May

2012 Draft: Clint Coulter

The 2012 amateur draft is less than two weeks away, so between now and then I’m going to highlight some prospects individually rather than lump them together into larger posts.

Clint Coulter | C

Background
A former state wrestling champion, Coulter hails from Union High School in Camas, Washington, which is right on the Oregon border and practically a suburb of Portland. His coach is former big leaguer Tom Lampkin, who spent parts of 13 seasons in the show and started over 400 games behind the plate. Coulter is committed to Arizona State.

Scouting Report
Listed at 6-foot-3 and 200 lbs. with a wrestler’s build, Coulter has some of the best power in the high school crop this summer. He hammers mistakes and has shown the ability to adjust to offspeed stuff and drive the ball to all fields from the right side. Although he has the arm and athleticism to catch, Coulter has a long way to go with his receiving and footwork before becoming a solid defensive backstop. He runs like a catcher but is a heady baserunner with strong instincts. Coulter is very coachable and an intense competitor who plays really hard, earning high grades for his intangibles.

Miscellany
Keith Law (35th), Baseball America (48th), and MLB.com (48th) all consider Coulter a fringy first round/firm supplemental round talent based on their most recent rankings. The Yankees pick 30th overall in the first round but do not have a sandwich round pick, so Coulter is one of those ‘tweener types who might not be worth a first rounder but won’t last into the second round. As I wrote two days ago, the Yankees prioritize offensive catchers in the minors and Coulter fits the mold to a tee.

Categories : Draft

13 Comments»

Andy in Sunny Daytona says:

May 25, 2012 at 3:32 pm

The organization may like offensive first catchers, but Girardi doesn’t.

Havok9120 says:

May 25, 2012 at 3:42 pm

He doesn’t do the drafting. And I’d bet money that he doesn’t even have a ton of input in the draft.

Reply
- jjyank says:
  
  May 25, 2012 at 4:12 pm
  
  As would I. I’d be surprised if they even bothered to ask his opinion on who the first round pick should be, and I doubt Girardi knows who any of these kids are.
  
  Reply
  - Robinson Tilapia says:
    
    May 25, 2012 at 4:28 pm
    
    Of course Joe knows Coultie.
    
    Reply
    - Knoxvillain says:
      
      May 25, 2012 at 5:09 pm
      
      I see what you did there.
      
      Reply
- JobaWockeeZ says:
  
  May 25, 2012 at 4:27 pm
  
  I don’t think that was the point…
  
  Reply
  - Havok9120 says:
    
    May 25, 2012 at 5:17 pm
    
    Well….I failed to see what it was then. Unless the whole comment was just meant as a non-sequiter.
    
    I was kind of hoping Andy would clarify.
    
    Reply

Joe says:

May 25, 2012 at 4:07 pm

Is this a weak draft or just weak compared to last year?

mattdamonwayans says:

May 25, 2012 at 5:29 pm

Both, whereas there is a couple pretty good college and high school pitchers and some interesting high school bats the college position players are noticeably weak.

Reply

Joe says:

May 25, 2012 at 4:08 pm

Is this draft weak or just less top heavy?

JohnnyC says:

May 25, 2012 at 4:10 pm

Any chance enough teams are leary of his injury to let Giolito get to 30th where the Yankees pick? And is he a generational talent? Enough for the Yankees to blow through the draft budget, damn the lost #1 picks?