Scout.com considers Kevin Comer "the top pitching prospect from New Jersey in the 2011 MLB Draft." John Sickels of SB Nation's Minor League Ball considered Comer a potential target for the New York Yankees with the 51st pick of the June draft, and has chosen Comer for New York in his most recent mock draft.
Sickels explained the choice this way:
High upside, won't be cheap to sign away from Vanderbilt, but the Yankees have the money and he's local.
Baseball America ranks Comer No. 102 on its list of draft-eligible prospects. Comer is a 6-foot-4, 210-pound right-hander who has a commitment to attend Vanderbilt in the fall.The Yankees, as you know if you follow them at all, don't generally let that deter them. They are perfectly willing to offer prospects they like contracts that are "above slot" -- or, above the amount Major League Baseball recommends for a player selected at a certain point in the draft.
This sounds like a Yankee-type pick because this seems like a player who has upside, but may slide because of the signability issue.
Comer told Scout that he is willing to consider backing out of the Vanderbilt commitment for the right offer.
I have the commitment to Vanderbilt, but I’m also still willing to look at what comes out of the draft – I’m not trying to have anything hold me back.
Here is Comer discussing his repertoire of pitches.
Right now what I’m working with is a four-seam, which I’ve been told has topped out at 94 MPH. Then I have a two-seam around 90-91 MPH that I’ve changed up over the summer and have moving more like a sinker now, and that’s been helping me out. I actually just developed a changeup over the winter, which is nice to have, and it’s really working well for me. It’s got a lot of drop on it and comes in around 82-83 MPH. Then I have a spike curveball as my last pitch, and that is normally my out pitch. I can throw it big and looping or hard, but most of the time I’m throwing it as hard as I can [laughs]. I’ll throw that anywhere from 76-80 MPH.