Rocker vs Leiter as it now stands.

fjk090852-7 · Post by **fjk090852-7** » Mon May 03, 2021 7:56 pm

We are about a little over 2 months until the baseball draft, and currently there is no consensus #1 choice. Pitching wise is it Leiter or Rocker ? There is the high school shortstop Lawler, or do the Bucs choose Henry Davis the catcher from Louisville who could be the best college hitter in this years draft ? It is a tough call in my opinion. The draft as many know is a crap shoot. Will the player have an injury, or can he become the player which he is projected to be? It is going to be interesting to see who the Pirates select as the #1 pick.

JollyRoger · Post by **JollyRoger** » Mon May 03, 2021 9:51 pm

223A383F3F28393E232234510 wrote: As I stated in an earlier post when Leiter was pitching lights out.

Wait and see when he has pitched more innings. He has not pitched many innings to date. Rocker has the frame and physicality to log innings. I think either one will be a fine #1 pick though I prefer Rocker. This is the one chance for the Bucs to land legit #1 starter.

They can only do this through the draft.

No way do you waste this pick on a HS SS unless he has the same genes as a Tatis.
Whoever they pick they must get them up quick. This crap of keeping a number 1 in the minors for 4 years is ridiculous. If their that far away then we should never have choose them. Whoever they sign the prospect should negotiate that in their contract.
I totally agree with you that a #1 pick needs to come up quick unless your ML Roster is stacked and you have depth in the minors.

This is why it makes no sense for the Pirates to pick a HS SS on this draft. We have no front line pitching at this time and will never pay to get it. You have 2-3 SS on the roster(agree they are not great) and you have Cruz and Peguero in the minors which are your #3 and #5 prospects

rucker59@gmail.com · Post by **rucker59@gmail.com** » Tue May 04, 2021 5:43 pm

313D3C676E676F62657A60570 wrote: We are about a little over 2 months until the baseball draft, and currently there is no consensus #1 choice. Pitching wise is it Leiter or Rocker ? There is the high school shortstop Lawler, or do the Bucs choose Henry Davis the catcher from Louisville who could be the best college hitter in this years draft ? It is a tough call in my opinion. The draft as many know is a crap shoot. Will the player have an injury, or can he become the player which he is projected to be? It is going to be interesting to see who the Pirates select as the #1 pick.

Davis out of Louisville is real interesting. Rising very fast. Law has him at #4.

fjk090852-7 · Post by **fjk090852-7** » Tue May 04, 2021 6:20 pm

404751595740070B72555F535B5E1C515D5F320 wrote: We are about a little over 2 months until the baseball draft, and currently there is no consensus #1 choice. Pitching wise is it Leiter or Rocker ? There is the high school shortstop Lawler, or do the Bucs choose Henry Davis the catcher from Louisville who could be the best college hitter in this years draft ? It is a tough call in my opinion. The draft as many know is a crap shoot. Will the player have an injury, or can he become the player which he is projected to be? It is going to be interesting to see who the Pirates select as the #1 pick.

Davis out of Louisville is real interesting. Rising very fast. Law has him at #4.
Davis could be the choice. The Bucs catching depth is weak. A catcher I believe could be a good choice at #1. Posey who was drafted after Pedro is still playing, and putting up decent numbers. Davis also is a college player, so his development time in the minors should be less than Lawler, or any other HS player.

rucker59@gmail.com · Post by **rucker59@gmail.com** » Tue May 04, 2021 8:42 pm

7874752E272E262B2C33291E0 wrote: We are about a little over 2 months until the baseball draft, and currently there is no consensus #1 choice. Pitching wise is it Leiter or Rocker ? There is the high school shortstop Lawler, or do the Bucs choose Henry Davis the catcher from Louisville who could be the best college hitter in this years draft ? It is a tough call in my opinion. The draft as many know is a crap shoot. Will the player have an injury, or can he become the player which he is projected to be? It is going to be interesting to see who the Pirates select as the #1 pick.

Davis out of Louisville is real interesting. Rising very fast. Law has him at #4.
Davis could be the choice. The Bucs catching depth is weak. A catcher I believe could be a good choice at #1. Posey who was drafted after Pedro is still playing, and putting up decent numbers. Davis also is a college player, so his development time in the minors should be less than Lawler, or any other HS player.

Agreed on all points. Could be a great opportunity for Pirates.

CTBucco · Post by **CTBucco** » Wed May 05, 2021 2:42 pm

243C3E39392E3F38252432570 wrote:

Whoever they pick they must get them up quick. This crap of keeping a number 1 in the minors for 4 years is ridiculous. If their that far away then we should never have choose them. Whoever they sign the prospect should negotiate that in their contract.

The only problem with getting them up fast is that the Pirates only have them for maybe four full seasons. They cannot waste a year or two of that control having them develop at the ML level. They need them as close to “hitting the ground running” as they can get to maximize their ROI.

That said, we haven’t really seen that work out. But I blame that more on the old development system which left a big gap between high minors development and ML-ready.

steve49 · Post by **steve49** » Wed May 05, 2021 8:01 pm

1007112630303C530 wrote:

Whoever they pick they must get them up quick. This crap of keeping a number 1 in the minors for 4 years is ridiculous. If their that far away then we should never have choose them. Whoever they sign the prospect should negotiate that in their contract.

The only problem with getting them up fast is that the Pirates only have them for maybe four full seasons. They cannot waste a year or two of that control having them develop at the ML level. They need them as close to “hitting the ground running” as they can get to maximize their ROI.

That said, we haven’t really seen that work out. But I blame that more on the old development system which left a big gap between high minors development and ML-ready.

I was going to post the same. Bottom line is if we have a player that is way above average , he isn't staying. So there is no problem drafting a high school player and you may as well develop that player to the hilt before bringing him up.

fjk090852-7 · Post by **fjk090852-7** » Thu May 06, 2021 12:26 am

MLB Site current mock draft has the Bucs selecting Jordan Lawler. We are several weeks out until the draft so this selection will probably change week to week.

steve49 · Post by **steve49** » Sat May 08, 2021 6:05 am

May 7th start was Rocker is insane .

Good news is he struck out 13 in his 5 innings .

Bad News 6 hits , 5 BB's and 6ER.

rucker59@gmail.com · Post by **rucker59@gmail.com** » Sat May 08, 2021 9:56 am

Just came across this video of Henry Davis, Catcher Louisville. UofL v. Vandy but midweek game so midweek pitchers. Davis plays premium position and best bat in college?

https://twitter.com/LouisvilleBSB/statu ... 6577734656