News
Trio of Former First Rounders Coming to HWB
Kyle Galdeira
09/13/07
In addition
to Matt Wieters—the No. 5 overall pick by Baltimore in the 2007 amateur draft—three
more former first round draft picks are coming to Hawaii Winter Baseball.
Ryan Harvey
(No. 5 overall, 2003, Chicago Cubs), Brandon Snyder (No. 13 overall, 2005,
Baltimore Orioles), and Daniel Bard (No. 28 overall, 2006, Boston Red Sox) will
all suit up for the Honolulu Sharks when the league opens on Sept. 29.
Harvey is a power-hitting right fielder
with a strong, accurate arm. In 2006 as a member of the High-A Daytona Cubs,
Harvey banged 20 home runs, notched 25 doubles and drove in 84 runs in 122
games. In 59 games with Daytona this season, the 6-5, 220-pounder hit 11 home
runs and collected 35 RBIs. Baseball America
ranks Harvey as
the No. 8 prospect in the Cubs organization, and the No. 2 right fielder in the
system.
Snyder
entered the year as the No. 7 prospect and No. 1 first baseman in the Orioles
organization by Baseball America.
In 118 games with Baltimore’s Low-A affiliate,
the Delmarva Shorebirds, the Las Vegas
native compiled a .283 average along with 23 doubles, 11 home runs and 58 RBIs.
Snyder has a strong baseball pedigree as father Brian played for the San Diego
Padres and Oakland
A's.
“First and foremost,
it was a long season but I can’t wait to play more baseball,” said Snyder in a
telephone interview with HWB. “I’m extremely excited to be in Hawaii, go to the beaches and learn about
the culture.”
According to
Snyder, the Orioles are sending him to HWB so he can continue to learn the
corner infield positions after originally coming up as a catcher. The 6-2,
205-pounder is also trying to strengthen his left (non-throwing) shoulder which
was surgically repaired last year.
“They just
told me to continue working out at first base and third,” said Snyder of his
HWB mission. “Going corner to corner, there are a lot of different angles, so I
have to get used to making different throws. Hopefully the Honolulu Sharks do
well this year and the Orioles guys live up to our potential.”
Bard
pitched alongside 2006 consensus top-prospect, and No. 6 overall draft pick
Andrew Miller (a starter for the Detroit Tigers) at the University of North
Carolina when the Tar Heels finished second to Oregon State in the 2006 College
World Series. Bard was touted as having one of the best arms in the 2006 draft,
throws his fastball at nearly 100 mph, and was rated as the No. 5 prospect in Boston’s organization in the Spring by Baseball America. The
Red Sox are most likely sending him to Hawaii
to work on his control, as the 6-4, 195-pound right hander walked 78 batters
compared to 47 strikeouts in 75 innings from 22 minor league starts this past
season. Bard wrapped up his campaign with the Greenville Drive, Boston’s
Low-A affiliate.
