Jose Contreras continued his resurgence with 7 innings of solid work against the slumpbusting Royals. He allowed only one run, and that was largely thanks to the questionable decision to go with a Contreras-Toby Hall battery that is just begging to be run on. The offense did their part with a 4-run second, and tacked on a couple extra to allow Ozzie to rest part of his weary pen.
It was a nice, easy win, which we haven't seen a lot lately.
If the series sweep had come against almost any other club, I'd be writing about how well Ozzie knows his team, how the Sox picked themselves back up off the mat after the Tampa debacle. But these are the Royals. I'll save my praise for when the Sox roll over a good team.
On the Draft
I'm going to hold off writing anything about the Sox #1 draft pick, Gordon Beckham, until I'm able to review some of his more recent work. I was unimpressed with his swing in the Cape Cod league video, and will be looking for improvement in Regional action this weekend. Gordon's Georgia Bulldogs will be televised by ESPN on Friday and Saturday for sure, and possibly Sunday if needed.
While SSH is beating the Kenny Williams Jr. pick into the ground in the comments section, I have far more issue with the Sox 3rd round pick. Corner infield bats that don't hit for much power and don't take walks don't go very far in the majors. I would rather the Sox take an all tools little production HSer if they're going to go outside Baseball America's top 200 with their second pick. Give us some hope that the pick can turn into something, no matter how remote that chance. Though looking through the draft tracker the third round was dominated by college players. The scary thing about the pick is I like his swing in his scouting video better than Beckham's.
The most interesting pick, if only because he's about as unique as they come, was 4th rounder (An)Drew O'Neil. The closer for a bad Penn State team features a low 90's sinker that he throws from a weird angle. I've heard Joe Smith and Pat Neshek comps already, and as noted in the FanShot below he's got a killer groudball rate. He'll need to develop some secondary stuff,
Other AL Central Drafts
- Twins -- I don't do much pre-draft research. I take a look at the guys who the Sox are rumored to be looking at, and those who are projected to be available around their draft slot, but that's about it. This year however, in preparation for the MinorLeagueBall mock draft, I watched a few more than that. The Twins drafted two of "my guys" that I liked during that limited research, which is pretty tough considering I only really had 3 including Buster Posey. Aaron Hicks was an example of raw tools guy I'd rather have drafted in the third, but they're not exactly laying around at that point. Tyler Ladendorf is the other guy who I would love to have in the system. An athlete who probably won't stick at short, he oozes potential even though he lacks a pro position. Add in Shooter Hunt, who was a mid-first rounder in many mocks, and it appears the Twins had yet another successful draft day.
- Royals -- Hey there big spender. The Royals went heavy on the HS side, and took a couple of big arms and couple big bonuses. Eric Hosmer is rumored to be asking for 8 figures. I doubt he'll get it, but he's gonna get a big deal. Montgomery and Sample lit up some radar guns late and moved up the charts, while Melville was considered a top 10 pick in the early season. He's informed teams that he'll need a top 15 signing bonus to keep him out of college.
- Indians -- Took a SS convict with their first pick, but the real splash was their 5th rounder, Putnam, who was projected by some to go in the sandwich to second round.
- Tigers -- Big Armed College Pitching. Ryan Perry hit 100 last weekend to make himself some more money. With an arm like that I wouldn't be surprised to see him soon out of the Detroit pen, though he could profile as a starter long-term. Their first 4 picks were all big college pitchers with big stuff. Though it looks like a spendthrift draft compared to their recent drafts.