The Nemesis
Semper Tyrannus
Continuing from the previous thread, tonight is the finale if this Corona-shortened draft as it wraps up with the second through 5th rounds.
Blue Jays Picks
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[TBODY] [/TBODY]Scouting Reports & write-ups (If you have material to contribute, @ me with the link and (if applicable) quote in your post)
1st Round - Austin Martin (SS/Util - Vanderbilt)
2nd Round - CJ Van Eyk (RHP - Florida State)
3rd Round - Trent Palmer (RHP - Jacksonville)
4th Round - Nick Frasso (RHP - Loyola Marymount)
5th Round - Zach Britton (OF - Louisville)
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Blue Jays Picks
| Rd | # | Player | Pos | Amateur Team |
| 1 | 5 | Austin Martin | SS/Util | Vanderbilt |
| 2 | 42 | CJ Van Eyk | RHP | Florida State |
| 3 | 77 | Trent Palmer | RHP | Jacksonville |
| 4 | 106 | Nick Frasso | RHP | Loyola Marymount |
| 5 | 136 | Zach Britton | OF | Louisville |
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1st Round - Austin Martin (SS/Util - Vanderbilt)
Bats R / Throws R
6'0, 185 lbs
Born: March 23, 1999
Pick Slot Value: $6.18m
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MLB.com Top 200 Profile
Scouting Grades:
Hit: 65
Power: 50
Run: 55
Arm: 50
Field: 55
Overall: 60
MLB.com Top 200 Ranking: #2
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MLB Draft Tracker Report:
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Austin Martin | Austin Martin Profile | Austin Martin Scouting Report 2020
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6'0, 185 lbs
Born: March 23, 1999
Pick Slot Value: $6.18m
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MLB.com Top 200 Profile
Scouting Grades:
Hit: 65
Power: 50
Run: 55
Arm: 50
Field: 55
Overall: 60
MLB.com Top 200 Ranking: #2
Martin has a chance to follow the path set by Dansby Swanson, who played a starring role in a Vanderbilt national championship and went No. 1 overall in the 2015 Draft. A 37th-round pick by the Indians as a Florida high schooler in 2017, he could have gone in the top five rounds if signability weren't a factor. He started games at six different positions as a freshman and opened last year at second base before settling in at third base, leading NCAA Division I in runs (87) and the Southeastern Conference in hitting (.392) and on-base percentage (.486).
The best pure hitter in the 2020 Draft, Martin has tremendous feel for the barrel and makes consistent hard contact with a short, quick right-handed stroke. He's not overly physical and may not have more than average raw power, but his hitting ability allows him to tap into every bit of it. He controls the strike zone extremely well and uses the entire field, exhibiting no weaknesses at the plate.
Martin possesses solid speed and the instincts to play faster than that on the bases. A twitchy athlete, he has the quick feet, soft hands and enough arm to handle almost any position, though there are some concerns about his throwing. Scouts were hoping to see him at shortstop in 2020, but he instead opened the season at third base before moving to center field (where he could be a solid defender), and there's some thought he could wind up at second base.
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MLB Draft Tracker Report:
Martin has a chance to follow the path set by Dansby Swanson, who played a starring role in a Vanderbilt national championship and went No. 1 overall in the 2015 Draft. A 37th-round pick by the Indians as a Florida high schooler in 2017, he could have gone in the top five rounds if signability weren't a factor. He started games at six different positions as a freshman and opened last year at second base before settling in at third base, leading NCAA Division I in runs (87) and the Southeastern Conference in hitting (.392) and on-base percentage (.486). The best pure hitter in the 2020 Draft, Martin has tremendous feel for the barrel and makes consistent hard contact with a short, quick right-handed stroke. He's not overly physical and may not have more than average raw power, but his hitting ability allows him to tap into every bit of it. He controls the strike zone extremely well and uses the entire field, exhibiting no weaknesses at the plate. Martin possesses solid speed and the instincts to play faster than that on the bases. A twitchy athlete, he has the quick feet, soft hands and enough arm to handle almost any position, though there are some concerns about his throwing. Scouts were hoping to see him at shortstop in 2020, but he instead opened the season at third base before moving to center field (where he could be a solid defender), and there's some thought he could wind up at second base.
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Austin Martin | Austin Martin Profile | Austin Martin Scouting Report 2020
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2nd Round - CJ Van Eyk (RHP - Florida State)
Bats R / Throws R
6'1, 198 lbs
Born Sept 15, 1998
Pick Slot Value: $1.77m
MLB.com Top 200 Profile
Scouting Grades
FB: 55
CB: 60
CH: 50
Control: 45
Overall: 50
MLB.com Top 200 Ranking: #39
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MLB Draft Tracker Report:
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FSU ace CJ Van Eyk expected to be selected early in 2020 MLB Draft
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Mariners 2020 draft preview: RHP CJ Van Eyk
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CJ VanEyk | CJ VanEyk Profile | CJ VanEyk Scouting Report 2020
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MLB Draft profile: C.J. Van Eyk, Florida State RHP
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Florida State RHP CJ Van Eyk selected by Blue Jays in second... (The Athletic *PAYWALL*)
6'1, 198 lbs
Born Sept 15, 1998
Pick Slot Value: $1.77m
MLB.com Top 200 Profile
Scouting Grades
FB: 55
CB: 60
CH: 50
Control: 45
Overall: 50
MLB.com Top 200 Ranking: #39
A high school pitcher in Florida who was on the rise in 2017, Van Eyk missed a chunk of his senior year with arm soreness that all but cemented he'd be heading to Florida State instead of signing. After spending his freshman year pitching out of the bullpen, he made a smooth transition to the Seminoles' rotation as a sophomore and is now near the top of a solid crop of college pitchers in the Sunshine State eligible for the 2020 Draft.
Van Eyk has a solid three-pitch mix that he knows how to use extremely well. He's been up to 95 mph, usually working in the 93-94 mph range, with his fastball and commands it well to both sides of the plate. He really knows how to spin his curveball, a breaking ball with almost 12-to-6 action that has really good late downward bite. He throws it in the upper-70s more often than not, but can add and subtract as needed. His changeup is his third pitch, and would be more effective if it had more sink, but he does throw it with good arm speed to fool hitters.
The Florida State ace is capable of being a complete pitcher because of his willingness to pitch in with his fastball, his ability to throw his breaking ball at any point in the count and his feel for mixing his pitches to keep hitters off-balance, though issues with his command persisted over his first four starts in 2020. His potential as a starter still should have him in consideration in the top two rounds of the Draft.
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MLB Draft Tracker Report:
A high school pitcher in Florida who was on the rise in 2017, Van Eyk missed a chunk of his senior year with arm soreness that all but cemented he'd be heading to Florida State instead of signing. After spending his freshman year pitching out of the bullpen, he made a smooth transition to the Seminoles' rotation as a sophomore and is now near the top of a solid crop of college pitchers in the Sunshine State eligible for the 2020 Draft. Van Eyk has a solid three-pitch mix that he knows how to use extremely well. He's been up to 95 mph, usually working in the 93-94 mph range, with his fastball and commands it well to both sides of the plate. He really knows how to spin his curveball, a breaking ball with almost 12-to-6 action that has really good late downward bite. He throws it in the upper-70s more often than not, but can add and subtract as needed. His changeup is his third pitch, and would be more effective if it had more sink, but he does throw it with good arm speed to fool hitters. The Florida State ace is capable of being a complete pitcher because of his willingness to pitch in with his fastball, his ability to throw his breaking ball at any point in the count and his feel for mixing his pitches to keep hitters off-balance, though issues with his command persisted over his first four starts in 2020. His potential as a starter still should have him in consideration in the top two rounds of the Draft.
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FSU ace CJ Van Eyk expected to be selected early in 2020 MLB Draft
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Mariners 2020 draft preview: RHP CJ Van Eyk
Van Eyk does have a fastball which can sit 91-93 or 94-96 depending on the day, and can touch 97-98. (“But Kate,” I hear you saying, “that’s literally all the numbers that start with 9 except 99. I know. Read on.) There’s no publicly available Trackman data, but it looks like his fastball has a fair amount of ride, an attribute we know the Mariners find desirable in their pitchers (see Newsome, Ljay). Located lower in the zone, the pitch has some unique late movement that’s reminiscent of 2018 first-rounder Logan Gilbert.
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But the breaking pitches are what really separates Van Eyk in a class that’s heavy on college pitching. His other two pitches are a low-80s changeup and a hard power curve that might be one of the best in the class
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The changeup is probably the pitch that needs the most work, just to separate it shape and velocity-wise from the curve, but it’s a swing-and-miss weapon in its own right. West Virginia’s piching coach Alon Leichman is a changeup master, and the idea of seeing how Seattle’s pitching coaches could develop the raw materials Van Eyk offers is enticing.
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CJ VanEyk | CJ VanEyk Profile | CJ VanEyk Scouting Report 2020
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MLB Draft profile: C.J. Van Eyk, Florida State RHP
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Florida State RHP CJ Van Eyk selected by Blue Jays in second... (The Athletic *PAYWALL*)
“If the season had ended after week one, Van Eyk might have gone in the top 15 picks, but he struggled with command the next few outings. … Van Eyk can work with a triptych of above-average pitches in a 91-95 mph fastball, knockout curveball that’s nearly 12/6, and a hard-fading changeup, although he can only paint to his arm side because he starts on the extreme third-base end of the rubber and cuts himself off a little in his landing.
“His delivery isn’t great, with a moderate stride, that aforementioned cutoff and an arm stroke that just barely gets pronated in time, but there’s also nothing here to say he can’t start or eventually get to average command.
“Scouts like his competitiveness within games, and he has the pitch mix to profile as a No. 4 starter.”
With a smaller frame at 6-foot-1, 198 pounds, Van Eyk doesn’t tower over opponents on the mound with high velocity, but instead relies on his ability to command the fastball around the zone. He says the pitch he’d like to improve most is the changeup, while he also wants to implement the slider more often. This season, he struck out 25 hitters while allowing just 11 hits over 20 2/3 innings (1.31 ERA). Van Eyk gave up no more than one run in each of his four starts.
3rd Round - Trent Palmer (RHP - Jacksonville)
Bats R / Throws R
6'1, 230 lbs
Born Apr 2, 1999
Pick Slot Value: $805,600
MLB Top 200 Profile
Scouting Grades
FB: 55
SL: 50
CB: 45
CH: 55
Control: 45
Overall: 45
MLB.com Top 200 Ranking: #114
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6'1, 230 lbs
Born Apr 2, 1999
Pick Slot Value: $805,600
MLB Top 200 Profile
Scouting Grades
FB: 55
SL: 50
CB: 45
CH: 55
Control: 45
Overall: 45
MLB.com Top 200 Ranking: #114
Jacksonville University has produced a lot of Draft talent over the past several years, including back-to-back third-round picks Michael Baumann (2017) and Austin Hays (2016), both with the Baltimore Orioles. While Palmer obviously hasn’t been as scouted as any of his Dolphins predecessors, his arm strength and strong start to his spring, not to mention a successful turn as a reliever last summer on Cape, has his name popping up in the same area of the Draft.
While not a prototype for a starting pitcher size-wise (6-foot-1, 230 pounds), some scouts do feel he has the chance to stick in a rotation because of his ability to maintain velocity and have a three- or four-pitch mix. He throws his fastball in the 91-96 mph range with good sink and he backs it up with a pair of solid secondary offerings. His changeup is a splitter thrown with good arm speed and downward action in the 82-84 mph range, and he throws a 79-83 mph slider with sweeping action, but with some depth. He can toss in a slower curveball in the low 70s, but it’s definitely a fourth pitch
Command has been an issue at times for Palmer and he has more experience out of the pen than in a rotation, leading many scouts to want to make him a reliever at the next level. If teams saw enough of his very strong opening to 2020 (1.30 ERA, 41/5 K/BB ratio in four starts) to believe he has the chance to start, he could join Baumann and Hays in the top three rounds
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4th Round - Nick Frasso (RHP - Loyola Marymount)
Bats R / Throws R
6'5, 190 lbs
Born Oct 18, 1998
Slot value: $549,000
MLB.com Top 200 profile
Scouting Grades
FB: 60
CB: 50
CH: 45
Control: 50
Overall: 45
MLB.com Top 200 Ranking: #98
6'5, 190 lbs
Born Oct 18, 1998
Slot value: $549,000
MLB.com Top 200 profile
Scouting Grades
FB: 60
CB: 50
CH: 45
Control: 50
Overall: 45
MLB.com Top 200 Ranking: #98
Coming out of Palos Verdes Peninsula High School in Southern California, Frasso was a tall and gangly basketball player and pitcher with a ton of upside, but who had difficulty making the transition from one sport to the next, which kept his velocity down for much of the spring. He looked like the type of pitching prospect who needed college, and that's proven to be true. Focusing on baseball at Loyola Marymount, he's started catching up to his upside over his first two years, though an elbow injury suffered before the shutdown put his Draft stock a bit more in question.
Frasso pitched mostly in relief as a sophomore so he could have more of a regular impact, and ended up saving 10 games. But he began his junior year as a starter, with the chance to work on his three-pitch mix. The velocity is now there consistently when healthy, and the 6-foot-5 right-hander is up to 97 mph with his fastball. He's lived off his four-seamer up in the zone almost entirely during his college career and it misses a ton of bats, as it has tremendous life. He has a sweeping 74-76 mph curve that can be effective at times as he tunnels it off of his fastball and shows some glimpses of an 80-82 mph changeup.
Very thin with a herky jerky delivery, Frasso is athletic enough to repeat it consistently and throw a good amount of strikes, even if he's not a pinpoint command guy. Had he been able to prove he could start, he would have likely made a jump up Draft boards. The injury clouded things further, though he was reportedly throwing and working his way back when the season stopped. Pro teams could still send him out as a starter, knowing that he's very effective out of the bullpen as well.
5th Round - Zach Britton (OF - Louisville)
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