MLB Draft Live Blog

The Braves add Florida State Lefty Sean Gilmartin with their first selection.  This is a reach.  He says he idolizes like Cole Hamels and his repertoire is just like Cole's: Average fastball (high 80s), lousy curveball, while his go-to pitch is his changeup (which is actually a pretty good pitch).  The problem here is, Cole was drafted right out of high school and was already in the majors when he was Gilmartin's age.  Gilmartin will either have to improve the curveball, pitch with plus command (like Cole did early in his career) or add velocity to his fastball or a new pitch altogether (like Cole has recently) if he wants to be Hollywood 2.0

Arizona Fall League Scouting Report: Erik Cordier

Erik Cordier

Age: 24

Bats/Throws: Right/Right

Height: 6’4”

Weight: 230lbs

From: Southern Door High School in Brussels, WI (Drafted in 2nd round of 2004 draft by Royals)

As if the Braves didn’t have enough young, fire-balling bullpen arms taking the majors by storm, they may have another one in Erik Cordier. Drafted in 2004 by the Royals and traded to Atlanta for Tony Pena Jr, Cordier made it to AAA at the end of this past season. The raw stuff I saw from him in person points toward a major league debut in 2011, but hiss numbers dictate otherwise.

Stuff:

Cordier’s fastball was electric, sitting between 93-95mph and touching 97 once. Even more impressive was that he sat at that velocity over several innings as a starter. I’d imagine that he’d be able to consistently sit between 95 and 97 if he were pitching right out of the bullpen. He had a sharp slider with good tilt and a changeup that is usable and plays up because of how hard his fastball is. The second time through the lineup opposing hitters began timing his fastball and he got knocked around. He’ll have to get comfy with that slider to keep that from happening in the future.

Mechanics:

He gets very good extension out front in his delivery, and his late release point should help all of his pitches play up as it gives hitter less time to track the ball.

Numbers:

He walks a ton of guys, almost 5 per 9 innings. If that doesn’t improve he’ll likely have stretches in the majors where he is dominant and stretches where he is incredibly difficult to watch. The stuff is there, the control is not.
Future MLB Comparison: A Right Handed J.C. Romero