Monday, March 29, 2010

College Corner: Tyler Holt

Just a quick note on Tyler Holt, who seems to be a popular choice for the Giants to draft late in the first round. The FSU CF hit for the cycle yesterday going 4 for 5. What's more, he did it in order, single, double, triple and finally a HR in the 5'th inning, that's right, the 5'th inning! Holt's season line now stands at .361/.481/.663 with 4 HR's, 5-5 SB's. 14 of his 30 hits have been for extra bases.

What would concern me about Holt is that while he seems to do everything well, he may not have any single dominant tool or skill. Just the fact that he seems to be able to get on base at a high rate plus plays CF probably makes him worth a late first round pick, you ideally like to see either more SB's or more HR's to go with the great OBP. His true draft level is probably somewhere in the supplemental round, but if the Giants like him and think he fits their organizational needs, I would have no problem with him as a slight reach pick at #24.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Doc,

    Thanks for the update. Yes, I have been one of the Giants fans on the Holt bandwagon. I agree with your assessment that he is probably a supplemental round type of pick, and he was ranked in the mid 40's preseason by the College Baseball Blog. Factoring in highschool picks and the fact that he has had a good season so far, he will likely not be around when the Giants select in Round 2. So I would be ok with a slight overdraft to get a player from a strong baseball program who profiles to be a solid all around player at a key position of organizational need. The Giants have shown they can pick good pitchers after the early rounds so perhaps they can concentrate on position players early in this draft.

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  2. Once you get past the MLB club, I believe that pitching is the bigger organizational need. The Giants are in a good position to go best player available, but I'll predict that they'll go pitching if one of the higher ceiling HS pitchers falls to them.

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  3. You're right in that no team can ever have enough pitching. This is one of the strongest pitching drafts I can recall in recent years. Even at #24 the Giants should be able to pick a strong pitching prospect, and given their propensities, that is probably exactly what will happen.

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