Believe it or not, the MLB Draft is less than a month away. The draft kicks off on June 6, 2013, and the Rangers are picking at #23 (their own pick) and #30 (the supplemental compensatory pick they received for losing Josh Hamilton).
With the draft coming up, I figured I'd offer some capsule profiles of players who appear in the mix for the Rangers with their first couple of picks, and who seem like the type of player the Rangers might grab. I've done this the previous two years, and only one player I've profiled -- Nick Williams -- was actually drafted by the Rangers. Because I'm a slow learner, I'm doing the capsule profiles again this year.
The first player I'm profiling is the player that SI's mock draft has the Rangers taking at #23 -- North Carolina high school RHP Hunter Harvey.
The Rangers seem to have a certain types of players that they prefer, and in reading about Hunter Harvey, I thought he sounded like he was right in the Rangers' wheelhouse. He's not from Georgia, unfortunately, but he is from North Carolina, which isn't too far from Georgia. He's listed at 6'3", 175 lbs., and has the sort of projectable body the Rangers like in their prep righties. He has a fastball that he throws in the 89-92 mph range as well as a curveball, and the Rangers seem to like prep righties who throw curveballs. Reading the reports on Harvey, it sounds like he has the potential for a little more velocity, as well. Both BA and ESPN say he supposedly hit 97 earlier in the year.
Harvey is the son of former Angels closer Bryan Harvey, and Baseball America had a blog post about Hunter back in August in which Hunter talks about relying mostly on his fastball/curveball combo, though he acknowledges he should throw his change more. BA has Harvey currently ranked at #24 on their draft prospect rankings. Scout.com has Harvey ranked #19. Keith Law has him at #31. Both BA and ESPN, however, talk about how he's not got a college commitment, which could result in him getting popped before Texas picks at #23, since he'll be viewed as signable. Scout.com's Kiley McDaniel has him going at #17 to the ChiSox, and also talks about his signability possibly pushing him higher.
Keith Law saw Harvey pitch earlier this year, and you can read his writeup on him here.
All things considered, Harvey's the type of pitcher I think fits with what the Rangers are looking for, and I have to think they'd have significant interest in him if he falls to #23.
Here's some video of him pitching:
Hunter Harvey, rhp, Bandys HS, Catawba, N.C. (via BaseballAmericaVideo)