When ESPN2 begins its coverage of the Major League Baseball draft at 1 p.m. today, there will be no shortage of top prospects on the tips of analysts’ tongues. Don’t be surprised if a few of these top prospects turn out to be players from Houston-area colleges and high schools.
Rice could have a handful of players selected on the first day. Rice, which is set to face Texas A’M in a NCAA super regional matchup this weekend at Reckling Park, has a track record for churning out top major league prospects, especially pitchers. This year is no different with the Owls set to send two premiere pitchers into this year’s draft.
Junior left-handers Joe Savery and Cole St. Clair will certainly be first-day draft selections with Savery having an outside shot at being drafted in the first round. Savery, ranked No. 21 in Baseball America’s Top 200 draft prospects, will likely be drafted as a pitcher, although he also plays first base and knows his way around the batter’s box. Check out his offensive stats this season: .360 batting average, 4 homers, 54 RBIs, .439 on-base percentage, .496 slugging percentage.
Savery can consistently throw a low-90s fastball with good movement and command. His above-average change up and hard curve/slider type pitch are good complements to that fastball. When’s he 100 percent healthy, his game can’t be better.†
However, Savery has a problem: He’s not completely healthy. He underwent shoulder surgery in the offseason and has struggled to fully recover. An extended period of rest could have furthered along Savery’s recovery, but his pitching and offensive talents are too valuable, and the Owls (52-12) couldn’t afford to have him out of the lineup.
This season, Savery pitched through the discomfort and performed quite admirably en route to being named Conference USA Player of the Year. He sports a 10-1 record with a 2.78 ERA in 17 starts, and opponents are batting only .239 off him.
Still, that shoulder injury lingers in the mind of major league scouts. Teams love his potential, but that injury will likely cause some to shy away from drafting him in the first round. Savery therefore will have to settle for being selected in the supplemental first round or early in the second round.
Of course, it won’t matter too much. Savery, St. Clair – ranked No. 56 in Baseball America – and a few other Rice players will garner nice signing bonuses. Savery should receive a signing bonus in the range of $750,000-$1.2 million, and could easily obtain more.† Cougars in the draft? This won’t be a grand draft year for Houston. The Cougars won’t have any players selected in the first round, and unlike last year, they probably won’t have four players taken in the draft.
The two Cougars with the best chance of being drafted are junior right-hander Aaron Brown and junior infielder Ryan Lormand. Brown, the team’s Friday starter in 2007, finished with a 6-6 record and 4.98 ERA in 20 appearances (15 starts). Lormand, who played mostly at second base, hit .298 with four homers, 39 RBIs and 23 stolen bases.
The general consensus is that Brown and Lormand should return for their senior seasons. They could improve their draft stock with another year of seasoning. Right now, one can’t imagine their stock being high, at all.†
By the numbers
Three Rice players were named to Collegiate Baseball magazine’s 2007 Louisville Slugger All-America team last week. The lucky recipients were junior pitcher/first baseman Joe Savery, freshman pitcher Ryan Berry and senior pitcher Ryne Tacker.
Houston senior infielder Dustin Kingsbury concluded his college career by starting his final 176 games, the second-longest streak in school history.
Memphis (36-27) posted consecutive 30-plus win campaigns and consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 1994-95.
Tulane’s 9-15 Conference USA record was its first-ever losing mark in 12 seasons as a conference member, and Rice coach Wayne Graham was named C-USA Coach of the Year for the second year in a row.†
