Ryan Braun

[Bronco LB 59]

Breck Bronc, SoCal Bronco

What can you guys tell me about Ryan Braun? I am the Padres scouting director for a baseball amateur mock draft conducted by prospect guru John Sickels and I am beginning to like him more than the two other highly touted 3B (Alex Gordon of Nebraska and Ryan Zimmerman of Virginia). I doubt he will drop to the Padres pick in the mock or in real life. Do you think signability will be an issue?

Also, I wanted to also get your feedback about Hurricanes starter Cesar Carrillo.

[SoCalBronco]

Braun had a great year this year after a sophomore slump. Pretty damn good hitter. Breck follows UM baseball far more closely than i do though so he is the authority on that.

[Breck Bronc]

Ryan Braun went to the same high school as John Elway.

So far this season he has put up a .404 average, .480 on-base percentage, 30 walks, only 34 strikeouts, 16 homers, 71 RBI's, and 22 stolen bases in 29 attempts.

Braun has power and speed, which is great, but he also has good plate discipline and doesn't strikeout much for a power hitter. I really like his approach at the plate, he waits for a good pitch to hit and crushes the ball when he does. He has plenty of room to bulk up his 6-2 200 frame and continue to hit HR's at the pro level.

Ryan hasn't been great in the field in his three seasons at Miami, though he hasn't been terrible either. He started as a shortstop in his freshman year and has played third base this season as a junior. SoCal alluded to Braun's sophomore slump last season, which can be attributed to a rib injury that kept him out for almost two months. He could only DH after coming back from the injury during the playoffs. I think the fact that Braun hasn't had a chance to play a ton of innings at one position has hurt his glove a little bit. Hopefully he'll be able to stick to one consistent position in the minors and really work on it. He'll never be as good as a Scott Rolen at third or Cesar Izturis at short but I can see him being an above average gloveman on the left side of the infield. His all around offensive ability is going to make him a very wealthy man.

http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper479/stills/8ef1364t.jpg

Cesar Carrillo went to the same high school as Donovan McNabb and Simeon Rice.

Cesar is the other first rounder we have, as well as the only good pitcher on the entire Miami 2005 staff, which has put a ton of pressure on him to be perfect. He hadn't lost a game in almost two full seasons until losing two in a row in the past week (Miami is suffering through their worst losing streak in team history, yet are still ranked in the top ten). Many of us Canes fans had been hoping he could go undefeated for his entire college career, but that obviously wasn't meant to be and perhaps it's a good thing he lost a few times before the elimination rounds of the NCAA Tournament start next weekend.

Carrillo is a rare kid that has great stuff but is also a good pitcher. He has good movement on a mid-90's fastball that can reach the high-90's if he wants. He throws harder later in the game than at the start. He has a good curve and changeup; if he works on his changeup even more he'd be that much more devastating. This season he has 111 K's in 110 innings and only 20 walks pitching against some of the best competition in the country.

The one knock on Cesar is his size. He's 6-2 177 pounds; Pedro Martinez is 5-11 180 pounds. Like Braun, Carrillo has room to bulk up his extremely skinny body. I don't think it's much of an issue since I believe Cesar has pretty good throwing mechanics.

http://img262.echo.cx/img262/3375/cesarcarillosm0st.jpg

http://img262.echo.cx/img262/9361/firstpitcheditsm0fp.jpg

I'm not looking forward to next season without Braun and Carrillo, they're by far the best players on our squad. I think the MLB teams that draft them will be very happy.

Last year at this time I made a post here about the college baseball tournament. I was raving about a kid I watched from Florida Atlantic named Jeff Fiorentino. He was drafted last year by Baltimore in the third round and has already made his major league debut for the Orioles after Sosa and Matos got hurt. He's struggling at the plate, which isn't a shock for a hitter less than a year out of college. Usually it's the college closers who make the jump to the big leagues look easy.

[DBroncos4life]

Well he isn't a Alex Gordon but what can you do. ;)

[Breck Bronc]

Well he isn't a Alex Gordon but what can you do. ;)Yeah, he's played in the College World Series two more times than Gordon, but what can you do. ;)

Gordon and Braun are pretty similar players when you break it down; third basemen who hit for average and power, draw walks, and can steal bases. The better pro will be the one who can adjust to hitting with a wood bat against professional pitchers. I think Braun has faced tougher competition than Gordon in their three seasons of college baseball, though I don't know how Gordon has fared against Texas and Rice. Either player would be a great pick-up for a big league team.

[DBroncos4life]

Yeah, he's played in the College World Series two more times than Gordon, but what can you do. ;)

Gordon and Braun are pretty similar players when you break it down; third basemen who hit for average and power, draw walks, and can steal bases. The better pro will be the one who can adjust to hitting with a wood bat against professional pitchers. I think Braun has faced tougher competition than Gordon in their three seasons of college baseball, though I don't know how Gordon has fared against Texas and Rice. Either player would be a great pick-up for a big league team.



Well considering Balyor is number 13 and Mizzu is 17 I think hes played some ok talent this year. NU jumped to number 4 this week also :). I agree that both players look damn good and the teams that get them could have a good prospect at the hot corner for years to come. What happened to Miami last week? Baseball Amercia said they lost 3 games last week. Who did they play?

[Breck Bronc]

Well considering Balyor is number 13 and Mizzu is 17 I think hes played some ok talent this year. NU jumped to number 4 this week also :). I agree that both players look damn good and the teams that get them could have a good prospect at the hot corner for years to come. What happened to Miami last week? Baseball Amercia said they lost 3 games last week. Who did they play?Nebraska plays some good teams but their schedule from beggining to end isn't that tough. The Big 12 has traditionally been one step down from the ACC, SEC, and Pac-10 from top to bottom. Texas is the one true power from that conference. Okie St. used to be the second.

Miami has fallen apart in the last week. Clemson beat us 4 straight times. I'd expect to see Nebraska in Omaha much more than Miami.

[Bronco LB 59]

Breck Bronc

Thanks for the scouting reports. You are a wealth of baseball knowledge.

Do you forsee any signability issues with Braun or Carrillo? I suspect with Sandy Alderson and Grady Fuson on board with the Padres this upcoming draft, they are going with a college slugger. Braun will be long gone by the Padres selection at #18.

Who do you think the Rockies are targeting at #7? Luke Hochevar of Tennessee is a high school product from Colorado who has experience pitching in the high altitude. However, some wonder if the Rockies should burn such a high pick on a pitcher and anybody who drafts Hochevar is going to have to deal with Scott Boras.

If Braun or Zimmerman are the best player on the Rockies board, do you think they should draft one of them anyway even though 3B is the currently the deepest position in the organization?

[Breck Bronc]

Breck Bronc

Thanks for the scouting reports. You are a wealth of baseball knowledge.

Do you forsee any signability issues with Braun or Carrillo? I suspect with Sandy Alderson and Grady Fuson on board with the Padres this upcoming draft, they are going with a college slugger. Braun will be long gone by the Padres selection at #18.

Who do you think the Rockies are targeting at #7? Luke Hochevar of Tennessee is a high school product from Colorado who has experience pitching in the high altitude. However, some wonder if the Rockies should burn such a high pick on a pitcher and anybody who drafts Hochevar is going to have to deal with Scott Boras.

If Braun or Zimmerman are the best player on the Rockies board, do you think they should draft one of them anyway even though 3B is the currently the deepest position in the organization?I really have no idea on the signability issue. Is Boras the only agent that people worry about? I try not to pay too much attention to that stuff and haven't heard who Braun and Carrillo will select as their agents. Sorry I can't help you there.

Do you get to make the Padres pick in Sickels' draft?

I don't think the Rockies will take Braun, Gordon, or Zimmerman because like you said, they're already stacked at 3B with Garrett Atkins, Jeff Baker, Ian Stewart. Plus, because of Helton they really can't move anyone over to 1B; Brad Hawpe has already been moved to RF and Ryan Shealy is stuck in AAA because Todd is entrenched at first.

On the other hand, I don't think the Rockies should ever invest such a high pick in a pitcher, so drafting a stud like the previously mentioned third basemen isn't that bad of an idea. The more talent you have in your system the more options you have to make trades.

If anything, the Rockies need major help at catcher and in the outfield. I can see Colorado drafting Cameron Maybin, Jeff Clement, or Andrew McCutchen. I hope they pay back the fans and draft and sign Stephen Drew @ #7 or any other high priced guy that would fall down to their second first rounder @ #32.