Series Thread: Rangers Travel to Houston For Three Games July 12-14

[saddles]

There are still 4 guys I wanted to get that are left after 26 picks. One will be available at #30.

 

[Duane1952]

The Astros take Janek.

 

[Duane1952]

The Rangers pick is c Malcom Moore.

 

[saddles]

Rangers select Malcolm Moore, the catcher I didn't want.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

Seager replaces Correa in All Star game.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

Rangers select Malcolm Moore, the catcher I didn't want.

We must have wanted a catcher badly. He had a good year the previous season but not so much this season.

 

[saddles]

We must have wanted a catcher badly. He had a good year the previous season but not so much this season.

He also has a weak arm. It graded out at 45. Janek's arm graded out at 60. And his hitting grades are not great. There is just not much to like about him.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

He also has a weak arm. It graded out at 45. Janek's arm graded out at 60. And his hitting grades are not great. There is just not much to like about him.

Based on what you are saying it looks like he won't make it to the MLB level at least with the Rangers. It just seems like we have made a number of head scratching decisions lately that includes this draft pick, trades and who we keep on the roster and who keep in the minors. I don't care what anyone thinks but Duran and Huff should be on this team and not Knizner and Jankowski.

 

[saddles]

Some second round considerations:

Ryan Johnson
Drew Beam
Josh Hartle
Dylan Dreiling
Caleb Bonemer
Mason Russell
Josh Kiroda-Grauer

Somehow I got this list correct and not my first round list. That's funny.

Dreiling it is.

 

[saddles]

Frim MLB Pipeline

• AGE
  21
• BATS
  L
• DOB
  04/17/2003
• THROWS
  L
• HT
  5' 11"
• DRAFTED
  2024, 2nd (65) - TEX
• WT
  197
• TWITTER
  @DylanDreiling1

Video scouting report »
Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 50 | Run: 55 | Arm: 40 | Field: 50 | Overall: 50
As a Kansas high schooler, Dreiling drew comparisons to Tennessee star and eventual Astros first-round pick Drew Gilbert. Scouts liked his hitting ability and athleticism but had a hard time evaluating him after he injured his hamstring in the second game of his senior season, so he went undrafted before heading to Knoxville. He excelled in a platoon role as a freshman and has starred as an everyday player as a Draft-eligible sophomore in 2024, earning Most Outstanding Player honors at the College World Series after homering in all three games of the championship series as the Volunteers won their first national title.

Dreiling has the chance to hit for average and power because he makes consistent hard contact to all fields. He drives the ball in the air while managing the strike zone, drawing plenty of walks and keeping his quick left-handed swing under control. After looking helpless against southpaws while going 0-for-16 against them in 2023, he has pounded them this spring.


Dreiling has solid to plus speed once he gets going but still is learning how to use it. He isn't aggressive on the bases and was so rough defensively that he mostly DHed as a freshman. He has improved as a left fielder but probably won't be more than an average defender with a subpar arm and lacks the instincts for center.

 

[saddles]

Here is the Keith Law scouting report on Malcolm Moore:

Scouting Report
Bats: L, Throws: R
Moore, a draft-eligible sophomore, is going to end up with a team that values batted-ball data over performance — he had terrible luck at the plate this spring but he was not punching out and his contact quality points to a higher average than he had on balls in play. Moore hit .255/.414/.553 for the Cardinal with just a .229 BABIP, a full hundred points down from his BABIP as a freshman, even though he makes plenty of hard contact.
There was a little more than bad luck at work here, to be fair; he put a lot of non-strikes in play and had worse results on those pitches than he did on pitches in the zone, so there’s a pitch selection aspect to his performance as well. He has great bat speed and had no trouble with elite velocity the few times he saw this spring. Moore is a below-average defender right now and scouts are mixed on whether he can stay at catcher; the arm is the worst tool here and his other deficiencies could improve with different coaching. He’s going to be a bat-first catcher if he stays there.

 

[saddles]

Here is Keith Law's scouting report on Dylan Dreiling:

Scouting Report
Bats: L, Throws: L
Dreiling makes excellent swing decisions and hits the ball hard enough for 55 power and what should be strong averages on contact, making up for his lack of speed or bigger power. He’s got a big stride to get more power from his lower half, so there could be an adjustment coming, as he’ll show power to almost all fields, but his hands can lag a little so his swing may not be as efficient as it could be. He’s a disciplined hitter who led the national champion Vols in walks and only trailed Christian Moore in homers. He’s a corner outfielder, probably staying in right, so there’s a higher bar for his bat to clear. His main deficiency at the plate is the lack of a two-strike approach, as he doesn’t whiff or chase much at all until he gets to two strikes, when he expands the zone too much and loses the contact skill he shows earlier in counts. I think he’s a strong regular with the potential to be more in an organization that can help him stay disciplined in those pitchers’ counts.

 

[Senator_fan]

Here is the Keith Law scouting report on Malcolm Moore:

Scouting Report
Bats: L, Throws: R
Moore, a draft-eligible sophomore, is going to end up with a team that values batted-ball data over performance — he had terrible luck at the plate this spring but he was not punching out and his contact quality points to a higher average than he had on balls in play. Moore hit .255/.414/.553 for the Cardinal with just a .229 BABIP, a full hundred points down from his BABIP as a freshman, even though he makes plenty of hard contact.
There was a little more than bad luck at work here, to be fair; he put a lot of non-strikes in play and had worse results on those pitches than he did on pitches in the zone, so there’s a pitch selection aspect to his performance as well. He has great bat speed and had no trouble with elite velocity the few times he saw this spring. Moore is a below-average defender right now and scouts are mixed on whether he can stay at catcher; the arm is the worst tool here and his other deficiencies could improve with different coaching. He’s going to be a bat-first catcher if he stays there.

His average did fall quite a bit but his OPS was higher, he walked more and struck out less than last season.
Law says his arm is his worst tool here yet he threw out 21 of 55 base stealers and one scouting report said he has a strong arm.

 

[saddles]

His average did fall quite a bit but his OPS was higher, he walked more and struck out less than last season.
Law says his arm is his worst tool here yet he threw out 21 of 55 base stealers and one scouting report said he has a strong arm.

I remember we drafted a catcher 3 years ago and Keith Kaw said he couldn't find a scout who thought he could hit. Since then, Ian Moller has hit .205.

MLB had Moore graded with a fairly weak arm.

He is not a bad player, but there were better players available. I dint think it was as bad of a choice as the ones they made when they drafted Zavala, Cauley and Moller, but I think they drafted by position instead of best player available.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

I remember we drafted a catcher 3 years ago and Keith Kaw said he couldn't find a scout who thought he could hit. Since then, Ian Moller has hit .205.

MLB had Moore graded with a fairly weak arm.

He is not a bad player, but there were better players available. I dint think it was as bad of a choice as the ones they made when they drafted Zavala, Cauley and Moller, but I think they drafted by position instead of best player available.

It sounds like he could be groomed to play 1B.

 

[saddles]

It sounds like he could be groomed to play 1B.

This is from Jeff Wilson:

GM Chris Young says that Malcolm Moore will remain behind the plate despite some industry scouting reports that question his ability to stick at the position. #Rangers like his leadership and his bat.

 

[scotsman#1948]

Tyler Mahle scheduled to make his 3rd rehab start at the Arizona League Complex today with 48 pitch limit.

 

[saddles]

I am looking forward to seeing how the Rangers can improve Moore as a catcher. I guess I should be glad we didn't take a pitcher after the mess we have made with both Leiter and Porter. I really liked Ryan Sloan and Tommy Whote at that spot though.

We had a chance for Drew Beam and Ryan Johnson with that second pick and chose Dreiling instead. That will be an interesting trio to follow and compare, as well as the first round trio will be.

 

[saddles]

This morning's Keith Law analysis:

30. Texas Rangers: Malcolm Moore, C, Stanford​

No. 25 on Law’s big board

Malcolm Moore was a darling of models this year, as his batted-ball data was very strong and his baseball-card stats belied his true talent level as a hitter. He walked more than he struck out and still got to 16 homers, but had a .229 BABIP despite an above-average Barrel rate and strong exit velocities.

Scouts were mixed on whether he’d stick as a catcher, but I didn’t hear anyone say he absolutely couldn’t do it physically, just that he needed a lot of work and could end up at first base.

If he’d posted a triple-slash line commensurate with his batted-ball data, he would have been a top-15 pick.

Scouting report: Moore, a draft-eligible sophomore, is going to end up with a team that values batted-ball data over performance — he had terrible luck at the plate this spring but he was not punching out and his contact quality points to a higher average than he had on balls in play. Moore hit .255/.414/.553 for the Cardinal with just a .229 BABIP, a full hundred points down from his BABIP as a freshman, even though he makes plenty of hard contact.

There was a little more than bad luck at work here, to be fair; he put a lot of non-strikes in play and had worse results on those pitches than he did on pitches in the zone, so there’s a pitch selection aspect to his performance as well. He has great bat speed and had no trouble with elite velocity the few times he saw this spring. Moore is a below-average defender right now and scouts are mixed on whether he can stay at catcher; the arm is the worst tool here and his other deficiencies could improve with different coaching. He’s going to be a bat-first catcher if he stays there.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

This is from Jeff Wilson:

GM Chris Young says that Malcolm Moore will remain behind the plate despite some industry scouting reports that question his ability to stick at the position. #Rangers like his leadership and his bat.

I'm going with the industry scouting reports. We don't seem to groom catchers either. I did notice yesterday that he struck out something like 35 times and walked over 40 times.