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Nats And O’s Take Pitchers Giolito And Gausman In Round 1
By Jamie Mottram | June 4, 2012
The Nats took Lucas Giolito at No. 16:
Giolito, a right-handed power pitcher from Harvard-Westlake High in Studio City, Calif., spent most of the year as a possible No. 1 overall pick, but a strained ligament in his pitching elbow moved him down draft boards.
His asking price remained high, which combined with the health risk scared away many teams. But Giolito can throw his fastball 100 miles per hour, and the Nationals decided his talent made him worth the risk, and so they took the gamble.
As Adam Kilgore points out on Twitter, this marks the fourth straight year the Nats have drafted a player who was once considered to the No. 1 overall prospect. Also, Giolito’s dad is an actor/producer whose impressive IMDb credits include Twin Peaks and Who’s the Boss?, so that’s fun.
And the O’s took LSU right-hander Kevin Gausman at No. 4:
Gausman, 21, is a 6-foot-4, 185-pound sophomore from Centennial, Colo. He went 11-1 with a 2.72 ERA (115.2 innings pitched, 35 earned runs) with 128 strikeouts, 27 walks and two complete games in 16 starts for LSU this season.
Though he isn’t a can’t miss-type prospect, if that exists, Gausman was the first pitcher off the board this year. As Steve Melewski points out, he pitches in the NCAA Super Regionals later this week.
More to come, but it’s the MLB Draft, so I’ll just be reading about it online like the rest of you.
Topics: Nationals, Orioles | 6 Comments »
June 4th, 2012 at 11:09 PM
Gausman isn’t a “can’t miss” but was labeled as “sure thing” by many scouts. whatever that means… i do like that he dominates the SEC, baseball’s (and football’s) best conference.
And the unintentional comedy of MLB Network’s live draft coverage was awesome.
June 5th, 2012 at 12:08 AM
NFL player Adam Carriker, who hosts a wrestling radio show at 4thandPain.com, was asked if he thinks he could beat WWE Superstar Mark Henry in an arm wrestling contest. Carriker replied:
“Me. I mean, Mark Henry has claimed to be the World’s Strongest Man for like two decades now. Is he really the World’s Strongest Man still or is that just some title he won’t relinquish. At some point I’ve got to think you’re not the World’s Strongest Man anymore. I’ve got to think at some point age has caught up with him. He’s been in the business a while… I’m still a young stud. In all honesty, the man is ridiculously strong. But I think I’ve got the fulcrum points, I’ve got the leverage part. I think I can take him.”
June 5th, 2012 at 8:50 AM
illformula, “can’t miss” was a poor choice of words. What I meant was he doesn’t seem like the type of mega-prospect that other guys taken that high seem to be. Of course, that’s based on five minutes of research.
June 5th, 2012 at 10:20 AM
I enjoyed the MLB draft coverage way more than i expected. The white Sox kid doing a backflip was the highlight.
I like the Nats pick, might as well go for it
Also this kid the O’s drafted is a beanpole. 6-4, 185?
June 5th, 2012 at 3:23 PM
Giolito’s dad is a big shot at EA sports LA office. Executive Producer of Medal of Honor. So there is that.
Heard the draft was fun, pissed I missed it. But not really.
How about a Nats/MI meetup this summer? ILM can attempt his 9 hot dogs in 9 innings challenge.
June 5th, 2012 at 4:29 PM
@jamie – agreed, but this year’s draft class isn’t deep as the last few have been. i think buxton was the only “mega prospect” in the group.
then again, few were raving about Bundy and he’s pitching like Danny Almonte in the ‘98 LLWS.