Despite the good height Roberts pitches from a low 3/4 arm angle which causes him to lose some of that downhill plane, but what he loses there he more than gains in life with the fastball and action on that slider. The fastball has armside late life that he works anywhere from 92-95 mph. From time to time he struggles with the fastball control, losing it to the armside but on this night he had control of it most of the time as he found himself in a true pitching duel with Louisville’s Adam Wolf. In both the first and second innings, Roberts had a runner in scoring position with less than two outs and was able to wiggle out of the jams by leaning on his slider to earn knee-buckling takes or misplaced hacks.

Last year Roberts worked as a closer, showing off his ridiculous two-pitch mix to strikeout 80 hitters in just 53 innings with a 2.19 ERA allowed in one of the better baseball conferences in the country. From there he went to the Cape Cod League and transitioned into the starting spot, posting 35 strikeouts in 33 innings and a sub-1.00 WHIP. In both roles, Roberts hasn’t had to use his changeup much but with low 80’s velocity and the life on his two primary pitches, one could envision it coming with armside fade. Whether that changeup comes forward will decide his placement for whatever team decides to draft him but with a low 80’s slider that earns swings and misses like the one below combined with a low 90’s fastball that works in the upper 90’s in bullpen stints this right-handed arm should make a fairly quick and dominant move to the major leagues.

Recently the ACC has churned out a few starting pitchers with a ridiculously good slider, starting with the ’14 draft and lefty Carlos Rodon of North Carolina State, North Carolina’s J.B. Buskaukas last year, and now Roberts. The Royals might not want to take the Wake Forest right-hander with their 18th pick due to the limited track record as a starter but should he be available with one of the next three picks it would be a smart play. A late-inning closer ala Greg Holland or No. 2/3 starter seems like possible projections with his selection. The Royals have selected just one Wake Forest player in their history, Mark Melito in the 17th round of the 1995 draft that produced Mark Quinn and Carlos Beltran.

Checkout the crazy movement here or here

Live View – Saturday I checked out Wichita State versus Creighton at the cavern known as TD Ameritrade stadium in Omaha. While I was interested in the two Shockers possible early round picks I came away more impressed with the battery the Blue Jays ran out there in Ryan Tapani and Michael Emodi. Despite nothing out of his hand is more than average, Tapani attacked the zone relentlessly with his 109 pitches, getting mostly soft contact on the day while allowing six hits in 7.1 innings. There isn’t a truly dominant pitch from his hand but he mixes well and throws four pitches for strikes in a fastball, change, curve, and slider.

An intelligent pitcher with a major leaguer for a father who knows sequencing and situations would be a smart organizational add as a senior sign for most clubs. Tapani’s batterymate Michael Emodi showed a quicker than expected transfer and adequate hands receiving. There is plenty of strength at the plate and average bat speed as evidenced by his walk-off home run to left-center in one of the nation’s most difficult home run hitting parks. With seven home runs already this season and a good showing in front of a large group of scouts at the Dairy Queen Classic earlier in the year he may have pushed himself into Top 5-10 round consideration. His pitch recognition skills at the plate in terms of breaking pitches need to be improved.

As for the Wichita State duo, I was impressed with Alec Bohm’s athleticism defensively but didn’t like his lack of leverage at the dish. A tall hitter with a downward plane he was unable to elevate against Tapani’s average velocity despite getting a couple of hits. He stayed short but the bat speed didn’t stand out for me on this day. Teammate Greyson Jenista was aggressive at the dish versus Tapani but showed better than average bat speed and hit a pair of balls hard without results. I didn’t get to see what he could do in the field as he wasn’t tested nor did he get a chance to open up his speed down the baseline. Still, the bat speed was impressive and physically he looks the part of a major league outfielder on this day.

– Multiple scouts from the Orioles (#11 pick) were on hand to watch Jeremy Eierman this past week during his game with Iowa while the White Sox (#4) had multiple scouts at Jarred Kelenic’s Sunday Iowa Select League game. Neither player would be an overdraft for their slots in the upcoming draft.

For more draft coverage head here or follow me on Twitter @ClintScoles

Featured Photo via @Griff_Roberts

He does this with a swing that stays balanced, can hit the ball to all fields, and also shows the strength to explode on a ball to the pull side. The previously mentioned training and the upper-level competition he has faced will only help a player so much though, Kelenic’s above average hand speed is a born in trait that generates the type of barrel speed that can’t be taught, while his strength allows the bat path to stay in the zone, likely resulting in high averages in his future. Coming out of the left-handed hitter’s box Kelenic’s 6.57-second speed in the 60 allows him to steal some extra hits during a season while also allowing him to make an impact on the bases. That speed has already shown its ability to make an impact on defense in centerfield for Team USA and should he not lose much gives him a chance to stick in centerfield during his younger years. Along with that speed, his instincts, and paths to the ball should turn him into an above-average fielder in the future that alongside his rifle arm could help him have a chance to become a Gold Glove impact defender. That arm has registered fastballs in the low 90’s off the mound and as high as 96 mph from the outfield and comes with more accuracy than one generally sees from young outfielders when they’re letting it fly. From top to bottom this is a gifted athlete who has worked hard on his craft at a young age to push himself into becoming a possible Top 10 selection.

As a five-tool player, it’s not likely that Kelenic would be available to the Royals at the 18th pick in a normal year when they would need to wait for a player to fall to their position, but this year’s draft doesn’t represent a normal year for the Royals. As it stands currently the Royals based on last year’s numbers have around $12.4m to spend in the draft which would give them the largest pool allotment based on those same figures from last year. While that amount doesn’t have what it takes to shove around the top 2 teams in the draft it is significant enough to push their weight around against team’s after that because they will have anywhere from $2.15m to $5.76m more money available to them than the teams that select at picks 3 through 17. That will change slightly should Alex Cobb eclipse $50m but even then a Moustakas one year deal will mitigate that loss and keep the Royals well ahead of the field. Knowing that Dayton Moore and Lonnie Goldberg will have this kind of leverage means they have the opportunity to push the player they desire to their spot should they want to spend what it takes to make it happen.

How can they do this? By breaking the bank for one player ($7m+) the Royals can force the rest of the teams in front of them to either spend 70% or more of their draft allotment or choose someone else. The Braves last year were the only team that was pushed into that percentage with their selection of Kyle Wright and his $7m bonus demand. Is Kelenic a player who would be worthy of that kind of bonus? While that’s out for debate as I’ve written in the past it will likely take a prep player or draft-eligible sophomore with maximum leverage to push his way around in a draft.

Checkout previous Draft articles here

Featured Photo Credit Dan Napper