Showing posts with label Hunter Pence trade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hunter Pence trade. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Grayson College Scouting Report

Here are the scouting reports on Grayson College:

Trey Barker is a lefty with decent looking size but wasn't throwing very hard. He has a Tim Lincecum type turn in his delivery with a sharp breaking ball with nice tilt but he doesn't have much control of it.

Colin Tillini is a right-handed pitcher that throws a 85 MPH split/slider and reasonably hard fastball. He also showed what looked like a slow curve. He didn't have much control, especially over his breaking stuff, and missed a lot to his arm side. There is a lot of moving parts in his delivery, but it is a fluid motion. I thought he was one of the better stuff guys of the weekend but also had some of the worst control of the weekend.

Cody Krabbe is a sidearm/submarine RHP (it seemed lower than the traditional sidearm, but wasn't quite Chad Bradford). He throws reasonably hard for his delivery and predictably took care of right-handed batters easily. He can change speeds, even though the movement wasn't really there, and showed off solid command/control. 

Luke Jones is a RHP with deception created by a hip turn. He throws an 89 MPH fastball that was perhaps a little more hittable than I thought it would be. His breaking ball is 73 MPH and comes low and in on lefties. It could be how he controls platoon splits (that may be created by his delivery) if he can gain some control over it, as it has really nice break.

Mike Nolan is a tall left-handed pitcher that throws a straight fastball that isn't very hard. He has some armside tail on a secondary pitch, a changeup that he seemed to throw more to lefties (which is slightly strange). He made a couple of left-handed batters look really bad.



Zach Brown is a right-handed pitcher that is a little short but has one of the easiest looking deliveries you will ever see. He was obviously pitching to contact and was really hittable with a mediocre curveball.


Tim Drozo was fooled on breaking pitches. Zach Reding is a left-handed hitter with some size and power that also plays centerfield. The concern is that his bat is a little slow. Michael Gill saw a lot of breaking balls but did a decent job of laying off of them. He looks athletic.
Kevin Cornelius is sort of small, but has decent bat speed to go with plate coverage and a good swing. He doesn't have much power or patience though, and was really burned on breaking balls.
Hunter Courson was doing a nice job behind the plate, blocking some pitches but some really wild pitchers. He is not big and doesn't have a great arm, but it is good enough. He showed some pull power on a ball almost in the dirt and runs well for a catcher.
Austin Krajnak is a right-handed batter that plays catcher, but doesn't look or run like one. At the plate, he has an open stance but leans back when the ball is thrown and gets on top of it too much.
James Gillean is a below average runner, but plays a solid 2nd-base with good arm and range. 

Robert Rosser doesn't look like a 1st baseman but played it for Grayson. He chases just about everything and tries to make up for it with good plate coverage and contact ability. He doesn't look like he will produce much power in his current frame. The left-handed batter with an open stance had all of the bad tendencies and awkwardness of Hunter Pence. He played a solid right-field as well and made a good catch out there.

Cody Gunter was a good looking 3rd baseman that also pitches (RHP) according to the roster (I didn't see him pitch though). He has decent size and is a left-handed batter that showed opposite field power and took some close pitches. He consistently hit the ball hard.

Sharka Starling can run, and that is his best tool. He is going to try to bunt and play that kind of baseball. His swing is not great and he didn't always look great at the plate. He played right-field, and I really wanted to see him play center-field, but he dropped a really easy fly ball.  Here is some video of him batting:



Homero Ortiz is a 1st baseman that is short and stocky with a quick swing. He is a pull hitter that can hit lefties as a lefty and there looks like there is some pop in the bat. He also chases a lot of pitches though and is a bad defensive first baseman without any kind of running value. As a pitcher, the big lefty has okay velocity but his fastball is pretty straight and hittable. His slow curve doesn't have much loop to it. I doubt he can live with it as a strike. He also has a change with good late movement, and that is his best pitch.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Times to 1st: Part 4


1. Jorge Soler (Cubs A): 4.40

2. Jason Heyward (Braves): 4.10

3. Freddie Freeman (Braves): 4.51

4. Andruw Jones (Yankees): 4.41

5. Russell Martin (Yankees): 4.55

6. Tyler Greene (Astros): 4.04

7. Brian Bogusevic (Astros): 4.28

8. Mike Baxter (Mets): 4.33

9. Vernon Wells (Angels): 4.32

10. Bryce Harper (Nationals): (about) 4.00 (thanks to Kevin Goldstein)

11. Erik Kratz (Phillies): 4.58

12. Denard Span (Twins): 3.60 (on a bunt)

13. Hunter Pence (Giants): 4.10

14. Hector Sanchez (Giants): 4.47

15. Reed Johnson (Braves): 4.22

16. Chipper Jones (Braves): 4.54

17. Ben Revere (Twins): 4.06

18. Mike Olt (Rangers) 4.39

19. Joe Mauer (Twins): 4.30

20. Chris Herrman (Twins AA): 4.67

Monday, October 10, 2011

The Astros top prospect: Jarred Cosart

The Astros have had a miserable farm system for the past few years (their AA team in Corpus had one of the worst minor league seasons in history in 2011), but they have been able to bring in a few prospects by dealing some of their better major league players the past couple of years. Among these is Jarred Cosart, now listed as the Astros' top prospect for 2011 by MLB.com. Cosart was part of the Hunter Pence trade, and had never pitched past A ball for the Phillies. With 3 different levels of A ball for Philly, his PE was a very nice -6.42, mainly as a starter. His FIP (Fielder Independent ERA) was excellent in '09 and '10 (2.13 and 2.47), but wasn't as good in 2011 with the Philly organization (4.00). He gave up less than a homer every 18 innings in A ball, and left around 63% of runners on base. When the Astros acquired Cosart, he went straight to AA, and every start was summarized and discussed on the big league broadcast. He made 7 of these starts, and had a PE of 2.82, less than impressive. There are two ways to look at his time in AA. His FIP was lower than his normal ERA, meaning that bad fielding by his teammates inflated his ERA. However, his FIP was still higher than it had ever been in A ball, and he struck out less than he had struck out in A. Also, his BABIP was lower than t had been in A in 2011. This is probably luck, since his other numbers don't show he was impressive. This means that next year in AA could be worse, unless he makes significant improvements. He also gave up about a HR about every 9 innings, and had two flat tire starts where he gave up at least 7 runs in 4 innings or less (including giving up 4 homers in his final start). Cosart is rated high, but he is still very far away before he is ready to pitch for the Major League team.