Reds Select Leake With First Pick

Today, with the 8th pick in the draft, the Reds went with college junior Mike Leake out of ASU. As many of you may know, I reside in Arizona so would, seemingly, have something to notable to contribute. But, for those of you who are familiar with the site, outside of the fact I live in Arizona, know that the answer to the previous assumption is that I,of course, know no more than anyone who lives outside the state's boundaries. Sure, I look at the picture of him on the cover of sports page and think that he looks like a pretty cool guy but by the time I get to the text of the accompanying article, I remember that I'm running behind on my 16 hours of sleep that I need in order to function for the 8 hours of daily activity. I'm just too busy for that sort of thing. I will tell you that as I am writing this, I am wearing a Sun Devils shirt that I got for free. The maroon and gold matches my ghoulish appearance.

In a thorough review of Mr. Leake's statistics, the Reds Rocket concludes that the are certainly very impressive. 16-1 this year with an ERA under 2.00 in the PAC-10? That is, well, certainly something. The commenters used words like "gamer" and "bulldog" to describe this "big-game pitcher." Reds super-expert, Chris Buckley also spoke highly of Leake's pick-off move which is high on anyone's list when when evaluating talent. The bottom line appears to be a guy with a fastball that sits 88-93, with good to plus slider and change. The idea, obviously, is that his college polish will allow him to move quickly through the system and contribute some time in the relatively near future. As we all know Jocketty was pretty solid at developing talent in St. Louis and then getting rid of it before it reached the big leagues.

Coincidentally, sticking with the vegetable theme, the Reds Rocket rates the pick as "rutabaga" on the scale of delicious vegetables. A rutabaga tastes like a cross between an onion and a carrot so, clearly, quite delicious. We expect big things from him but probably not until next year. He needs a vacation to pick up some co-eds and then get treated for the many STD's floating around the pools at ASU. Nice to meet you Mike, don't be terrible.