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Congrats Nolan....only the 2nd BG player to ever be named POTY (Kelly Hunt 2002).

And only a junior? I LOVE that phrases like that keep popping up in all sports at BG!!

Congrats to Nolan!

That guy is surley gone for the MLB Draft. Does anybody think he'll actually play soon , or will he be ala Kelly Hunt and be trotting around Minor League teams for several years before he gets to play in the Majors?

falconboy wrote:That guy is surley gone for the MLB Draft. Does anybody think he'll actually play soon , or will he be ala Kelly Hunt and be trotting around Minor League teams for several years before he gets to play in the Majors?

But the MLB draft is different from other drafts. For all I know in my casual-BG baseball following knowledge, he could already have been drafted, and is the property of an MLB team whenever HE decides its time to move on. Its not like the NBA or NFL where they have to declare for the draft and are done. While its possible he could have a deal to jump right into a AAA club and start playing immediately, he might come back for his senior year if a pro team has plans for him starting in A ball.

ut the MLB draft is different from other drafts. For all I know in my casual-BG baseball following knowledge, he could already have been drafted, and is the property of an MLB team whenever HE decides its time to move on

He's not property of a MLB, yet. He hasn't been drafted. The MLB has a rule, that a player must be 21 years old, within 45 days of the draft.

As far as how quickly he can move up? No one knows for sure, maybe some professional scouts. Assuming that he is injury free, he'll more than likely start in the short season rookie league (NY-Penn League). He'll then go to the Fall instructional league, usually at the team's spring training facility. Depending how he develops and adjusts to the wood bat (usually a a big problem for some) down there, he'll either start at low class-A or high class-A in 2006.

I tried to see if he played in a wood bat summer league, and couldn't quite figure it out. Cape Cod league is where most of the top draft eligible prospects go the summer or so before they get drafted. I did find out that he played in a summer league and posted the highest slugging % of any player the team produced. And there are some big names. Check out #4 in SLG, below Nolan. Not bad, eh?

http://larks.hdnews.net/battingrecords.html

dduncan wrote:

ut the MLB draft is different from other drafts. For all I know in my casual-BG baseball following knowledge, he could already have been drafted, and is the property of an MLB team whenever HE decides its time to move on

He's not property of a MLB, yet. He hasn't been drafted. The MLB has a rule, that a player must be 21 years old, within 45 days of the draft.

As far as how quickly he can move up? No one knows for sure, maybe some professional scouts. Assuming that he is injury free, he'll more than likely start in the short season rookie league (NY-Penn League). He'll then go to the Fall instructional league, usually at the team's spring training facility. Depending how he develops and adjusts to the wood bat (usually a a big problem for some) down there, he'll either start at low class-A or high class-A in 2006.

I tried to see if he played in a wood bat summer league, and couldn't quite figure it out. Cape Cod league is where most of the top draft eligible prospects go the summer or so before they get drafted. I did find out that he played in a summer league and posted the highest slugging % of any player the team produced. And there are some big names. Check out #4 in SLG, below Nolan. Not bad, eh?

http://larks.hdnews.net/battingrecords.html

Sounds pretty accurate to me. One clarification is that rule only takes if effect if they choose to go to college, I believe. Many players are drafted & sign right out of HS. Those that choose to enter college must be in college until that age, and the original team that drafted them loses their rights.

Kelly Hunt has, so far, traveled a pretty standard progression for a baseball prospect. Only the very rare move much faster than he has...and he had a very good season last year. He's struggled quite a bit this year with his move up to high A in Lakeland. Unfortunately I think what will keep him out of the bigs is the same problem he's always had, too many K's & too few BBs. At BG he could hit enough to overcome that, but its tough to do that at the professional level. Still, the Tigers system is weak on 1B so he'll get every chance to improve. He is already on the older side for A ball though

Still, baseball prospects take years to develop, even if they did play in college. As dduncan said, the wooden bat can be a big change for many, even the top prospects. Those that follow the NBA & NFL drafts aren't used to it as much, but in baseball it takes a long time to develop a star.

dduncan wrote: Check out #4 in SLG, below Nolan. Not bad, eh?

http://larks.hdnews.net/battingrecords.html

hee hee... "Poo-holes"...

Sorry, everytime I see his name, I turn into a fourth grader.