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One thing the terrible season in 2007 gave the Cubs was the third pick in a very good draft. It's going to be a critical selection for an organization with a depleting farm system. From all indications the top three prospects in the draft are probably going to be college products. As usual the elite players may fall because of bonus demands, so the Cubs could easily be looking between all three of them with the third pick as the Royals and Pirates aren't known for their spending in the draft. The first of these prospects would be Vanderbilt's David Price.
Price's senior season at Blackman HS in Tennessee didn't go great for the team. Price actually had a losing record, but Price's star was large enough for Baseball America to rank him as the #1 high school prospect in the state (#2 overall) and the #69 prospect in the country. At the time he was a big left-handed pitcher with off the charts projection. His fastball had reached 94, but he sat right around 90 MPH. He flashed a curveball with potential as well. He was considered a tough sign because he was a great student and had committed to Vanderbilt. It wasn't until the 19th round that the Los Angeles Dodgers took a flier on him, of course they never signed him and he enrolled at Vandy.
Price broke out in 2005 in his first season for the Commodores. He got in 16 games, starting ten of them. He struck out 92 batters in under 70 innings (11.94 K/9). He finished with a superb overall line and was recognized as a second team Freshman All-American by Baseball America. For the summer he was one of the few freshmen to be selected for Team USA, where he continued to flourish.
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Price's sophomore season started out phenomenally. Through the first week of April he was sitting at 5-1 with a 1.96 ERA and 97 K's in 59.7 innings of work .He had made eight starts and struck out at least ten in six of them. Price faded completely with the rest of the Commodores by the end of the season. The next four starts he gave up eight runs twice and four and five earned the other times. By the end of the season his ERA had ballooned to 4.24 overall, but his independent ERA finished in the mid 2's, so it probably wasn't a huge concern. His command and mechanics was what he lost, he still had good strikeout numbers though not nearly as dominant as earlier in the season. As you can see on the game-by-game breakdown he really slumped at the end.
All things considered it was a good season for David Price, but he certainly wants to finish his junior season better than last year. However, Price went back to Team USA this summer where he was the best prospect on the team - a lofty ranking considering his teammate Pedro Alvarez was on it. His command returned and he struck out 61 batters in 44 innings allowing just 7 walks and gave up all of one earned run. He was named Baseball America's Summer Player of the Year.
David Price enters 2007 as perhaps the best pitcher in college baseball and one of the best in the nation. He's got to avoid the meltdowns in order to develop. Gone is his curveball he showed in high school, now he throws his fastball in the low 90s hitting as high as 97 in the summer and a plus slider that's in the mid 90s. His changeup has become an average pitch. Price's starts will be updated here, as the Cubs certainly will look at him if his bonus demands have him slide to the Cubs and/or Matt Wieters is gone. He has the potential to take a Mark Prior-2001 jump his final season and become that kind of talent.
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