Club likely to draft pitcher in first round

By Jeff Zrebiec | jeff.zrebiec@baltsun.com

June 3, 2009

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SEATTLE — - Orioles director of amateur scouting Joe Jordan said Tuesday that the club is still considering "seven to nine players" for selection with the fifth overall pick in the first-year player draft June 9.

Jordan acknowledged that the Orioles' draft plan has been complicated by the uncertainly about what three of the teams ahead of them will do after the Washington Nationals' expected selection of San Diego State pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg at No. 1 overall. The Seattle Mariners pick second, followed by the San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates and then the Orioles.

"I don't know what's going to happen with the four picks above us in the first round, but we're going to get a good player with the pick," Jordan said. "I like this draft. I think we're going to land on some guys we like, that we think fit our philosophy."

Jordan, who will be presiding over his fifth draft with the Orioles, will be involved in meetings all week as his staff watches tape, goes over scouting reports and constructs the organization's wish list. Predictably, he declined to discuss the players the Orioles are currently evaluating for possible selection with the fifth pick. However, it is expected that the Orioles, who took left-hander Brian Matusz with the fourth overall choice last year, will again target one of the draft's top pitchers.

Aside from University of North Carolina first baseman Dustin Ackley, who will likely be gone by the time the Orioles make their first selection, the first round is expected to be dominated by pitching.

One position-player option for the Orioles is Southern California's Grant Green, considered the best shortstop in the draft. The Orioles are still looking for a long-term answer at the shortstop position and have scouted Green extensively, though his stock has fallen some after an up-and-down college season.

If the Orioles pass on Green - and that appears likely - their decision is expected to boil down to whether they want to select a college or high school pitcher.

If they opt for a high school pitcher, they'll choose from a list that includes right-handers Jacob Turner (Westminster Christian Academy; St. Louis) and Zach Wheeler (East Paulding; Dallas, Ga.) and lefty Tyler Matzek (Capistrano Valley; Mission Viejo, Calif.).

The top college pitchers available include Alex White (North Carolina) and Kyle Gibson (Missouri), and the Orioles will also have the option of selecting Tanner Scheppers or Aaron Crow, two right-handers who are pitching in independent ball after they chose not to sign with the teams that drafted them last season.

Hill impresses

Orioles pitching coach Rick Kranitz and bullpen coach Alan Dunn were in the Chicago Cubs organization when left-hander Rich Hill broke into the big leagues and established himself as one of the most promising young pitchers in the National League.

So much has happened since, from Hill's getting jettisoned to the minor leagues, to a slew of injuries, to his trade to the Orioles in February for a player to be named. Nobody is claiming that Hill is all the way back, but his performance Monday, when he held the Seattle Mariners to two hits in seven shutout innings in the Orioles' 1-0 victory, was a step in that direction. It marked the first time Hill had thrown seven or more shutout innings since doing it in back-to-back starts for the Cubs on April 14 and 19, 2007.

Kranitz and Dunn have worked extensively with Hill on both since spring training began in February, and they're starting to see the results. In three starts, Hill is 2-0 with a 4.15 ERA. In three of his four starts, the left-hander has allowed two earned runs or fewer.