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| A Yankees Pro? Aaron will be the Judge of that. |
That's not a small forward playing center fielder for Fresno State, it's 6'7" Aaron Judge. He's also the 32nd overall pick of the MLB amateur draft and the second first-round pick for the New York Yankees.
Here's the MLB.com scouting report on Judge, a native of Linden, CA (MLB lists him as 240, the Fresno St. website as 255.)
Guys his size -- Judge is 6-foot-7, 240 pounds -- stand out on the baseball field. As one would imagine, Judge has considerable raw power from the right side of the plate, winning a college home run derby over the summer. That pop has not shown up consistently in games for Fresno State much, though he did flex his muscles for five homers on the Cape last summer. Judge has patience at the plate, runs pretty well and has a strong arm, all the tools for a future right fielder. How he performed during his junior season with the bat was going to determine where he lands on Draft boards. That performance was a bit up-and-down but a team that saw him on a good day -- and put stock in his strong Cape performance --might be willing to gamble he'll hit enough to tap into that power at the next level.
And from the Bulldogs website.
Two-time First-Team All-WAC (2011 & '12)
WAC All-Tournament Team (2012)
TD Ameritrade College Home Run Derby Champion (2012)
No. 3 prospect in Cape Cod Baseball League - Perfect Game (2012)
No. 6 prospect in Cape Cod Baseball League - Baseball America (2012)
Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American (2011)
One pick later the Yankees took high school pitcher Ian Clarkin, a 6'2" left-hander.
MLB.com had this to say:
Like Stephen Gonsalves, Clarkin is an intriguing high school lefty from the San Diego area, and both are committed to the University of San Diego, should they go that route. Clarkin's power stuff may keep that from happening however, as he throws his fastall up to 92-93 mph and a power curve. His breaking ball and changeup are both average, giving him the makings of a good three-pitch mix. His results over the summer were a bit mixed, throwing well at the Area Code Games, but struggling with fastball command elsewhere. That didn't keep him from getting a ton of attention this spring, though he's dealt with some inconsistencies during his senior season as well. The raw stuff from the left side should keep many first-round teams interested on Draft day.
Clarkin attends Madison High School in the San Diego area and has committed to the University of San Diego. However, he told the U-T San Diego, "I had a good feeling that my dream would come true today," Clarkin said. "Now, I'm a Yankee. They're a historic organization."
UPDATE 6/7 8 am:
Here's what Damon Oppenheimer, the Yankees VP of amateur scouting told the
NY Daily News about the Yankees first round picks:
“Eric Jagielo is a physical, left-handed hitter with plus power,” said Damon Oppenheimer, the Yankees’ VP of amateur scouting. “He performed well in Cape Cod, and shows a good combination of plate discipline and power.”
(Jagielo is the first college player the Yankees have chosen since Andrew Brackman in 2007.)
“Aaron Judge is a big man, and obviously a great-bodied athlete who has a high upside,” Oppenheimer said. “He can run, he has a good work ethic, he can throw and has the potential to be a five-tool guy with some size and strength.”
“Ian Clarkin has a combination of the things we were looking for,” Oppenheimer said. “He is a left-handed pitcher with plus velocity and has a plus curveball. On top of that, he’s a tireless worker. We think we got something special with him.”
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