It came as a complete shock. We were hearing second to fifth round.
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Southern Arkansas righthander Hayden Simpson on being selected by the Cubs with the 16th pick in the 2010 amateur draft. As Simpson acknowledged, his selection came as a surprise to most observers, but as Cubs scouting director Tim Wilken told Cubs.com, “This guy just made sense. [The prognosticators] can say what they want to. It was very, very simple, but you had to say, ‘Hey, wait a minute, this is almost too good to be true.’”
Wilken and his scouts have characterized the pitching style of the six-foot, 175-pound Simpson as “a cross between Roy Oswalt and Tim Lincecum.”
Simpson was 13-1, 1.81 in 15 starts this season for Division II Southern Arkansas. As quoted in the Tribune, Simpson says, “I don’t see any problem with me signing.”
