On a sour note, MLB.com has no idea who Zach Putnam is. First of all, they have him listed "Steven Putnam." Second of all, they wrote the following about him:
Comments: Some see him as a pitcher, others as a hitter. He's got raw power in either spot. On the mound, he's got the potential to throw three to four quality pitches, though he'll have to correct some flaws in his delivery first. Those issues have caused some command issues, though scouts remained intrigued about the potential.
Zach Putnam is a middle round prospect as a hitter, to be completely frank. From the plate, he had a good year, not a great year, in a bad baseball conference. As a pitcher, he had a great year and has a world-class performance (one-hitter against Oregon St. in last year's Super Regional) under his belt. He was picked by the Indians to be groomed as a pitcher, and nobody thinks that he's being drafted to hit the baseball.
Interesting that fellow Junior, Jason Christian was drafted higher than Putnam. Christian went at pick # 154 to Oakland. I think that this means Christian is gone for sure, Putnam...we'll have to wait and see. He was drafted out of high school and turned that down. I think he goes pro because how much better can he get? He was 9-0, Big 10 Pitcher of the year...I think his performance is peaked and he knows he can't improve much statistically so he goes and joins the Indians organization.
Next to go from Michigan:
Adam Abraham (3b/p?)
Nate Recknagel (1b)
Abraham had a tremendous season, hitting around .350. He did not pitch much this season, but was named the closer before the year started and threw 35 innings with a 3.52 ERA last year.
Recknagel was one of the most prolific hitters in the country hitting around .400 for much of the year before a late slump dropped him to .370. Nate set the Michigan single season record for homer runs with 23. The Big 10 player of the year suffered a wrist injury in last week's regional against Kentucky which could drop him a bit in the draft.
Also, I noticed that MLB.com also messed up Kentucky's Sawyer (not Swain) Carroll. They need to get their act together and get the names right!
UPDATE: Apparently MLB was right, Putnam's real name is Steven Zachary McGuire Putnam.
UPDATE #2: And I guess the MLB is the MLB for a reason. Swain Sawyer Carroll it is.
5 comments:
maybe this is good news for Michigan? think he'll come back now?
The indians first round pick got kicked out of south carolina for grand theft and larceny.
Go Tribe!
I'm with Jeremy. Great call about him being a middle-of-the-road guy right now. I think he needs grooming as a ball player.
However, just from viewing the way Putnam carries himself on and off the field, I think he will look at this as his shot to improve and showcase his skills. I think he might have grown over-confident due to great success in (as Jeremy said) a weak conference.
I think he is as good as gone.
Putnam's first name is Steven.
And since it's Swain S. Carroll,
I'm guessing the MLB might have a clue who they are proposing to hire.
Use a little Google-Fu so we don't have to mock you next time!
Look here:
http://www.ukathletics.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=36&url_article_id=19084&change_well_id=2
"Full name is Swain Sawyer Carroll"
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