Do Shelby Miller, Jacob Turner, and Zach Wheeler all blend together into one amorphous high-school rightie mass for anyone else? Maybe it's the -er last names. Maybe it's the scouting reports that have mid-90s fastballs and some sort of hard breaking ball for all of them. Maybe it's the lack of in-game footage for all three. In ten years, it'll be clear that one of these pitchers would have been a fine choice at #6. I'm not going to pretend that I have even a hint as to which one will pan out.
I will write this, though: A 2013 rotation with Madison and Shelby at the top would be hawt. Or creepy. Maybe just a little strange. It shouldn't affect the Giants' draft board, but as a tiebreaker, it beats a coin flip.
Since 1999, the Giants have drafted five high school right-handers in the first round of the amateur draft:
Tim Alderson
Craig Whitaker
Matt Cain
Boof Bonser
Jerome Williams
Four of the five were top-100 kind of prospects at one point, with only Whitaker languishing forgotten in the minors. Even though Bonser and Williams haven't done a lot at the major league level, don't forget that they did bring a lot back in trade. Like, an All-Star catcher and a fire-throwing closer, which is a sweet haul. The jury's still out on Alderson and Cain, of course, but both still have a chance to bring a veteran back in trade. If we take Miller, Turner, or Wheeler, there's pretty good chance that we could trade one of them for Mo Vaughn's enormous, power-laden son in 2015. That has to be kept in mind for this draft.
Quick bits on all three:
- Shelby Miller is a Texas right-hander, which is a classification that has that Pennsylvania QB kind of sheen to it. By law, I'm required to work the names Josh Beckett, Roger Clemens, and Nolan Ryan into this post. Miller throws hard.
MLB.com Draft Report
Fan report from Lone Star Ball
Prospect Insider report - Zach Wheeler is a Georgia right-hander. By law, I'm required to work in an Allman Brothers reference into this post. Wheeler throws hard.
MLB.com Draft Report
YouTube video #1
YouTube video #2
Baseball America story - Jacob Turner is a Missouri right-hander. By law, I'm required to work in a, uh, Kirk Rueter reference. Let me work on that one. Turner throws hard.
MLB.com Draft Report
PG Crosschecker report
Video from ProspectTube
Interview with a Yankees blog
I'd be fine with any of the three at #6, as it would mean that someone in the Giants organization is high on them. I'd guess that a couple of these guys are far up the Giants' draft board, and the cost of buying out their college commitments might be a factor. I wouldn't take any of them above Aaron Crow right now, but the Giants might not have the chance to draft Crow.
Ranking pulled from my nether regions: 1. Wheeler, 2. Turner, 3. Miller. Ask me again tomorrow, and I might reverse the order, mainly because I have no idea what I'm writing about. But if this draft summary has a point, it's that I trust the Giants to pick the right high-school arm if that's the direction they want to take. Any of the three would work for me.