:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/34022245/495674729.0.jpg)
8th Round - Sam McWilliams, RHP - I don't have much to say about McWilliams outside of my own terrible second hand scouting. MLB has no info on him, Perfect Game only lists some vague All American honors. Baseball America does have a scouting report behind their paywall: a few (respectfully short) snippets:
his stuff can differ significantly start to start. He worked at 83-86 mph last fall, touching 88. At his best this spring, he sits in the low 90s while touching 94 mph. Other days he can sit 84-86 and even drop as low as 83.
The Tennessee Tech commit's lack of history, projectable body and inconsistent stuff make him a wild card on draft day.
So we're looking at a kid, basically. The BA scouting report also goes on to say that the breaking stuff is inconsistent, but shows room for growth. Long story short, this kid will be a project. With that said though, he's ranked 227 on the BA 500 and 6th in the state of Tennessee, so he has talent. And while his velocity is a wild card, the kid certainly has projection and looks the part.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Phillies take skinny, raw 6' 7" HS RHP who can touch 94</p>— Matt Winkelman (@Matt_Winkelman) <a href="https://twitter.com/Matt_Winkelman/statuses/475023231372787713">June 6, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Kind of an interesting first high school arm to grab, though I have no idea how to work out his ceiling, his floor, or his signability. I'm not entirely sure how to read into these high school stats, either, but if they are to be believed, dude can swing a bat, and dude can strike people out too (53:11 K:BB in 2013 and 25:2 in 2014). So that's fun.
Here's that scouting video!
<iframe src='http://m.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=33073921&topic_id=67565098&width=400&height=224&property=mlb' width='400' height='224' frameborder='0'>Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe>
9th Round - Matt Hockenberry, RHP - Not a ton of offense thus far, huh? Hockenberry is a senior from Temple University, so it would be pretty surprising if he didn't sign quickly. Chances are he's the team's attempt to get a bit under slot value, as older right handers are rarely diamonds in the rough. Still, the minor league affiliates need pitchers, and it's nice to see a local guy get drafted just as Temple announced that they'd be cutting baseball after 2014.
Hockenberry seems like a good and fun dude to root for, but he'll have a tough road to climb to make an impact in the majors. Over 93.1 innings between the rotation and the pen last year, he had a nice 3.18 ERA, but with a more pedestrian 71 strikeouts and a fairly solid 23 walks. He also has a 70 grade twitter name (@Hocktimus_Prime) and he's an arm, so who knows? He might be our next Cloyd/Buchanan shot in the dark before we know it.
Here's a weirdo video of him pitching
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/AEJAz4F1mFI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
10th Round - Matt Shortall, OF - Another senior signing, so not a ton of information on Shortall, who just finished up his Accounting degree at UT Arlington, so congrats to him on that, too!
Shortall isn't a top prospect in this year's draft, and this might very well be a farm stocking signing, but he did have some promise in high school days (even if he's not a catcher anymore), and he seemingly can hit. Last year he put up a 344/398/586 line with 10 homers in 286 at bats, but god who knows what that's supposed to mean in metal-bat-land?
Either way, he's a longshot to make an impact, but you can't fault the Phils for taking an easy signing with some offensive upside. He's made some strides in his collegiate career, and we've seen senior signings pan out for other teams in the past. Just, uh, don't make any big money bets on it.
Good news is that he's in this video
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/rjLXwvpRgD4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>