RC's 2006 College Prospect Tracker

Draft Prospect Update (5/9/06)

There was no movement on our list this week, as all of the pitchers on our list who played had quality outings. The North Carolina Tar Heels had the weekend off to prepare for exams, so our top ranked player, Andrew Miller, didn't pitch. The Tar Heels resume their schedule this weekend vs. ninth-ranked Virginia, so it should be another good test for Miller.

The weekend's most impressive performance was turned in by Washington's Tim Lincecum, who defeated Oregon State and handed Dallas Buck his first loss of the season. Lincecum threw eight innings while setting a Pac-10 record with 16 strikeouts. Lincecum threw 146 pitches to get through his innings, and while he's known to have a rubber arm, that still seems to defy good sense. Regardless, Lincecum's stats this season are incredibly impressive, as he's allowed only 53 hits in 102 IP while striking out a nation-leading 168 batters. The 54 walks are a bit of a concern, but his BAA of .154 is by far the best among all the pitchers on our list.

We debated moving Lincecum to # 2 on our list this week, but we'll wait to see how he does against Stanford this weekend. Since California's Brandon Morrow just pitched against Stanford, it will serve as a nice comparison. California, by the way, is off for the next two weeks, and they'll play their final conference series against Arizona State.

Another matchup to watch this weekend will # 15 Houston vs. # 1 Rice. It will be a great test for Brad Lincoln, and you can bet that nearly every team in baseball will be scouting Friday night's game. Lincoln threw well against UCF last week, but he's faced very few top-ranked programs this season, so it will be interesting to see how he fares against the best team in the nation.

Finally, Max Scherzer has returned to action after missing a few weeks with biceps tendinitis. He picked up a victory in relief vs. Baylor two weeks ago, and this past weekend he returned to the rotation and beat Mississippi Valley State. Up next for the Tigers is Texas Tech, and Scherzer will probably get the start on Saturday.

RC's Top 10 Collegiate Draft Prospects

RC Rank	Player	Position	School	Last week
1.	Andrew Miller	LHP	North Carolina	1
2.	Brandon Morrow	RHP	California	2
3.	Tim Lincecum	RHP	Washington	3
4.	Brad Lincoln	RHP	Houston	4
5.	Evan Longoria	3B/IF	Long Beach St.	5
6.	Joba Chamberlain	RHP	Nebraska	6
7.	Max Scherzer	RHP	Missouri	7
8.	Drew Stubbs	OF	Texas	8
9.	Wes Hodges	3B	Georgia Tech	9
10.	Matt Antonelli	3B	Wake Forest	10

Pitching Statistics (Last updated 5/16/06)

Rank	Player	School	ERA	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	OPP BA
1.	A. Miller	N. Carolina	1.87	10-1	81.2	65	28	17	23	87	.217
		Last game: 5/12		(L)	6.1	7	3	1	2	8
2.	B. Morrow	California	1.74	7-3	93.1	65	29	18	36	96	.200
		Last game: 5/5		(L)	8.1	6	3	3	0	11
3.	T. Lincecum	Washington	2.06	11-3	109.1	63	35	25	56	174	.168
		Last game: 5/12		(L)	7.0	10	4	3	2	5
4.	B. Lincoln	Houston	1.67	11-1	113.0	80	26	21	26	141	.197
		Last game: 5/12		(W)	9.0	5	0	0	2	9
6.	J. Chamberlain	Nebraska	3.75	5-4	69.2	60	31	29	29	83	.238
		Last game: 5/12		(L)	7.1	8	6	4	2	12
7.	M. Scherzer	Missouri	2.22	5-1	52.2	37	14	13	19	58	.206
		Last game: 5/13		(ND)	7.0	5	1	1	3	4

Batting Statistics (Last Updated 5/16/06)

Rank	Player	School	AB	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
5.	E. Longoria	Long Beach St.	173	9	39	40	26	3	1	.364	.491	.613
8.	D. Stubbs	Texas	205	11	48	35	52	21	5	.337	.436	.595
9.	W. Hodges	Georgia Tech	182	9	54	26	40	0	1	.346	.433	.593
10.	M. Antonelli	Wake Forest	200	11	36	38	24	15	3	.335	.446	.605

Editor's note: RC has ranked the above players as being the most likely to draw serious attention from the Royals for the first overall selection in the June draft. We believe the Royals will most likely select a pitcher or outfielder, but players like Matt LaPorta, Evan Longoria, and Wes Hodges may prove, with great seasons, to be too good to pass up. There are a few high school players who are likely to draw attention as well, such as pitchers Jordan Walden and Kyle Drabek and outfielder Cody Johnson, but access to their stats is very limited, so we've decided to focus solely on college players.