DirtySox Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Speaking of Nola. He's pitching right now against Arkansas. ESPN3 stream etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flavum Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Is Nola someone they could make a deal with that's on the cheaper side to spend more later on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtySox Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 (edited) QUOTE (flavum @ May 22, 2014 -> 05:07 PM) Is Nola someone they could make a deal with that's on the cheaper side to spend more later on? Likely. He's not a top 3 talent. More like top 10. Edited May 22, 2014 by DirtySox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fathom Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 QUOTE (flavum @ May 22, 2014 -> 11:07 PM) Is Nola someone they could make a deal with that's on the cheaper side to spend more later on? You would hope so. I wouldn't be too upset with Nola, as his stuff is much better than the likes of Broadway. I would prefer Aiken over him, but I still can't imagine the Sox taking a high school pitcher with the 3rd pick of the draft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fathom Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 QUOTE (DirtySox @ May 22, 2014 -> 11:08 PM) Potentially. He's not a top 3 talent. More like top 10. To me, he should be in the top 6 with Rodon, Kolek, Aiken, Gordon and Jackson. FWIW, Kiley McDaniel continues to report that all the Cubs brass has been in to see Pentecost of late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fathom Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Supposedly Nola didn't look good in the 1st inning. BTW, didn't notice that Reinsdorf is supposedly there also. Seems like Nola has a great shot of being picked by the Sox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtySox Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 (edited) QUOTE (fathom @ May 22, 2014 -> 05:09 PM) You would hope so. I wouldn't be too upset with Nola, as his stuff is much better than the likes of Broadway. I would prefer Aiken over him, but I still can't imagine the Sox taking a high school pitcher with the 3rd pick of the draft. I don't mind Nola. Not sure I'd want him at full slot though. The fastball and breaking ball are good pitches. The pitchability, command, and makeup are great as well. The main knock on him is the arm-slot and how he will fare against left handed hitters at the next level. He's almost a side-armer. Edited May 22, 2014 by DirtySox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flavum Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 QUOTE (fathom @ May 22, 2014 -> 05:09 PM) You would hope so. I wouldn't be too upset with Nola, as his stuff is much better than the likes of Broadway. I would prefer Aiken over him, but I still can't imagine the Sox taking a high school pitcher with the 3rd pick of the draft. I'm no scouting eye expert, but I really like Aiken's delivery. Seems real simple. Kolek scares the crap out of me, but could very well be a future all-star. Maybe they like Aiken and would take him at 3, but not Kolek....and Nola is a Plan B if Rodon and Aiken are gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtySox Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 QUOTE (flavum @ May 22, 2014 -> 05:22 PM) I'm no scouting eye expert, but I really like Aiken's delivery. Seems real simple. Kolek scares the crap out of me, but could very well be a future all-star. Maybe they like Aiken and would take him at 3, but not Kolek....and Nola is a Plan B if Rodon and Aiken are gone. I hope so. Aiken is my 1-1. Nola as a fallback option with some financial flexibility involved would be fine with me too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtySox Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 For anyone watching, LSU's shortstop Alex Bregman is an early candidate for one of the top picks in the 2015 class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
royoung Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 QUOTE (DirtySox @ May 22, 2014 -> 05:03 PM) keithlaw @keithlaw 6m White Sox in heavy on Nola today - I saw Kenny Willliams Jr and I was told Reinsdorf is here too Expand My knee-jerk reaction to this (if true) is one of two things. 1. They are making it blatantly obvious they are super "interested" in Nola by sending two of the most recognizable people in the organization to "scout" him. In reality, they are set on the top three and just want some negotiation leverage when pre-draft terms start to get bandied about. 2. They have serious reservations about someone in the top 3 and in the scenario where that guy is the one left they want options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtySox Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Aaron Fitt really likes Aaron Nola at least. Aaron Fitt @aaronfitt 5m Aaron Nola is awesome. I am convinced that he is going to be a very, very good big leaguer, and fast. He's just smothered Hogs since 1st. Expand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolishPrince34 Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 This is making me nervous. Nola has very limited upside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Jerry Reinsdorf is scouting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 I wouldn't be pissed off about Nola - he's Wacha-esque to me in that nobody sees the upside in him because of how high his floor is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulfield12 Posted May 23, 2014 Author Share Posted May 23, 2014 QUOTE (Jake @ May 22, 2014 -> 08:20 PM) I wouldn't be pissed off about Nola - he's Wacha-esque to me in that nobody sees the upside in him because of how high his floor is. I would be a lot more excited if we could get Fedde or Hoffman to go along with Freeland/Nola but that's probably not in the cards. Maybe there's just a bunch of gamesmanship going on with the Astros and Kolek...when they have no intention of taking him? Pretty elaborate ruse to have all their scouts, Bo Porter, Nolan Ryan, etc., at all of his starts, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenSox Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 QUOTE (southside hitman @ May 22, 2014 -> 05:38 PM) My knee-jerk reaction to this (if true) is one of two things. 1. They are making it blatantly obvious they are super "interested" in Nola by sending two of the most recognizable people in the organization to "scout" him. In reality, they are set on the top three and just want some negotiation leverage when pre-draft terms start to get bandied about. 2. They have serious reservations about someone in the top 3 and in the scenario where that guy is the one left they want options. He's one of the more polished, ML ready pitchers, and this organization likes that. I do think there are several guys with higher upside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulfield12 Posted May 23, 2014 Author Share Posted May 23, 2014 (edited) Whoever they take, let's just hope the Wacha comparison holds a lot of water...whether it's Nola, Freeland, Newcomb, Finnegan, etc. http://www.thegoodphight.com/2014/1/13/530...-aaron-nola-rhp aron Nola is a 6'1", 183 lb Right Handed Pitcher from LSU. He'll be 21 almost exactly on draft day. He was a Second Round pick out of High School in 2011 by the Toronto Blue Jays. Last year and this coming year, he is the Friday Pitcher for LSU (if you don't know what that means, Friday is always Ace night for College teams. The best pitcher on the staff typically goes on Fridays). Baseball America currently lists him as the 5th best College Prospect heading into the 2014 season. He sports an 8.45 K:BB ratio. Racking up a somewhat pedestrian 8.79 K/9 against an insanely miniscule 1.04 BB/9. He's not getting drafted to be anyone's Ace, but he'll be a top pick because he's a pretty surefire bet to Start in the Majors in a few years. If he can add some muscle and a few ticks on the Fastball, maybe he can be a solid #2 Starter. Safe pick for a team that might think they're only a few years away from competing. So what does Nola have going for him as a Pitcher? He throws a 2-seam Fastball that probably grades out as a 55, with upside if he can add velocity without losing it's current hand side tail which runs in on right handed hitters. He current throws it in the 90-93 mph range. His second offering is a Power Curve, which is similarly about a 55 pitch, but shows the potential to be a plus pitch (60 or better) with some refinement with a staff like the Phillies that has done fairly well with curveball pitchers. His one drawback on the Curve comes from his delivery. Nola pitches with a 3/4 arm slot that borders on sidearm. That causes a few problems: For one thing, he already a little shorter than ideal for a Pitcher and the low arm slot gets rid of even more downward plane on his pitches. Secondly when he tries to work inside with the Curve on Right Handers, the ball sometimes hangs a bit. Since everyone knows what a "hanging curve" is, I probably don't need to go into detail about why that's a bad thing. It is correctable though with some coaching and a pro-workout regimen, this issue on the Fastball speed should both resolve some. His third major pitch is his change-up, which is an average offering (50 on the scouting scale), but could play up die to his 2 Seamer coming from the same arm slot. By far Nola's best feature is his advanced pitchability. He already 'gets' pitch sequencing. He changes the hitter's eye level, works corners, sets up his stuff. He's a real Pitcher, not just a thrower. A team could probably Mike Leake Nola, though a few years in the Minors to refine things would be a big help (and probably would have been for Leake, as well). How 'bout a video? The one below is from the 2012 Cape Cod League (video by mkalbis). I'm not a Pitching Mechanics expert, but I do know that I've read a lot about them and the mechanics below look textbook for the armslot he pitches from. No "inverted W", by the time his foot plants his hand is up with the ball facing Center, his glove is well controlled and tucked to his chest, his foot faces landing foot faces home plate without fading off towards 1st or 3rd (which can lead to the pitch travelling to the same side of the plate) and the whole motion doesn't look high effort. It's a pretty simple, clean delivery. He does lock his front leg now and then, which can lead to pitches coming in high, but ultimately these should be pretty easy to fix. Here's an even better (and briefer) look at his mechanics. Video posted by Gibson D. Here he is discussing his Complete Game streak from this past Season. I kept waiting for a question about Dwight Schrute. I don't know how excited I'll be if Nola is the Phillies pick. He doesn't tick many Phillies boxes, as a Shorter Pitcher with limited projection, but he's somewhat in the Adam Morgan mold, he fits the new found emphasis on not Walking everyone and given the dearth of Pitching in the system ready to contribute, he'd be a nice, fast-track arm that could start for the Phils as soon as late 2016. That said, with the 7th pick in a deep Pitcher draft, I'd rather get a guy with a 40% chance of being an Ace, than getting a guy with a, perhaps, 70% chance of being a reliable #3 Starter. Edited May 23, 2014 by caulfield12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenSox Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 QUOTE (southside hitman @ May 22, 2014 -> 05:38 PM) two of the most recognizable people in the organization . Note - Law said it was Williams Jr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggsmaggs Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 QUOTE (raBBit @ May 23, 2014 -> 02:39 AM) I do like Nola, perhaps more than anyone outside of top 4, but if we take him, then the conversation immediately turns to who we take in the 2nd. If we take Nola, it better be for under-slot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoxAce Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ May 23, 2014 -> 08:02 AM) If we take Nola, it better be for under-slot. This board will definitely be interesting to read if the sox take Nola and pass on Aiken, Rodon or Kolek. I'm seeing people are more understandable on passing on Kolek and Rodon, but not Aiken (if he's still there). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buehrle>Wood Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 I don't think anyone wants to pass on Rodon either. Talk cooled on him here because he's not very likely to be at 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoxAce Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ May 23, 2014 -> 08:29 AM) I don't think anyone wants to pass on Rodon either. Talk cooled on him here because he's not very likely to be at 3. I've seen posts about bonus demands (Boras) and high pitch counts on here. Not saying I agree or disagree, but there are some here who don't mind the sox passing on him if he's there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eminor3rd Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Anyone choosing in the top 10 is going to very seriously scout all players projected to be in the top ten. I don't think this is indicative of anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Something to think about re: college pitcher pitch counts - they throw every 7th day, the majority of the time. We've seen durability from Japanese pitchers who threw a lot of pitches on a similarly long-rested schedule Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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