2012 MLB Draft Results: Round 1 Steals Who Will Enjoy Successful Careers

Your team might have just made a pick in Round 1 of the 2012 MLB draft that will be looked back on as a steal.

It's hard to consider a first-round pick as a steal, but sometimes guys fall much farther in the draft than their skill set would suggest, and the opening round of the 2012 draft was no different.

Like Ryan Howard in the fifth round or Mike Piazza in the 61st, there were plenty of steals in the opening round of the 2012 MLB draft.

Here they are:

Pittsburgh Pirates Select RHP Mark Appel at No. 8 Overall

Appel is a total lock to become a very good major league pitcher.

His ability on the mound is reminiscent of Detroit Tigers' pitcher Justin Verlander. He has a killer fastball that he can keep in the mid-90s, but he also can kick it up a notch and reach 98-99 on the gun at times. His fastball doesn't have great movement, but it has just enough late break to help him miss some bats.

It's dumbfounding that this guy didn't go higher, as he has the prototypical power pitcher's frame, standing at 6'5", 215 pounds. He'll be pitching down on hitters, or at least it will appear that way to the batters he will face, and his mechanically sound deliver will allow him to easily repeat his motion every time he toes the mound.

His off-speed stuff is great for a player who hasn't reached professional ball yet. The bottom drops out of his change-up like nobody who was drafted before him, and the first seven teams that passed up on him are going to regret it in the long run.

I've always made the case that a high velocity fastball is not a necessity if a pitcher can mix in a change up that gets to the plate at least 10 miles per hour slower, but Appel has that power fastball and a change up that comes in 13-14 miles per hour slower. That's going to throw hitters off like you can't believe.

His curveball needs the slightest bit of work, but when he starts to work with better pitching coaches it'll come around. It's not a true curveball, but rather a slurve, which always gives hitters trouble.

Appel had a WHIP under one in his last season at Stanford, and he'll continue his dominance into the majors.

Washington Nationals Select RHP Lucas Giolito No. 16 Overall

The rich got richer in terms of young, quality pitching in the Nationals organization. The Nats already have Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann and Gio Gonzalez at the top of their rotation, and they just added a guy who could have been the No. 1 overall pick if he didn't suffer a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his final season at Harvard-Westlake High School.

His fastball isn't going to blow hitters away at 93 miles per hour but the late movement when it reaches the plate will make up for that. His power curve looks like Francisco Rodgriguez's back in his heyday, and he can put it on either side of the plate. His change up falls off the table, and he seldom gets caught leaving it up too high.

The main concern here is the elbow injury, and that definitely pushed some teams away from Giolito, but we've seen guys injure their elbows all throughout their career and recover at any age. The Nationals treated Strasburg like a set of fine china, and he still got hurt. Teams shouldn't be shying away from formerly injured players for fear of wasting a pick in the draft.

He's a prep school pitcher, and prep school pitchers aren't supposed to shoot up through the ranks of a team's farm system, but Giolito has the ability to do so. There's no glaring hole in his pitching set, which you hardly ever see from a pitcher his age.

Toronto Blue Jays Select RHP Marcus Stroman No. 22 Overall

I was fortunate enough to watch Stroman pitch when I was in high school, and believe me, this kid is going to be a great major league pitcher.

He's 5'9", but Tim Lincecum taught us that it's preposterous to discount a player's abilities because of his size. Stroman was a starter at Duke, but he'll likely be a closer at the next level.

Before you read into his stats, which are quite impressive, know that he posted a FIP of just 2.00 in the college ranks. To put that in perspective, Roy Halladay's FIP was 2.17 for the 2011 season, and that's considered off the charts by MLB standards. He also registered 12.49 strikeouts per nine innings, which tells you he has the power to blow away hitters.

He'll be entering his junior season with the Blue Devils and will have plenty of time to work on commanding his hammer curveball. It has a nice snap when it gets to the plate, but he has a problem putting it on the black whenever he wants. That's not to say he has poor command, as he is hardly a wild pitcher.

His fastball typically sits in the mid-90s, and as a closer, he won't need much more than a great fastball and a power curve. His effortless windup is going to keep him healthy and energized for the rest of his career. Stroman could be one of the dominant closers in the league by the time he departs the college ranks for the pros.