On Sunday the Dodgers selected left-hander Maddux Bruns in the first round of the 2021 First-Year Player Draft with the 29th overall pick. His selection came as a bit of a surprise to the average fan as he was not connected to the Dodgers in any mock draft, at least that I had seen.
Certainly part of the surprise was that he was not included in mock drafts but also that his ranking was not even close to No. 29. Those rankings included,
MLB 49
BA 48
FanGraphs 52
ESPN 87
During his senior year at UMS Wright Preparatory School in Mobile, Alabama, Bruns went 7-0 with a 0.86 ERA. He allowed just 13 hits and six earned runs in 49 innings pitched while striking out 102 batters and walked 19.
In mid-March Bruns retired all 18 batters he faced in a six-inning perfect game as the Bulldogs beat Murphy 14-0 at Hank Aaron Stadium. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound lefty struck out 10 in front of a crowd of Major League scouts. He threw just 55 pitches.
“He was dominant,” UMS coach Kevin Raley said. “He had command of his fastball. They put the ball in play some. Murphy is a vastly improved team, but he was Maddux. He competed and threw well.”
Bruns was named the Class 5A Pitcher and Player of the Year by the Alabama Sports Writers Association and was this year’s Mr. Baseball and the Gatorade Alabama Player of the Year. He was the third left-handed pitcher selected in the 2021 first round and the second high school left-hander.
Two things happened during his senior season that caught the attention of scouts. First, his velocity jumped from 88 mph or so to mid-90’s topping out at 97 mph. Secondly, because of his hard work and the support of his high school coaches, his control and command improved significantly. It might have been his control, or lack of, that caused many teams to shy away from Bruns as a first-round selection.
How does Bruns account for his improved velocity?
“I think the one thing was just getting in the weight room and getting stronger,” Bruns said of his new-found power. “My velo’s been going up since last summer or two summers ago and I was up to 91 at Jupiter last year. This school year I was sitting 90-92 and I touched 94, and during (COVID-19) quarantine I really got to long-toss a lot.
“I got to take a little bit of a break and not focus so much on just lifting weights; I got to focus on my mobility a little bit more. I had a lot of extra time just to do stuff like that and I think that helped a lot.”
His high school coach was not surprised by his first-round selection although it had not been projected in mock drafts.
Bruns’ coach at UMS., Kevin Raley, had this to say about his talented lefty:
“Maddux is a true four-pitch player. His velocity is special. … He has what I call an ‘old-fashioned’ curveball, a real 12-6 pitch that’s tough for even right-handers to hit. He complements that with a slider and a changeup – he’s just a special player.”
“Some people don’t understand how hard it is to find 96 from the left-hand side,” Bruns’ high school coach Kevin Raley told Ben Thomas of AL.com. “You just can’t find that.”
“I’ve never coached a kid or coached against a kid who had the stuff he had,” Raley said. “He gave up 13 hits all season. You just don’t see that.”
“Maddux is a tremendous leader with a tremendous work ethic,” Raley said. “He’s also a very focused kid. With all that was going on around him, I was amazed at how he handled it. There were 20-25 scouts and assistant general managers around every time he pitched. It didn’t bother him at all. He just went out and pitched, and he was the same way at practice.”
We expect his high school coach to speak highly of him but young players don’t always get the superlatives. What do opposing coaches think? Saraland head coach had this to say after an outing against Bruns.
“I’ve been doing this for 18 years now as a head coach and I’ve never seen a kid like that in high school baseball,” Saraland coach Brett Boutwell said. “That kid has a bright future ahead of him.”
Bruns described himself as a Braves fan – now formerly a Braves fan – and his Dad as a bit of a Braves fanatic who really appreciated Braves right-hander and HOF pitcher Greg Maddux. Hence, the name for his son. The younger Bruns no doubt also appreciates Greg Maddux but his role model on the mound has been HOF pitcher-in-waiting, left-hander Clayton Kershaw.
Bruns is the first left-handed high school pitcher drafted in the first round by the Dodgers since Clayton Kershaw went seventh overall in 2006 and Kershaw is the pitcher Bruns says he emulates. He wanted Kershaw’s 12-6 curveball, and he got it. He likes the way he pitches. He likes his demeanor. He aspires to replicate him. If you have to select a pitcher to emulate, Clayton Kershaw is a good one as a professional baseball player and a humanitarian family man.
So what was the Dodger’s rationale for selecting Bruns?
“We thought he was the best high school left-handed pitcher in the draft,” Dodgers director of amateur scouting Billy Gasparino said in a videoconference call with reporters Sunday. “It’s power pitches, power body. Everything about power is what he’s about.
“He got basically a bad command-control rap this summer,” Gasparino said. “As he increased his velocity, I think he initially struggled to throw it in the zone. To the kid’s credit and one of the things we liked about him, he showed the ability to make adjustments and improve.”
“Maddux has a premier power pitch package that we think will play at the major league level in an impactful way,” Gasparino said in a statement. “His work ethic and ability to make adjustments are two traits we put extreme value on. We can’t wait to get Maddux in Dodger blue and start the process of him becoming a major league starting pitcher.”
Jim Callis said this of the pick on MLB.com:
“Bruns has huge upside, and he’s going to an organization that excels at getting the best out of its players. You don’t see a lot of high school lefties hitting 98 mph with their fastball, but he also has a mid-80s slider and can flash a plus curveball. Strike throwing has been a concern, but he looked better this spring.”
And this from Perfect Game:
Maddux Bruns is a 2021 LHP with a 6-2 210 lb. frame from Saraland, AL who attends Ums-Wright Prep. Strong athletic build, has filled out nicely over the last year, pretty mature physically. Compact arm action in back with a tight 3/4’s arm slot, fast arm coming through, stays balanced and above the rubber well from a high leg lift delivery, can get more drive out of his lower half, short stride out front. Raw stuff has jumped since last seen in October, fastball topped out at 97 mph and was consistently in the mid-’90s, works his fastball to both sides of the plate with heavy life down in the zone, flashes bat breaking late life. Has a tight spin on a slow curveball, will slow his arm at times on the pitch, also cuts his fastball effectively, and has definite slider potential. Showed feel for his changeup. Extremely impressive jump since last seen, flashes all the pitches and the ability to throw strikes. Good student, verbal commitment to Mississippi State. Named to play in the Perfect Game All-American Classic.
Of note, AC pointed this out to me as we exchanged a few emails during Sunday’s draft. Bruns, 19, is the second high school pitcher committed to attend Mississippi State whom the Dodgers have taken in the first round in the last four years. The first — J.T. Ginn — was selected 30th overall in 2018 and opted not to sign with the Dodgers. Also like Ginn, he will become a sophomore eligible draft pick if he doesn’t sign this year.
The slot value for the 29th pick this year is $2,424,600. Gasparino said Bruns’ initials signs were “very positive,” which increased the organization’s comfort level in selecting him. It is expected that Bruns might sign for under slot giving the Dodgers a bit of freed up cash to sign later selections.
“We’ll see what happens,” said Bruns, who will be choosing between the reigning college champions and the reigning MLB champions. “I mean, I think I’m going to be a Dodger. But if things don’t work out, we’ll go to school. Whatever happens, happens. I think it’ll work out.”
Discussion (29)
Disagree, not disagreeable
To the extent that Bruns is a high risk/high reward pick, well, I’m fine with that. I’d rather use a late first round pick on a bit of a gamble than take a “safe” pick like Madden.
Dodgers can afford to gamble. Let other teams play it safe.
Plus, the current Dodger braintrust has a pretty good track record, having drafted pitchers like Buhler, May and Gonsolin in recent years. Not sure, but I bet that trio would rank among the best if we compared team’s pitching picks in recent years. Plus, Miller and Pepiot are in the wings.
The Angels just used every one of their picks on pitchers. I wonder if Arte Moreno looks back and thinks, “Geez, we could have had Buhler, May and Gonsolin. ” They always pick ahead of the Dodgers, right?
These musings have me suddenly thinking about “the Angel jinx.” I hate the superstition it implies, but tragedy really has dogged that franchise. Before the opioid overdose death Tyler Skaggs, there was the traffic accident that killed Nick Adenhart, a promising young pitcher…. And other tragedies before that–but now I’m getting down just thinking about it.
So middle east is white, And Spain is considered Latino or non-white? My ex wife’s relatives are from Spain,but their lineage trace back to Arabia
Like I said to her when she did that stupid DNA test who gives a shit
All I know is I’m scotch Irish and I drink a lot and that makes sense
Dodgers players’ comments on Trevor Bauer tell you all you need to know.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today captured some quotes from a number of players in Denver and it’s clear they’ve all moved on. Bauer seems to be far in the rearview as it concerns them.
At some point, it would be nice to hear someone say something more forceful against the right-hander, but for now, we have icy coldness.
“We’re not really sure what’s going on there,” Justin Turner told Nightengale. “We’re just going to show up every day with what we have in the clubhouse and find a way to win ballgames.
“The distraction is outside our clubhouse. We get paid to win baseball games.”
“I think we’re going to move forward with the guys we have,” Max Muncy added. “It’s tough. I don’t want to comment on his situation. We have a lot of depth. We can fill in with pieces.”
“I know right now it looks a little bleak in the starting rotation,” Walker Buehler said, “but Andrew has never been afraid to get guys to help us. I don’t want to talk about (Bauer). It is what it is. It’s out of my control.
“We’ll strap it together, and put it together, whatever we have to do win.
“Right now, I wouldn’t bet against us.”
This comes after it was discovered a number of Dodgers players unfollowed Bauer on Instagram, including Turner, Muncy, Mookie Betts, Albert Pujols, Kenley Jansen, Chris Taylor and Dustin May.
And all that percentage means is that that percentage of whites claim no Hispanic or Latino blood. So, the percentage of whites is still over 80 percent.
Nice catch by Taylor in the All-Star game
Race
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program (PEP). Updated annually. Population and Housing Unit Estimates
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS). Updated annually. American Community Survey
About
The Race estimates of the population are produced for the United States, states, and counties by the Population Esimates Program and the race estimates of the population are produced for Puerto Rico, muncipios (county-equivalents for Puerto Rico), places, zona urbanas and comunidades (place-equivalents for Puerto Rico), and minor civil divisions by the American Community Survey.
The U.S. Census Bureau collects race data in accordance with guidelines provided by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and these data are based on self-identification. The racial categories included in the census questionnaire generally reflect a social definition of race recognized in this country and not an attempt to define race biologically, anthropologically, or genetically. In addition, it is recognized that the categories of the race item include racial and national origin or sociocultural groups. People may choose to report more than one race to indicate their racial mixture, such as “American Indian” and “White.” People who identify their origin as Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish may be of any race.
OMB requires that race data be collectd for a minimum of five groups: White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. OMB permits the Census Bureau to also use a sixth category – Some Other Race. Respondents may report more than one race.
The concept of race is separate from the concept of Hispanic origin. Percentages for the various race categories add to 100 percent, and should not be combined with the percent Hispanic.
Definition
White. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. It includes people who indicate their race as “White” or report entries such as Irish, German, Italian, Lebanese, Arab, Moroccan, or Caucasian.
Black or African American. A person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa. It includes people who indicate their race as “Black or African American,” or report entries such as African American, Kenyan, Nigerian, or Haitian.
American Indian and Alaska Native. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment. This category includes people who indicate their race as “American Indian or Alaska Native” or report entries such as Navajo, Blackfeet, Inupiat, Yup’ik, or Central American Indian groups or South American Indian groups.
Asian. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam. This includes people who reported detailed Asian responses such as: “Asian Indian,” “Chinese,” “Filipino,” “Korean,” “Japanese,” “Vietnamese,” and “Other Asian” or provide other detailed Asian responses.
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands. It includes people who reported their race as “Fijian,” “Guamanian or Chamorro,” “Marshallese,” “Native Hawaiian,” “Samoan,” “Tongan,” and “Other Pacific Islander” or provide other detailed Pacific Islander responses.
Two or more races. People may choose to provide two or more races either by checking two or more race response check boxes, by providing multiple responses, or by some combination of check boxes and other responses. For data product purposes, “Two or More Races” refers to combinations of two or more of the following race categories: “White,” “Black or African American,” American Indian or Alaska Native,” “Asian,” Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander,” or “Some Other Race”
Data users should be aware of methodology differences that may exist between different data sources.
Methodology for U.S. and Puerto Rico
Does it really matter?
Moving the game from anywhere to any other place was dumb and just virtual signaling from a liberal bunch of pukes.
If they were really as disgusted, they would do something with the Braves to really make a stand.
They won’t because at the end of the day, nobody in NY cares about voting in Ga. just like BLM could care less about blacks. They care about political power and money
Anybody know what the big horn sheep population is?
Comanche?.?? …. Apache???
Better read the census numbers again there White alone in Denver county in 19, 80%, in the city of Denver in 19, 79%. Those are the county and city numbers. I read the same graph you did, White alone means white alone. White can also be considered those of European decent. Places like Boulder and Golden have populations that are very predominately white.
Denver county is 54.9% white non-Hispanic or Latino.
You are looking at the wrong stat you need to look at white non-Hispanic or Latino. Otherwise you get other races included with whites.
I’m just trying to help.
The White Population is 80%! Come on, you can read, Eric!
Figures don’t lie, but Liars Figure!
I was just responding to your post the way you framed it Bullpen
Trying to reply to your missing the point but the site wouldn’t let me
Their last pick has pretty much decided to be an officer in the Navy and not pursue a pro career. Wasted pick in my mind.
Those All-Star uniforms look even worse on the players
What was Nike thinking, what was MLB thinking, what a joke
A total embarrassment
I’m wondering if anyone is considering this…
Since Tatis is involved, I wonder how the Lady Friend will answer the following question that you know is coming from Bauer’s attorneys…
Did you ever make a request to Fernando to “bring the pain” or something similar to the request that you made to Bauer?
There’s really no good answer here. If she did, it would implicate Fernando and warrant a similar investigation, administrative leave and suspension. If she didn’t, it would sure support the extortion theory. If it was the case and MLB treated Fernando differently than Bauer, it would cause a lot of problems with the player’s union and even amongst the owners themselves.
I wonder how long after the break it will take to start getting more clarity. I’m sure MLB is doing what they can to lesson the distraction during the break.
Since it’s the all star break I have a lot of time to look at stats and I thought I’d post some of my favorite stats.
Dodgers NATIONAL LEAGUE Stats:
Offense Stats:
#5 in batting average.
#1 in on base percentage.
#3 in slugging percentage.
#2 in on base plus slugging percentage.
It looks like the Dodgers have room to improve in making contact for a hit (Batting average) and somewhat slugging.
Pitching Stats:
#1 in batting average against.
#2 in on base percentage against.
#1 in slugging percentage against.
#1 in on base plus slugging percentage against.
Not a lot of room for improvement. Looking deeper into the stats the bullpen has room to improve on walks allowed.
I think if Mookie Betts and Cody Bellinger were having typical years instead of struggling the team batting average and slugging percentage would be better. Not to mention Corey Seager being on the injured list for quite awhile too.
Last player the Dodgers drafted will probably not sign, he has another commitment as an ensign in the US NAVY for 4 years. Happy 26th birthday to Cody Bellinger who also just found out he is going to be a papa. NL hoping to return to 9 inning double headers and the normal extra innings rules in 2022. I am all for that. Add the DH and I will be a happy camper
And the player of the week in the NL….drum roll……..AJ Pollock! I guess that will shut his detractors up for a few days. Dodgers claim Jimmy Sherfy off waivers from the Giants.Wahl DFA’d
Angels take all pitchers.
SF takes all but four (4) pitchers.
LAD takes all but two (2) pitchers.
Would love to hear educated thoughts on what this is? A trend? A specific strategy borne of the draft class? Something else my little mind can’t imagine?
The 2021 MLB Draft just finished with 20 rounds .Dodgers had 19 picks ,lose one 2nd round pick because of the Bauer signing .Selections were 17Ps, 1OF and 1SS.
First non-pitcher is SS Michael Sirotka, Whitey Ford’s great nephew. It is doubtful he will sign but rather go on to Northeastern University.
The first three picks today in the draft were pitchers. That makes 12 picks so far ,all pitchers. You can follow their draft picks on the The official Dodger website.
What I think about Maddux Bruns:
1. I believe Gaspirano believes Bruns was the best pitcher on the board. Whether he was/is or will be is what will be written in the history books.
2. I believe Bruns “projects” to be bigger, stronger, and possibly throw harder.
3. This is a high-risk, high-reward type of pick.
4. I could see the Dodgers paying him over slot and not signing others.
High school pitchers are the hardest to project: Good or Bad. It is often a crapshoot. Maddux does look like he is still a ways from his “man strength” and that could make a huge difference… either good or bad!
“We thought he was the best high school left hander in the draft”. Gasparino.
Not the best left hander still on the board though. And most, including me, thought Mozzicato was better and Solometo or Madden was the pick. What do most know? I never saw any of them play. I just sit here and read what the experts have to say. A couple of those I rely on write here.
Can someone tell me what happened with UCLA commit and #38 prospect Gage Jump?
I think Tatis new the girl personally BullPen. Yeah, I believe he may be just a bit nervous about what’s going to come out. There may be others as well.
Wow DC, you convinced me that this kid is the second coming of Clayton Kershaw. Wouldn’t that be something?! I don’t follow prep and college baseball too closely. The MLB draft is also very random, so I don’t put much thought or effort into draft predictions on where players might wind up.
Badger said yesterday, what I was thinking about this draft and that it has an odd look to it. I also noticed that all these guys were ranked lower than they were taken and it’s really weird that they took only pitchers.
hbdodger48 brought up a point about our horrible record one run and extra innings games. A simple explanation might be that when our lineup has been right, we don’t get too many close games and that most of these came when we were really banged up and we simply didn’t have the talent on the 26 man to win these games. Doc has been caught with his pants down, like date night with Trevor, due to a short bench and 14 pitchers, many with little experience at the big league level. It seems the team philosophy for this year is to try to protect pitchers from a long season after a short one often staying away from a better reliever during those losses.
Doc has a long history of making questionable moves, as did Mattingly during his stay with the Dodgers. It doesn’t seem that Donny has the same problems with the Marlins. I maintain that the lineups and many in-game decisions are scripted and Doc follows the script. I don’t think the Dodgers necessarily want a manager that goes rogue and thinks for himself and makes decisions accordingly.
There’s a USA today article that details Bauer’s legal team. It sure looks like he’s going to be dumping a good chunk of change on this and hopefully he’ll learn his lesson about Internet Safety. Personally, I don’t think much will come of the criminal and civil suit. But, I also don’t expect him to pitch again this year and the Dodgers will have to plan accordingly regardless.
The most fascinating thing for me is the link to the Padres. Is it coincidence that Tatis JR is 0-for his last three games after being pulled into this? I would not be surprised to find out that Tatis might have suggested or conspired on a setup. I find it shocking that she was a Padres employee and all these details changed this from a standard domestic violence case to something much bigger.
Ohtani was so gassed during the HR derby last night and Alonso was so awesome. Longest shot though? Juan Soto’s 520 footer. Wow.
Nice analysis. All in all I was not all that impressed with the draft, and I felt myself that they passed up a better prospect in Madden. . On an unrelated note, Duke Not Snider…I was unable to answer your question on the preceding stream, so I will answer it here. I use a lot of sources for the stories. For personal backgrounds, Wikipedia is pretty useful, and sometimes you find stories on different players on some MLB history sites. Stats I pretty much stick to baseball reference .com. You get the year by year stats including the splits. Also fielding and post season stuff. I also read Campy’s book and saw the movie of the same name. Lou Gossett played the male nurse who worked with Roy if memory serves me right. Paul Winfield played Campy. The nurses name was Sam Brockington, and Ruby Dee played Campy’s wife Ruth. The Society for American Baseball Research is also a great source for back stories. Fresco Thompson, who was a player before he became an executive under Branch Rickey, told a great story about after he was traded to Brooklyn and they gave him a locker next to Babe Herman. Herman complained, what are they doing giving me a locker next to a .250 hitter???? Thompson replied, why did they give me a locker next to a .250 fielder??? Pretty funny stuff. If you can find it, Thompson wrote a great book called. ” Every Diamond Doesn’t Sparkle” About his time as the VP in charge of the minor leagues and drafting. By the way, the 1968 draft that produced so many Dodger stars and big leaguers, that was all Fresco Thompson’s baby…unfortunately he died in November 1968 and did not get to see his draftees become stars. He became GM when Bavasi left for the Padres. His replacement was Al Campanis.
Looks very promising…..would it be trite to say here is our Clayton Kershaw replacement? Assuming it takes him 3-4 years to rise up to the Dodgers, that would put him at around 23 years old and Clayton probably not a Dodger at age 37. I could be wrong though and Clayton might last till 40.