Former Livermore HS and Santa Clara SS/P J.R. Graham is doing well in the Braves system.  The former Bay Area World Series standout (BAWS IV, 2007) was taken in the 4th round of the 2011 draft and the Braves have pushed him this year.  Here is a recent blurb about him in a piece about bullpen pitchers to keep an eye on for each MLB team...

ATLANTA BRAVES: Arodys Vizcaino would be the easy choice here had he not had Tommy John surgery this spring, but his injury plus the trade of J.J. Hoover leaves second-year righty J.R. Graham as perhaps the best choice. The Braves pushed the 2011 fourth-rounder to high Class A Lynchburg, where his mid-90s heat and developing slider have led to few baserunners (1.00 WHIP), few long hits and a 3-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Baseball America has published a Top 100 prospects list for the 2012 MLB draft. There are two local college pitchers ranked in the top four prospects. You might be surprised to see who is ranked higher, USF's Kyle Zimmer or Stanford's Mark Appel. Here is a link to the BA Top 100 list.

I had been hearing buzz all spring that even though Appel was ranked much higher coming into the season, that it was Zimmer the scouts preferred.  I suppose we will really find out when the draft is actually here in June and the Astros are officially on the clock.

On that list there are 10 players from the Northern California scouting region, which includes Northern Nevada.  Actually there are only nine because as I recall, there are very few, if any Northern CA scouts who have Cal Poly in their territory. 

The territories are not defined the same for every club, which makes is confusing sometimes.  For instance, some clubs have a Central California scout who covers Fresno, Bakersfield, San Luis Obispo, etc and some clubs have the Northern CA guy do Fresno and even down to Visalia (that was my territory).  But I will include the Cal Poly player because he is from the Bay Area and I turned him in as a legitimate prospect out of high school.

Here they are...

#3 Kyle Zimmer (RHP), USF

#4 Mark Appel (RHP), Stanford (Monte Vista HS)

The season is nearly over and a few of the local teams still have designs on a regular season conference title.  Stanford is alive but needs help to pass three teams in front of them.  That is not a big deal for Stanford as they are going to the playoffs and will likely host a regional. 

In the WAC both Sacramento State and Nevada have a shot at winning the regular season title, which brings the top seed in the WAC tourney.  The winner of the WAC tourney gets a bid to the NCAA playoffs.  No doubt both teams want a shot at that top seed but honestly, with the VERY modest past success of the Hornet program, a regular season WAC title would be a GREAT accomplishment.  Nevada has much more program success but this season is one in which I don't think many would have predicted the type of success the Wolfpack has had.

- Stanford (3-0 vs Washington State, 32-14 season, 14-10 Pac-12) - The Cardinal swept a team they should have swept and now need help for a shot at the Pac-12 title.  They trail Oregon, UCLA, and Arizona and lose the head to head tiebreaker to Arizona and Oregon.  Stanford hosts a realing Cal team to finish the season and a sweep of the Bears would give Stanford a shot, small as it might be.

- Cal Poly (2-1 vs Cal State Bakersfield, 29-20 season, 10-8 Big West) - Cal Poly got a nice series win from a competitive CSU Bakersfield squad.  I think this is an NCAA tourney caliber club but historically, the committee has been a little harsh on the Big West, which is ridiculous, but it's true.  The Mustangs got a lot of help from UC Davis, who took two of three from Long Beach State and with six Big West games to go, they are behind Fullerton (14-4), Long Beach (12-6), and UC Irvine (12-9), while holding the tiebreaker over Irvine.  The Mustangs play UC Santa Barbara and UC Riverside the next two weekends.  I would think wins in five of their next seven games should be enough to get them in the tourney.  Time will tell.

- Nevada (3-0 vs San Jose State, 30-21 season, 10-5 WAC) - A sweep of the Spartans has the Wolfpack sitting atop the WAC at 10-5.  They finish at Hawaii (8-7) with a chance to win the regular season title and top seed in the WAC tourney.  They have a two game lead in the loss column over both Sacramento State (11-7) and Hawaii.  They have had a nice season but the WAC is down this year and only the conference tourney winner will get into the NCAA tourney, in my estimation.

- Sacramento State (3-0 vs Hawaii, 29-23 season, 11-7 WAC) - The Hornets made a HUGE statement this weekend by sweeping Hawaii.  Regardless of how they do in the WAC tourney, Sacramento State has had a great season and will have good momentum as they recruit this summer and fall.  Frankly they hammered Hawaii this weekend and if Nevada loses two games at Hawaii, Sacramento will win the regular season WAC title because the Hornets took two of three from the Wolfpack a couple of weekends ago.

- Fresno State (2-1 at New Mexico State, 23-24 season, 6-9 WAC) - A good weekend for the Bulldogs on the road at a very difficult place to play.  Because there is a WAC tourney, the Bulldogs are still alive for an NCAA bid.  Of course that would mean they have to win the WAC tourney but we have seen this program get hot in years past and if they can get on a roll, you never know!  They finish with Louisiana Tech at home next weekend.  Obviously this has been a disappointing season for Fresno State, by their standards, but they can still finish over .500 and could make all the disappointment go away by winning the WAC tourney.  They have the type of pitching staff that can get that done.

- San Jose State (0-3 at Nevada, 21-25 season, 5-10 WAC) - Yes they got swept and yes, this club has really struggled this year.  However, because they play in the WAC and there is a conference tournament, they are alive for postseason play.  Right now they are last in the conference and will have to escape the cellar to qualify for the WAC tourney.  They host New Mexico State this coming weekend. 

The summer showcase season is fast approaching and many of the known and more polished young talents already have made their decision about which showcases they will perform at this summer.  However, beyond the "known" commodities there are always other players with talent, in some cases talent that surpasses known or more polished players. 

When I started Bay Area World Series in 2004 and in subsequent years, one of the best aspects of the event, from the perspective of the college coaches that attended, was the chance to see players they did not know of.  They got to see players who might have played only JV ball to this point, or players who were stuck behind a senior on their varsity team.  They got to see some kids from small schools and kids who didn't play for the higher profile and often seen travel ball teams.  Sure they all want to evaluate the known players, but to come across a good looking prospect that was previously unknown to them, well, that is like found money.

I have invited most if not all the "known" local players and have been fortunate enough to attract many of them to BAWS 2012.  However, with the scheduling conflict created by BAWS being the same weekend as the Stanford Camp, I have lost out on many players.  That is unfortunate but it will lead to opportunities for other players who might not have had a chance to showcase themselves.

There will be tryout for players (especially for pitchers) on June 3rd at a soon to be determined location in the East Bay.  I am on the lookout for pitching primarily but do have some spots for promising 1st basemen and a few outfielders.  Again, there is no requirement that a player has performed at a varsity level or even started this year on their varsity team.  Trust me, I have seen many talented kids sit behind lesser talents at the high school level only to see their best opportunity arise at the college level. 

Obviously if we are talking about moving on to the college level someday, I want the kids who try out to have good grades, certainly above a 3.0 GPA.  I am looking for pitchers who are either smaller but polished with multiple pitches, long and tall pitchers who have body control and quick arms but may not have developed enough strength for big velocity yet, or hard throwers who might still be in the process of gaining control and command.  Lefthanders who can throw strikes and change speeds, well, you are certainly wanted too!  As for position players, well, speed guys who can play strong defense and have a short quick stroke, you are valued.  Bring me some big strong kids who may not be polished as hitters yet but possess one of the most valued assets, raw power.  Mayve some outfielders with strong arms and good speed but the bat is still coming around.  Lefthanded hitting 1st basemen with good swings and some pop, with some skills around the bag, come on down!

You see, not every future "prospect" is 6'3" 185 and throwing 87-90 mph right now or running a 6.7 and hitting balls over the fence.  In fact, there are dozens and dozens of kids who are still developing and frankly, they will surpass many of the "known" players in the near future.  It has been a great source of pride for me that BAWS has had so many kids that went to a JC and eventually developed into a major college or pro prospect and believe me, there have been MANY.  To count the "unknown" or "underknown" kids who got their opportunity because they came to BAWS and were seen on the right day, well, those are the kids that BAWS has always been best for. 

Sure, there have been hundreds of major college players and well over 100 future professional players participate at BAWS, that's great.  Many of them came to the event well known, but not all of them.

So contact me if you know of a kid who sounds like a player I would be interested in.  Send me a message with some description, provide me with an email address so I can communicate with these players and either invite them to BAWS or get them to the tryout.

The event is for deserving kids and there are a lot of you out there who know of players who just need a shot if they are seen or known of by the right people.

Email me at BayAreaWS@yahoo.com

Thanks!

Blaine Clemmens

With about three weekends left in the regular season, here is a look at the regional D1 programs, their last weekend results and a look at the schedule ahead.  Some teams are very much in contention for an NCAA regional bid, either via a conference title or an at-large bid.  It is time to start putting them in some sort of order indicating their chances for postseason play...

- Stanford (1-2 at Oregon State, 29-14 season, 11-10 Pac-12) - The Cardinal won game one at Oregon State, dropped a close 4-2 game on Saturday then after tying the game in the top of the ninth and sending it to extra innings, eventually lost on Sunday.  All road series in the Pac-12 are tough and Oregon State is one of the toughest places for opponents.  Their chances for a Pac-12 title are pretty remote (Oregon leads at 16-8, followed by Arizona 13-8, ASU at 14-10, UCLA at 12-9) due to series losses to both Oregon and Arizona.  If it came to a tie with ASU or UCLA, Stanford holds those head to head tiebreakers.  Stanford finishes with Washington State (home), Utah (away), and Cal (home).  If things break right, I think 8-1 is possible in those nine games and no worse than 6-3 can be expected.

- Cal Poly (1-2 at UC Davis, 27-19 season, 10-8 Big West) - As I suspected, the Mustangs ran into a competitive UC Davis team and they lost two of three in Davis.  The two losses were close, both by a 5-4 score and game one went extra innings.  The Mustangs sit at 4th in the Big West but are five games behind Cal State Fullerton in the loss column.  Their best hope for the NCAA tourney is an at-large bid.  They have six games left at home (need to go at least 5-1) and four on the road (no worse than 2-2 would help).  A final record of 34-22 would likely put them squarely in the discussion for an at-large bid but I would think they will have to get into the top three in the Big West to have that happen.  The Big West is a GOOD baseball conference but all too often in recent years the third and fourth place teams have been getting snubbed by the selection committee.  They lost two of three to second place Long Beach State and swept third place UC Irvine.

- Cal (2-1 at Washington State, 25-19 season, 9-12 Pac-12) - A road series win in the Pac-12 is a good thing, no matter the opponent.  Cal dropped the first game but bounced back with strong offense the rest of the series and got a two-hit shutout from junior LHP Justin Jones in game three.  Cal's only chance to return to postseason play for the second year in a row is as an at-large and with a College World Series run last year, I would think the committee would look for reasons to let them back in.  A Pac-12 record under .500 will not help that cause so they would need to go at least 6-3 in their last nine conference games and with Arizona, UCLA, and Stanford left, that is a TALL task.  The good thing is that the Arizona and UCLA series' are in Berkeley.

What is 1/1 you ask?  Well in scout-speak that is the short version for the player picked first in the first round; 1/1.  It is pretty rare to have a potential 1/1 in your scouting territory, unless you are a Southern California scout for the Pirates or Astros or some other consistently bad MLB club.  Yes, that was a knock on those two big league clubs.  I failed to mention the Cubs, because well... I chose to ignore the obvious!

Ok, back on track.  There are two right-handed college pitchers in Northern California who are getting consideration for that coveted 1/1 pick.  Stanford's Mark Appel (Monte Vista HS-Danville) and USF's Kyle Zimmer (La Jolla).  Appel has been a steady riser since his days of pitching on a VERY talented MVHS staff while Zimmer burst onto the national radar after his 1-0 shutout of UCLA and future 1/1 pick Gerrit Cole last June in the NCAA Regionals.  Both have big stuff, both have a lot going for them.

And down the stretch they come... Cal Poly, Stanford, Nevada, Sacramento State and USF all are headed in a good direction, Saint Mary's looks ready to make trouble for their remaining WCC foes, as does UC Davis.  Cal is on the bubble and has a rough road ahead... enjoy the end of the season!

On Tuesday night former Stanford and Castro Valley HS star Jason Castro of the Astros was run over at home plate by Mat Gamel of the Brewers, in a collision that was similar to the Posey/Cousins collision.  Castro held onto the ball, Gamel was out and that was it, save for the headache Castro no doubt received (hopefully not a concussion).  There was some analysis of the play on MLB Network and their point was the same point I will make here and the same point I made when Posey was run over last year. 

Here is the interview with Castro after the game and some analysis of the play.

Jason Castro plays for the Astros so little attention was paid to the play.  Jason Castro is not a star or a reigning Rookie of the Year of the defending World Series champs, so little attention was paid to the play.  The point many impartial observers made last year when Posey got hurt was that if he was a back-up catcher or just an average MLB player playing for an average or bad team, there would have been little to no attention paid to the collision and subsequent injury.  That point has just been proved 100% accurate. 

Is the person and well-being of Jason Castro is any less important than the person and well-being of Gerald Posey? 

Castro was in a similarly bad position as Posey was at the plate, with both of his knees on the ground.  Gamel came at him just as hard as Cousins came at Posey, leading with his shoulder.  Fortunately for Castro one of his feet didn't get caught underneath him as Posey's did and he was able to get unhinged from the ground, which saved his knees and ankles from injury.  If you pause the video you can see that Castro's left foot was very close to getting caught underneath him, like Posey's did, and he was periously close to a season ending injury. 

Castro did have the ball and was turning to face the runner, who had already launched at Castro, when he got hit.  He actually wasn't blocking the plate when he took the hit, he was behind the plate, leaving the plate exposed had Gamel wanted to slide (go ahead, watch that video and pause it just before Castro gets his). Posey didn't yet have the ball, he was about to receive the ball and was a bit in front of the plate toward the infield when he got hit.  It wasn't a game winning run that Gamel was trying to score.  Yes, there are some differences but in terms of the severity of the hit and the way the runner went at the catcher, the plays were nearly identical.  To disagree would not be an objective point of view.

It was terribly unfortunate that Posey got hurt, I wouldn't wish that on any person and I'm glad that it looks like he is back to form. 

Oh, one other difference, the Astros' GM didn't go on the radio to make a pariah of Mat Gamel.

Because you are likely watching the Giants attempt to sweep the Mets in a DH, I'll be very brief.  I will say this, it was a great weekend for a couple of programs (Cal, USF, Stanford) and though they still face LONG roads to get back to the top in their respective conference races, they are at least now back in the conversation.  The most impressive player this past week and weekend?  Stanford freshman 3B Alex Blandino, the National Player of the Week.

I saw an entertaining game on Wednesday afternoon, which was won by De La Salle, 8-5.  DLS had an 8-1 lead (I think) before the Cowboys made a late run after the DLS staff put in some reserve players and pitchers.  I was there to see quite a few De La Salle players, some for my own interest and a couple at the request of some college coaches.

Ok, first and foremost, I went out to catch up with a player who is one of the more complete and solid seniors in the area yet doesn't yet have a four year school to attend (though he has had two D1 programs invite him as a walk-on, the schools were too expensive).  The player is 2nd baseman Chris Fornaci.  Here is some video of him hitting yesterday and he was on it pretty good.  The batting average for the year isn't outstanding but he knows how to hit.  He also showed the ability to play above average D at 2nd base.  He came in on one play with a runner at 1st base, got to the ball to make it an easier short hop instead of an in between hop, closed ground on the ball because it was a double play situation, made a great backhanded flip to the covering SS and started the double dip like he was a seasoned pro.  It couldn't have been done better by a big leaguer. 

Later in the game Fornaci was covering on a steal attempt and though the throw led him into the runner, he caught the ball, squared up to the runner, took some contact and made the tag, without one ince of give to the runner.  It was a great play.  He was talking all game long on D, talking the "right way" during the game, with energy yet not just useless chatter.  I was sitting with an associate scout and he says to me, "that kid plays like a Fullerton kid"... I agree.