2010 Draft Review: Part 2

Chris Kirsch 6’3 185 LHP Marple Newtown HS, PA
Drafted: 13th Round (#387)
Commitment: Has offer to play at Pensacola Junior College

Though not exactly known as a baseball hot bed, Pennsylvania seemed to have a pretty good crop of potential prospects this year though most of them seemed to be in the eastern part of the state. Of the group of prospects, Chris Kirsch seems to fall into that second tier group of players. Much like 4th round pick Nick Kingham, Kirsch seems to have made a late arrival in the scouting circles and after moving around to different positions the last few seasons he’s finally settled in as one of the best lefties in Pennsylvania.

Strengths: He has that good, projectable frame that scouts seem to love and he can touch 90 MPH with his FB.

Area for Improvement: Is still very raw after moving around and playing so many different positions. Even though he’s settled into pitching he’s had to rework his mechanics and is still learning the art of pitching.

Overview: He’s one of the only prep lefties that the Pirates drafted this year so he’s intriguing for a team that isn’t exactly loaded with lefties in their system. If signed he would be more of a developmental project for the team but he could benefit greatly from professional coaching since he already has the size and the pure stuff, it’s just a matter of him getting innings.

Chance of Signing: I’m going to give a 60% chance they sign him since he doesn’t seem to have a ton of college options. I think a fair bonus offer could get the job done.

Dillon Haviland 6’2 190 LHP South Fayette HS, PA
Drafted: 48th Round (#1437)
Commitment: Duke

Keeping with prep lefties and players from Pennsylvania, Haviland is perhaps one of the most talented players this year from the Pittsburgh area. It seems like every year the Pirates take a late flier on a local kid who ends up going on to college (Robert Revesz of Grove City in 2007 and Scott McGough of Plum in 2008). Coming into the 2010 HS season, it looked like Haviland could be taken in the first 15 rounds but a solid commitment to Duke may have scared off a lot of teams.

Strengths: He has a good arm and can push his FB up into the high 80’s.

Area for Improvement: He’ll more than likely be a 2 way player in college, but if he could concentrate on pitching full time he could be something special.

Overview: He’s a very good HS player but not the high level type of prospect that an organization invests a lot of money in at this stage. He’s said that he would sign if a team was willing to give him enough so that he could still go and get his degree from Duke. The talent is there so I would expect to see him show up on a prospect watch list leading up to the 2013 draft.

Chance of Signing: Really the only way I see him signing is if the Pirates strike out on a lot of their top draft picks, which I don’t see happening. I hate to say that there is no chance that the Pirates will sign him since they could end up proving me wrong. So I’ll go with a 1% chance that the Pirates sign him.