Innholdsfortegnelse for June 15, 2018 i Baseball America

For righthander Brady Singer, the decision where to commit for college was simple. Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan offered Singer a scholarship the summer before his junior year of high school. It was the third offer Singer had received but there was no need to wait for any more. “I didn’t think twice,” Singer said. “Sully said, ‘You’re coming?’ and I said, ‘Ok. I’m coming.’” The decision was so easy for Singer, who grew up about 90 minutes from Gainesville, Fla., because of the tradition O’Sullivan had built at Florida. During O’Sullivan’s 11-year tenure, Florida has become one of the best programs for pitching development in the country. Elite pitchers have rolled out of McKethan Stadium like cars off an assembly line, a new model or two every year. This year…

Florida, the top-ranked team going into the NCAA Tournament, also leads all schools with three first-team All-Americans. The Gators’ trio includes righthander Brady Singer, the College Player of the Year. Oregon State leads all teams with four honorees across all three All-America teams. Florida and Clemson have three each, tied for the second most. Six schools—Arizona State, California, Southern Mississippi, Stetson, Tennessee Tech and Texas Tech—had two players honored. In all, 35 schools are represented on the All-America teams. Six players from the Preseason All-America first team also made the postseason first team: catcher Joey Bart, outfielder Seth Beer, starting pitchers Logan Gilbert, Casey Mize and Singer and reliever Michael Byrne. Third baseman Jonathan India was on the third team. In all, 15 Preseason All-Americans earned spots on the postseason…

A HALL OF FAME OFFER Be a part of Hall of Fame history with a special collector’s edition of the 2018 Induction Commemorative, brought to you by Baseball America. Buy one magazine for $9.99 or get all five for $39.99. Cover options for this historic HOF class are Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, Jim Thome, Trevor Hoffman or Tigers greats Alan Trammell and Jack Morris. BaseballAmerica.myshopify.com ALMOST PERFECT For the second consecutive year, Baseball America correctly predicted 63 of the 64 participants in the NCAA Division I Tournament. That’s a credit to the season-long hard work of national writers Teddy Cahill and Michael Lananna, who cover the college beat for BA. Our one miss was siding with Kentucky of the Southeastern Conference rather than Northeastern, the Colonial Athletic Association winners. Even…

Looking back on his remarkable regular season, Florida righthander Brady Singer is drawn all the way back to facing Siena on Opening Day. The junior this season took over as the Gators’ ace and came into the year regarded as the top prospect in this year’s draft class. The Gators were the defending national champions and all eyes were on Singer delivered immediately, throwing 89 pitches in seven innings and striking out eight batters while holding Siena to one run (unearned) on two hits and a walk. “Walking out there for the first time my junior year with all the pressure—you know, the draft stuff and people are watching with the No. 1 tag on me,” Singer said. “To go into that start and get it started on the right…

TORONTO BLUE JAYS Shortstop Kevin Smith is always thinking about his game, looking for ways to improve. “I self-evaluate a lot,” the 21-year-old righthanded hitter said. “Probably more than I should.” Over the winter, Smith’s point of emphasis was obvious. A skilled defender at shortstop and third base, he wanted to cut down the length of his swing as a way to increase both the quantity and quality of contact. The 2017 fourth-rounder out of Maryland also wanted to improve his approach with two strikes. “I had a loop in my swing, and I’m not really sure how it got there,” Smith said. “Looking at swings, I can tell when something’s off. I was getting way under the ball, coming way up through it, and I really wasn’t on plane with…

For a few years now, Minor League Baseball has been the place to expose regional delicacies to the mainstream. Last season brought us the Reading Whoopies, the Lakewood Pork Roll, the Aberdeen Steamed Crabs, the Albuquerque Green Chile Peppers and the Syracuse Salt Potatoes, among many other food-themed one-offs. This year, scads more teams are introducing the world to their city’s culinary creations. From appetizers to main dishes to adult beverages, the minor leagues once again have enough food-themed alter-egos to create a menu. In fact, that’s exactly what we’ve done. Take a look, but don’t let your mouth water too much. APPETIZERS 1 BUFFALO WINGS: The Buffalo Bisons will become the Wings for three nights this year in the most obvious and perfect of all the food mashups. Naturally,…

Outfielder Victor Mesa is officially out of Cuba and looking to sign with a major league club. That is a big development. The 21-year-old Mesa, known as “Victor Victor” (the name on the back of his uniform in Cuba), has star potential and is the best young Cuban prospect to become available since Yoan Moncada signed with the Red Sox for $31.5 million in 2015. Mesa is a comparable player to Nationals prospect Victor Robles, the center fielder who ranks No. 5 on the Top 100 Prospects list. Mesa a premium defender in center field who at his best has shown 70 speed and at least a 70 arm on the 20-80 scouting scale. He gets quick reads off the bat and takes sharp routes to cover plenty of ground…

Noah Syndergaard doesn’t have the nickname Thor without reason. He’s earned it for his pitching, but he’s also hit four home runs in his career, including a two-home run game while visiting Dodger Stadium in 2016. So SSK decided to put some marketing power behind the power of the Mets’ star and make Syndergaard the first pitcher in the majors with a bat deal. SSK signed the all-star as its chief creative officer and bat designer, giving him his own line of Thor’s Hammer bats, available in youth and full-size models. The SSK Thor’s Hammer NS34 gives SSK a little logo time for when fans continue to search #pitcherswhorake and come up with the home run-belting Syndergaard. “We are very excited about SSK’s new partnership with Noah Syndergaard and Noah’s…

A home run is perhaps the most valuable—and exciting—play in baseball. Thus home run hitters are among the most valuable—and exciting—commodities in baseball. Even more valuable is a slugger with true all-fields power. Such hitters tend to be less prone to slumps and also are more likely to go deep even when hitting to the middle of the field or taking a pitch the other way. The Cubs, to cite one example, have found success by drafting college hitters with all-fields power, such as Kris Bryant in 2013 and Kyle Schwarber in 2014. The draft class of 2016 featured all-fields power hitters Nick Senzel (Reds) and Kyle Lewis (Mariners), who came off the board early and are currently Top 100 Prospects. With this year’s draft class skewing heavy on quality…