Rundown on the Draft Day: Day 1 - Jiovanni Mier

The Astros selected four high school players with their four picks in Day 1 of the draft. Let's learn a bit more...

SS Jiovanni Mier (update spell-checks accordingly):
Signed a letter of intent with USC, but Bobby Heck is confident they can reach a deal quickly.

Heck: “He looks right. He’s very confident. He’s poised. He has field awareness. He looks like a major league shortstop and plays like one and carries himself beyond his years.”

Mier: “My ultimate goal is to get out there and play. So the quicker the better. I know definitely we’ll come up with something. I’m just glad I’ll get a chance to go out there and play.”

Heck: “We thought he was the best baseball player, a middle of the field player. Like you guys have heard me say many times before, this is a true shortstop who stays at shortstop. He has defensive ability and offensive ability as well. We think he’s going to grow into some power as well.”

From Perfect Game: Mier has an athletic slim and very projectable body and he is a good all around player with very good hands and actions in the infield. Jiovanni showed good speed with a sixty time of 6.72. He also shows good arm strength across the diamond. He has smooth swing with good bat speed. Mier hits hard line drives to all fields and gets good leverage in his swing. His bat is good now but projects even better with continued added strength. Jiovanni has good all around tools in the infield and also shows big ability on the mound. His arm worked well in an inning of work and he topped out at 90 mph and he also flashed a solid breaking ball. Definite 2009 to watch. Outstanding feel for the game. He is also a good student. Aflac All American

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USA Today is not so kind:
Mier is questionable to last at shortstop, and he probably won't possess the bat to be a major asset anywhere else. He's probably not more than a future 12-homer guy at best, and plate discipline is an issue. He shouldn't have gone in the first round.

Of course, it's well known that USA Today is incapable of writing in 150+ word segments, so they probably just got brain lock and stopped to draw a graph.