NOTE- In this column, like all of my draft and minor league prospect assessments I will only be using stats and league player ranking pages to assess players. I am completely ignoring the scouting reports created in game.
LOOKING AHEAD TO THE 1930 DRAFT CLASS
A short time ago I took an early look at the 1929 draft class and presented a mock first round. Now let's gaze even further into the future and take a look at the high school and college juniors who could be the main attractions in the draft that follows the 1930 season. It is far too early for me to even consider a mock draft as almost all of these players have just one year of stats so far but here are some players to keep an eye on.
PITCHING
Let's start with pitching because at this point I feel there will be a lot of it. For me a pair of high school pitchers really standout. They are Mel Ennis and Frank Kelly and the two have a lot in common. Both high school pitchers were born on July 29, 1912 and both were born in Arizona (Mel in Tuscon and Frank in Phoenix). Both were also dominant in their freshman high school season. Ennis went 8-0 with a 0.59 era to help San Antonio to a National High School championship. He had a WHIP of 0.75 and struck out 12.4 batters per 9 innings while walking just 1.9. Ennis also pitched 76 regular seasonn innings plus an additional 49 in the post-season without yielding a single home run. Kelly compiled an 8-2 record with a 1.41 era for Knoxville HS. He led the nation with 141 strikeouts in 89 innings while walking just 15.
Ennis was dominant as a 16 year old, allowing just 5 earned runs and 0 homers against in 76 innings of work. Only one high schooler has ever posted a lower era for a season. That was Tim Walters who did it in his third season with Worcester High School back in 1922. Walters was drafted in the 5th round by the Chicago Cougars that season but failed to sign with them and went back to high school for another year. Montreal would draft him the following season in the 6th round but he was released and although still active at age 24, Walters has yet to play a major league game. That should not happen with Ennis as based on his high school debut he looks to be a future star in the Federally Aligned Leagues.
Kelly set a new high school mark with 141 strikeouts besting the total of 126 set by current Keystones prospect Frank Crawford while a senior at Cleveland High School. The Keystones would take Crawford 10th overall in 1926 following his record setting year. Kelly seems well on his way to joining Crawford as a first round draft pick.
The 1930 class looks rich with high school arms as others to consider include Asheville's George Jacobs, who went 9-2 with a 2.95 era, along with Herb Egbert of Decatur HS (5-1, 1.30) and New York high schooler Earl Killebrew (7-1, 2.18). There are also some college guys who should draw a lot of attention as well including:
DAN PUMPHREY - TRAVIS COLLEGE: The 19 year old righthander went 4-4 with a 2.01 era in 13 starts for the Bucks as a rookie. He fanned 122 batters while walking just 27 in 98 innings of work.
JIM HARRIS -NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: Harris has already been through the draft process once as, after going 13-4 with a 2.92 era in 3 seasons at Mobile High School, he was selected in the 6th round of the 1927 draft by Cleveland. He opted for college ball instead and was 3-2 with a 3.02 era in 9 starts for the Miners last season.
EARL SCOTT and SAM BRATTEN- GEORGIA BAPTIST: The Gators are loaded with pitching prospects. Tom Barrell is a potential first overall pick in 1929 and the rotation also has Scott and Bratten, both potential high picks in 1930. Scott went 5-3 with a 1.49 era as a freshman while Bratten was 5-2, 1.87. Right now I would say Scott is the better prospect of the two but both are good.
JOE BASS - COASTAL CALIFORNIA: The 19 year sidearmer has 5 pitches and is said to be a groundball specialist. He was 7-5 with a 2.38 era and likely would have had better numbers if he had a different pair of middle infielders playing behind him.
CATCHER
Jim Wright was a second team All-American selection as a rookie after hitting .314 with 9 homers for Chicago Poly but word is the Panthers plan to shift the 19 year old to first base this year. I really like Jack Flint (.326, 22 doubles) from National Champion Lubbock State as well. A high schooler worth keeping an eye on is Clem Bass from Syracuse. It was a limited viewing last year as Bass only started 21 games behind the plate but he slashed .359/.425/.609. Bass needs to improve his defense as he only threw out one of ten base stealers.
FIRST BASE
Teams looking for a big bat at first need look no further than Grafton College 19 year old Ike Briggs. Briggs had 24 extra base hits including 11 homers while batting .333 for the Scholars. Beyond Briggs and converted catcher Jim Wright the crop looks pretty thin at this point.
SECOND BASE
Frank Jones (.337,7,33) from Nashville High School is the best hitting high school middle infielder but his defense at second base last season was poor. Tom Dobson (.284,3,23) was not as strong at the plate but looked very comfortable in the field at second base. Among college players, Doc Littlefield (.317,0,22) of Travis College could hit a bit and played solid defense.
SHORTSTOP
There are 5 high school shortstops worth looking at. Hal Warner (.292/.375/.534) from Elmira, Buffalo's Milt Story (.349,.371/.580), Meridian's Otto Deal (.350/.408/.494), Nashville's Lee Porter (.28/.378/.376) and Mobile's Tom Handy (.319/.382/.446). Porter and Deal are probably the best options defensively at this point. The college crop seems very thin with only Joe Nelson (.293/.366/.390) from George Fox University and Cumberland's Jim Smith (.287/.351/.342) worth mentioning.
THIRD BASE
Emil Biggs from Coastal California seems to be the class of the college third baseman. Biggs .335 with 6 homers and was pretty good with the leather as well. Among high school players, Elias Bradley (.345/.397/.636) of High Point and Jack White (.300/.354/.556) of Nashville should drat attention. Two-way player Red Eggleton of New Orleans high school is an interesting prospect. He went 3-2, 4.98 on the mound but his future might be at third base as he hit .417 with 5 homers in just 82 plate appearances. His defense in 14 games at the hot corner was also sound.
OUTFIELD
I real like Buck Waldron of Lincoln College. A centerfielder with speed and power, Waldron hit 13 homers and stole 12 bases in 50 games for the Presidents. He also hit .328 and had 5 assists. Waldron may not cover as much ground as you would like so perhaps a corner outfield spot will be his final destination. Joe Goodwin is a 16 year old from Memphis High School who hit .315 with 11 homers in 40 games.
A dark horse is Ellery Bruins outfielder Harry Buckley. He led his draft class with 15 homers but he also had 77 whiffs while batting just .232. His power is intriguing but the question is can cut down on the strikeouts.
SUMMARY
Right now this draft is loaded with pitching but seems like a very suspect class at other positions. That can certainly change as players have two more seasons in the feeder league's to accumulate stats. We had 5 pitchers go in the first round (in the top 7 picks) this past season. I would suggest the 1930 draft has the potential to be the first draft where at least half of the first round picks are pitchers.