and one strikeout. He allowed two home runs, and threw 105 pitches in the outing, which is an average of 16.6 pitches per inning. That’s Cole’s second highest total of the year, falling behind his 3/25 start against USC, when he threw 116 pitches in 6.2 innings, for 17.4 pitches an inning.
OTHER PROSPECTS
-Catching up on a few 2008 Pirates’ draft picks who went un-signed and are draft eligible this year:
Zach Wilson, 3B, Arizona State: Drafted in the 26th round in 2008, and is the 37th best prospect in the draft this year. Wilson is hitting for a .289/.339/.450 line in 149 at-bats, which is even with his .286/.342/.436 line in 133 at-bats at the start of last week.
Drew Gagnon, LHP, Long Beach State: Drafted in the 10th round in 2008, and is the 49th best prospect in the draft this year. Gagnon pitched eight innings, allowing five runs, none earned, on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Pitch counts are also a concern with him, as he threw 115 pitches in eight innings last week, and threw 120 pitches in eight innings this week.
-Catching up on an un-signed prep pitchers from the 2010 draft:
Austin Kubitza, 7th Round, Rice: Kubitza had a bad start this week, allowing five runs, four earned, on ten hits in 4.1 innings, with a walk and three strikeouts.
