Dear draft junkies,
If you haven't started to take a close look at South Caldwell High lefty Madison Bumgarner, you have some catching up to do.
Over 50 professional baseball talent evaluators were at St. Stephens HS to see Bumgarner throw against the Indians in the Spartan's regular season opener (2/28/07).
A 6-foot-5, 220-pound power pitcher, Bumgarner has a live fastball and impressive all-around athleticism.
I made the 2.5 hour drive from Durham to Hudson, N.C. along with Baseball America Co-Editor in Chief John Manuel to get of glimpse of what the Bumgarner buzz is all about.
It only took about three live pitches before I was sold.
We heard that Bumgarner was throwing in the 92-93 range with a few reads of 94. He did a good job of keeping his fastball -- which no one managed to pull all evening -- in the zone, resulting in regular strikeouts and numerous dribblers that didn't even reach the mound.
His breaking ball was pretty erratic -- expected given that he hasn't thrown much over the last few months. But he did snap off a few sharp sliders, and he makes a cool grunt noise whenever he throws the pitch (John suggested that he may do that to throw hitters off -- make them think he's muscling up).
Bumgarner fielded his position flawlessly, picked about three base runners off -- one guy twice -- and repeated his delivery well. He also took some solid hacks at the plate, and looked like a hitter. His composure was impressive...no emotion, just business.
Fifty professional talent evaluators wouldn't
travel to Hudson, N.C. to see a pitcher this early unless they consider
him one of the elite draft-eligible talents in the country. Bumgarner
has top ten overall potential.
Want to know more? Email me at adamwfoster@gmail.com .