We're getting close to draft time, which means draft boards and mock drafts are starting to pop up around the baseball blogosphere. ESPN.com's Keith Law kicked it off by posting his Top 100 draft prospects. It's Insider content, but if you were to go strictly according to his board, the ninth best player (where the Tigers would pick) is pitcher Kyle Gibson from Missouri.
Gibson is a 6'6" right-hander who throws in the low-90s, according to ESPN's scouting report, and mixes that with a slider and change-up. This past season for Missouri, Gibson posted a 9-3 record and 3.73 ERA in 13 starts, with 115 strikeouts and 15 walks in 91.2 innings.
(Here is ESPN.com's MLB Draft page.)
MVN Outsider ran a mock draft with its bloggers this week, and Gibson was taken with the eighth pick, just before the Tigers' selection. Therefore, Take 75 North drafted pitcher Shelby Miller from Brownwood High School in Texas, and is actually ranked sixth on Law's board.
Miller is a 6'4" right-hander who throws a fastball in the mid-90s (his high is 96), along with a 12-to-6 curveball. The biggest knock against him seems to be his control, but that seems like something you'd expect in a high school pitcher with a big arm.
Minor League Ball will soon be running its mock draft, scheduled for June 6. The actual MLB Draft will be held June 9-11, with the first round to be broadcast on MLB Network.
So are any of you following the draft? It's been pretty good to the Tigers over the past few years. And if you're into it, are there any names you've been focused on, hoping they drop to Detroit's selection? Are there positions you think the organization should try to bolster?