Draft Tidbits

We’re now just over a month away from the draft, so here’s some nuggets to hold you over.

• Strasburg Watch: 78.1 IP, 48 H, 1.38 ERA, 147-15 K/BB ratio. San Diego State isn’t expected to the make the NCAA postseason, so Strasburg has at most four starts left in the season, more likely three. He won’t get near Derek  Tatsuno’s single season record of 234 K, but he’s got a shot to break Ryan Wagner’s record of 16.8 Kper9.
• Speaking of Strasburg, Katie Dowd wrote a piece about him for The College Baseball Blog.
• Aaron Crow pitched last night for the first time since last spring, allowing three runs (one earned) on three hits in an inning and two-thirds for the independent Fort Worth Cats in an exhibition game. With no one really stepping up and establishing themselves as the #2 prospect behind Strasburg, Crow could end up being the guy if he shows his old stuff over the next few weeks. It’s possible that the Orioles take Crow with the fifth overall pick, giving them the two best pitching prospects available in the ’08 class (Brian Matusz being the other).
• Tanner Scheppers also made his 2009 debut last night, striking out six in four hitless innings in an exhibition game for the indy St. Paul Saints. Like Crow, he has a chance to go as high as second overall if he regains the form he showed last year before a shoulder impingement ended his season prematurely.
• LSU shifted DJ LeMahieu to second base last week. I wrote about him as a potential first round target for the Yanks back in March, noting that there were questions about his defense at shortstop. Now that he’s moved off short, LeMahieu’s stock takes a hit and is more of a second or third rounder because of the less premium position.
• MLB.com now has close to 70 scouting reports available on their Draft Page.
• Amy K. Nelson put together a great piece on former Yanks’ draft pick Matt Harrington, who was drafted five times but never signed, costing himself millions.
• In case you missed it, the draft is expanding from two days to three days this year, and will be broadcast on the MLB Network instead of ESPN. I don’t like it.

Remember, you can always see the draft order at our 2009 Draft Order Tracker. Unless someone signs Ben Sheets, Mark Grudzielanek, and/or Paul Byrd within the next five weeks, that’s the final order.