MLB amateur draft may really hit home
By TOM KING Staff Writer
sports@nashuatelegraph.com
NASHUA – It's possible as many as three local ballplayers may be selected in the annual Major League amateur draft that begins on Thursday.
Then again, it's possible no one will be selected.
Welcome to the uncertainty of baseball's huge casting call. High schoolers A.J. Bazdanes (pitcher, Nashua South), shortstop Brad Zapenas (Nashua North) and former Rivier College righty pitcher Issac Burkett will be hoping for a possible call, but perhaps not expecting it.
Bazdanes is headed otherwise to the University of Maine next season, with Zapenas signed, sealed and delivered for Boston College. Burkett, if he doesn't get selected, will certainly draw interest from independent league teams.
The opinions of scouts are mixed on all of them. The Telegraph spoke recently with one of the region's baseball talent evaluators who asked his name be withheld, on the buzz around the game for all three:
BAZDANES: "He's a very good high school pitcher," the source said, "but the feeling from the scouts I've talked to is he's got a lot of work to do in order to get better. Scouts like him – he has a strong arm, a live arm – but he may need to develop more in college."
ZAPENAS: "He's going to Boston College, and I haven't heard any teams say they've been interested in drafting him. Why? He's a position player, Most position players don't get drafted, they go right into college But you never know – it's a down year in New England, from high school all the way through college."
BURKETT: "What I'm hearing on him is it's really 50-50. Scouts like his body, they can project his body developing at the professional level. There's some concern about a third pitch, and some are concerned about how competitive he'll be because of the level he pitched at, small college. But again, it's a down year, so anything is possible."
