Comments on: CBB Top 50 Countdown: Number 25 Steven Fischback (Cal-Poly)

By: junior07

junior07 — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 23:34:38 +0000

Well, being a local, I’ll have plenty of opportunitues to give this kid a look and will take every advantage to do so.

Doesn’t really matter what someone did when they were 15 or 17 in East Cobb. He’s pitching to Division I hitters that know the 10th commandment of baseball. “A pitcher who hasn’t got control, hasn’t got anything”

I truly hope he is a beast, Poly could use some pitching this year, that’s for sure.

By: baller

baller — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 16:09:04 +0000

This guy is the Friday pitcher for Cal Poly and likely leads them to NCAA. Great call on another top player in California. Brian, I think you make a lot of guys happy if you just pick players from Texas. Steven was on the hill when this 17u won in East Cobb in 2005. He won there as a kid (15u) as the starting pitcher as well. Odds are he is a beast this year.

By: Brian Foley

Brian Foley — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 04:42:18 +0000

I know your not trying to be smart, but when Baseball America names you the Top prospect in even a down Alaskan League means you are doing something good. He might have came into school with bad mechanics and still working on them.

I talked with a coach in the Alaskan League that thought he was the best player in the entire league and should be a very high pick.

By: junior07

junior07 — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 03:47:36 +0000

I can’t understand how you become a top prospect when the highlight of your bio is “struggles with control. If a pitcher can’t throw for consistant location it usually means bad mechanics, which generally leads to arm problems.

How do you become a top prospect when you can’t throw strikes and you will more than likely develop arm trouble?

Not being a smarta$$. It’s a sincere inquiry.

By: Aman Reaka

Aman Reaka — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:19:59 +0000

Pearl should be in my top 50
or close to it

By: big green

big green — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 01:00:21 +0000

Just wondering I have seen a lot of list talk about Brian Pearl out of Washington, do you know anything about him?

By: Brian Foley

Brian Foley — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 04:43:53 +0000

One of the staff members has seen each of these players in person play.

By: Glenn Hoynes

Glenn Hoynes — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 02:51:58 +0000

If you guys are putting lists together, I’m guessing you’ve seen most of these players?

By: waltgreenberg

waltgreenberg — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 23:43:11 +0000

Aman, again, it all depends on what criteria you are using. It is very clear that Brian, as with BA and Baseball Prospectus, is primarily focused on the most projectable pro prospects (with some exceptions, e.g., Joey Wong) as opposed to prior D-I level, on-field performance.

Since Ryan Berry’s heater tops out only in the low 90s, he’s not viewed as an elite pitching prospect from an MLB scout’s perspective. However, his bread and butter pitch is a biting knucklecurve and, as with any Rice pitcher who has developed through the system, he has added a quality changeup to the mix. He has excellent control and, most important, is a very smart pitcher and fierce competitor. I have absolutely no problem with him being tabbed behind Minor, especially if MLB projectability is a leading criteria, but he has proven to be a superior college pitcher than a number of guys already ranked in Brian’s Top 50.

As for Rick Hague, I’m going to be very curious what middle infielders you have ranked ahead of him. I’m not sure if you’ve seen him outside of his two CWS games (when he was playing with a badly injured shoulder which was effecting both his hitting and defense), but the kid brings the entire package– outstanding range and arm in the field, excellent AVG and OBP, above-average extrabase power and is a very good baserunner. And he should only get better as he continues to adjust to the speed of the college game and further matures as a player. In my years of following the Owls, he’s the most complete player I’ve witnessed since Vince Sinisi in 2002 – ‘03 (as he’s a better defender than Josh Rodriguez, and has more pop than either Savery or Brian Friday). As far as SSs go, his Freshman year compared quite favorably to the first college seasons of Horton of UNC and Beckham of Georgia.

By: Aman Reaka

Aman Reaka — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:03:44 +0000

I apologize. I completely mispoke.
I had a couple players mixed up in my mind. (as i said i dont really have a list formulated yet)

Ryan Berry will for sure be top 50 (although he is still behind Minor by quite a bit right now)

Hague will be very close to the top 50. not sure yet.
and yes Hague will be above Dietrich i do believe.