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White Sox draft Courtney Hawkins OF out of Carroll HS (TX)


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QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 4, 2012 -> 08:46 PM)
Most of the pitching stuff claims that he "touches" 90. He's not a professional pitcher and if it came to that, he'd be too old to make the turnaround quick enough. He just needs work on his approach at this point.

 

Correct. His potential is mega good as a hitter. He was drafted as an OF, that's what the sox view him as in the future.

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Keith Staab has been a Texas area (based out of College Station, TX) scout for the Chicago White Sox. He signed Boone Logan, Lance Broadway, Kyle McCulloch, Jordan Danks, Matthew Long, Carlos Torres, Brandon Allen and John Ely.

baseball-reference.com

 

 

Mr. Molina in Birmingham also says hi (about the position change from hitter to pitcher)! Well, suffice it say, you don't want another set-up guy out of the 13th pick in the first round.

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QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 4, 2012 -> 06:51 PM)
Sergio Santos "Touches" 98.

Technically he didn't in high school. Hawkins projected to be a pretty good pitcher but his bat is very strong. Thats the only reason you don't hear people talking about him as a pitcher. He would have went top 5 rounds though (which is pretty good in and of itself). Nice slide piece.

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QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 4, 2012 -> 09:53 PM)
Technically he didn't in high school. Mitchell projected to be a pretty good pitcher but his bat is very strong. Thats the only reason you don't hear people talking about him as a pitcher. He would have went top 5 rounds though (which is pretty good in and of itself). Nice slide piece.

If Hawkins can go from touching 90 to touching 95+, then we can talk about him having serious pitching potential. What did Mitchell throw?

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QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 4, 2012 -> 06:56 PM)
If Hawkins can go from touching 90 to touching 95+, then we can talk about him having serious pitching potential. What did Mitchell throw?

Jared? Not 90. Not many prep pitchers throw 95+ regularly and if they do, they are getting drafted in the top 20.

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QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 4, 2012 -> 07:01 PM)
Never even knew Mitchell had anything resembling a "plus" arm.

 

Always considered that one of his biggest weaknesses, particularly in CF.

It is. Thats why I have no idea why Balta is taiking about Mitchell's arm.

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I'm not talking about him having serious pitching potential. He is a legitimate pitching prospect though and saying otherwise is ignorant. That said, no one is looking at him pitching. The dude will be hitting. The Sox aren't going to have another Wes Whisler situation (who was a terrible pick irregardless). Hawkins has a bat that projects with a plus arm. THe fact that he would have been drafted as a pitcher is meaningless.

 

Mark Trumbo could pitch too, Angels are pretty happy they used his bat though. Trumbo was projected by a lot of teams as being a better pitcher. Don't let the fact the was an 18th round pick fool you, he got 1st round money and dropped because everyone thought he was headed to USC.

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QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 4, 2012 -> 08:53 PM)
Technically he didn't in high school.

 

He had a great slider though. Hawkins secondary pitches are all mediocre at best with what I read.

 

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jun 4, 2012 -> 08:55 PM)
18 year olds never hit 98.

 

I wouldn't go that far either. Some (rarely though) high schoolers have been blessed to touch 98+ at 18 in the past.

Edited by SoxAce
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Hmm... Big athletic Right Fielder with tremendous bat speed, but extremely raw as a contact hitter, where have we seen this before?

 

I see the best case scenario as Giancarlo Stanto and the worst case scenario as the current state of Trayce Thompson.

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I saw some articles in the local paper about this kid... he's in the town next door to where I live and in our district for high schools. From what I have read locally, he's a very good athlete. Of course the prospect report says that but he played in a pretty competetive environment and did very well from what I have read. Sounds like a kid with a lot of upside...

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The Texas high school product was shooting up draft boards as the 2012 spring season began, thanks to a very successful summer. While he pitches and will touch 90 mph, his future is in the outfield. He has some swing-and-miss to his game, but he does have power. He has shown the ability to hit any fastball and can show pop to all fields, though he needs to improve his approach at the plate, where his over-aggressiveness leads to those misses. An average to a tick-above-average runner, he'll play center field for his high school team, but with his size, strength, power profile and at-least-average arm, the University of Texas commit profiles best as a corner outfielder in the future.

 

mlb.com

 

 

I've always thought Thompson's basketball frame worked against him as a baseball player (yeah, I know there are counter-examples like Alex Rios and Daryll Strawberry).

 

This kid looks like some combination of Kevin Mitchell, Viciedo, Cespedes and Adrian Beltre physically.

 

He's a man among boys, the LeBron James of Texas high school baseball, lol. And you have to like the fact that he's not from some obscure state where it's really hard to get a good read on the level of high school competition and make worthwhile projections.

Edited by caulfield12
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QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 4, 2012 -> 07:09 PM)
There's your first post that brought Mitchell up, did you type Mitchell by accident? I didn't remember him being talked about as a pitcher but If igured you knew something I didn't.

My fault. whoops. Was talking about Hawkins (and his 90 MPH FB & good slider).

 

Note: In no way am I saying the Sox should even entertain having him pitch.They should have him focus on purely working on his offensive game for his 1st time in his career (since he currently works on both). I love the fact that Hawkins is a high character guy (supposedly) as well too. I think it puts him in a better position to put in the work necessary to make the needed improvements to his game.

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Update: Jared Mitchell is NOT being converted to a relief pitcher for the White Sox stretch drive.

 

Now back to previously scheduled programming, folks.

 

 

And Hawkins will have kindred spirits in the Danks brothers already in the organization to bond with.

Edited by caulfield12
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QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 4, 2012 -> 07:11 PM)
Update: Jared Mitchell is NOT being converted to a relief pitcher for the White Sox stretch drive.

 

Now back to previously scheduled programming, folks.

Mitchell has made some serious strides this year. In my opinion, the #1 prospect in the White Sox system and a potential all star (yes I said it). He's doing some great things this year and has made some major strides (and by all accounts, including out of the horses mouth on a call I was on with him this past Friday, he's physically 100% and doing what he could do pre-injury). Last year he wasn't there.

 

Still, Mitchell has flaws but he's made some major strides this year and from an age perspective, he's older, but from a baseball age perspective (e.g, from a development perspective) he's pretty young and to be doing what he's done, its incredible. Plus, if he pans out then when he's a FA he'll be 31 or 32 and headed elsewhere (so we wouldn't really get all that much advantage from his young age anyway). The important part is the tools and talent is there and the stats are starting to match the tools/potential.

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