Covington Catholic's Luke Maile Drafted by Boston Red Sox in Round 43

Luke Maile, Northern Kentucky's top high school baseball prospect, was drafted in the 43rd round with the 1,308th pick of the 2009 MLB Draft.

Many teams passed on Maile due to signability issues as most figured he would head to the University of Kentucky to honor his scholarship. However, if the Red Sox scouts like his progress they could offer him a signing bonus equivalent to a high-round pick. From prior interviews Maile seems like a smart kid and I see him heading of to college. If he proves his worth in the first couple years of college he could be a first day talent but I don't see the Red Sox offering him a large chunk of money at the moment.

Maile led Covington Catholic to a first place finish to end the season in Districts but the team eventually lost in a huge upset to the Beechwood Tigers in the Region Tournament. In 2009, Maile batted .514 with 56 runs, 12 long balls and 55 RBI's. In addition he walked 39 at bats and only struck out three times!

Reds Draft Picks 2009

The Reds will continue their draft but at this point these are the players they have selected:

#8 Pick- Michael Leake- RHP (Arizona State)
See scouting report below.

#43 Pick- Bradley Boxberger- RHP (USC)
Most see Boxberger as becoming a reliever. Has good velocity but has difficulty maintain speed throughout innings. A little inconsistent with his command but has an arsenal of pitches to use.

#57 Pick- Billy Hamilton- SS (Taylorsville High School)
Was a three sport star at his school in Mississippi. Has committed to Mississippi State to play football so signability could be a question. He has raw talent with all of the tools especially if he can stay at his position of SS.

#88 Don Joseph- LHP (Houston)
Joseph is a Junior pitcher out of Houston. Pitched relief for Houston and was 3-1 with a 2.16 ERA over 50 innings with 75 strikeouts for the Cougars. Joseph has a fastball in the low 90's with some decent breaking pitches.

Cincinnati Reds Take Pitcher Mike Leake in First Round of 2009 MLB Draft

The Cincinnati Reds took pitcher Mike Leake out of Arizona State with the 8th pick of the 2009 MLB Draft today.

Leake is only 21 and was a junior at Arizona State. He posted a miraculous 16-1 record last season with a 1.36 ERA in 17 games. In 133 innings pitched he fanned 150 batters and only walked 21. As a sophomore he posted a 11-3 record with a 3.49 ERA and in his first season as a Sun Devil posted a 13-2 record with a 3.69 ERA.

His strikeout to walk ratio stands out the most to me as he posted 348 K's to only 70 BB's at ASU, almost a 5:1 ratio!

Leake is overlooked by many due to his 6'0, 180 pound stature. He's not the type of pitcher that will blow up the radar gun but he can throw four pitches, and throw each well: a curve, change up, slider and fastball. Lets hope Leake can prove the doubters wrong and be the next Tim Lincecum.... I sure hope so after looking at the Reds previous 1st round pitching prospects.

For a scouting video of Mike Leake, click here.