cole irvin

[oregontrack]

so to be perfectly blunt, he's kind of awful this year.

my question: i've never been a draft guru. obviously major league teams have plenty of tape on him, and are aware of his stuff. and we've seen duck pitchers coming off disappointing seasons still drafted (porter clayton, scott mccough). the draft seems to be less about production in the middle rounds and more about potential. so, the question:

is irvin totally gone after this year? any chance whatsoever he comes back and tries for a rebound junior year + improved draft stock?

[Gold08]

Very good question and valid points. I think he's gone. Duck junior players seem to be very eager to leave, even if the season was so-so.
Only reason some have come back is if they had a non-existent junior year or they weren't drafted (Shaun Chase).
All signs point to Cole leaving though, I think he might be on his last term for his degree. It might not be the worst thing for us though, he's been very bad this year. Krook might be gone too after this year.

[oregontrack]

does krook qualify for the 2015 draft because of his birthday? i remember losing jack marder after two seasons because he was older than most of his class, and his birthday fell within an allotted period post-draft, but that's kind of a rarity. krook would be nuts to leave, nobody is going to take him w/ any sort of signing bonus incentive coming off his injury history. play a pain-free 2016 and bam, potential first round pick.

re: players leaving after being drafted, *most* do leave, unless they're drafted so low coming back to school is by far the most reasonable option. we got alex keudell back after he was drafted after his junior year, and he wound up being the pac-12 pitcher of the year his senior year. heineman was drafted in the 18th (?) round last june, and obviously came back. that might be it...


found this on baseball america, posted 5/5/15.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/college/ ... week-12-5/

Strike Three: Oregon’s Brothers In Arms

EUGENE, Ore.—Cole Irvin felt it during a fall scrimmage. Matt Krook felt the same thing a few months later during a start on the road against Washington. There wasn’t a terrible amount of pain for either pitcher, more like an unusual stretch or pull in their left elbows.

They didn’t know it yet, but their ulnar collateral ligaments had torn—Irvin’s about 80-90 percent and Krook’s closer to 100 percent—and both were on their way to becoming part of the recent spike of Tommy John surgeries driving its way through the sport.

Irvin’s operation cost him all of the 2014 season, and Krook’s sidelined him for the rest of that year and has kept him out all of this season as well.

If there’s a silver lining for the pair, it’s that they’ve been there for each other, teammates on Oregon’s pitching staff able to bounce ideas back and forth as each maneuvers his way through the rehab process.

“It’s awesome,” Krook said. “Any time I had any questions or really anything, (I could ask) ‘Did you feel anything? Did you feel the same thing?’ It’s great for confidence knowing that I didn’t re-tear it or whatever. It’s just a kink that you have to go through. Looking at him, seeing the success that he’s had, it’s helped me to have motivation to keep doing it and get through rehab.”

Irvin started the season healthy and in the Ducks’ rotation, but he was brought along slowly. He was on a limited pitch count for his first turns of the season before having the reins eased.

At his arguable best since the surgery, Irvin lasted seven innings on Friday night against Stanford. He allowed three runs on seven hits, walked one and fanned a season-high six in helping the Ducks earn their second consecutive Pac-12 series win.

And while the results were good, the stuff was even more encouraging as he continues his return to the form he showed as a freshman pre-surgery.

His fastball sat between 90-92 mph all night, and his curveball, an offering on which he’s struggled all season to find the proper arm slot, was crisp. Thrown in the high 70s, the pitch showed strong bite and 2-to-7 shape. He also displayed an ability to alternately drop in the curve for a strike or bury it to finish off a hitter.

“He had one good breaking ball—his curveball was pretty good. He had a good change,” Oregon coach George Horton said. “It’s in and out overall, but I think that was comparable to maybe, not exactly the excellence we saw when he was a freshman, but pretty close to it.”

Irvin is draft-eligible this year, but because his road to recovery has taken place during the season— he was almost exactly 12 months out from surgery when he pitched against Hawaii on opening day—instead of the fall or winter, he might ultimately decide that a return to Oregon for his senior season is prudent.

Horton on Friday indicated that Irvin has strongly considering that option, which would give him a clean season to show scouts a performance closer to his dynamic freshman season, when he went 12-3, 2.48 and was named a first-team Freshman All-American.

“I think he’s just trying to win for the team,” Horton said. “I think he’s pretty convinced that this might not be his year to sign. He’s got an advisor (and) he’s got his family’s opinion. I think it’s in his best interest to come back and be the real Cole. Selfishly, we’re thinking and hoping that happens.”

If Irvin does return, it would set up Oregon with a tantalizing—and all lefthanded—rotation of Irvin, promising current freshman David Peterson and Krook, a former first-round pick of the Marlins who only made it to school when shoulder issues popped up during his physical.

Conversely, Krook, who hasn’t pitched at all this year but is throwing two bullpens a week, will be closer to 18-20 months off of surgery when next February rolls around. That means he’ll have had a chance to kick off the rust during fall ball, and will be able to fully showcase himself for scouts before taking a second crack at the draft.

“It’ll be a little different for me,” Krook said. “I should where I was, hopefully better (than) where I was when I got hurt. That probably won’t play a huge role in whether or not I come back.”

Irvin had former Ducks Christian Jones and Clayton Crum to lean on when he first tore his ligament. That in turn helped him give Krook advice when his elbow popped months later.

Early this season, senior righthander Jack Karraker succumbed to the same injury, and could be seen scuttling about the field during pregame this weekend in the typical post-Tommy John arm-immobilizing device, what Irvin referred to as “Robocop arm.” When he gets out of the cast and starts making strides toward a return to the mound, he can rest easy knowing he’ll have a built-in support group right there in his dugout.

of course, that's just one writer's opinion.

irvin, krook, and peterson would be a hell of a rotation.