Marshall University Athletics
BOGACZYK: After Blanking in Draft, `Waggs' Primed for `16
6/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
By JACK BOGACZYK
HERDZONE.COM COLUMNIST
           HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- When the three-day Major League Baseball Draft finished its 40 rounds last week, Marshall's program was left unscathed -- surprisingly some would say.
           That, however, is anything but all bad for Coach Jeff Waggoner's team pointing toward the 2016 season. It means the Herd returns its top three starting pitchers in rising senior right-handers Chase Boster, JD Hammer and Michael Taylor.
           Add in another solid recruiting class by Waggoner and his staff, and it seems Marshall may be ready to break its five-season string of just missing the eight-team tournament bracket in baseball-strong Conference USA.
           "Listen, we want our guys drafted; we want our guys to represent Marshall in pro ball," Waggoner said earlier this week. "They're here to go to school and get to pro ball, if possible. I want them drafted, but I can't control the draft.
           "All I can do is help the guys and promote them, but the scouts have to come out and see the guys. I don't have control of who gets drafted and doesn't get drafted, but (the scouts) have got to come out and make these decisions on these kids and they make those decisions, not me or my staff."
           Waggoner, pointing toward his 10th Herd season, said he gave up long ago trying to figure out the MLB Draft, where his teams have had 18 selections since 2008. There are a few others the Herd has signed out of high school and junior college who have been selected as well -- like catcher John Stewart of Greenwich (N.Y.) High, a 40th-round pick by Atlanta last week.
           "I think going into the draft is sometimes a mystery," Waggoner said. "A lot of players deserve going into the draft. Some players that I've seen drafted didn't deserve to go in, so it really depends on the scouts that turn you in.
           "It goes through a process where your name's on a board, and the management makes the direction on where to go. So, a lot of times just because an area scout likes you, that doesn't mean that scout is going to sign you.
           "And I think that sometimes can mislead players and I try to keep them away from that as much as I can, because these area scouts will tell them. `Hey, we're going to turn you in,' but there's no guarantee that area scout is going to get that guy picked. And I think players get built up on that so much."
           Boster, who went 7-1 with a 2.95 ERA as a junior this season, was projected by some as a top-10 rounds pick. His signability sunk as the draft continued, because with his strong academics at Marshall, Boster wasn't going to leave behind college eligibility and sign for a low-ball figure.
           Waggoner said Boster had better numbers in his junior season than those of right-hander Aaron Blair, who became a first-round pick (No. 36 overall as a compensation selection) by Arizona two years ago.
           Blair was selected for next week's Class AA Southern League All-Star Game with a 6-3 record, 2.70 ERA and 64 strikeouts in a league-leading 83 innings for Mobile, but he won't pitch. The Diamondbacks moved Blair to Class AAA Reno in the Pacific Coast League, where he lost in his Triple A debut on Wednesday night.
           "We've had kids in the past that I didn't think would get drafted and they did get picked, and then we had players like Chase (Boster), Michael Taylor, (reliever) Kolin Stanley and JD Hammer that I felt sure they'd get an opportunity," Waggoner said. "(Senior shortstop) Sergio (Leon), I thought he could go play infield right now on most (Class) A ball teams and be just as good on defense as those guys.
           "I thought he was just as good as Kenny Socorro (a 2011 late-rounder now working in the Chicago Cubs' scouting department). TJ Diffenderfer (first baseman), too. Those guys didn't get chances, but they're good enough to play in my mind.
           "But that's what is hard about this. A friend of mine, J.C. Picollo, is in upper management with Kansas City. He heads the Royals' minor league system and I tried to call him about Kolin Stanley. Kolin worked out for the Royals last week, and Picollo pretty much told me they signed 34 (drafted) players, and they already had 65 players in extended spring training.
           "So, there was no room, but if anything opened up, they'd get a chance. Jesse Fernandez, a few years ago, he didn't get drafted and didn't get a chance at first, but then he did because something opened and he signed (with Baltimore in 2012). So, all we can do is get these guys' names on the board and hope something will happen."
           Waggoner said Boster, Taylor and Hammer have had offers to join summer collegiate wooden-bat leagues -- the Herd has six on the rosters in five of those circuits -- but the Herd rotation trio won't be going to the Cape Cod or Prospect leagues.
           "We're going to shut `em down and get them in the weight room," the Herd coach said. "We're going to try to make a jump. I think they need to make a jump, and also understand that I really feel all three of them will be playing pro ball next year, which will make for a long season going into the summer.
           "So, right now is a time for them to shut it down, get in the weight room, and build up for next summer when they have a pro chance."
           Waggoner said three Herd 2016 junior college signees -- first baseman Tommy Lane, catcher Sam Finfer and left-hander Parker Danciu -- all had workouts with pro organizations prior to the draft, and he was somewhat surprised they weren't picked. Stewart was selected, "and I didn't think that would happen, so explain all this to me.
           "Since I've been here, we haven't gone through a draft without losing somebody, either from the roster or someone we signed. Last year, we signed a shortstop from Miami, Alejandro Juvier, who was picked in the 15th round and signed (with the Orioles). Players in our program, you want that to happen. It's good for the program."
           At the same time, having a crowded roster is anything but bad. Add Danciu -- he pitched at Florida as a 2013 freshman before arthroscopic surgery and then a JUCO season -- to Boster, Taylor and Hammer, and it's a crowded rotation. In returning starter Matt Reed and newcomers Finfer and Stewart, the Herd has "three catchers who are going to be draft guys," Waggoner said.
           So, will the 2016 Herd have potentially the most talent in Waggoner's decade guiding the program?
           "The talent level seems to be pretty good, but there are holes we have to fill," Waggoner said. "Sergio was really good at short. First base, TJ did great job. Those guys are gone. (Aaron) Bossi and (Tyler) Ratliff are back in the infield, but Ratliff is throwing hard as a pitcher in (the Florida Collegiate League), so we may need to find someone to fill in at third."
           The 2015 outfield of DJ Gee, Corey Bird and Robert Fajardo returns, and also back is a 2014 outfield starter, Cory Garrastazu, who hit .321 in right before being injured. He underwent ligament surgery on his left wrist and redshirted this season.
           "It's the most pitching talent we'd had, potentially, yes," Waggoner said, "but I can't say it's our most talent overall. We had eight guys drafted (in 2011) and those players had a second-place (C-USA tournament finish in 2008) and a third-place (regular-season in 2010).
           "So, I have a hard time now saying it's the most overall talent, but, yes, potentially it can be just because of our potential starting pitching. The goal is still to make the (C-USA) tournament, because you don't have a chance to win a title if you don't get in.
           "But the big key is to get off to a better start. We haven't played well, early on, since I've been here. That's got to change."
           Besides Bird playing at Hyannis in the Cape Cod League and Ratliff with Sanford in the FCL, Marshall has summer players in sophomore DH Chad Roberts and sophomore pitcher Nick Newton with the Chillicothe Paints in the Prospect League. Senior right-hander Heston Van Fleet is at Brazos Valley in the Texas Collegiate League and sophomore right-hander Fernando Guerrero is with Amsterdam in the Perfect Game League in upstate New York.
           Waggoner said his 2016 team will open again at Florida A&M, then play in a weekend event at Coastal Carolina before playing two straight March home weekend series at the Route 2 Kennedy Center against Lehigh and Brown.
           "It's a gamble with the weather," Waggoner said, "but you know what? Take a shot. Maybe you get 50 degrees. And we need home series."
           The 10 Conference USA series opens with Southern Miss and for a second straight season, the Herd will see every team in the league except Rice. Waggoner said two games with West Virginia are scheduled April 5 and 26, and Wake Forest is coming to Beckley's Epling Field on May 17.
           "I think, if we're going to be really good, Bossi has to be our energy at second base, our vocal guy," the Marshall coach said. "The second part ... Boster, Hammer, Taylor have to be leaders and have to push everybody.
           "Our best players -- that means our starting pitchers as seniors -- have to be our hardest workers. They have to lead by example for us to be really good. Our catchers might be the best in the conference with Reed, Finfer, Stewart. They need to be leaders, too. And with our three back and Garrastazu returning, we could have the best outfield in the conference."
           For the Herd, no draft picks wasn't really a bad deal after all.
