Dreaming of Draft Stars- Sean Manaea

by Jared Webb @webberoo11

Sean Manaea 6'5"/215 LHP

Indiana St. University

DOB-02/01/1992 21 years, four months on draft day

Sean Manaea has come out of nowhere.  At 6'5" he has an incredibly projectable frame that could allow him to be a power lefty who could eat innings.  @PruittRoss played against Manaea  a few summers ago and said that Manaea threw in the mid to high 80's.  It seems like college has agreed with Manaea and has allowed him to start adding strength to his 6'5" frame.   

Manaea overpowered the Cape Code league in 2012 with his low to mid 90's FB and developing slider, posting a 14.7 K/9 rate.  Sean also displays a split-change that works due to the large velocity difference and has been said to fall off a table.   

The biggest thing to note about Manaea is that he is still very raw as a pitcher.  Everything will hinge on how he throws in college ball this year.  As of right now a power lefty with big K numbers, he stands to make a lot of money on draft day, especially with Scott Boras as his advisor.  While Manaea doesn't have the polish of Appel, or even Stanek, a 6'5" power lefty can't be overlooked.  

 His 3/4 arm slot adds good movement to his FB and Sean hides the ball well.  Baseball America ranked Manaea the top Cape Cod prospect and ranked him the #3 draft prospect.  I want to comp Manaea to Kyle Zimmer based on his rawness as a pitcher.  Some people think that the Astros will take Manaea off the board 1-1, while others feel the Astros won't want to spend that much money on a 1-1 pick.  Any team who takes Sean on day one will have something special to talk about.   

Manaea also has more room to add strength, which gives him even more projection.  Considering the depth of LHP in this draft, being deemed the best on in the class is a pretty good honor.  Like most guys who have questions about their command, Manaea has a chance to end up as a reliever if he doesn't tighten up his spots.  Any team who is good at developing pitchers will see him as an amazing pick.

Indiana State begins their 2013 February 15 in Huntsville, Alabama.

c2013 Jared Webb. Used with permission.