New Orleans: Grant Dayton, LHP

[emkayseven]

discuss
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6'2" 195

[LocoMarlinFan]

We are going to win a lot of Gulf Coast league games again this yr. Yippee!!!!

[emkayseven]

baseballdraftreport.com referred to him as such:

Hyatt, Dayton, and Clubb can all be called sleeper prospects on a generous day...

[DropkickAlex]

Just take the risk and draft Wilson.

[emkayseven]

Grant Dayton is one step closer to becoming a professional baseball player.
The former Bob Jones star was drafted by the Florida Marlins Tuesday in the 11th round of the 2010 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft after a strong junior season at Auburn University.
Eligible for the draft for the first time this year, Dayton is expected to sign with the Marlins in the next few days.
Dayton, a 6-foot-1, 194-pounder, finished the 2010 season with an 8-3 record and a 4.36 earned run average. He made 15 starts this season and finished with a team-high 69 strikeouts – the third year he has led Auburn in strikeouts.
In a team-high 95 innings, Dayton walked just 19 batters and limited opponents to a .269 batting average.
His 3.92 ERA in Southeastern Conference games ranked him 10th overall.
He tied for the SEC lead in league wins with seven.
During his three-year career at Auburn, the left-handed Dayton compiled a 17-11 career record with a 4.66 ERA. He has struck out 217 batters in 249 innings.
Dayton, a second-team All-SEC pick, led the Tigers, who were eliminated from the regionals with a loss to Clemson Monday at home.
Auburn had nine players get drafted in the first 30 rounds and five of them were drafted by major league teams for the first time in their careers.

http://www.madisoncountyrecord.com/2...ed-by-marlins/

[LocoMarlinFan]

Signed

http://www.baseballamerica.com/draft....php?team=1027

Pinpoint control: Auburn's Dayton baffles opponents by moving his fastball around
Jun 03, 2010 | 1305 views | 0 | 6 | |
AUBURN — Cory Luckie said he can’t figure out how his teammate, Grant Dayton, has so much success but says he’s in good company.

“Grant’s unreal,” Luckie said. “The thing about it is coaches get so frustrated on opposing teams, saying ‘how’s this kid beating us with 90 percent fastballs?’

“But with Grant, his control is amazing. I’ve never seen anyone with such pinpoint control.

“It’s so weird because people can’t figure it out. Our coaches can’t, other teams can’t. I don’t think Grant can.”

Typically, pitchers who rely mostly on fastballs get lit up by opposing batters. That’s not the case with Dayton. The junior left-hander has been arguably Auburn’s top starter — and he’s getting the job done with a fastball that he can locate anywhere.

“He’s kind of deceptive with his fastball,” Luckie said.

“He just moves it around. You can’t say (why it’s deceptive). Nobody knows.”

Grant earned first-team All-SEC honors this season, going 8-2 with a 4.33 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 87 1/3 innings.

He has walked only 18 batters in 15 appearances, and batters are hitting just .272 against him.

Asked about his success, Dayton talked about his ability to move the ball around.

“I think a lot of it has to do with pitch selection, moving the fastball in and out of the zone, picking my spots to use my off-speed” Dayton said.

“I’ve been having good command with my fastball, and I think that’s where a lot of the success has come from — keeping the ball down in the zone.”

Dayton will definitely be in the spotlight this weekend, but likely not until Saturday.

The Tigers will host an NCAA regional beginning Friday, and as the No. 1 seed, will take on No. 4 Jacksonville State at 6 p.m.

Luckie, who is Auburn’s typical Friday night starter, will stay in routine.

What will change is that coach John Pawlowski will likely bring out Dayton on Saturday in the Tigers’ second game. Throughout the SEC season, Dayton was Auburn’s Sunday starter and had amazing success there.

Of his eight wins, seven came on Sundays. He’s 7-1 and fresh off a strong outing against South Carolina in the SEC tournament in which he allowed just one run in 71/3 innings — although he didn’t get the win in a game that went 12 innings.

“Every day is important, but I like pitching on Sundays,” Dayton said. “Coach P calls it ‘Championship Sunday.’

“I’m glad to be able to pitch on a day we take so seriously.”

Dayton said he put in a lot of work in the preseason to get his body into shape.

He also puts in a lot of work — dictated by pitching coach Scott Foxhall — to get prepared each week for games.

“I take my bullpens very seriously and try to keep myself prepared for the games,” he said.

“It’s a lot of work, but luckily enough, I’ve had games where, when I don’t have good control, I’m able to keep the ball down in the zone and get outs that way.

Teams better not think Dayton is all about fastballs, though.

“It’s a lot of fastballs, but I am throwing off-speed,” Dayton said. “I’m happy with my off-speed. I think it’s good enough to throw more, but I try to keep my game plan simple. So far, it’s been successful.”

Now, he just wants to keep that success going for a few more weeks — and continue to baffle everyone.


Read more: Anniston Star - Pinpoint control Auburn s Dayton baffles opponents by moving his fastball around

http://www.annistonstar.com/view/ful...astball-around

[braves]

I know this is a Marlins board, and as you can tell I am a Braves fan, but I was on the high school team, his senior year, the Braves missed out on a person with a great future in the first round of the state playoffs, he went 10 innings 9 of which were perfection and had 20-21 k's and we lost 1-0 nothing, over the season he pitched a perfect game I don't remeber his win-lose record or era but he did have over 200 strikeouts, so he is one to keep an eye on

[Todd]

This guy has a soap opera name.

[Miamarlin21]

Promoted to Double-A Jacksonville.

[emkayseven]

Grant Dayton is a left-handed pitcher in the Miami Marlins farm system. In 2012 he started off the year pitching for the Jupiter Hammerheads then he finished the year pitching for the Jacksonville Suns. Dayton was drafted in the 11th round of the 2010 MLB Draft but has quickly risen the ranks of Marlins top prospects as MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo lists him at No. 20 in the system and is No. 17 in the organization according to Baseball America.

Dayton was primarily used as a reliever in Jupiter after first being used as a starter. In 31 games with Jupiter he was 2-5 with an impressive 2.10 ERA. He struck out 71 batters and had an opposing average of .214.

When he moved to Jacksonville, Dayton pitched in seven games and was 2-1 with a 4.15 ERA.

Dayton is considered to be a bullpen guy rather than the starter that he was at Auburn. Dayton is described as a lefty specialist and the Marlins may look at him as a possible go-to-guy in the bullpen of the future.

Dayton was not apart of the September call-ups this season that included Tom Koehler, A.J. Ramos, Chris Hatcher and Daniel Jennings but might be part of the 2013 call-ups if he stays healthy and continues at his incredible pace.

The Marlins bullpen at this point could use someone like Dayton for the future. He could be the man of the future if the Marlins do not end of trading him away.

http://www.rantsports.com/miami-marl...-grant-dayton/

[emkayseven]

John Sickels lists him as a sleeper:

Grant Dayton, LHP, Marlins: 2.47 ERA with 90/22 K/BB in 73 innings, 60 hits between High-A Jupiter and Double-A Jacksonville. Age 24. Doesn't get much attention, but he gets people out, throws hard, and could help in a bullpen soon.

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/...eview-part-one

[Miamarlin21]

He's finally coming off the disabled list.

[Mainge]

Can't wait