Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Arkansas in the Baseball Draft

The Chicago Cubs stunned the experts- who know it all  by selecting right-handed pitcher Hayden Simpson of Southern Arkansas with the 16th pick in the draft Monday night..  You should have seen the analysts on ESPN scrambling their sheets trying to find information about him when he was announced.

Simpson, 6 feet and 175 pounds, was 35-2 for the Division II school, including 13-1 with a 1.81 ERA in 15 starts this season. He struck out 131 in 99 1/3 innings.

However, he was the 191st pitcher listed in a Baseball America Preview, which said he had a "low-90s fastball and hard breaking stuff," and MLB.com did not even have a draft report available for him (as they did for other first-rounders) when the Cubs selected.-- Good Pick.
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St. Louis Cardinals fans aren't complaining today that they got a steal. The Cardinals selected University of Arkansas third-baseman Zack Cox with its first round, 25th overall selection.

"(Cox) has a tremendous swing," said Cardinals' Vice President of Scouting and Player Development Jeff Luhnow.

The 6-foot, 215-pound sophomore is batting .424 with nine home runs and 48 RBI for the Razorbacks as they compete for back-to-back trips to the College World Series in Omaha. He has played third base the past two seasons at Arkansas. Scouts project him as a middle infielder in pro ball.

Way to go Arkansas Players.

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