June 18, 2011; Omaha, NE, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores pitcher Kevin Ziomek (35) delivers a pitch during the ninth inning against the North Carolina Tar Heels during the 2011 College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park. Vanderbilt defeated North Carolina 7-3. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
In their third and final pick of the night – the draft resumes beginning with round three on Friday – the Detroit Tigers selected Vanderbilt left-hander Kevin Ziomek.
Some terms that were tossed out by the MLB Network crew on Ziomek: “Funky arm slot”, “three/four pitch mix”, “pitchability lefty”.
Here’s a scouting report on Ziomek (from the winter) as provided by Minor League Ball:
"Ziomek is a good athlete who was listed at 6-2, 180 in high school but has gained size and strength in college, now listing at 6-3, 200. When everything is right with Ziomek, he shows a 90-93 MPH fastball, although his velocity is known to sag into the upper-80s when his delivery is off.His top secondary pitch in high school was his slider, but his changeup has moved ahead and is now his best pitch to off-set the fastball. His breaking ball can be slurvy but it reportedly looked good on Cape Cod, and when he’s throwing strikes all three pitches work well. Ziomek’s arm action has some hooky funk to it, hurting his stock with some scouts, but when he repeats his mechanics properly (as he did last summer) it makes him more deceptive."
Here’s the MLB.com scouting report video on Ziomek:
So the first day of the draft concludes with the Tigers selecting three college pitchers. The typical hope on college pitchers is that they’ll be fast risers, so the Tigers perhaps will see these three players sooner rather than later.