BB: D3 MLB Draft projections, picks and free-agent signings

[DSKSlugger]

Gilblair should have scouts buzzing. I know he did great things in the NECBL which is usually all scouts need to see in order to disregard that D3 stereotype with D3 hitters. They're thinking, if he can outplay some of the best with wood bats then he can play anywhere.

I don't know where his velocity is but as a crafty lefty he could definitely give a team innings at the next level.

I wonder if his past injuries will scare teams off...

Some of those beloved die hard EConn fans could give us some insight... thanks.

Good luck to all these player BTW.

[dgilblair]

Gilblair should have scouts buzzing. I know he did great things in the NECBL which is usually all scouts need to see in order to disregard that D3 stereotype with D3 hitters. They're thinking, if he can outplay some of the best with wood bats then he can play anywhere.

I don't know where his velocity is but as a crafty lefty he could definitely give a team innings at the next level.

I wonder if his past injuries will scare teams off...

Some of those beloved die hard EConn fans could give us some insight... thanks.

Good luck to all these player BTW.

The buzz is more like a hum compared to the fall of 07  You are correct about the success he had in the NECBL in 07 when he was the POY playing for the Holyoke Giants so I would have to say the injuries did play a part in the hum of interest this year. Funny thing  Stephen Strasburg played in the NECBL that year and was selected as the top pro prospect.  By no means am I comparing the two but thought I'd throw that in as a side note.

He is nursing a badly bruised calf he injured catching a foul ball during the regionals when he and two of his teammates got tangled up and one of them either stepped or kneed him.  That said the injuries from 08 were both from his high school days playing basketball that flared up again.  We had a great surgeon DR. Joyce and he is as good as new with those.

As for his velocity I can only go by what others have said because I have never actually never seen him on a gun, others have said upper 80's.  He has picked up a mile or two an hour every year since his freshman year and I would think when he only has to work on pitching full time that may still improve more. I was never one to worry about velocity. When he was little all we worked on was location and tring to find a hitters weakness never about how hard you threw it but about where you threw it.

He will play somewhere this summer no doubt, draft or no draft. 

[DSKSlugger]

Very true about Strasburg. I have many friends who claim to have a double off of a 96 mph Strasburg heater from that summer.

I hope he gets a shot to play affiliated ball, in my 4 D3 years i think he is the best pure hitter i have seen, although i did not face him. I think him and Emr are on their own level.

[mideastfan2]

Strasburg is TWICE the pitcher he was then....I've seen him throw two games this year (both at TCU, once during the year against TCU and once in the tournament against New Mexico), and he's THE REAL DEAL......untouchable.

[DSKSlugger]

There is no doubt he has improved since then to become the top prospect of the century. Maybe we will see him working along side Jordan Zimmerman in a year for the Nats. Wouldn't that be awesome! I say Zim is the #1 and Strasburg the #2... 

can't give Jordan enough credit, he is the real deal too! Hope to see some of this years D3 guys in the bigs in the near future!

[Pitcher34]

I know there are a few Capital Athletic Conference players that have been scouted this year with Salisbury, York (PA), and University of Mary Washington.

[ecfaninri]

Gilblair was the National Player of the Year Twice for nothing.. I know DGilblair won't say it, but I will, Shawn can help some franchise in many ways. Left hander with good stuff and location, great stick for OBP and power, and a very good glove at first base. In the the regionals he made three plays that most first basemen only dream about. I was standing on the right field foul line fence when he came up with that foul ball they left him hobbled for the rest of the regionals. We all were amazed he came up with that ball 125 feet behind first. If I am a GM or scout, he is a natural look along with his knowledge of the game.

BUt then again... I have had the pleasure of seeing him play for three years, some scouts haven't. I am sure that playing in 2 CWS, 4 regionals, the NECBL, and being selected a host of times to all-tourney teams, MVP's, All-New England Player of the year and National Player of the YEar has to count for something.

Good Luck Shawn - I can't wait to see or hear about you at the next level.

[metsfan]

Saw this on baseballamerica dot com:

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/?p=817

[John McGraw]

Gilblair was the National Player of the Year Twice for nothing.. I know DGilblair won't say it, but I will, Shawn can help some franchise in many ways. Left hander with good stuff and location, great stick for OBP and power, and a very good glove at first base. In the the regionals he made three plays that most first basemen only dream about. I was standing on the right field foul line fence when he came up with that foul ball they left him hobbled for the rest of the regionals. We all were amazed he came up with that ball 125 feet behind first. If I am a GM or scout, he is a natural look along with his knowledge of the game.

BUt then again... I have had the pleasure of seeing him play for three years, some scouts haven't. I am sure that playing in 2 CWS, 4 regionals, the NECBL, and being selected a host of times to all-tourney teams, MVP's, All-New England Player of the year and National Player of the YEar has to count for something.

Good Luck Shawn - I can't wait to see or hear about you at the next level.

I imagine the mindset in the team that would want Shawn is what do they want more - the lefty pitcher of the fielder/hitter? He's obviously good at both though you don't see dual-threat players in the minor leagues. Shane Wolf, a D3baseball.com All-America utility player last year was drafted by the Astros and he's now a lefty pitcher in their farm system, already in the High-A California League. Another upstate New York guy, Chris Salamida had the same talents and he's in the same farm system but now in Double-A.

Having seen Shawn at several regionals in Auburn, I think he'll get a shot somewhere. Some team will take a chance on him, either in the draft or as an NDFA.

[dgilblair]

Gilblair was the National Player of the Year Twice for nothing.. I know DGilblair won't say it, but I will, Shawn can help some franchise in many ways. Left hander with good stuff and location, great stick for OBP and power, and a very good glove at first base. In the the regionals he made three plays that most first basemen only dream about. I was standing on the right field foul line fence when he came up with that foul ball they left him hobbled for the rest of the regionals. We all were amazed he came up with that ball 125 feet behind first. If I am a GM or scout, he is a natural look along with his knowledge of the game.

BUt then again... I have had the pleasure of seeing him play for three years, some scouts haven't. I am sure that playing in 2 CWS, 4 regionals, the NECBL, and being selected a host of times to all-tourney teams, MVP's, All-New England Player of the year and National Player of the YEar has to count for something.

Good Luck Shawn - I can't wait to see or hear about you at the next level.

All of the above is why he did get some looks, but I'm sure when scouts look at him they don't see a Major League prospect.  5-11, 200 pounds, soon to be 22 years old, throws in the upper 80's.  Lots of guys have a  better body and stats than Shawn.  Plus the fact being that nearly all those awards were for the combination of pitching and hitting at the D3 level.  If you separate the two he doesn't get nearly the recognition as when combined.  Now I'm not taking anything away from his accomplisments in any way as he has earned everything but I think this is how a lot of MLB guys would view it.  Now stats and stature never truly tell the whole story of a player and there is certainly more to Shawn than either of those when it comes to playing the game. Being a lefty may help him get a chance at getting signed and if not he will take a different road to try and get there.  You never know if you don't try so try he will. Personally just being mention a a possible pick or signee is an honor.

[slick]

Brian Rembisz, Ct kid who was juat a pure ball player, 5'8" 165, played a UVM, pitched, played inf, played in every game. Best pitcher, best hitter etc. but went undrafted. Signed with a independent team in Michigan, played one year, picked by Angels last year late. Currently in Dbl A (Arkansas) with 0.00 era (20+) innings pitching middle relief. Tim Keily (Trinity) just threw a complete game 4 hit shutout and leads the team in innings and I believe wins. Tim isn't a large kid but knows how to play. From everything I have heard about Shawn, he is that type of player that can help fill a minor league roster and get a chance. I bet he goes, maybe later rounds, but I'd bet on him going.

[mideastfan2]

scouts from certain organizations also like "winners" from programs that know how to win.  Shawn is from one of the top couple programs in the country....he'll catch on somewhere, whether it's through the draft or signing afterwards.

Like the poster above said, there are multiple paths to success.

Mike Demark from Marieta went undrafted in 2006 after winning the World Series as a Senior.  He payed independent ball for a season, then was picked up by the Padres.  Last year he was the Padres minor league Pitcher of Year, as he had an outstanding year out of the bullpen in AA.

It's all about getting that chance.

[ECSUalum]

From SCOUT66 post last year Septemberish:

Interesting to re-read

U SOUTHERN MAINE: I HAVE HEARD ON THE WIRE 3 TRANSFERS, AND IM TRYING TO FIND NAMES AND LOCATINS. PLAYERS-L/R D'ALFONSO PLAYED WELL IN THE NECBL SAW HIS LAST COUPLE OF GAMES BARRELS THE BALL WELL, HAS SIZE,RAW POWER POTENTIAL. BURLESON SLIGHT UNDERSIZE FOR A SS GOOD ARM, GAP POWER, POSSIBLE 2B IN FUTURE GOOD TOOLS. INF MACKEY-AVG BAT/ARM GOOD FIELDER,SLOW LEGS. PITCHERS DO NOT REALLY JUMP OUT.  KEENE STATE IS TRYING TO GET FRANKLIN PIERCE TRANSFERS. PLAYERS- INF-CHEVALIER HAS 2 TOOLS GLOVE, AND EFFORT BUT THATS ABOUT IT. OF DOYON, RUNS WELL,AVG ARM, LONG SWING DROP AND DRIVE. INF DARAK GOOD BAT SEEMS LIKE A STREAKY HITTER,GOOD GLOVE BIG FRAME. EASTERN CONNECTICUT I READ RECEIVED TWO PLAYERS FROM A JUNIOR COLLEGE I WANT TO SAY FROM NJ, A OF FROM MARIST NY, CONNECTICUT RHP, A DIV II SCHOOL IN NJ. PLAYERS-INF CASTILLO, MATURE, LONG SWING,LONG ARM,RUNS WELL, AGE IS QUESTIONABLE. LHP GILBLAIR-LOCATION OF PITCHES WELL MOST PART, MORE VELO IS +, NEEDS 4TH PITCH AND LOCATE, UNDERSIZED. RHP WOJICK- UNDERSIZED, USES LEGS, GOOD VELOCITY GOOD MOVEMENT. OF PARKE-DECEIVING FOR SIZE,HAS TOOLS, GOOD SPEED, ARM,OBP,INF DEWING-BIG FRAME,GOOD BAT,AVG,GLOVE,SPEED NEEDS TO IMPROVE,POTENTIAL

[DSKSlugger]

Found this in the Baseball America state by state pre draft prospect lists in the Lower New England region...

He'll be a late-rounds roster filler, as will be Trinity senior righty Jeremiah Bayer, a strike-thrower with an 86-88 mph sinker and a passable slider.

C Sean Killeen was also listed as a Lower NE prospect but just his name...

[infielddad]

When it comes to the draft and DIII players, I personally do not feel BA has much credibility or reliability.  They don't make their revenue off DIII baseball and I would question how they develop what they publish.
Having had a son go through this, publications like BA and others are of interest to everyone other than players and their parents. 
For 99% of the DIII players who get a chance, the issue is the mindset of the player, the amount of preparation they put in between the end of the season and the first day of short season, the organization drafting them and the opportunity the player receives to prove they can play.
For the DIII position players, they are going to be seeing everyday pitching starting about June 20 with much better velocity and command than they have seen all year.  For pitchers, they will be facing the best hitters they have all year. They have to quickly prove they can play and produce in very difficult competitive circumstances.
If you are a 15th round or below senior sign, which includes most DIII draftees, you have to be ready to play, be focused and be ready when your opportunity occurs.  That opportunity won't be given.  It will be earned by doing every little thing you can to get noticed, be early, stay late, and do everything to get ready to succeed.  Most won't get more than a few chances and some won't even get a few..
Milb is an amazing experience with  upsides and downsides.  What I really love about the DIII kids who get a chance, and succeed, is knowing they earned every inning, every AB and every pitch.  Even when they have success, they still have to earn every inning and AB.