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| Carlos Rodon a possible Astro? Photo Credit: Ethan Hyman, News Observer |
By: Michael Hanley
Those in baseball have had a set top three draft prospect board with LHP Carlos Rodon, LHP Brady Aiken and RHP Tyler Kolek leading the top of those boards. Here is a breakdown of all three prospects:
LHP Carlos Rodon hails from NC State and continues to be rated by scouts as the top prospect in all of the draft. He is a pitcher who can throw with lightning quick velocity, especially with his fastball, which has been spotted to top out in the mid to upper 90s. His slider is seen as the most effective of his off speed arsenal at this point in his career. Its a slider that can be lethal on hitters and nearly unhittable when Rodon has complete command of it on a given day. He will have to work on developing more off speed pitches to compliment his fastball. He continues to work on a changeup that will eventually become one that he can rely on to get strikes with on a consistent basis. Rodon is considered the closest pitcher who is major league ready from this draft.
LHP Brady Aiken comes from Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego and is regarded as one of the most advanced prep pitchers in the country. He features three pitches that are rated superb by scouts and other baseball people who have been watching his progress in high school baseball. His fastball has gained some velocity from where it use to be. Aiken use to throw his fastball in the high 80s to low 90s. Recently, he had added a few mile per hour to that pitch. He now can now throw it in the low to mid 90s, topping out around 96 or 97 mph. His curveball has developed into a frontline pitch that fools a lot of hitters he faces. Aiken throws the curveball in the high 70s, getting tremendous break on it as it approaches the plate. The change up is one that he continues to work on and refine to make it as lethal a pitch as his fastball and curveball.
RHP Tyler Kolek comes from Shepherd High school in Texas and is the hardest throwing pitcher in this draft class. His fastball is one that regularly touches and goes over the 100 mph barrier, while also possessing great sink on it, keeping the ball down and creating a lot of ground ball outs when he is not striking out hitters with the pitch. Kolek’s slider is considered his second best pitch next to his fastball. The slider he throws has great velocity and gets batters crossed up and just flailing at it just to make some contact with it. He has a changeup as a third pitch but one he rarely uses right now. That pitch will have to be used and improved as he gets into the minor leagues and then eventually into the big leagues.
As you can see the Astros have plenty to consider in terms of players and which one would fit their greatest need as of right now.Also prospect SS Nicholas Gordon is somewhat of a wildcard in this whole situation as he has been moving up the mock draft boards of many. His recent play has impressed scouts greatly and has moved up from a Top 20 pick to a Top 5 pick in this draft. It would be a bit surprising if Houston selected him as they drafted a shortstop 2 years ago in Puerto Rico High School’s Carlos Correa and have gotten great returns from him so far in the minor leagues. So theoretically the Astros will be selecting one of the three pitchers at the top of the draft boards.
Money of course will come into Houston's thinking when it comes to making their choice for the number one pick. There have been reports that Carlos Rodon will not give a discount to any team that drafts him, especially since he is a Scott Boras client. That could open the door for the Astros to selecting one of the other prospects who could be more open to taking less money. That would help the organization be able to have more money to sign other top prospects on their board later in the draft.
Whichever way the Astros decide to go on June 5th, it will give the franchise another big opportunity to add a possible future superstar to their organization and lead them out of this rebuilding phase they are in.
