Six Months Later, Nationals 2009 Amateur Draft Seems an Impressive Haul

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By the time the 2009 baseball amateur draft concluded last June, the Washington Nationals had added 50 players to their minor league system.

But really, other than the first two—Stephen Strasburg and Drew Storen—the other 48 were unknowns who would quietly slip into the anonymity of the low minor leagues, likely never to be heard from again.

A player’s first year can be very telling regarding his hopes of making it to the major leagues. Let’s take a look at the “lower 48” and see how they did in 2009:

Second Round: Jeff Kobernus (2B)   Cal Berkley

Batted .220-0-2 in 10 games for the Vermont Lake Monsters. Hopefully, his .273 on-base percentage and .244 slugging average are the result of a small at-bat sampling.

His father was a minor league player in the 1980’s. Kobernus batted .341-8-17 his junior year before being drafted by the Nationals.

Third Round: Trevor Holder (RHP)   University of Georgia

Overall, Holder was 4-3, 6.97 in 11 starts. However, he was 2-0, 3.55 for Hagerstown before being promoted to Potomac, where he was clearly in over his head, going 2-3, 9.26 in six starts.

Holder averaged 13 hits, 3.0 walks, 7.2 strikeouts per 9 innings.

Holder was thought to be a sure first-round pick in the 2009 June draft but shoulder tendonitis caused his stock to drop. He was picked by the Marlins in the 10th round but did not sign. Holder had an up-and-down season in 2009 and fell to the Nationals in round three.

General Manager Mike Rizzo believes that Holder will one day be a middle-of-the-rotation starter for Washington.

Fourth Round: Anthony Morris (RHP)   Kansas State University

Though Morris went 0-3 in 10 starts with the Gulf Coast Nationals and Low-A Hagerstown, he had a very impressive 3.38 ERA, allowing 9.3 hits, 1.7 walks and 8.4 strikeouts per 9 innings.

Morris was the Big-12 Pitcher of the Year in 2009, going 14-1, 2.09 with 100 strikeouts. He has a 92 mph fastball and a “plus” slider.

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