2011 Draft Eligibles: Mat-Su Miners

Bermudez, Mee and Scott headline big class of potential picks.

Senior Andy Mee made a case for himself in the ABL,
but where will the scouts slot him for the 2011 draft?

It's never too soon to look ahead to next year's draft, so why wait until spring time to start going over next year's potential draft picks? This year, we'll go in the order of last year's league standings (because I thought that would be a fun way to do it, I guess) and that brings us to the Mat-Su Miners for our first stop. And man, do the Miners have a big ol' list of potential draft picks. There's a lot of names below, mainly due to the big number of Sophomores and Juniors recruited by the valley club in 2010. And just like the famous Matanuska Valley giant produce, the Miners farmed some pretty big draft prospects this last year. Here's a couple who've caught my eye; feel free to suggest your own if you're so inclined:

Pablo Bermudez: One of my favorite players in 2010, a real electrifying guy. Good power and ability to drive the ball to all fields, and great instincts in the outfield. Ranked by Perfect Game as #4 prospect in the league last year.

Andy Mee: I think Andy very possibly had the best season in the whole ABL in 2010. He can pitch, he can hit, he can play the field, he can do it all. I think he'd be drafted as a RF because he can rake, he really flies in the field, and his pitcher's arm gives him a good cannon from right. He'll also be a senior in 2011, and I can't imagine him falling through the cracks and becoming an insurance salesman or something.

Reflections: Bucs @ Miners, 7/1/2010

The Bucs' Eddie Rohan has a strong upper body
and a compact, crouched batting stance.

After a long break from the park, I finally got down to Hermon Brothers to see the Bucs take on the Miners tonight. I didn't get any photos; my main focus tonight was to flesh out some of my scouting reports, which I accomplished, and to keep my assistant/four-year-old from throwing rocks on the field or knocking her head on the ground, which I had more mixed success with. In any event, I feel like I got a good look at some guys I hadn't seen before, and some more bits to flesh out the reports on some that I have.

First, a preliminary note. Miner Quinn Pippin was a late scratch from this game; word is that he rolled his ankle in batting practice and took the game off as a precaution. Apparently it's not a big deal, though, and he should be good to go tomorrow (thanks to Troy for the tip).

Now, on to the players. Casey Hauptman took the hill for the Bucs. He's one of the more well-known players on the club, the big right-hander out of Nebraska. He came into the first inning and established himself immediately. It looked like he was throwing a good, hard fastball mixed in with a change and a curveball with late break. (Edit: I should also note that he displayed good defensive reaction, knocking down a comebacker with his bare hand, although in hindsight that might not have been the smartest thing to do.) He seemed like he cruised through the first four innings, but in the fifth inning things changed for him. It looked like he was out of gas and I could see a noticeable drop in velocity. I don't have access to a radar gun, or box seats to sit behind the people who do, so I have no empirical evidence to support this, but it just didn't look like he had a good crisp fastball after the fourth and that he was relying more on his other pitches to get outs. Still, he went strong through three more innings, pitching 7.0 and giving up 3 R (2 ER).

Reflections/Photo Post: Oilers @ Miners 6/24/2010

I am officially on the Wittels Wagon.

Another crazy game in the valley...don't I say that every time I go to a Miners game? This one was a back-and-forth contest between the Oilers and the Miners, which I thought was destined to go into extra innings as we were all knotted up, down to the final out of the ninth, full count and the bases loaded. Then the unthinkable happened; the Oilers walked in the winning run and the Miners leap-frogged them for first place in the Alaska Baseball League.

There were a lot of stars in this game, but if there was one guy who looked like a big-league player last night, it was Oilers third-baseman Garrett Wittels. I knew going to the ballpark that he was a guy to watch, but I was trying not to drink the Kool Aid. Well, I drank it. He's good. We all know he can hit, but that's not really what stood out to me. He's really got something special going on in two other areas of his game. First, he can flash the leather. He made several gritty plays in the field to save his team some runs. Great work in the dirt by this guy. Second, his makeup. He's a team leader, very fired up and vocal. Maybe a little too vocal sometimes, as the umpire threatened to bounce him and Miners' 3B Quinn Pippin out of the game for exchanging some unpleasant words early on. But he's also constantly encouraging his teammates and making sure everyone is aware of the situation.

Last night was my third look at Miners reliever James Allen, a guy I was really impressed with the first time I saw him. These previous two sightings of him he's been roughed up a little bit and looked like he's just missing his spots a tad. Obviously, since he walked in the tying run, he's not getting the calls that he'd like. But one positive thing I'd like to note about Allen is that I really like his mentality. He comes with a game plan and doesn't let the opposing team rattle his cage. On the other hand, when Wittels tip-toed from first to second to get a prancing stolen base, completely on Allen, without even drawing a throw, it makes me wonder if he's a little too locked in to his own mind, but I digress. My point is that he's unflappable. Even after he walked in the run to tie the game, he came back and struck out Wisdom 1-2-3. And to be fair, he didn't surrender a hit in that inning; it was all walks, one of them intentional, and some good sacrifice hitting by the Oilers.

2010 Players to Watch: Mat-Su Miners

The Mat-Su Miners contingent in the 2010 Colony Days
Parade in Palmer, Alaska

The Mat-Su Miners were the last team in the league to release the names of their 2010 roster, which left us all scratching our heads when I was writing up watch lists for all the teams. When I wrote up the 2010 season preview, I kind of assumed that the Miners would be a team to beat based simply on the fact that they've won more games over the past three years than any other team in the league, and it would be a pretty dramatic fall for them to drop below .500 this year. So far on the young season they haven't disappointed in the winning department (although we still have a lot of games left to play).

So before we get too deep into the year, let's take a look at some of the more intriguing names on the team. The Miners will be led in 2010 by a plethora of talented pitchers, many of whom are also two-way players who can handle the bat pretty well to boot. I've picked a handful of players who I think will be interesting to follow throughout the season. The names on this list are not necessarily the "best" players on the team, but rather those who I feel have an interesting combination of talent, potential, interesting background stories, and/or previous performance to make them worth watching. There's also a "peripheral vision" list, with some guys who also roused my curiosity but maybe I didn't have enough info on to write a whole paragraph. Here's the list:

Players to Watch

RHP Robert Benincasa
Florida State
Freshman - 6'1" 180lb

Benincasa is our "already been drafted relatively high" pick for the Miners. As a high schooler he was drafted during the 33rd round by Toronto, which is pretty high for a prep non-uber prospect. High enough that a lot of people thought he would sign. Word has it that he was also on the radar of several other teams. He'll be untouchable for a couple more seasons as a DI freshman, but if he can make the most of his college career -- not to mention in front of the scouts up here in AK -- he'll be a pretty nice draft prospect for 2012 and/or 2013.