Last night the Nationals drafted right handed pitcher Lucas Giolito from Harvard-Westlake High School in California. After his junior year of high school, Giolito was predicted to go first overall following his senior season. The Nationals got him at 16th overall. You may be asking....why so late?
Giolito sat out his senior season due to a sprained ligament in his throwing elbow. Since he had not seen legitimate game action in over a year, teams were nervous about drafting him. Teams also stayed away from him due to the injury that he sustained to his throwing elbow.
The Nationals and their fans know all too well what can happen when you injure your throwing elbow. Already, the Nationals have seen two of their own starting pitchers go under the knife for Tommy Johns surgery. Jordan Zimmermann had his procedure done three years ago and most recently Stephen Strasburg underwent to the procedure to repair a ligament in his throwing elbow.
While the injury was a sprain and not a tear, the point still remains that Giolito's throwing elbow was injured. With that in mind, the Nationals need to be extra careful when bringing him through the system.
Many experts think that Giolito will move through any teams farm system quickly. However, the Nationals will want to take some time to make sure that everything is A-OK with his elbow. Trying to hustle the kid through the minors and into the majors would be a terrible mistake.
The last thing that Mike Rizzo and Co. want to have happen is stake their claim on this guy only to have him never make it past Class AA due to a reoccurring throwing elbow injury.
One thing that the Nationals do quite well is handle injuries. Strasburg and Zimmermann have both returned from their injuries just as good as, if not better than, before. They made a plan, patiently stuck to that plan, and the results have been fantastic.
Expect much of the same for Lucas Giolito. Don't expect the Nationals to try to quickly move him through the farm system. He is still a teenager and also an investment. He's got great stuff and can really be a big contributor to the Nationals for years to come.
The Nationals took a bit of a risk last night when they drafted Lucas Giolito. If they handle him just as carefully as they do the rest of their injured players, he's going to be a difference maker for this ball club.
Showing posts with label Lucas Giolito. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lucas Giolito. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Monday, June 4, 2012
Nationals Draft Pitcher
Last night marked day one of the three-day 40-round 2012 MLB Entry Level Draft. The first two rounds (round 1 and 1A) were completed last night. The Nationals selected once throughout the evening with the 16th overall pick.
With that pick, the Nationals selected right-handed pitcher Lucas Giolito from Harvard-Westlake High School in California. That's right, he's fresh out of prep school.
A bigger guy standing at 6'6" and weighing 230 pounds, Giolito was anticipated to go first overall following an impressive junior high school season. However, a sprained ulnar collateral ligament (in the elbow) kept him off the field for his senior season.
According to many scouts around the league, Giolito has three very good pitches that he can go to when on the mound.
His fastball has been clocked at 96 MPH on the radar gun, but usually tops out at 93 MPH. His changeup comes out looking like a fastball, breaks like a split-fingered pitch, but is slow enough to get batters to swing way out in front of it. He also throws an excellent curve that one scout said has a very sharp break when it hits the plate.
Another thing that scouts rave when talking about Giolito is his location. He keeps the ball down in the strikezone. Doing so allows him to get a many ground-ball outs which also allows for quick innings.
One thing that worries me about this pick is his injury history. He has already injured a ligament in his throwing elbow. Nationals fans know all too well the dangers when dealing with an elbow ligament injury (see Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann).
It would seriously put a damper on things if Giolito doesn't have the stuff that he used to have. However, if he's anywhere close to it, the Nationals have made a great pick.
The Nationals have certainly figured out what they want to build their team around. Starting pitching was a focus during the offseason and it was certainly one last night.
Follow me on Twitter @SkinnyOnSports and don't forget to look the blog up on Facebook: The Skinny on Sports!
With that pick, the Nationals selected right-handed pitcher Lucas Giolito from Harvard-Westlake High School in California. That's right, he's fresh out of prep school.
A bigger guy standing at 6'6" and weighing 230 pounds, Giolito was anticipated to go first overall following an impressive junior high school season. However, a sprained ulnar collateral ligament (in the elbow) kept him off the field for his senior season.
According to many scouts around the league, Giolito has three very good pitches that he can go to when on the mound.
His fastball has been clocked at 96 MPH on the radar gun, but usually tops out at 93 MPH. His changeup comes out looking like a fastball, breaks like a split-fingered pitch, but is slow enough to get batters to swing way out in front of it. He also throws an excellent curve that one scout said has a very sharp break when it hits the plate.
Another thing that scouts rave when talking about Giolito is his location. He keeps the ball down in the strikezone. Doing so allows him to get a many ground-ball outs which also allows for quick innings.
One thing that worries me about this pick is his injury history. He has already injured a ligament in his throwing elbow. Nationals fans know all too well the dangers when dealing with an elbow ligament injury (see Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann).
It would seriously put a damper on things if Giolito doesn't have the stuff that he used to have. However, if he's anywhere close to it, the Nationals have made a great pick.
The Nationals have certainly figured out what they want to build their team around. Starting pitching was a focus during the offseason and it was certainly one last night.
Follow me on Twitter @SkinnyOnSports and don't forget to look the blog up on Facebook: The Skinny on Sports!
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