MWC Loses Some Quality Juniors to Majors
College baseball programs are always in a hurt with respect to the draft. The coaches want the best players to succeed well enough to be considered a potential professional. That means you probably have a winning program if you have a number of those players. It also means you stand to lose a number (if not all) of them a year before their final season. Those of us who follow college baseball, especially the mid-major, realize "our" teams don't have the depth to immediately fill up the positions with those lost to the draft as juniors. With that being said, I always like listing the players drafted from the teams (in this case the MWC) with their status listed; signed, unsigned, senior, or junior. The list below is as of 6/27/2013. Underclassmen are in bold and underlined. Oh, did I mention the pain of losing recruits to the pros? I follow San Jose State and they lost a good one in the fourth round.
New Mexico
DJ Peterson signed junior
DJ does not really enter into this discussion. He was an All-American, all this, and all that and there was little hope that he'd return for his senior year. Being a first round pick pretty much sealed the deal anyway. He'll be impossible to replace.
Sam Wolff signed senior
Mitch Garver signed senior
Alex Allbritton signed senior
Will Mathis signed senior
Jacob McCasland signed junior
Jacob was not on my radar to be a draft choice. Just goes to show. He was 1-1 and 4.74 in 19 IP. Nothing spectacular. He didn't have a load of strikeouts (16) and I thought he walked too many (10). Well, he's now a pro. I have no idea on his worth to the team other than experience. He had his best work in high school but came into this season as a pretty high prospect to go pro and he did.
Josh Melendez senior
Nevada
Braden Shipley signed junior
This kid was good as early as his freshman year as I remember how he did when the Wolf Pack was a member of the WAC. No surprise other than how high he went. Good pitchers are hard to replace anywhere but especially so at a mid-major such as Nevada.
Brent McMinn signed junior
Hard to comment here as he has shown little while at Nevada only one year. He is a nomad so he must have shown something while in high school to warrant a draft pick.
Fresno State
Aaron Judge junior
Aaron is one of the top players in the MWC as he was in the WAC. Crap, he's been a top player for three years. He could have been a pitcher also as he has a strong arm. By far the best player on the team. I think the team knew he was gone as soon as he became eligible. All that and a first round pick to boot. Oh, wait, he hasn't signed yet. I'd have to say that if he stays, Coach Batesole will do cartwheels.
Tyler Linehan signed junior
I had high expectations when Tyler came on campus as a freshman and he's been ok. This year he was anything but ok as he was 3-7 and 5.90. Not good at all. He always could strike out batters and I suspect that's why he got drafted.
Austin Wynns signed senior
Tyler Stirewalt signed junior
Another kid who can strike them out and walk a bunch; all in the same inning. If the pros can get him to throw more strikes and less balls (that would look good on a pitching coach's t-shirt don't you think?) he could be pretty good.
William Anderson signed ? redshirt
Trent Garrison senior
Air Force
Garrett Custons signed senior
San Diego State
Jake Romanski signed senior
Ethan Miller signed senior
San Jose State
DJ Slaton signed junior
DJ was a decent pitcher on a bad staff (worst in the WAC). I hate to say words as brutal as that but they were nearly a last place team for a reason. Hitting was decent (no power) but, again, it was the pitching.
UNLV
Buddy Borden junior
Buddy is the best pitcher on the team and led the staff in wins (8), ERA (2.59), and strikeouts (77). If he signs, the Rebels lose their ace. A seventh round pick usually signs and he is one of the few holding out. Bonuses are in the sub $200K range. Boy, hard to say no to that. That would certainly help with my vacation home mortgage.
Andrew Beresford signed senior
Mark Shannon signed senior
Brandon Bayardi signed senior