Written by Greg Fertel | 09 February 2007

I've been real sick and essentially bed ridden the last few days, hence no posts. I know I promised to have some draft stuff up this week, but again, I was sick, so that's been pushed back. I dunno about you, but I'm pretty disappointed with MVP 07 NCAA Baseball. The gameplay is fine, but they pretty much recycled everything else. The rosters in the 06 version were from 2005, which is fine, but I dunno where they pulled these rosters from. There's no David Price, Matt Weiters, etc, so they aren't current. There's no Ian Kennedy, Joba or Andrew Miller, etc, so they aren't last years. They aren't 2005's either, so I'm assuming they are all generic, which sucks. The new pitching mechanic is great, but I hate the new view which is right behind the pitcher. There's only 4 new stadiums and 2 new conferences (20 or so new teams), and even the announcers say the exact same thing as last year's game. EA really mailed it in on this one, plus Penn State is absolutely horrible. Stick with the 06 version instead.

BA's new blogs are great. They definitely decreased my production at work from like, 80% to 60%.

Hat tip to James at Yanksblog for this story on Big Baby Betances:

Grand Street coach Mel Martinez said Betances bulked up from 215 pounds to 230 over the winter, and his velocity rose accordingly. "I promise he's throwing 96 miles per hour," Martinez said. "He looks great. He's ready . . . I really think we'll see him in a Yankee uniform in two years." ... Betances didn't wilt under the pressure last spring [in high school], when more than 20 major league scouts would gather behind the backst each of his starts. Betances posted a 0.00 ERA, allowing just three hits in 27 innings for the Wolves. ... But Betances is far from a finished product. He said that Yankees coaches have told him to work on developing a consistent motion in his pitching windup. Most scouts who watched Betances as a senior at Grand Street noted the same deficiency, and it's a problem Betances said he intends to fix. He said he's been lining up in front of a mirror in his hotel room or in the Tampa clubhouse to work on his windup and throwing motion.

We won't be able to get a real read on Betances until he hits Double-A. If he's throwing that hard with a curve as good as what's been reported, A-ball hitters have no chance. Price vs. Rice tonight. Let's just hope Joe Savery goes for the Owls. What a way to kick off the weekend. Enjoy...

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