Mike Rizzo did not catch the best viewing of the Florida State ace, but he is still could be the pick
Florida State took on the University of Miami last night. I wouldn’t normally write about this, but Nationals GM Mike Rizzo and Scouting Director Danny Haas were in the building. They were there to see one player, Florida State ace Jamie Arnold.
Arnold picked a bad time to have the worst start of his career, allowing six runs over four innings. Maybe Mike Rizzo sitting directly behind home plate, in the eye line of Arnold threw him off. Whatever it was, Jamie Arnold was not his normal dominant self.
Even with the rough outing, Arnold remains a serious candidate to be the number one pick. Before this blowup start, he had a 0.87 ERA on the season, laying waste to college baseball. Last night he just had a bad night.
His normally excellent command was not there and the youngster couldn’t make the necessary adjustments. In a year where a lot of the top college draft eligible players have underwhelmed, Arnold had separated himself as the top candidate to go first overall. He still might be the favorite, but the race is wide open. This is not the best year to have the number one pick, with the strength of the draft being its depth rather than the high end talent.
Despite that, Mike Rizzo has to nail this pick. It should be the final building block of the rebuild. If all goes according to plan, they will not be picking number one anytime soon. Will this bad live viewing of Arnold scare Rizzo off, no, but it will leave an impression.
If Rizzo gets a good live viewing on a guy like Aiva Arquette or Ethan Holliday, it would only be natural for him to have a bias towards that player. However, this is just a blip for Arnold and he should go back to dominating soon. This certainly won’t be the last time he will have a chance to impress with Nationals scouts in the building.