Why the 2011 Draft Was MLB's Finest | Baseball Bits

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The 2019 World Series was ran by stars from the 2011 MLB Draft, considered to be the MLB best draft ever. With stars like Anthony Rendon, Gerrit Cole, and George Springer all doing their thing, one could call this draft the Anthony Rendon draft, Gerrit Cole draft, George Springer draft, or even Mookie Betts draft. Yes, Mookie Betts was in this draft class. But what's even more shocking is that Mookie Betts draft selection was 172nd overall in the 5th round. He was also drafted to play his patented Mookie
Betts 2nd base. We all know how that ended up.
The 2011 Draft started with 29 consecutive Major Leaguers, from 1st overall Gerrit Cole to 29th overall Joe Panik. We talk about the Gerrit Cole Pirates of the mid 2010s as well as the Gerrit Cole Astros of present day, particularly Gerrit Cole velocity and Gerrit Cole spin rate. His UCLA teammate Trevor Bauer was also drafted, but the Trevor Bauer Diamondbacks days are also a thing of the past, as he was traded to Cleveland and now plays in Cincinnati.
It was just those guys, though. Francisco Lindor and Javy Baez were two star middle infielders taken in this draft. In fact, Lindor leads in WAR among first round draftees.
Some other stars featured in this draft included: Josh Bell, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Marcus Semien, and Blake Treinen. I also bring up Seth Lugo, le spinny curveball man.
I hope you enjoy this episode of Baseball Bits, a Foolish Baseball production!
Dan Connolly on the 2011 Draft: theathletic.com/1323999/2019/...
SABR on Draft Pick Success: sabr.org/research/chances-dra...

[@MLB]

Yeah that's pretty stacked

[@FoolishBaseball]

Thanks, baseball

[@maxwellscher3854]

@@FoolishBaseball holy shit, thats the MLB commenting on your video. Like the actual MLB. The real one. I think you've made it

[@Koolkyle7]

@@maxwellscher3854 I'm pretty sure that the MLB usually comments on his videos

[@frieborn5333]

Yeah, baseball.

[@dfgccgggff7963]

MLB love your positive social media baseball good job

[@talhakarsloglu4278]

Hmmm so Glasnow and Cole was on this draft class. Me as a Pirates fan: * lying down and crying *

[@FoolishBaseball]

PROS: drafting CONS: actually developing the talent

[@chops1689]

@@FoolishBaseball Cries in Charlie Morton

[@talhakarsloglu4278]

Chops I am still wondering how he went from throwing 93 mph fastballs in Pittsburgh for 8 years to throwing 97+ mph ones in Houston.

[@jgabrielbernardo964]

imagine if walker buehler signed in 2012

[@TheZombieeeeeee]

@@talhakarsloglu4278 magic

[@dallia1]

The 'and sign stealing*' bit made me laugh

[@polymorphusis3614]

i3su _ same

[@duncangilpatric987]

Now it's like "Where's the trash can?"

[@nicknitro8776]

10:13 wonder how he increased his spin rate like that

[@kidcooler2037]

🤣🤣 was looking for this comment

[@Vinnya67]

@@kidcooler2037 me to

[@imnotpurestr]

By doing the same thing majority of the pitchers in the league do the league doesn’t care about for some reason. I’m sure he is breaking the rule about not using substances on the ball but you can’t make it seem like he’s cheating when almost every pitcher uses that stuff and the MLB doesn’t care about it

[@nicknitro8776]

@@imnotpurestr it was a joke 😐

[@JG54206]

Pretty weird how fortunate for him that was huh….

[@WeabooMilk]

"Current, at least for now, Red Sox right fielder Mookie Betts." Don't do that to me, Foolish ;-;

[@FoolishBaseball]

Had to do it

[@CAP569]

Foolish Baseball no you didn’t, you didn’t have to do this to my heart 😭

[@Ofallthings089]

I am hurt.

[@reidj4479]

Ima Yankees fan

[@samgreenberg4966]

oof

[@perfectcell2061]

Mario Superstar Saga is my freaking childhood. Thanks for the nostalgia

[@FoolishBaseball]

I loved my GBA SP. I had the blue one.

[@GoombaGuy1996]

Foolish Baseball I had a blue on too!

[@Connor-tr1dv]

@@FoolishBaseball i had the red one! miss it.

[@timothypaul2794]

I was gonna say something ab this haha

[@lochnloaded6905]

Why does everybody forget Luigi

[@armadillolover99]

Update: 32nd pick Jake Hager finally made his debut and played a total of 14 games in the majors in 2021 between the Mets and D-Backs. However, after doing some digging it seems that 30th pick Levi Michael retired in March 2021 so unless he ever changes his mind, it looks like this drafts streak of consecutive major leaguers will forever be 29.

[@zaneman001]

Dang, this video was such a banger even I knew an offspead pitch was coming

[@homney7]

HAHAHA

[@vijayv105]

2011 was a crazy year for all drafts NFL: Cam newton, JJ watt, Von Miller, Julio jones, just to name a few there are so many i’m forgetting NBA: Kawhi leonard, Jimmy butler, Kyrie irving, Klay thompson, draymond green

[@aidanharnois4536]

yeah, theres always one stacked grad/draft class every few years

[@GooseGumlizzard]

NHL: Nikita Kucherov, Johnny Gaudreau, Jonathan Huberdeau, Mark Scheifele, Mika Zibanead, Gabiel Landeskog. probably only Kucherov makes the hall of fame but the rest are all-star caliber players

[@MJsCookieFarm]

“The reason for his incredible strikeout rate is his fastball spin-rate, which has increased unlike anything I’ve ever seen” Hmmmmmmmm… interesting

[@jairoestrada759]

9:47 I spit out my water I was drinking

[@mikec5003]

“A combined $450m” Rendon: $245, Cole $324. Total: $569m.

[@frankschaefer8890]

Beat me to the comment also... Nice

[@dawesomelm1917]

He didn’t know exactly jeez he was talking about it before they resigned

[@A.B.421]

@@dawesomelm1917 he wasn’t trying to be a jerk.

[@SalTheEditor05]

Rip Jose Fernandez 😭😭😢

[@williamliu4477]

salomon garcia yea what a player he was, but threw it all away :(

[@johndotcue]

He would have been a great pitcher today.... Like his stuff was perfect for this era of baseball. Dude would have had like 15 K/9 right now. Damn it Jose....

[@dogboy7168]

10 time all star talent, r.i.p. lil nino, i will foreber rememver you.

[@SalTheEditor05]

Let’s hope Marlins wins a World Series for him

[@ojprod.8913]

@Max Blankenship no he hasn't a good person he killed people

[@Psijax]

Hey man, I don't know if you'd want to, but as a Cards fan, I'd love to see a video diving into David Freese's Reggie Jackson level 2011 postseason where he had a 1.19 OPS and .397 AVG.

[@FoolishBaseball]

David Freese good

[@oABSOLo]

Yesssss

[@Arman1lakha]

Psychonian too bad he’s not playing anymore☹️😞😢

[@Psijax]

@@Arman1lakha I mean, he is 36. It was about time for him to retire.

[@adishrinivasan7398]

David freese makes me sad :(

[@kyledespain5247]

“Using some eleventh grade math” Me, a junior in high school and failing stats: sweating intensifies

[@mkneiss]

Hultzen was delayed so much not due to lack of ability but because he blew out his shoulder... TWICE. Someone overcoming the injuries he did and still having the determination to make it to the show is damn impressive

[@FoolishBaseball]

Definitely.

[@bigsackjack69]

Wasn’t having a good day but foolish uploaded so now it’s liiiit

[@FoolishBaseball]

I uploaded 3 times!

[@bigsackjack69]

@Foolish Baseball Thanks, guy that said Thanks, baseball

[@colbykarcher4368]

Not only was Springer one of the best postseason players of all time he was also one of the greatest drummers of all time

[@tryingtopickagoodusername9598]

HOW MANY TIMES WAS THIS POSTED AHH

[@FoolishBaseball]

I lost count at 42

[@Karmy.]

@@FoolishBaseball I wanted to like but you had 42 likes so I couldn't

[@alexlin2032]

@@FoolishBaseball lol

[@ohrightmybad7501]

@@Karmy. I want to like too bt now its at 69 likes

[@artyCynabal]

** And sign stealing **

[@JerryScott7]

Shotgunner42 for decades but people act like they never know smh

[@talhakarsloglu4278]

@Shotgunner42 Not with technology but with eyes and brains.

[@OnceTwiceCellophane]

So happy you included Hendricks into the honorable mentions, one of the most underrated pitchers in my opinion.

[@danlorett2184]

I have a confession: I've never sat and watched a full baseball game in my life. I still watch all your videos the day you post them, though.

[@thesandman2893]

You should try it, its awesome!

[@dabbingtoast7743]

Brother I don’t even watch baseball and these videos are wildly entertaining.

[@imnotpurestr]

@@thesandman2893 you could understand why a lot of people don’t like watching the games though, especially people that ever got big into playing baseball or never even played before. But just like any sport with a long history, there’s going to be some cool and crazy stores over the history of it that’s super interesting to learn about

[@baller34725]

I just wanna say I love your music choices. Thanks for the nostalgia!

[@jamesweldon8118]

Don't forget that the Braves drafted Rendon out of high school a few years earlier but he decided to go to college instead. Can you imagine what a Acuña Albies Rendon Freeman line up would have been capable of

[@jackferguson465]

Who's here after Cole's awkward spider tack answer lol

[@Tvanon]

I'm a new baseball fan, and your videos are very informative, interesting and fun to watch Thank you I can't believe you haven't got 100k subscriber already

[@billnye1329]

5:45 thank goodness you said “well for now”

[@gadzooks5398]

Very good video again, FB Also, love the Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga music in the background ;)

[@gripken08]

Awesome stuff as always. Content and music! Keep up the excellent work!

[@GoRavens520]

I hadn’t kept up with baseball much since maybe 2012, but i watched a lot of this post season, mostly due to these videos. I think for a sport that loses out to the NBA and NFL in terms of ratings, youtubers like yourself are important to the game staying relevant. Thanks foolish👍🏾

[@ihatedapatriots]

First off this is your best music selection yet. Secondly I was unaware that Cubs would have signed Baez over Lindor. Very smart on their part. Great video.

[@kobejete2796]

The scouts and front office definitely missed the diamond in the rough in mookie betts, but hats off to them for having the foresight to choose all those other great players.

[@bigt4u2nv]

Dude I am *digging* the choice of Superstar Saga music. Great video as usual 👍

[@TheAnanaki]

This channel has done something that MLB hasn't done since the strike... Made me genuinely interested in baseball again. Well done.

[@bradleymassegee6164]

I liked it before watching it. Already made my day seeing a new video released

[@WaffleLover-my1hi]

Poor Danny Hultzen (and to some extend poor mariners). He was on my fantasy minor league roster for a year. Really good video Bailey, I had no idea how deep this draft class was. My favorite part about the drafts nowadays is when members of the draft class make it to the majors and become stars, and then you think make to the moment when they were drafted and were so young. I didn't watch the 2011 draft so I don't have those memories for these players, but for guys like Matt Chapman and Alex Bregman I remember the moment their name's were called. I'm kinda tempted to do an historical OOTP franchise as the 2011 Mariners (or 2009) and not mess up the draft. Imagine if they had drafted Lindor or Baez. They had good players like Nelson Cruz and King Felix, but never really any star power in this decade.

[@jfrarex]

thank you i could not sleep and your video fixed it !!!

[@unknown_individual7050]

Seeing FB talk about how good springer was in the 17 and 19 WS 😂

[@its-dg2987]

I love all your vids, thank you for another one (:

[@danielsavitz5774]

Thanks for the music! Gotta dig out my old SP and get back to some M&L:SS!

[@esar96]

Great video yet again, thanks FBB

[@FoolishBaseball]

You're welcome and thank you for the kind words

[@icharpod]

Fantastic work as always

[@FoolishBaseball]

Thank you!

[@AviHoffmanMagic]

“Springer has transformed into not just a great regular season player, but into one of the greatest World Series hitters of all time.” Welp

[@virushasdetectedawindows8381]

last time i was this early the astros were respected superteam world champions

[@FoolishBaseball]

Last time I was this early, Gerrit Cole was going to win the Cy Young award.

[@bdaleyknox11]

"* and sign stealing" lol love it

[@jakethesnake204]

Bro u are so underrated ur videos are awesome!

[@isaiahwilhite5980]

Great video bro 🤟🏼

[@ogClownBaby]

Foolish baseball has become my favorite youtube channel. I love baseball! Edit: nothing beats baseball infused with some classic 8-bit video game music.

[@aidanhynes7099]

Rewatching this now makes me so happy with the mets having Lindor along with McCann nimmo and pillar

[@relaxationdestination3366]

Love this channel

[@musicgenius1948]

Awesome vid! U one of my favorite youtubers

[@FoolishBaseball]

Thanks!

[@grantreill1966]

Thank you for acknowledging Archie's playoff 2RBI triple. Please do a video on that game.

[@lionheartz1337]

I love the legacy parts because now this draft class has a third cy young, and another ws ring for mookie

[@BeefPapa]

You were spot on with Nimmo at 11:17

[@Posirep]

Funny thing is we had Nimmo and Pillar at the same time lol

[@hvgades15]

This class is so stacked you could make a team that could compete with just the players that didn’t sign. WOW

[@vikelhombre3107]

As someone from Louisiana, it really depresses me how Mikie Mahtook and JaCoby Jones have failed to shine, especially as an LSU fan.

[@Karmy.]

Mahtook was mostly solid for the Tigers, wish I could say the same for Jones though :(

[@booradley6832]

10:20 how could that incredible increase in spin rate happen....its a huge mystery. Especially when "For pete sake, its just so hard to grip the ball."

[@yourwh0lefamily]

Just want to say I was very glad you did a small Jose tribute there, as a Marlins fan we were lucky because he really was must see baseball. Such a sad sad day when we lost him 🙏🏻

[@smnthmpsn4139]

Im obsessed w this channel

[@agentdub3366]

Thanks for reminding me about the great deal we got for gerrit Cole

[@milwaukeedrewer2759]

Such an underrated channel

[@FoolishBaseball]

Thanks!

[@jaredjohnson1027]

Helps your World Series OPS when you have a camera in the outfield telling you what pitch is coming 😂

[@danielgoldstein150]

I'd love to get a 10-years-later update video at the end of this season about all these guys

[@chaosof99]

When I heard the name "Jake Hager" my first thought was "wait, the wrestler in AEW?"

[@rogregg29445]

Lmao

[@EquateRadiant]

Levi Michael at pick 30 in 2011 kills me. Played baseball and basketball with him in school. Graduated from North Davidson a year before me. Wish he could make it!

[@1who4me]

That sign stealing graphic XD excellent work

[@smashchamp117]

Damn adding seth lugo out of nowhere. Stacked AF draft holy moly

[@leonardogarces7563]

I remember watching it on mlb network, didn’t know by that time all this player would make such a great impact in the game

[@bubbas9384]

This is by far the best baseball channel on KZbin

[@Zaron_Gaming]

hultzen made the majors? wow! long term Mariner fan and I remember hearing of all the potential he had and then all of his injuries and how we lost him.. James Paxton, Danny Hultzen and Taijuan (Sp?) Walker the big 3 in Mariners minors... 2:34 hey hey that's a low blow!

[@connotejano3782]

1:49. guys that’s 8 in a million.

[@TommyNoble12]

7:13 THIS CHRISTMAS FEELS LIKE THE VERY FIRST CHRISTMAS TO MEEEEEE

[@FoolishBaseball]

I was jamming to some Christmas music last night

[@mayortarantino1095]

Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga music!? Awesome! Great video!

[@Cristian-hd3fq]

It’s a good day when your notifications for baseball bits work

[@FoolishBaseball]

It's a good day when Baseball Bits works.

[@FoolishBaseball]

Use my link www.theathletic.com/foolishbaseball for a 7 day free trial and 40% off your annual subscription to The Athletic* EDIT 2/24: comment amended to reflect new promo reward

[@msexton50]

Foolish Baseball you and urinating tree are my two favorite youtubers. You combine being a sports nerd like me with jokes and references that I understand and usually laugh at. Keep up the good work

[@kingenchanter7012]

I know I’m late but can you do a vid on Gerardo Parras low key insane career

[@gRocket6196]

holy crap congrats on the Athletic sponsorship! And also thank you for the Athletic sponsorship lmao

[@masisseo9865]

I think your first stat might be wrong. Doing 0.667^29 is your probability that they all get in consecutively. For example, your probability of getting two heads in a row in a coin flip is 0.5^2 (0.25). But in this case, even if the second guy doesn’t making it to the major leagues, the third guy still has a probability of 0.667 to make it in. I’m no stats major is I might be wrong, but I think 0.667^29 may not be the best stat to represent what you’re trying to say. Especially since the player making it into the major leagues isn’t dependent on sequence.

[@gRocket6196]

@@masisseo9865 As you say, each player is an independent statistical point, meaning that the probability of each event occurring is not affected by any other outcome in the sequence. The probability of 2 independent events occuring is their individual probabilities multiplied together, so with 29 players each having a 66.7% chance at making the MLB, the probability that ALL of them make it is (.667)^29. You are correct in saying that the order doesn't matter, each of those (.667) being multiplied represents a single player, which can be rearranged in the multiplication (which is the same thing as swapping the players around) and still end up with the same answer

[@blueninja2240]

I love how you added MARIO and Luigi rpg music love the soundtrack of the game and I always thought it went well with baseball

[@487porkchop]

Good ish, recently used your code to get some seatgeek seats too. Any chance you could do a video about knuckleball pitchers? The pitch for the majors is so rare yet so fascinating and I never see any discussion about it

[@esodevulpes6435]

2011 was a great year for baseball cards too. The 2011 Topps update is considered the the most valuable and best in the last 20 years.

[@FoolishBaseball]

2011 was also a great year for people who think the regular season should be 163 games.

[@rowangraves7327]

Trevor Bauer with a Cy Young now, too

[@CadChamberlain]

aaaaand... hes gone

[@ericevans7741]

this video aged like the finest wine

[@giantblossom2349]

Seeing Bundy getting drafted two picks before Rendon breaks my heart as an Orioles fan.

[@dealyboyz]

11:46 I thought that was josh hader and his name even sounds like it lol

[@isaiahbuse8982]

I make tennis videos, but you're still a huge inspiration for me! Keep up the great work & thank you 4 all you do!

[@brayden9358]

Love the Super Mario Sluggers music

[@SONICX1027]

It’s Superstar Saga

[@andrewsmall8971]

Every time I see the press start button on the beginning of your videos I try to press start on my screen 🤦‍♂️😂🤣

[@thurmanlincoln3612]

INSTANT thumbs up for the Mario Super Sluggers soundtrack in the background

[@ittiejamess1623]

32nd overall *Jake Hager* Jack Swagger played for the brewers????

[@rogregg29445]

The All American American

[@ZenBobwayZ]

rewatching this. i realize this draft class got even better

[@davewills94]

I'd love to see an update video for this draft class on Foolish Bailey, if it's not worth doing on the main channel. 10 years later, at the end of 2021, anyone else make it?

[@cjcable6995]

Clay Holmes is now one of the best relievers in baseball, Woodruff has become a second ace for the Brewers and Chris Bassitt has become an excellent pitcher too. Those were the 3 names that jumped out to me when I looked back at this class and video.

[@bruhppmouth889]

Talking about springers hitting stats in the WS before the trash can scandal happened is hilarious to me

[@kylemissry1863]

Late to this but I recently am running through Superstar Saga again and my ears perked up once I heard the music

[@Anno023]

I'm glad there's Luigi Mansion music, the original is my favorite game of all time

[@TheDonahue10]

Awesome video, only thing that didn’t age well was “springer the best World Series hitter of all time” obviously you didn’t know what the astros did back then haha, amazing video tho, love the channel!

[@JCBcinemas]

LOVE the music selection of Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga

[@joebobdacow7405]

I love dragon quest ty for the music for reminding me to play it again

[@zephyrblayze]

This is all mario series music though

[@joebobdacow7405]

@@zephyrblayze no, it's not

[@FoolishBaseball]

Not Dragon Quest, but Dragon Quest is cool so I won't correct you.

[@zephyrblayze]

@@joebobdacow7405 I mean the video has the music credits at the end, but you can think whatever you want to.

[@bubbas9384]

It’s Mario and Luigi Bowsers inside story

[@brandonyankees1]

Cool to see literal all stars being picked at draft and we have no idea what they would be at time

[@cjcable6995]

I was watching a bunch of baseball bits (and other baseball videos) and came back to this one. Crazy how even more stacked the 2011 draft continues to be. I don't think Woodruff, Bassitt and now Clay Holmes were mentioned here and all 3 have turned themselves into elite pitchers (Holmes adds a third elite pitcher drafted and then poorly developed by Pittsburgh from this draft alone). I looked back at a B/R article redrafting this class in 2020 and they didn't have Woodruff or Holmes yet either.

[@FireballerJack]

+ Tyler Anderson breakout

[@GoombaGuy1996]

Using theme music from Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga. You sir are a legend!

[@edwardmcwilliams8371]

Ahh yes that's the one. I knew it was from a Mario rpg game . Just couldn't remember

[@mrbismarck]

Foolish Baseball and John Bois on the same day. We are all blessed.

[@forceoffriction]

and now we have both Kevin Pillar, AND Brandon Nimmo