Earlier tonight, the Red Sox selected LHP Trey Ball (New Castle, IN) as their first top-10 draft pick since they selecting Trot Nixon – also at #7 – in the 1993. Here’s the incredibly abridged rundown:
Ball’s earned a reputation as a two-way player but has far more upside as a pitcher than he does as an outfielder, especially after upping his velocity to the 94mph-ish range last year and adding some pitches to his repertoire. He offers a fastball, curveball and changeup and while he doesn’t have solid command of his off-speed pitches now, most scouts seem to think he will as he matures. His ability to harness those pitches will probably dictate where he ends up. Most see him as a front end of the rotation pitcher, with the potential to be a #1/#2 starter if he can put it all together.
Speculation as to his projectability has been a bit all over the place. Some see him as a prototypical tall, high-risk Northern HS pitcher while others take his solid mechanics in spite of his age and size (he’s 6’6, 185lbs.) as a sign that he should develop into a good pitcher. Most would agree that all the ingredients are there for him to be a high-end starter; it’ll just be a matter of him mastering his off-speed stuff.
We’ll have more on Trey Ball and other Red Sox draft picks as the weekend progresses.