We recently sent a staff member out to check out the Missouri State Bears. We have our observations about some of their top players.
RF Nolan Keane SR, 5’9, 170 – Keane is a power hitting lefty that hit .314 with 9HR and 32RBI last season. This year he is at .341 with 4HR 10 Doubles and 36RBI while striking out 20 times and walking 36 times. He has a shot to be drafted in the middle rounds with his nice bat and on base abilities. I will be watching him to see if he has any pop or just a hit-for-average type player. I will also be curious to see his arm.
TAKE: Keane swings very hard and has a big stride. He went 2-4 on this night. I didn’t get to see his arm or much defense. With his bat control, decent speed, decent power and good strike zone judgment, I could definitely see Keane develop at the next level. He will be a very tough one to judge where he could be drafted, I would guess somewhere in rounds 20-30.
CF Ben Woodbury SR, 5’10, 175 – Woodbury is a very tough out who very rarely strikes out. Last year he hit .309 and showed a great knack for getting on base with his strike zone discipline. He is tearing it up this year batting .407 with 12 Doubles and 41RBI and only 12 strikeouts. Woodbury is someone I would not want to pitch against and because of his on-base abilities; he has a chance to be drafted in the upper-middle rounds. I think he is one of the top 30 outfielders in the country this year and I will be watching closely to see if his skills will translate to a higher draft pick, possibly in the 5th-10th round area.
TAKE: Woodbury is very small but has excellent bat control and bunts very well. He went 2-4 with 2 runs scored and an RBI in the game I scouted. He is also a good defender. With his on base skills, bat control, defense and speed, he will make a great leadoff hitter at the next level. He should be drafted somewhere near the 5th round.
3B Brayden Drake JR, 5’11, 195 – Drake is hitting .351 with 6HR, 17 Doubles and 56 RBI this year with 22 K’s and 9 walks. I think he may have some hidden power potential as he has 17 doubles to go along with the 6 homeruns. He also has some speed with 13 steals. If he can keep it up, I can definitely see Drake getting drafted fairly early this summer, possibly as high as the 5th round. I will be interested to see if he has a powerful swing and how his defense looks.
TAKE: Drake plays amazing defense and has a very nice arm. He takes a very nice cut and i think he has some power yet to develop. He does have 12 errors but I sure didn’t see much weakness the night i saw him play. He went 0-5 at the plate but i did like his swing and approach. I think Drake is a sleeper and could be drafted as high as the 5th round.
1B Ben Carlson SO, 6’3, 230 – Carlson is batting .397 with 14hr and 58 RBI. He has exploded onto the scene and is making a serious case to be a top 3 rounds type guy this time next year. He has 29 strikeouts to go with only 21 walks and with his average and power, i think he has some good things to offer at the next level. I cant wait to see his swing.
TAKE: Carlson is a big boy! He has huge legs and very good power. He looks a little unbalanced but he sure can hit. He went 2-3 with a HR, a Double, 3 RBI and a run scored in this game. I think he has a chance to be one of the top First basemen in the nation next year and be a top 3 round draft pick.
C Kyle Paul SR, 6’2, 210 – Paul batted .323 with 4HR and 37RBI last year. This year he has been limited and is batting .260 in only 77 at-bats. I’m not sure if he is injured or what is the cause of his lack of at bats. He was drafted in the 41st round in 2006 and he had a chance to get chosen in the top 10 rounds after an improved season. Good catchers that can hit are very hard to come by.
(FUN FACT: Junior OF Ryan Mantle is a 3rd cousin to Mickey Mantle)
RHP Tim Clubb SO, 6’2, 190 – Clubb went 6-3 last year with a 4.07 ERA as a freshman. With the loss of so much of their staff, he automatically became the ace but for good reason. Clubb is a very good pitcher and this year he has a 2.56 ERA with 73 strikeouts in 88 innings pitched. To go along with that he only has 26 walks but has given up 77 hits. Clubb did not pitch in the game i scouted. I would expect Clubb to be a top 5 round draft pick at this point next year.
LHP Buddy Baumann SO, 5’10”, 175 – Baumann is a strikeout pitcher and has 68K’s in 67.2 innings pitched. He does run into trouble on occasion and has a 4.52 ERA. He has given up 33 walks and 68 hits. Baumann did not pitch in the game i scouted. Baumann has the skills to also be a top 5 round pick this time next year.
LHP Aaron Meade FR, 6’2, 175 – Meade is a very talented pitcher with a 4.70 ERA and 60K’s in 53.2 innings. Meade has 28 walks and has given up 49 hits. Meade will have the chance to be a first round pick in 2 years if he can continue to improve and avoid injury. He is very talented. Meade pitched in relief of the game i scouted and faced 3 batters. He walked 1 and struck out 2 and looked to have a very dominant future ahead of him.
RHP Matt Frevert JR, 6’1, 205 – Frevert is the closer and has put up great numbers this year. In 29.1 innings he has struck out 35, walked 18 and given up 28 hits with an ERA of 3.38. Frevert looks like he may have some control issues at times, but manages to succeed at getting out of his troubles. I did not get to see Frevert pitch on this night but i would expect him to be drafted somewhere in the 5-10 round area.
All Photos are the courtesy of Aman Reaka
