Miguel Serna; Jersey Shore's Next Big Thing

With the bandbox that is the Ballpark at the Shore, hitters will most always take center stage on the D-Bags roster.  With Mikey Bryant on his last leg and Dave Dodd turning 33 this year we look towards a 26 year old and former 1st round pick who burst onto the national scene last season.

Background

The Florida born, Canadian educated Serna as the 21st overall pick out of Madawaska Valley High School In Barry's Bay, Ontario in the 2020 1st year player draft.  A 2-year starter in HS, he had his best season as a Junior where he hit .394/.518/.651 with 6 HR and 21 RBI.  Serna opted to sign for $3.85M, well above slot, to skip college and join the D-Bags organization.  Serna would report to A ball in Manhattan where he would struggle mightily all year long.  In 66 games his slash line looked like .152/.184/.187 with 102 strike outs and only 35 hits in 230 AB.  Even with his struggles, he was still named the 11th best prospect in baseball by the OSA going into the 2021 season.

Improvement

Serna's 2021 season was much improved but the 20 year old still showed glaring holes in his game.  While he would raise his triple slash to .268/.334/.389, he would strike out 207 times in 634 AB, which would be 2nd in league history for K's in a season trailing the leader by a single K.  Serna would only hit 7 HR all season, but what encouraged scouts were the 42 doubles he hit.  Scouts hoped that those doubles would some day turn to HR, so they stayed optimistic.  Serna would return to Manhatten as a 21 year old for 2022 season.  Playing in 152 games, he would improve again, this time bringing his average up to .300 and his slugging up to .435.  He would still strikeout 182 times but take more walks, hit more homers as he was ranked the 16th best prospect in baseball.  After only 16 games in 2023, Serna would suffer a broken kneecap at a collision at homeplate that would cost him the entire of the season.

Breakout

2024 would be the year for Serna that he finally put things together.  He would go to Manhattan for the 4th time, but only stay for 16 games before being called up to AA Gainesville.  Miguel would only spend just over a month in his home state as he crushed AA pitching to the tune of .384/.452/.500 with 2 HR and 17 RBI in 28 games.  He would be bumped up to AAA Tuscaloosa where his bat would continue to turn heads.  It was here where Serna finally found his power stroke.  In 127 games for the Trout Slayers he would smash a career high of 19 HR and 73 RBI on his way to 2.6 WAR.  He would have probably gotten a cup of coffee in the bigs but was blocked by Gerardo Escobedo who was on his way to a 3.0 WAR season for Jersey.

Escobedo was still the D-Bags in 2025 and was the Opening Day starter at 3B.  Serna would spend the first 45 games in AAA where he hit .319 to add to his 9 HR and 40 RBI.  A fractured foot suffered by Escobedo meant that Serna would finally get his shot in the bigs.  He would struggle as rookie, but would go on to start 96 games at the hot corner where he would amass 0.5 WAR.  Serna would even start all 7 games for Jersey Shore in the playoffs where they eventually swept out by rival Greenville in the Divisional Round of the CL Playoffs.

Stardom

With Escobedo leaving as a free agent, Serna was the heir apparent to the 3B and was only 1 of 2 players who played there during Spring Training.  After a slow start to the season, Miguel would turn it in the dog days of summer.  He would eventually start 158 games for the D-Bags and have a monster season offensively.  His 38 home runs would only trail the 44 of CL MVP Dave Dodd meanwhile finished 3rd on the team in RBI with 109 and WAR with 4.2 as well leading the team in SB with 27.  Jersey Shore would win the division in a playoff game and eventually lose the World Series in 7 games to the Irvine Green Gang.  Despite missing the All-Star game due to his breakout coming later in the season, Serna was award with the 2026 Platinum Stick for 3B in the CL.

Serna hasn't slowed in 2027 as he is the offensively leader on May 10th and on pace to hit 59 HR, drive in 135 runs and 10.4 WAR.  At 26 years old, we are probably looking at the future star and building block of this Jersey franchise.  Before the season Jersey locked up Serna to a 9 year deal so he isn't going anywhere soon so get use to seeing #18 rounding the basepaths for the D-Bags.

GO D-BAGS

2013 Draft; A Look Back

As we embark on the 2023 amateur draft his week, let's look back at the draft that happened 10 years ago.  The players were drafted were generally between the ages of 18 and 22 and at the time when selecting teams might have been thinking they just signed a star for the future in those rounds.  Or possibly just taking a waiver on someone late not thinking they would ever see a ML roster.  I will warn you, the 2013 draft was light.......to say the least.

The 1st overall pick in the draft went to the New Orleans Looters who selected 5-tool potential CF Arturo Rodriguez out of Maris High School.  He signed for $8M and was assigned to the Looters minor league system where he would spend nearly 5 years before making his debut in New Orelans during the 2018 season.  He would spend 5 years there peaking in the 2020 season with a 7.4 WAR before leaving this past offseason and signing with Los Cabos.  Career wise for a #1 pick his stats are a little under whelming.  .285/.330/.456, 17.8 career WAR, 110 HR, 447 RBI.

Picks 2 and 4 were taken by Reno and Maui and were not signed, so let's take them out of the equation.

Pick 3 went to the Seattle...at the time....Kings, who selected SP Drew "Onion" Schaefer, 22 year old starting pitcher out of Texas A&M. He signed for $9.69M and was given a 2 year major league contract worth $2.9M.  Less than 2 months after he was selected there was some controversy, but it will go down as Niagara Falls claimed Schaefer off of waivers.  He would spend 2 season in the NFF system before being called up at age 25. He was traded to Jersey Shore 2 years later where he would struggle, bounce around the league to 5 more franchises before ultimately being released by Vista early this season.  He is currently a 32 year old free agent.  It was a tough ride.  At the moment he has a 16-20 record, 6.20 ERA and a career WAR of 0.4.

Rounding out the Top 5, St. Louis selected 2B Joe Sanders out of Purdue University.  He signed for $5.29M.  He spent almost 3 years in the Browns system before being called up.  He won the 2017 ROY award, has a gold glove and has been selected to 2 AS games.  While he has a great bat and even better eye, injuries have really limited his production.  Nonetheless at age 32 he is starting for the Browns, has 26.9 career WAR and a .310/.384/.379 line and is probably the best pick of the Top 5.

The best player overall in the draft is the unquestionable Dave Dodd of Jersey Shore.  Selected as the 2nd pick in the 2nd round by Reno, Dodd was released the same year he was drafted. Jersey took a flyer on the power bat where he toiled around the Jersey Shore system for 3 seasons before making his debut in 2016.  Always good speed and glove, Dodd started out as a boom or bust hitter, hitting a lot of home runs and striking out more often than not.  Dodd since then has established him as one of the game's most feared hitters, posting a league record in WAR at 12.1, winning a triple crown and 2 MVP trophies.

Currently the best pitcher in the draft would be SP Carlos Lopez, selected by St. Louis as the 1st pick in the Supplemental 1st round.  Lopez was drafted out of Texas Tech and made his debut in 2015.  2016 was his break out year where he would 10-3 and a 2.56 ERA.  His season was cut short with major arm surgery and he was never the same pitcher.  He would pitch in the Browns rotation until 2021 where he came out of the bullpen.  He signed a 3 year deal with Austin prior to the 2022 season and is currently part of their rotation.  His career stats stand as: 54-50, 4.11 ERA and 9.8 WAR.

Other notable picks include All-Stars OF Alden Lindsey picked 6th overall by Irvine, 3B Richard Coker picked 20th overall by Jersey Shore, and Eliot Helen selected in the 2nd round by St. Louis.  

Late round steals include Ryan Campbell selected in the 4th round by San Francisco, Tom Carey 5th round pick of Baffin Island and Jose Padilla 6th round pick of Greenville.  All 3 have played in more than 350 games at the major league level.

The 2nd to last pick in this draft actually made the Major Leagues, which is mind boggling.  SS Finley Frogley was taken by Hendersonville out of the University of Michigan in the 10th round, pick 27.  A pure utility infielder, Frogley appeared in 1 game for the Hitmen in 2018 and actually started 22 games for them in 2018.  While his bat was well......not good.  .167/.183/.218, he did put up a +1.7 ZR playing shortstop.

As for pitchers, the last pitcher selected to make the Majors was Ramon Soto taken as the 3rd pick in the 8th round by Seattle.  He appeared in 3 different seasons from 2018-2020, pitching in 34 games to the tune of a 5.77 ERA.  He is currently pitching for Maui's AAA club.

What will this year's draft bring?  Will you draft a bust like Schaefer? Will you find a gem like Dodd in the 2nd round or maybe a utility man late?  That's the fun in the draft, no one knows what will happen.  Happy Drafting!

2022 Jersey Shore Amateur Draft

The draft has always been one of GM Josh Swain's favorite events of the year and this year was no exception despite it's critical reception.  Many GM's raised concerns about lack of top end talent available in this year's draft, but Swain saw it differently seeing a draft that was high on middle round talent despite lacking superstar talent.  Here is what Jersey Shore came away with with the draft was done.

1.21 - OF Ed Murray - 18 years old - Broken Arrow High School. Murray is a 3 year High School starter who projects to be a corner OF in the bigs who's contact was ranked among the highest in this year's draft class.  While he displays little power and and patience at the plate is lacking, he rarely strikes out and speed + gap projects him as a 33-35 doubles a year guy in the future.  His final high school slash line was .451/.505/.595, while only striking out 18 times in over 100 games.  It may be awhile for him to mature and move up through the system, but projects out as a 2-slot hitter.

2.54 - SP Rodney Hall - 20 years old - University of Washington.  A 2-year full time starter pitching for UW, Hall throws 3 above average pitches while throwing in low 90's.  He projects out to be an innings eater with high stamina and while he never may be an ace, a ceiling of say a pitcher like Ron Eager could be in his future.

3.92 - SP Sloan Numbers - 18 years old - Dublin Jerome High School.  Dipping back into the HS pool for the third pick, the D-Bags selected 3 year high school starter Numbers.  While he won't overpower you and hasn't developed an "out" pitch yet, he does throw 4 pitches and has shown his strength in control.  He projects out to be a mid-low end starter at the time.  Jersey scouts hope that when he grows into his 6'5" frame he can add a couple MPH to his fastball and improve his K numbers, but that's just a hope.

4.124 - C Greg Lee - 18 years old - Broken Arrow High School.  Lee was a bit of a head scratching pick just because so little was known about him.  In 3 years in high school he only played in 25 games and only appearing in 1 game his senior year.  Jersey held a private workout and found he had a good swing and great fundamentals behind the plate, but just very, very raw.  He doesn't project to have much power, but as a 4th round pick if they can find a spot starter at catcher in the future, this pick could be worth it.

5.152 - SP Matt Johnston - 18 year old - Madawaska Valley High School.  For the 4th time in 5 picks Jersey went with a HS player, and this being the third starting pitching as well.  Johnston actually pitched out of the pen his sophomore and junior years before starting this last one.  He is a big kid sitting at 6'2", weighing 220 pounds and throws 3 pitches.   None of his pitches are dominant but knows how to pitch low in the zone and keep the ball on the ground.  His lacking of an out pitch could hold him back, but if he improves could be a low end rotation type guy.

6.180 - CF Jeff Bane - 18 years old - Sante Fe High School. Didn't sign and will attend college next season

7.208 - SP Enrico Lozano - 20 years old - Georgia Tech University.  College starter that will be converted to a reliever.  Only throws 2 pitches and lack in speed only hitting 90 or so on the gun

8.236 - SS Mitch Thomas - 20 years old - University of Oregon.  Top end speed and who's top attribute is his glove and not hit bat.  Needs to limit K's because he doesn't walk much, projects out to be a utility type player.

9.264 - SP Bryan Glover - 18 years old - Billings West High School.  Didn't sign and will attend college next season

10.292 - CF Mark McDonald - 21 years old - Ohio State University - Can play all over the diamond, but specialized in the OF.  Has top end speed and can steal bases at will.  Was 20/22 in SB's in his last season at OSU.  Won't make it far with the bat.

Hopefully a couple of these names will rise through the ranks and being playing nightly in Jersey someday.  The current Jersey Shore roster contains 5 former 1st round picks (Bryant 2010, Schroeder 2014, Brodeur 2015, Martin 2017, Carter 2018) while 2016 1st round pick SP Ciottone is AAA and 2013 Coker and 2011 Doyle are on other rosters.  When will Murray join these ranks? Only time will tell.

GO D-BAGS 

Gianluigi Ciottone; A Long Road to the Majors

With their 1st round pick and the 31st overall pick in the 2016 amateur draft, the Jersey Shore D-Bags selected SP Gianluigi Ciottone, a 4-year starter form the University of Nebraska.  Starting 42 games as the primary ace of the staff, Ciottone averaged over 11 K/9 while accumulating an ERA of 3.58 and a WHIP of 1.19. Ciottone was 22 at the time of the draft and while his third pitch (changeup) wasn't that strong, Jersey management viewed him as a mid-rotation starter who was matured enough to a candidate to shoot up the minor league ranks quickly and possibly see the major league roster in as little as a year.  They were wrong.

After being drafted he was sent to AA Gainesville where his current talent should have pushed him, but he was dominated.  He walked 6.5 batters per 9, which resulted in more walks than K's and led to a 2-9 record with an abysmal 8.02 ERA in 14 starts.  Perplexed by the results he started the 2017 in A Manhattan where he did walk 2 batters less her 9 while his K/9 nearly doubled.  He was still getting hit fairly hard but his BABIP of .354 led Jersey brass to believe it was more a defensive problem than Ciottone's pitching.  Towards the end of the 2017 season he was sent to AA and slotted in the bullpen to ease him into a starting role.  In 11 appearances at age 23, he pitched 12.2 innings, gave up 15 hits, 3 HR, 8 walks and struck out 10.  Good for a 7.82 ERA to finish out the year.  Again perplexed by these results he would again start the 2018 season in A ball.  He turned 24 during the 2018 season making him one of the older players in the league.  While he did improve on his rate stats, he still gave up more hits than innings pitched and was still walking over 4 batters per 9.  

When the 2019 season rolled around, management really had no other option than let him pitch in AA.  When he was drafted, ownership pictured him starting the season in the BSA already, while in reality he barely had any success, even in A ball.  His 24-25 year old season in AA he finally started to show some promise.  Maybe it was because he was taken completely out of a starting role.  He pitched 77 games out of the bullpen, mainly in the setup role.  In 90 innings he allowed 75 hits, 41 walks and struck out 108 batters.  While still walking 4.1 batters per 9 he was back up over 10K per 9 for the first time since college.  As the 2020 season rolled around, Ciottonne was now 25, in his last half a season considered a prospect and hadn't seen AAA yet.  At this point, a 1st round pick should be considered a bust.  Gianluigi would start the year in AAA as a member of the Tuscaloosa bullpen.  He would only see 6 games before injuries on the big league club pushed him into the starting rotation.  In 32 starts he would win 10 games while posting a 5.44 ERA to go along wit ha 1.67 WHIp and a .357 BABIP.  The good news was his walks had fell below 4 per 9 for the first time in his professional career while his K's stayed at 8 per 9.  Maybe there was hope.  He was added to the 40 man roster before the Rule V draft and would head back to AAA to start the 2021 season.  In 9 starts he would go 4-1 posting a 3.67 ERA (best ever since college) as well as lowering his walks to 2.8 per 9 innings.  When Jose Lara forgot how to pitch Jersey came calling and Ciottone would make his debut.

3 days after his 27th birthday and a month short of 5 years after being drafted, Ciottone started against Madison and while he didn't earn the win he pitched 6.2 innings giving up 2 runs on 8 hits while walking 3 and striking out 2.  He would go on to win his next 4 starts and would undeafeated in his first 7 starts compiling a 4-0 record.  Ciottone would  go through a rough patch in his next starts giving up at least 5 ER in all 4 going 1-3 before just last week having the best start of his career.  Against division rival St. Louis, the team Jersey is also chasing for the Wild Card, Gianluigi would throw his first career complete game, holding the Browns to 1 run on 6 hits, walking just 1 while striking out 4 in a 7-1 win.  In 12 starts for Jersey he has a record of 6-3 a 4.06 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP.  

While it may have taken a lot longer than expected and while he isn't an ace the 1st round pick of 2016 looks like it is finally starting to pay off.  One interesting fact about Gianluigi is that since being draft in ever level he has never had a BABIP lower than .310 and has had a FIP lower than his ERA in every single stop he has made along the way.  That's 8 stops including this year in the BSA.  Does he have misleading numbers? Is the defense that bad?  Is he just unlucky?  It's really hard to say at this point.  If he keeps it up though he will find a spot in the Jersey rotation for the foreseeable future though.  He is set to pitch against the Titans in today's sim down in Toronto against a tough lineup.  With both teams looking for a win to stay in the playoff picture we will see how he succumbs to the pressure.

GO D-BAGS

1st Round 2021; Bags select Ben "Cadillac" Morton

The amateur draft always a favorite time of the year for GM Josh Swain.  The way real teams build their core is to through the draft.  Jersey Shore is no exception to the rule, just look at their former 1st round picks: Mike Bryant, Matt Doyle, Richard Coker, Lawrence Schroeder, Fabrice Brodeur, Gianluigi Ciottone, Roland Martin, Gerald Johnson, Matthieu Vancini....and those are just 1st and 1st round compensatory picks over the past 10 years.  

The D-Bags selected 24th this year and for the 3rd year in a row and for the 4th time in 5 years they chose to selected a prep player over going the going the college route.  They selected out of Sante Fe High School, Catcher Ben Morton, or simply as his teammates call him.....Cadillac.  In his senior year and first year as a starter, Morton caught 36 of the teams 40 games while hitting 8 doubles, 6 homers and driving in 33 runs.  He finished with a triple slash line of .299/.389/.493.  While not lighting it up like a lot of first rounders in high school do, Jersey's scouts see  the tools  While his defensive tools won't light the world on fire, scouts predict him to be middle o the road if he can live up to his potential, but his bat is why he got chosen here.  "We have his bat and gap as plus tools and his power at plus-plus.  He will never be a guy who walks a lot and probably will strike out his fair amount of times, but catchers are still one of the more rare positions in the BSA and if he can refine his hitting tools he could be one of the better hitting catchers in the league, but he has a long ways to go for that.  I imagine he struggles pretty good with A pitching, but being at age 18 we have a lot of options going forward," said GM Swain.

Jersey won't pick again until the 62nd overall pick which will be their regular 2nd round pick.  While that is a lot of players to be picked between now and then, don't be surprised to see GM Swain find a player who will turn out to be productive, it's just what they do in Jersey during a draft.

Last year's 1st round pick Miguel Serna, who was drafted 21st overall last season, is starting to pick it up in A ball after struggling last season.  While the power hasn't come around he is hitting .251 and has 20 doubles in A ball.  Jersey's other 1st round pick, SP Ben Head, another prep player, is improving as well.  He has reduced his BB/9, while picking up his K/9 and H/9.  His FIP is 4,43 and will probably spend the rest of the year in Manhattan to improve.  2nd round pick and 63rd overall last season 2B John Moore is really picking it up in AA.  Moore turned 24 this year has shown off his speed with 18 steals, 18 doubles and 3 triples.  He has struggled in the field, but management has him playing shortstop trying to improve his range there as he has been scouted to be one of the better fielding 2B at the AA level.  Chances are he will be playing in AAA before the year is done.

GO D-BAGS

Jersey Shore Selects Prep Star Serna 21st Overall

With the 21st pick in the 2020 amateur draft the Jersey Shore D-Bags selected 19 year old Miguel Serna out of Madawaska Valley High School from the Canadian Province of Ontario.  Though Serna only saw 65 games in his HS career, he amassed a stat line of .382/.494/.593, while hitting 9 HR in his 199 AB.  Though scouts have his talents as very raw, they believe his potentials could top out at plus contact, power and eye to go along with his plus-plus speed.  While he is listed as a 3B, many believe that his future could be at 2B given his fielding talents.

Jersey was given the 21st pick as compensation for not signing their last year 1st round pick, prep star Max Jones, who attended the Univeristy of Miami this year and is draft eligible.  By not signing Jones and his lofty contract demands, Jersey sits with the 21st and 32nd picks in the first round and a real chance to add great talent in what is turning out to be one of the deepest drafts the BSA has seen in a long time.

Serna is the 3rd infielder off the board after Irvine took SS Murphy and Los Cabos snagged college 2nd baseman Gonzalez one pick ahead of Jersey.  Serna is the 11th bat off the board as the first 22 picks were split evenly between arms and bats.  This marks the 2nd year in a row that Jersey selected a prep player and the first time since 2015 that they selected an infield bat with their 1st overall pick.  In 2015 they selected current starting 3B Fabrice Brodeur with the 25th overall pick.

Serna will likely be sent to Single A Manhatten after he signs and likely take his bumps with professional pitching but hopefully add some pop to a lineup who only has one player with over 5 HR and a team that sits with a 33-45 record.  It will yet to be seen what Jersey will do with their 2nd pick in the first round.  According to GM Swain, there is a lot of top talent on their draft list and will be a tough decision on who to select with that pick.  We will see soon enough who else will be joining the organization

GO D-BAGS

8 years, 8 picks; Jersey Shore 1st Round History

We just finished our 8th first round amatuer draft in the BSA since inagural 2010 season.  The people in Jersey don't take drafting lightly and consider it a key piece to building a franchise.  Let's look back at the 1st round picks that Jersey has made, and where they are today:

2010 - 21st overall - 2B Mike Bryant.  The 4 year college player spent just less than 3 seasons in the minors before debuting just before his 25th birthday.  In the 4 full seasons since then he has 4 all-star appearances, finished 2nd in MVP voting twice and won the award the past two seasons.  He currently holds every batting record in the Jersey Shore record book.  His contract will keep him starting at 2B for the D-Bags for at least the next 3 seasons.  It's likely he retires in a Jersey uniform.

2011 - 18th overall - 1B Matt Doyle.  Another 4 year college player out of the Texas.  Doyle debuted for the D-Bags in May of the 2014 season and hasn't looked back since. He finished runner up to Luis Gonzalez of Toronto in back and force race.  He became a force with Bryant in the lineup and led the BSA in HR in his 2nd year with 44.  After four seasons with Jersey, they surprisingly shipped him off to Toronto in the Jose Lara trade.  Doyle is currently tied for the lead in HR in the league and will likely be voted to his 4th all star game later today.

2012 - 22nd overall - CF Ernesto Barzaga.  After going infield for two years, the Bags switched up and went with a rangy and speed CF in Barzaga.  While he didn't have one batting tool that stood out, his contact, gap, power and eye were all average or a tick above average.  He turned out to be a bust.  He struggled mightily in A ball as a 22 and 23 year old in his first two seasons.  As a 24 year he was tried in AA but struggled even more.  At 25 he finally had a successful season in A ball, but by that time his potential had gotten worse and looked like he might turn into a career minor leaguer.  He was eventually dropped by the D-Bags and retired.  A rare early pick miss for Jersey.

2013 - 20th overall - 3B Richard Coker.  Coker was the first HS player Jersey selected in the amateur draft.  After 1 year at Butler HS, he showed his nack for getting on base.  A high average and great eye as well as potential to play an above average 3B made him a 1st round pick.  He spent the last month of 2013 in A ball and less than a month there in 2014 before being promoted to AA.  He struggled a lot his first year in AA, but he was given the starting position.  He picked up ten-fold in 2015 improving that contact but the eye was still behind.  We started to see it come around in 2016 when a week or so before the trade deadline he was sent as the main piece to Cleveland in the trade for C Warren Goyer.  After spending close to a season in the AAA for the Monsters he was recalled.  This season he is having a breakout year and could be looking at an All-Star spot.

2014 - 28th overall - SS Lawrence Schroeder.  Playing an unprecedented 5 years at Virginia, with his skills with the bat and glove, Jersey was lucky he dropped to them at 28.  He played 81 games at AA, flashing some power but mainly that contact to move up to AAA in the season after he was drafted.  He thrived in a full season in AAA, hitting the gaps and hitting for power. The only thing that bothered Jersey management is the 150+ strikeouts he accumulated.  In 2016 he spent 105 games in AAA, dropping the K rate a little, but raising his batting average 60 points to .347, which earned him a promotion to the big league club.  He played 48 games in a Jersey uniform his rookie year and hit well, very well and earned the starting job.  He struggled in 2017 but did show promise hitting 48 2B, 6 3B, and 14 HR.  This season he started off slow but picked up more recently winning his first POTW award as well as having his first 5-hit game.  He is currently sideline by an injury but should still be in consideration for an All-Star position.

2015 - 25th overall - SS Fabrice Brodeur.  Another 4 year college player who not only had skill at playing SS, but all over the infield.  Above average speed, above average contact, decent gap and above average eye for striking out made him a good pick.  He like many other Jersey players struggled early on to only bust out in his 2nd to 3rd season. The year after he was drafted he crushed AA pitching and earned a promotion to AAA. Now in his 3rd year, 2nd full year in AAA, it seems he has found it. Walks are up, K's are down, and he is hitting near a league best .377.  He is also leading the AAA International League in WAR at the moment.  With the recent injury to Schroeder, Brodeur was recently called and will start his first games in a Jersey uniform for tomorrow's sim.

2016 - 31st overall - SP Gianluigi Ciottone.  A 4 year college starter at Nebraska, Jersey was surprised to find him on the board at 31.  Despite not having a good 3rd pitch, with the depth of SP in their minors Jersey hopped on the chance to grab him. The minors have been puzzling for Ciottone.  He has struggled in both AA and A in what is his now 3rd minor league season.  He is currently 24 year old pitching in A ball, which is never a good sign but it appears things might be headed on the right track.  His K/9 and BB/9 are the best they have ever been and his FIP is 2 runs better than his ERA.  He might be headed towards bust land, but we will give him another year to see if he can turn into anything before putting that label on him.

2017 - 32nd overall - SP Roland Martin.  Martin marked Jersey's 2nd time to select a SP as their first round pick, and the first time they went HS SP as a 1st rounder. Martin made 10 starts and 6 bullpen appearances last season in A ball, struggling, especially with control which was a staple of his in HS.  This season in 18 starts as a 20 year old in A ball, Martin seems to be slightly improving across the board.  Scouts are really impressed that he has picked up 2 MPH on his fastball than was previously seen in his HS games.  He was named the 63rd best prospect by OSA before the season.  His potentials say he should be a mid-rotation guy but with a little work he might some day be a top of the rotation man.  At 20 years old, he has a lot of time to develop and he will be one to watch in the coming years.

Omitting this year's draftees who haven't even signed yet, there are your 8 years of Jersey Shore 1st round picks.  You have the multi MVP winner, two all-stars, two young up and comers, one player just getting to his major league debut, two pitchers still in A ball and one bust out of the league.  Considering Jersey's draft position I would say they have done very well.  If Doyle and Coker will still in Jersey the IF of Doyle-Bryant-Schroeder-Coker would probably be ranked Top 3 in the BSA right now. Hopefully we see good things from the younger draftees.  Don't sleep on the draft, you can build franchises this way, even with late picks!

Go D-Bags 

2018 Jersey Shore Amatuer Draft

The only downside of finishing the 2017 season with BSA's best record (besides being knocked out in the first round) is that Jersey Shore would receive the last pick in the 2018 Rule IV draft held on July 1.  Drafting late in the draft hasn't been a problem so far for the D-Bags who have found some mid-late 1st round gems over the years.  Here we will break down Jersey's 2018 draft.

1st Round, 30th overall (acquired from LA) - 1B/C Owen Carter - When the LA Bruins signed MR Jose Gomes in the off season, the rights to their first round pick become the D-Bags with the type A compensation attached to him.  With LA's pick, GM Swain was very surprised to find Carter still available.  He was the best catcher in the draft and had really started to show his skills after 2 years at University of Arizona.  He was previously drafted in the 2015 draft, 12th overall, by the Kansas City Cougars, but they couldn't come to an agreement, so off to Tuscon he went.   Carter has an overall skill set of average contact, great gap power and above average HR power and eye.  His defense should come out to be average to play at the big league level.  The D-Bags really enjoyed the jump in HR and BB his senior season, hitting 12 HR and walking 47 times in only 48 games.  If everything goes to plan, Carter should be the heir apparent to catcher someday.

1st Round, 32nd overall - 1B/DH Sergio Barron.  Using their own first round pick, and the last in the round, Jersey selected high school 1B/DH Sergio Barron.  Barron who hails from Jefferson-Youngsville High School in Jefferson, NY, isn't your typical 19 year old.  At 6'3" and 250 pounds he is a force on the field.  While he lacks speed, he was drafted for his bat.  He compiled 37 HR, 111 RBI and 69/32 BB/K with a triple slash of .381/.485/.791.  His senior year his .435 average and .519 OBP ranked among the elite in at the HS level.  Jersey power hitters aren't known for their patience and limiting K's so Barron is a difference.  With being so young we might not see him for awhile, but one day this kid could be a force at the plate.

Supplemental Round, 50th overall - SP Michael Manning. Using the 2nd of 2 picks from the Gomes compensation the Bags selected High School pitching Manning out of Madawaska Valley HS. Manning sits 6'1, doesn't have the best stuff and but makes up for it with above average control and movement.  His fastball tops out at 89-90 and his forkball is best of his 4 below average pitches.  With some technique going into one of his pitches he might be able to pick up stuff while in the minors.   He never had a great season in high school on the surface but his 4 year FIP was 2.60, topping out a best 2.06 his senior year.  He carried a 8.29 K/BB ratio while giving up .55 HR/9.  While he doesn't look like front line material, if a little time goes into him he might be a mid to back-end rotation option.

2nd Round, 93rd overall - SP Jonathon Phillips.  For the 3rd time in 4 picks, Jersey reached for a high school player, selecting Phillips out of Butler HS. There's no easy way to say this, but Phillips was a beast his senior year.  He won the league's Outstanding Pitcher Award while finishing 8-0 in 8 starts, compiling a 1.87 ERA to go with a 0.79 WHIP and struck out 85 hitters in just 53 innings.  That included a 17-strikeout No-Hitter on May the 11th.  The downside for Phillips, is depsite his overwhelming velocity and fastball and his nasty slider, he lacks a 3rd pitch.  He does look a little wild, but got away with it HS with kids flailing away at pitches.  He will probably start in the minor leagues but I doubt he ever sees anytime in the bigs as a starter.  He could turn out to be a decent reliever though.

3rd Round, 128th overall - 1B Ryan McBride. McBride is an unathletic 1B who does have some skills as a hitter especially contact.  He won't hit for a ton of power, despite hitting 14 HR his senior year for the Iowa State Hawkeyes. If he can gain some power he could be a legit prospect, but if he pans out like his potential stacks up, he might start one day a team looking for a cheap 1B or DH option, but more than likely is a guy who puts up good-great numbers in AAA.

4th Round, 157th overall - LF David Murphy. Murphy is another high schooler who has speed and power.....and not much else.  In his 1 high school year he did hit over 300 with 13 HR, but he is a boom or bust player.  The type of player you find in the around the 150th pick in a draft.  Someone with a above average skill you could hope turns elite in his time in the minors.

There was nothing of note in the last 6 players and I would guess would be surprised if more than 2-3 of them made any roster.    Overall I give this draft a B.  It yielded a very nice looking player at a premium position, a potential above average power bat, and two pitchers who could pitch at the major league level one day.  Not great, but in an overall weak draft position picking at the end of every round, gems are hard to come by.  It will be fun watching Carter and Barron to see if they live up to those 1st round expectations that Jersey fans are accustomed to seeing.

GO D-BAGS

Jersey Shore 2017 Amatuer Draft

July 1st rolled around in this 2017 season and took it's eyes off of the D-Bags league best record and turned to the league's first year player draft, or know as the Rule IV draft. For the first time in a few years Jersey would have no supplemental picks and would have 10 players in 10 rounds of the draft.  Much like last year Jersey drafted a heavy pitching class with 4 of their 5 picks being young arms to add to their farm system.

Round 1
SP Roland Martin - Temiskaming District Secondary School - With the 32nd overall pick the D-Bags were 
ecstatic when Martin fell to them. GM Josh Swain said afterwards they had him in their overall Top 10 and finding a quality High School arm that late was a great start for the ballclub.  Martin pitched 3 seasons at TDSS compiling just a 9-4 record in 25 starts, striking out 185 batters in 149 IP, leaving school with a 4.09 ERA. The D-Bags seem to be more excited about the under the surface statistics.  The 2.37 FIP he carried for his 3 year career and the 11.12 K/9 to go along with the 4.87 K/BB.  Jersey's plan is to help him establish an "out" pitch and continue to add to the pristine control he has shown in High School.  When and if he is signed, he will report to A ball Manhattan.

Round 2
CL John Charles - University of Minnesota - 102nd overall pick, 2nd round.  The Bags again went pitching but this time went the relief route.  Charles had originally been drafted by the Boston Rebels in 2014 draft but they failed to sign him and continued on to UMN to play 3 years. Over the past 3 years he has been one
of the best closers in the college ranks going 6-2 with 41 saves.  He struck out an astonishing 131 batters in just 70 IP while carrying a 2.19 ERA and a 0.76 WHIP. This isn't the first time Jersey has drafted out of the UMN.  In 2015 they slected Fabrice Brodeur with their first round pick.  Brodeur currently is playing for Jersey's AAA affiliate in Tuscaloosa.

Round 3
1B Antonio Enriquez - Masconomet High School - 150th overall, Round 3.  Jersey picked their only bat in the first 5 rounds going with switch hitting 1B Enriquez. not your prototypical 1B as he lacks power, but he
does have above average contact and rarely strikes out.  He is more of a station to station type runner with slow speed and lacks much defense but his ability to get on base doesn't go over looked.  In his 4 year HS career he hit .427, had an OBP of .496 and a career OPS of 1.115.  He only amassed 12 HR and 26 2B in 344 AB, but had a better than 1:1 K/BB ratio as well.  It will be interesting to see how he adapts to pitching at higher levels.



Round 4
SP Matt McGinnity - John Jay High School - 187th Overall, Round 4.  Picking in the 4th round, Jersey selected their 2nd HS starter of the draft in McGinnity from Waterville, New York. McGinnity here is an interesting pick seeing his track record over his career and a big let down his final season.  Most teams had
him slated as a MR, but the reason he slipped into the 4th could be because of the changeup he has tried to evolve over the past year.  He throws an above average cutter and slider while hitting the mid-90's.  Even if he doesn't succeed into becoming a professional starter, he may have a future as a reliever.


Round 5
SP Antonio Pereira - University of Cincinnati - 215th overall, Round 5.  Jersey seemed to get a steal here in Round 5 and we are surprised both of their round 3 and 4 picks were taken over Pereira.  He was the ace
of the Bearcats staff last year going 4-2, having a crazy 0.92 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, giving up 1 HR ans striking out 65 batters in 58.2 IP.  Control isn't his best attribute, but improved on it greatly from junior to senior season.  With 3 decent pitchers and a ground-ball percentage of 74%, he certainly has a chance of reaching the next level if he can improve on his control. 

Even in a very deep draft once you get to the bottom the players tend to fall off.  That's what happened in this draft between rounds 6-10.  

Round 6 - RF Miguel Vallejo - 3rd time he has been drafted.  24 year with little hitting upside. Plays above average defense and has elite speed.
Round 7 - LF Steve Jennings - Speedy OF out of Georgia Tech.  Has tools to be elite defender.  Hit .354 in his senior season, if he improves he could pan out to be a 4th OF type.
Round 8 - RF Josh Boyer - 25 year old. At one point he could have made a decent player, but being drafted 3 other times besides this one and not playing over 3 years has diminished his skills.
Round 9 - Util Todd Ross - 25 year old.  Another 4th time draftee, first time out of the 3rd round.  Plays all IF positions well, elite speed, not much with the bat.  Could stick on for awhile as a defensive specialist.
Round 10 - 1B George Young - 25 year old.  A trend of taking older draftees late in the draft.  Previously drafted by LA, POC and JAK.  Doesn't have much upside in any area besides a slick glove at 1B.

Well there's the class of folks.  A top heavy young class of high school players and a late half of players who should be in AAA right now but never will get a chance. We will see how the first 1-2 round picks go as Jersey has had an excellent track record of drafting BSA quality talent in those rounds.

GO D-BAGS

2016 Rule IV Amateur Draft; Jersey Shore

It's draft time again and that means one of GM Josh Swain's favorite times of the year.  Swain has done a fantastic job drafting taking the teams 2 superstars in Bryant and Doyle, as well as the team's current SS Adam Morrow and the team's future SS Lawrence Shroeder and recently traded Richard Coker.  In 6 years of drafting one thing has been common for the Bags, taking a bat in the first round.  And most notably taking an infield bat.  5 out of the 6 years the team's first round pick was an infiender: Bryant, Doyle, Coker, Schroeder and Brodeur.  The only other first rounder that wasn't an IF was CF Ernesto Barzaga who never developed and is out of the league.  This year we saw things change.

1st Round:
With Jersey's first pick coming at pick 31 in the first round they went and different direction and chose SP Gianluigi Ciottone out of the University of Nebraska.  Ciottone was a solid starter for Nebraska for 4 season averaging over 11 K/9 while walking 3.5 per/9 and limiting his HR.  Swain was ecstatic to get him at 31.  "I'll be honest we had him as a Top 3 SP in this draft and him falling to 31 is amazing, I would have taken him 20-25 picks sooner if we had position" Swain said.  The one knock on Gianluigi is the lack of a decent 3rd pitch.  He does throw a changeup, but it is very raw and limits it in games.  The Bags will try to help improve the pitch in the offseason and track his results from there.

2nd Round:
Having 2 second round picks, Jersey went the same route with both picks.  Both high stuff/high movement MR, one out of HS and one out of college.  The first was pick 40 of the 2nd round and 113th overall, MR Gil Dickson out of Randall HS.  Dickson served as the closer for Randall for 4 years, totally 31 saves in his 4 seasons.  He finished his HS career with a 2.70 ERA, racking up 99 K's in 60.0 IP.  He throws an above average fastball and curveball and tops out at 94 MPH.

2 picks later at 115th overall, Jersey selected SP/MR Claude Pinard out of the University of Louisville.  Pinard was a college starter and finished school with a 16-7 W/L record, striking out 271 batters in 67.2 IP. He was one of the best starters in the country his senior year having a 2.13 ERA and finishing 6-0.  Jersey has already come forth and stated he might get some minor league starts but with only 2 pitches he will probably be regulated to straight bullpen duty.  Pinard throws an excellent sinker which keeps the ball on the ground almost 75% of the time.  Combine that with his power to hit 99 MPH, you have some great potential.

3rd Round:
For the 2nd round in a row Jersey would have 2 picks.  With the first the trend continued and Jersey selected MR Pat Wright out of Dublin Jerome High School at pick 45 of the 3rd round, 169th overall. Wright started for 4 seasons tallying a 20-6 record in 32 starts amassing an amazing 319 K's and only 38 BB's 199 IP.  He like Pinard only throws 2 pitches and probably will be regulated for bullpen duty and if there was a knock on his pitching it's his movement. He gave up 29 HR in 32 stats.

2 picks later Jersey selected another pitcher and it's 5th of the day taking MR Jesus Ramos out of Buchanan High School with pick 47 of the 3rd round, 171st overall.  Ramos played at Buchanan for 3 seasons compiling a 3.53 ERA, making 14 starts in 23 appearances.  His control is his strong point rating at a 16 on a 20 point scale.  He will be sent to A ball Manhatten.

4th Round:
With it's 4th round pick, 203rd overall, Jersey selected Nicaraguan born 23 year old MR out of the University of Minnesota Sergio Hernandez.  Hernandez was selected 90th overall last year by the New Orleans Looters but failed to sign.  He reportedly played ball in the South American league this season before re-entering the draft pool.  Sergio was the primary closer for UMN, but what stands out is his 73% groundball rate and the fact he only gave up 4 HR in 89.2 IP in college.  He will report to AA Gainsville.

5th Round:
For Jersey's 5th round pick they finally shied away from the arms and selected a bat.  At 231st overall they selected 3B Michael Swanson out of UCLA.  This is the 3rd time time Swanson has been drafted and will turn 25 later this year. Not the ideal draftee.  He was selected 134th overall by Toronto in 2014, then 160th overall by your Jersey Shore D-Bags last season.  Swanson doesn't have much upside with the stick but has elite speed and has a great glove.

6th: CF Guillermo Cardenas
7th: MR Juan Patino
8th: CF Charlie Nichols
9th: LF Joseph Randall
10th:  RF Greg McDaniel

Overall another strong draft for the Bags.  The pitching will restock the system and give them one of the deepest systems in MR prospects in the BSA.  If Ciottone can develop like Jersey hopes, he could be an absolute steal at pick 31.

GO D-BAGS

Prospect Breakdown: Meet Richard Coker

If you ask 22 year old Richard Coker how he got where he is today he might not be able to give you an answer right away.  The Boston, Massachusetts native was your typical kid growing up in the suburbs who played sports year round mixed in with the usual trouble making teenagers like to do.  It was apparent when he was just a young teenager that the kid was athletically gifted.  He led his Little Guy football team when he was just the age of 12 to the state title in a passing attack that is rare to that level.  The kid was big and he could throw.  He wasn't the fleetest of foot, but already grown to 5'9" as a 14 year old, he was among the biggest kids in the class when he entered High School.  

"At that time I had one dream to play Pro Football.  My idol was and still is Tom Brady and I love the Patroits.  The only problem was I grew too fast.  I was the biggest kid when I was 12 and each year after the kids caught up a little bit.  By the time I started my senior year I stood 5'11" and weighed 180 and I was pretty average." Coker talked to a lot of recruiters during his senior year which he led the Butler High Golden Tornados to a 9-2 record and a state semi-final appearance.  "I wanted Boston College, Notre Dame, Rutgers, but it was always the same answer, too small kid.  It was a let down.  Football was my game, and pretty much my life up until that point."  

In the early Spring his buddy convinced him to try out for the baseball team, a sport he hadn't played since little league.  "It's not that I didn't like baseball, but I had football in the fall, basketball in the winter and spring and by the time the earliest summer months hit I was in football camps, there just wasn't much time for baseball."  Being naturally gifted he picked the game back up fairly quickly.  

Though his swing didn't produce much power, it was natural and making contact wasn't a problem for him.  He made the team and coach put him at first base where it seemed he had played there his entire life.  "The kid was a defensive whiz at 1B.  Scooping, diving, stretching he was everywhere.  We eventually moved him to 3B where he wasn't quite as good, but he certainly had the arm for it."  Coker attributes his quickness to the football field.  "As a QB you only have so many seconds before you know you are getting crushed.  At 3B you have to react so quickly to the ball that I was just use to it."

Coker played in 27 of the teams 40 games and surprised everyone by hitting .341 and having a knack for getting on base by also walking 21 times.  He became a staple at hitting 3rd and playing 3rd on a nightly basis.  The Golden Tornadoes finished the season 15-25, missed the playoffs but Coker and 2B Vincente Ventura continued to hit in the cage.  Coker was surprised when he got a call from an agent in June telling him that there was a good chance he was to be taken in the BSA amateur draft in the next month.  At the time Coker had planned on going to school and being a 2 sport athlete, but the idea of being drafted excited him.  

To most people's surprise on July 1, 2013 the Jersey Shore D-Bags selected Coker 20th overall in the 1st round of the draft.  "I went from wanting to play football the year before, to being a first round draft pick in baseball, it was unreal, but way cool," said Coker on draft day.  Jersey saw potential.  "The kid was raw, but you could see he had skills.  We had his contact as way above average, he had that stroke that could get the ball to the gap, he rarely struck out and making of a good eye and not to mention not too shabby at defense. We knew it would take some time, but when you draft in the last part of the 1st round taking a risk isn't a bad thing," GM Josh Swain told us recently.  

Coker joined A ball Manhattan and looked raw in his first season.  He hit just .224, walked only 12 times in 220+ plate appearances and struck out at a 19% clip.  "We expected struggles.  He didn't take to the struggling very well to no surprise though.  Those natural athletes are use to succeeding as kids and into High School, first year of professional life can be tough."  

He played in just 14 Manhattan games in 2014 before being promoted to AA Gainsville.  He hit .320, had an OBP of .370 but the strike outs were still troubling.  20 in 70 plate appearances.  In fact he had more strike outs than he made regular outs, but yet he was still called up.  "We had an influx of talent at A and we were lacking bodies in AA.  I probably called him up too soon, but he could hit.  I guess call it more of a challenge if anything." 

The rest of 2014 was a struggle.  AA was hard.  Coker played in 100 games, hitting .209, striking out 94 times.  He fell off the D-Bags top 20 prospect list and was disappointed   In 2014 he met Lawrence Schroeder whom the D-Bags drafted in the amateur draft out of Virginia that year and the two playing on the same side of the IF instantly become friends.  "Schroeder helped.  He was always up beat, always telling me to keep my head up. Helps having a friend."

In baseball and in life, sometimes things just start clicking, and after a slow April and May that's what happened for Coker in the summer of 2015.  Coker, Dave Dodd and Fransisco Torres led the offense to a Gainesville record 88 wins, a big upgrade over the 43 they won the year before.  Coker ended up hitting .301/.350/.419 with a career high 9 HR and 26 2B.   While his strikeout rate was still high he was improving.  In 2014 he walked once for every 5.22 K's.  In 2015 it had improved to 1 in every 3.36.  There was hope yet again for the then 21 year old.  

Hoping for a promotion in 2015, Jersey sent Coker back to AA for the season.  If Jersey was looking for improvment they have found some thus far.  Though his average only sits at 280, he is on pace for less K's and almost double the walks he took last season, which is exactly what Jersey wanted to see.  They still see him as a potential starter in the IF at the major league level.  He has been in the system for almost 4 years and he is still only 22, the beauty of drafting out of high school.  

There's no telling if there is a time table for Coker. They have rushed him, they have held him back.  We might see him in AAA later this year, maybe it will be next year, but the potential is there.  Should we expect anything else out of a 1st round D-Bags draft pick?  

Follow Coker on his way to the bigs and the D-Bags push for their 2nd straight playoff appearance!

GO D-BAGS

Analyzing the 2010 Draft; 6 Years Later

The 2010 amateur draft took place September 1st, 2010 towards the end of the then VBL6's 1st season in existence.  A lot of people like to put grades on drafts the minute they happen, but taking a 6 year window and looking back is a much better way to grade.  As we are just a month away from the 2016 amateur draft, let's look back at that 2010 draft, see all the potential that has come out, find our busts, steals and overall....let's see what happened.  The 2010 draft is FILLED with hitters who are scattered all over the BSA.

First off, there was ALOT of talent taken in our first amateur draft, many of today's stars came right here out of that draft.  Where else to start but #1 overall.  The then Eugene franchise, who is now Reno, selected SP Tommy Connare, who did have extreme upside.  He never did learn a dominant 3rd pitch and has had up and downs as a SP, who is now a main cog in the Los Cabos bullpen.  Not a bust, but didn't live up to #1 pick hype.

The first hitter taken, and the #2 pick in the draft was Mr. John Doby by Vista, and he is still with the team.  At times Doby has been dominant posting career numbers of .291/.407/.488.  Doby's problems have been injuries and staying on the field though.  In 4+ BSA seasons the most games he has played in a season is 127.

Now look break down that first round and find the steal and bust of the round. 

The hitter steal of the first round falls to Jersey at 21 in 2B Mike Bryant.  Bryant is a 2 time All Star, has finished 2nd in MVP voting 2 seasons in a row.  He leads all players in the draft class in HR, RBI, BA, SLG and OPS.

For every steal there is a bust, and unfortunately for Jacksonville that pick came at pick 6.  Chris Dawson a powerful 1B out of UNC looked to be at the time a cornerstone at 1B for Jacksonville for the next 12-15 years, but after 3 years in the minors he was traded to Baffin where he would play AAA ball until last year before seeing some action.  While he still has talent, at 28 years old with only 6 HR and 21 RBI to his BSA career, at this point he is my first round bust of a hitter.

Other players of note drafted in the first round include OF Carlos Perez (3rd), OF Stu Wilson (8th), C Bryan Sandstrom (9th), OF Al Burrill (11th), OF Antonio Sanchez (17th), IF Tom Jacobson (18th), 3B Luis Alou (19th), OF Rocky Anderson (22nd), and OF Porter Standford (28th).

On the pitching side of things things were a little bit more clouded.  Even though Cy Young winner Steve Haynes was picked at #10, my steal of the first round is SP Greg Casey, pick 24, by San Fransisco.  The flame thrower spent his first big league season notching 34 saves as the SF closer before being moved to a starter and eventually traded to Hendersonville.  Haynes and Casey have matching career records of 44-37.

As for the bust for pitching in the first round, my pick is Rob King, pick 12, by then Somerton out of the Univ. of Georgia.  King never became that front line starter Somerton had envisioned and didn't make the big league club until 2013 with New orleans, going 0-6 in 11 starts with an ERA of 7.11.  He now pitches in the Toronto Titan's system at the A ball level.

Other pitchers of note in the first round include: Richard White (4th) and Ross Holley (7th).

Drafts are not won in the first round, they are usually the safe picks.  Drafts are won by finding those gems in the later rounds.  Here's what we found in the 2nd round:

All-Star Catcher Gernot Renner (2nd Round, 6th pick), breakout star OF Domingo Martinez (2nd Round, 11th), former 40 HR man OF Ghebru Olatunji (2nd, 15), CF Jose Estrada (2nd, 19), 2015 ROY 3B/SS Adam Morrow (2nd, 21), and Boston setup man Horace Thomas (2nd, 16th).

The 3rd round is where I find 3 of my Top 5 steals of the overall draft though.  How these guys fell so far, no one might ever know.  Round 3, pick 14 3B Bryce Hester.  Hester leads all players in hits from the 2010 draft class and who has been traded 4 times since being drafted.  At pick 27 in Round 3, Kansas City selected 1B Tony Marin.  Marin was released by KC before he had the chance to get much playing time and proved everyone he was a player when he hit .323 with 46 HR and 139 last season and finished 2nd in MVP voting.

In a very mundane pitching class the biggest steal of the draft might be then Oklahoma, now Toronto's pick, the 7th pick of the 3rd round.  They selected a SP by the name of Mike Haward.  Haward is an All Star and a 2 time champion with Hendersonville who leads all pitchers of the 2010 class in wins with 55.

In the 4th round Jersey found in a gem in Russell "The Muscle" Phillips with pick 21 in the round.  Phillips was later traded to Sacramento, then to Niagara Falls where he broke out last year with his 40 HR campaign and looks like a legit slugger.

The 4th round also is where current Greenville closer Jorge Valentin was taken by then Sunnyvalle, now New York.   In 161 career innings he has an ERA of 2.62 with 30 saves.

In Round 5 with the 10th pick then Haddonfield, now Indy, selected OF Todd Church.  Church's first year as a regular was in 2015 where he busted out hitting .327 with 166 hits and 30 doubles for the Lions.

My last gem of the draft was found in Round 7.  The 13th pick of the round the then Long Beach Havens, selected out of Oklahoma 1B/OF Robbie McLaughlin.  McLaughlin is known as having one of the best eyes in the game combined with good contract and 30+ 2B power to the gaps and that's from a 7th round pick.

Overall there are 17 hitters who have played in 400+ games, 7 players who have 500+ hits and 3 players with 100+ HR.  3 pitchers have 40+ wins, 3 have 20+ saves, we have a Cy Young winner and have been runner up for MVP on 3seperate occasions.  Not bad for a class whom most players are 27 or recently turned 28. 

Make those draft lists, there are gems and late finds to be found!

Mikey Bryant Clubs HR #100

"With the 21st pick in the 2010 Rule IV Amateur Draft the Jersey Shore D-Bags select Mike Bryant, second base, out of Stanford University" ~ Commissioner Ulery, September 1, 2010

Combination of  glove, power, speed and contact made Bryant a prototypical 1st round pick.  Jersey was shocked he fell to them at 21.  "We had him Top 10, especially playing in the middle infield.  Guy was a no-brainier in our mindset." said GM Josh Swain.  Bryant has put in long hours in the cage and worked in the off season to make him one of most feared hitters in the BSA today.  We sit a few months short of 6 years since the Bags took Bryant to celebrate his 100th career HR.  He was drafted at the age of 22, spent nearly 3 years in the minors refining his skills before breaking out in 2013.  435 games and 1767 At bats later he reaches his 1st milestone.  

Tuesday, May 10th, 2016.  After hitting his 99th career HR a week earlier, the Bags sat in the middle of a home stand.  Beating the LA Bruins 2 out of 3 was nice, but for Bryant he sat on 99.  The counter by the "Bryant Bunch" in the Right Field bleachers told the entire crowd where he sat.  They were hoping to see fireworks at home.  Alfonso Medina was on the mound for the Madison Bombers that afternoon, whom Bryant was 3 for 7 against without a HR.  Bryant would get his chance early.  Hitting cleanup, the first two hitters in the inning, Peter Larson and Alberto Perez would reach base via walks.  After the catcher Duran would fly out, Bryant would get his cuts.  It only took Medina 4 pitches to sit Bryant down swinging on a slider out of the zone.

His 2nd try would come leading off the bottom of the 3rd inning with his team trailing 5-2.  He had a favorable count of 2-1 before a big swing and a miss left the count evened at 2-2.  The 5th pitch Bryant just missed which resulted in a fly out to CF.  Bryant would barely have his helmet off before his good buddy Matt Doyle would take the 3rd pitch of his AB 375 feet, 17 rows up in the right field bleachers.   It wouldn't take long for Bryant to get another chance.  It was just the next inning.  With runners on the corners down 5-3, Bryant strolled to the plate to face Medina for the 3rd time today. The first pitch was a fastball which caught the inside corner for a strike, a good slider and a swing and a miss would put Bryant down in the hole 0-2.  Medina set and pitched.....Medina made a mistake.  A hanging curveball. Bryant rarely misses mistakes.  He didn't this time.  Bryant with a dead pull punished that curveball.  What seemed like minutes later, the ball landed 457 feet deep into the upper deck for a go ahead 3 run HR, and the 100 HR of the young slugger's career.  The crowd gave a standing ovation and Bryant would return out of the dugout with a tip of the hat.  

How far can Bryant go?  100 HR is a nice milestone and it puts him in the company of 100+ players who also have hit that many HR.  He is 28, which for a 3rd year player is older than most.  The big milestones may be out of reach, but with the way he has played in his short career, I don't think we have seen him to his full potential yet.  The kid is special.  The real question is which milestone will come 2nd now?  1000 career hits or 200 HR?  He currently sits at 582 career hits and 100 HR.  My bet is on hits, but with the way the HR are leaving the yard, it might be close!

Hopefully Bryant can continue the D-Bags in this tough division battle and lead the Bags back to the playoffs this season!

GO D-BAGS!

Prospect Breakdown; Meet SS Lawrence Schroeder

 

Growing up in Fontana, California had it's perks.  Hop on I-10 for an hour and be in Hollywood, take a little more time and head south and be in Redondo Beach.  Great weather for the beach, for surfing, for people watching, this was after all Southern California. What Lawrence Schroeder liked the most though is being mere minutes from the Little League baseball facility in San Bernadino, California.  For a week and a half every summer the West Regional tournament was held in San Bernadino.  Though Schroeder never had the chance to to participate he loved watching the kids from all over the western side of the country play baseball. He was especially envious of those last 4 teams who's games are always televised on ESPN and ESPN2.  Playing baseball on TV what a thrill!

Schroeder was always athletically talented.  His father was 6th round draft pick in the NFL and played parts of 2 seasons.  His mother a high school track star.  He excelled in basketball in high school, maturing early hitting his 6'3" height when he was just a sophomore in High School. He made the baseball team as a Junior and quickly became one of the better players on the team.  His high school coach said he was always one of the first ones are practice and almost always the last one there.  The kid loved to practice, loved to get better and it helped the guys around him want to get better too.  

Upon his senior year he was scouted by a few teams and eventually accepted a scholarship to play for the University of Virginia all the way across the country.  They were the only school willing to let Schroeder play both basketball and baseball for them.  He joined the Cavaliers baseball team in 2010, which was a team led by older players  In fact he was the only bat on the team who wasn't a junior and a senior. At first it was hard being the newcomer and by far the youngest kid on the team but in the end he learned more from those guys than any coach out there.  Though they lost to Nebraska 2-1 in the best of 3 series in the first round it was Schroeder's first taste of playoff baseball, and he loved it.  The pressure, everything on the line.  He played in 43 of the team's 48 games, leading the team in doubles and showing off his great eye at the plate.  He only hit .259, but his OBP of .385 was good for 4th on the team.

2011 was another Virginia team led by seniors, but Schroeder like his freshman year was in the thick of things.  He and current Austin River Shark Jerome Miles led the team and became one of the best 1-2 punches in the country.  Schroeder officially put himself on the national radar hitting .400, 9 HR, 17 2B with an OBP of .525 again leading Virginia to the playoffs, and again ending in defeat by way of the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the first round.

2012 was going to be their year.  Virginia named Schroeder team captain before the season started and a slew of young talented players led Virginia for a record of 32 victories which still stands.  The offense featured 5 players in double digit HR's including Schroeder who hit a career high of 14.  He also posted some very high numbers, which many are still in the top 25-30 in college baseball history.  He hit .404 with an OBP of .530 and an OPS o 1.284.  Not to mention that Lawrence had developed a very slick glove at shortstop.  Virginia made the playoffs again and rallied around Schroeder and Miles to knock off their ACC rival Duke in the first round of the playoffs 2-0.  They went on to play powerhouse UConn who led the nation in wins with 39 behind a big pitching staff, current ROY candidate Eliot Helen, former first round picks Ramiro Navarro and Jorge Torres.  Virginia took care of business 2-0, moved on to face Kentucky who they also swept to reach the championship in a bout against the Oregon Ducks.  The series was a joke with Virginia beating them 2-0 to win their first and only national championship.  Currently the 2012 Virginia team is on the 2nd team along with South Florida to sweept through an NCAA playoffs without a loss.  

For the next two years Schroeder would put up decent numbers but nothing compared to the magical summer of 2012. He was a highly touted and ranked prospect going into the 2014 draft, but on draft fell down the draft board and finally was picked by the Jersey Shore D-Bags with the 28th overall pick.  GM Josh Swain said "We were ecstatic and actually very surprised he fell to us.  He was Top 13 on our big board and just kept falling.  It's hard to find a SS with that good of glove/contact with some pop.  The fact he was about to 24 at the time of the draft was also enticing.  We felt he would be one of the faster movers in the entire draft and with need for a SS on the big club, it was a perfect fit."

Schroeder was dissapointed due to his drafted position but was also encouraged.  The 2014 season we saw the breakout of stars in Jersey as Mike Bryant and Matt Doyle lit up the CL with tape measure HR's and names being all over national publications.  "Being not far from Jersey while I was in school I saw them a lot.  They are one of the best team in developing home grown talent, so it really was an honor being drafted by them.  I knew if I was going to make the big leagues, this was a great place for me."

Schroeder signed a 1.29M signing bonus not a week after the draft and was sent to AA Gainesville skipping right over A ball.  While he didn't match his college numbers, he posted respectable numbers in the 67 games he played in with them, he hit 11 HR while hitting .254.  In the winter of 2014 really worked with Schroeder on evening out his swing to produce more line drives and helping him keep his weight back to try and help his power game.  His maturity was evident early on in 2015 as he smacked around AA pitching for 2 weeks and earned a surprise promotion to AAA affiliate Tuscaloosa.  He immediately took over the starting SS position for them, while getting some good time at 2B as well this season.  He has been everything he was advertised as with a slash line of .299/.353/.474 hitting 15 HR and driving in 80 runs in 111 games thus far this season. The one drawback is he striking out a lot, but plans to work on that in the off season. 

While Jersey has no immediate plans to call up Schroeder, his future is bright.  He was named the 31st best prospect before the season started and with his success in AAA so far, things are looking up.  But really should anyone be really surprised?  Even if Schroeder spends the rest of the season and 2016 in AAA, in 2017 we could be looking at a Jersey infield of Doyle, Bryant, Schroeder and Adam Morrow.  What do these players have in common?  All players drafted by Jersey, 3 1st round draft picks, Morrow being the only 2nd round pick of the bunch.   Did we mention 2013 1st round pick 1B/3B 21 year old Richard Coker is starting to tear it up in AA and talks of a promotion have been abound the Jersey clubhouse?  It could be something rare to see that many home grown players in one clubhouse and starting lineup.

For now we will monitor Schroeder's progress in AAA.  They have a 16 game lead in their division and well on their way to their 6th straight playoff appearance and could be on their way to their 4th title in 6 years.  Schroeder is excited to get back into some playoff competition but also added, " I want a shot at Greenville and Toronto!"  While we are excited he is anticipating playing against Jersey's biggest rivals, we will end in saying, young man your time will come.  

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