Between the asinine decisions to push the draft back a month, move up the complex leagues by six weeks, and the levels between Florida/Arizona and Low-A, it is now quite common for guys to get drafted and not play until the following year.
The smart teams (and the Nats!) have compensated for this by focusing on college juniors and making the FCL all about acclimating the IFAs to the USA. The latter appears to be not an experiment but the new world order (starting to wonder about that phrase, given the rise in fascism since last January).
Here’s a look at the most promising of the guys who didn’t play in games that count last summer and fall…
RHP Landon Harmon, 3rd Rd.
Harmon was the second of five (5) HS players drafted, four of whom signed. The 19-y.o. Missippian has a 70-grade fastball that could almost catch up to Jayson Werth on 495. He also throws two types of sliders: The traditional, downward, glove-side and the what used to be called the frisbie until the statcast nerds decided the slower, side-to-side breaking ball be called a sweeper.
RHP Miguel Sime, Jr., 4th Rd.
Taken one round after Harmon, the 18-y.o. Brooklyn native is an inch shorter (6’4″) but 45 lbs heaver (235), the latter of which gives him the “sturdy carriage” that amps the velo to 100mph. He throws an 11-5 curve in the low-80s and a mid-80s change. There are concerns about his high-effort tendencies, which probably all but guarantees he’ll be sent to Florida to work on his mechanics.
SS Coy James, 5th Rd.
James is the second-highest-ranked (#9) of the Nats’ HS picks, prolly because he’s a position player and most likely due to the cover that Eli Willits (#1) provides. He’s a 50-grade player at four of the five tools, with a 55-grade bat. The scouts don’t think there’s much more projection in his 6′ 185-lb frame, which could make him a 2B somewhere down the line.
RHP Riley Maddox, 8th Rd.
Maddox made two appearances and one start for the FredNats after four years at Ole Miss, finishing as the team’s Saturday starter. Given the Nats’ fetish for the slider (his best pitch), the best guess is that he’ll be pushed to relief to refine it in the hopes of becoming the next Aaron Barrett.
OF Jack Moroknek, 11th Rd.
A redshirt junior out of Butler, most of what can found about Moroknek suggests a hope that his aluminum-aided power (1.145 OPS in his final season) and elite exit velocity will translate to pro baseball with wooden bats. Primarily a corner OF with a strong arm but not much speed according to the boxscore scouting.