2010 Indians 1st Round Pick: LHP Drew Pomeranz

In the 1st round of the 2010 Draft, the Indians select LHP Drew Pomeranz out of the University of Mississippi.

Ranks:
Keith Law: 4th
PGCrosschecker: 3rd (ahead of Machado)
Baseball Amaerica: 5th

Director of Amateur Scouting Brad Grant's Takes:

On Drew Pomeranz: "Drew brings a power fastball 90-95 MPH with a plus late breaking swing-and-miss curveball, a changeup, and an ability to start. On the mound he is an extreme competitor as he is very mature and very focused. Nothing wavers him at all and he looks much more mature than everybody else out on the field because of that presence that he brings out on the mound. He was the SEC Pitcher of the Year, so that does have a factor for us, but at the same time he pitcher very well and was one of the top starters with Team USA this year. We scouted him out of high school, for three years at Mississippi, and with Team USA, so we have a lot of history similar to the history we had with Alex White [last year]. This winter after his performance with Team USA and in the Regionals, he was a targeted guy for us. We feel like we got a big front of the end rotation left-handed starter.”

On Pomeranz’s health: “We thought where we were going to take him was the place to pick him. Coming into the year he did pitch very well. He had a pectoral strain right around the end of March, beginning of April, but we were at almost every single start this year and at the end he went seven innings on Saturday in the Regionals and did very well there. We took who we felt was the best player available. With Drew’s ability to start and his power stuff we liked him. He has never had any arm issues in the past as this was not an arm issue, it was a [pectoral] issue.”

On Pomeranz’s best attribute, biggest weakness: “He gets swings and misses with his fastball, that’s really the most impressive part [about him]. Not only is it 90-95 MPH, but it is explosive through the zone. Hitters just don’t hit it as there are a lot of swings and misses with it along with the curveball as well. The one pitch he needs to develop a little bit still is the changeup. He has a feel for it and does throw it, but it is something he needs to develop."

Jeff Ellis: If healthy I have little doubt Pomeranz would have been the second pick in this draft as he has the size and power that you rarely see in a lefty pitcher. He is by no means a crafty lefty and has just overpowered hitters in college. His fastball is a legit plus pitch, and his curve is also a plus pitch. I have heard some people call it a knuckle curve, a spike curve, a 12-6 curve, but whatever it is it's nasty and has a nice MPH separation from his fastball that makes it deadly. His change is a major work in progress and between that and some mechanics issues will be what the Indians work on with Pomeranz, but at the end of the day they got the top college pitcher in this class. A pitcher who is a front of the rotation starter with two plus pitches and the size and power to intimidate from the left side of the plate.

Andrew Zajac: At 6'5", 235 lbs., Drew Pomeranz provides the Indians another advanced college arm. He's a power arm type pitcher, whose fastball sits comfortablly at 91-92, but touching 94 at times. He also locates his curveball very well, but is not quite a 12-6 type curve. Pomeranz still needs to develop his changeup in order to be successful as he did not need to throw it in college since he has been able to get by with a power fastball and curveball mix on college hitters. Pomeranz projects as a #2 type pitcher in the bigs who can rise through our minor league system fairly quickly. He's the ninth straight college player the Indians have selected in the first round.

When asked how Pomeranz felt about being drafted fifth by the Tribe, he stated, "It feels good. I'm just really excited about it."

Drew is a guy who was first on my priority list in this year's draft and I'm very excited to have him in our system. He fills a need for a lefty who is a power arm in our system and eventually in the bigs. There have been some concerns about his control (his walk rate is up this year than in year's past) as well as his throwing motion, which he can sometimes be inconsistent with. However, if Pomeranz can stay healthy and develop his third pitch changeup, he's a guy we can see in a Cleveland uniform in the near future.
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Here is the official press release from the Indians:

Pomeranz, 21, is a 6-5, 231-pound left-handed pitcher who just concluded his junior season at the University of Mississippi. This year he went 9-2 with a 2.24 ERA (100.2 IP, 71H, 27R/25ER, 49BB, 139K) in 16 starts while limiting opposing batters to a .195 average against. His 139 strikeouts were 3rd most of any NCAA Division I pitcher as he averaged 12.43 batters per 9.0IP. He was recently named the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Pitcher of the Year while also being named a conference first team selection. In his final start of the season, Pomeranz earned his 9th win of the season as he limited St. John’s to 2 runs on 7 hits in 7.0 innings in the opening game of the NCAA Regional held at the University of Virginia. Yesterday, Mississippi’s season came to a close as they were eliminated from the NCAA tournament by St. John’s.

Last year Pomeranz went 8-4 with a 3.40 ERA (95.1IP, 85H, 47R/36ER, 37BB, 124K, .237 avg against) in 16 starts as he was a second team SEC selection.

This marks the second time Pomeranz has been selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year player draft. In 2007 he was selected by the Texas Rangers in the 12th round out of Collierville High School (Collierville, TN) before opting to attend the University of Mississippi.

Video:  Here is a video courtesy of MLB.com:
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=7222487

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