Posted By Jeff Fletcher on June 9, 2009 10:58 pm

Baseball America editor John Manuel, who I talked to as part of my FanHouse draft coverage, helped me break down Giants’ first-round pick Zack Wheeler.

“He is exactly what you want a high school pitcher to be,” Manuel said. “He’s signable. He’s got 6-4, 170-175 pound body. He’s still raw, like a colt, long legs projectible body. He has time to fill up. He’s got 90-93 with ease. He commands the ball. You could see him with above average velocity and command.  He has an average to above average breaking ball. He has all the raw pieces. He’s a perfect Dick Tidrow kind of pick. You could see him really filling out and being a No. 2 type starter.”

Manuel said Brian Sabean was at one of Wheeler’s early games this spring, so the Giants were obviously on him from the start.

Since Wheeler was the No. 6 pick, and Madison Bumgarner was the No. 10 pick in 2007, and both were high school pitchers, you might be wondering how Wheeler compares with Bumgarner. Manuel said Wheeler is not as good. The 2007 draft was a better draft than this year’s, and Bumgarner probably would have gone 4 or 5 this year.