College Weekend Roundup

College baseball season kicked off over the weekend, and so while the news is pretty slow at the major league level, let’s take a look at what some of the interesting draft-eligible guys did this weekend, with the understanding that none of these statistics matter at all.

Stephen Strasburg, RHP, San Diego State

The presumed #1 pick in the country took the hill against Bethune-Cookman on Friday and continued to show why he’s everyone’s number one prospect. 5 2/3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 11 K, and a lot of hard fastballs. It will be interesting to see how Strasburg’s junior season ends up compared with Mark Prior and David Price – the last two college arms who had these kinds of expectations.

Grant Green, SS, USC

The Trojans shortstop keeps getting compared to some kind of hybrid of Troy Tulowitski and Evan Longoria, though no one thinks he’s as good defensively as TT or offensively as Longoria. But a combination of an above average glove and above average bat at shortstop is a pretty valuable thing, and Green’s probably the frontrunner to go #2 right now. His weekend didn’t go so well, though – 2 for 11 with 1 HR, 1 BB, and 3 K against Long Beach State.

Dustin Ackley, 1B/CF, UNC

The Tar Heels opened with the Virginia Military Institute, which isn’t really much competition for one of the top baseball programs in the country. So, it shouldn’t be all that surprising that Ackley – the best pure hitter in this draft – went 9 for 13 with three doubles and a walk over the weekend. The kid can hit. However, his bat won’t determine his draft spot, but instead, his potential position will. He’s a pretty good athlete, definitely good enough for the outfield, but arm problems (he’s coming off TJ surgery) have limited him to first base so far in his college career. He’s the Heels starting first baseman again this year, but they’re aware that scouts want to see him play CF, and he got a couple innings in center on Friday night. How well he shows he can handle center field will go a long way to determining where in the first round he ends up getting selected this summer.

Alex White, RHP, UNC

There’s some really good players over in Chapel Hill this year. Besides Ackley, White is the leader among non-Strasburg arms for this summer, and he’s Carolina’s Friday starter. His season opener probably wasn’t what he was hoping for – 5 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 1 HR, 1 BB, 9 K – but he still flashed his power fastball and showed dominating ability by striking out the side in both the first and second innings. He struggled a bit in the 4th and 5th innings, but it was the first game of the season, so no one’s worried. The stuff is still lights out.