By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
May 3, 2011
A long time ago in a Santa Barbara far away, there was a slender left-handed hitting third baseman with exceptional raw power. Back in the day, that kid hit balls (with wood, mind you, not these frying pans they hit with today) out of old Babe Ruth Park in Ventura, Laguna Park in Santa Barbara, and a shot to straight away center field at Wilson High in Long Beach.
Many decades passed, and that infielder went through Santa Barbara to Milwaukee and back. We haven’t seen that kind of raw left-handed power from a Santa Barbara teenager for some time. Now we have.
The first time I saw Riley Moore was at the Area Codes. I saw the BP and then I had to wait almost a week to see him in a game. Moore didn’t waste his chances – my notes recorded hard contact in the game, a solid single. I’ll take it. Then I saw him in scout ball in the Fall. I saw him hit a ball out to 390 straight away to center field in BP, from the left side, of course. There were many scouts there that day, but I am sure I am the only one who thought about the last teenager with raw left-handed power from Santa Barbara.
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By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
April 26, 2011
Man, the 405 freeway sucks, but sometimes I get moments like this: fastball inside corner comes in at 85, goes out to right-center field on a line drive to 90. Real hitters, rare as they come, usually make my drive worthwhile. A few days later, at the field where John Stevenson carried his clipboard for all those years, this guy rapped out three more hits against a right-hander going to the Pac-10. I hope John took his clipboard with him, because I am sure he long ago put a circle around this boy’s name.
The best thing about Trent Gilbert is if I burn an afternoon to go watch him, he always hits for me. I can rattle off some names of some very high profile high school hitters in Southern California over the past two drafts who simply couldn’t hit high school pitching. Some of those guys who slumped then held out. They put themselves behind the 8-ball as young pros. Nobody cares what you did as an amateur once you sign on the dotted line. I never cared about all the excuses about, “Oh, this guy shut me down and messed me up.” Blah blah blah. I’m too nice to call them out. Hit or don’t.
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By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
April 25, 2011
Many cross-checkers and scouting media types tend to come in to see a guy for three innings and leave for another game. You take the risk that the conclusions you make based on the radar gun will tell you what kind of major leaguer a boy is going to be. What they miss are flashes that show you the future – what the boy can do deep in a game, can he execute, can he maintain his velocity – and these are the factors that truly determine how close he is to the majors and what kind of major leaguer he will be. I’ve said it many times before – big league hitters do not care what your gun says.
We’ll skip forward to the eighth inning in Coastal Carolina right-hander Anthony Meo’s outing against Pepperdine. In a close game, with his pitch count past 100 and runners on first and third, Meo flashed stuff, pitch-ability and moxie to go with a big arm. Scouting this situation requires some baseball know-how, where you have to ask yourself why a guy might try to do different things with his stuff based on the situation rather than just air it out in the first inning.
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By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
April 21, 2011
Sometimes in this business, guys grow up right before your eyes. Sometimes, it can literally happen overnight, or from week to week and start to start, especially when you’re dealing with high school athletes. This is why the good scout looks into the future, dreams on a young player who gives you the right signs, doesn’t care what the stats say, doesn’t care what others think, and will end up more right than wrong.
Which brings me to the case of Travis Radke. Along the way, I’ve heard this guy throws standing up, I’ve heard this guy is too quiet, I’ve heard this guy is too thoughtful, I’ve heard this guy is too strictly college, I’ve even heard this guy is too polite. Cop-out excuses, all of them.
OK, you consensus guys. Bury the players and I’ll pick them. Give me a lefty with three pitches, an arm that works, a great body, and a chip on his shoulder – and I’ll give you a guy who can pitch in the big leagues.
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By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
April 1, 2011
(Disclaimer/Editor’s Note: Jack Marder is not related to our web master, Jennifer Marder, though she does think it’s pretty cool that someone with her last name actually has athletic ability. And while we’re at it, I am not related to former NHL player Petr Klima, Czech author Ivan Klima, Sci-fi writer John Klima or artist John Klima. But thanks for asking.)
When Baseball Beginnings started in spring 2009, one of the first kids we visited was Newbury Park HS shortstop Jack Marder. At the time, a lot of scouts had dismissed him. He was too small, he was diabetic, he wasn’t going to get any stronger…basically, they buried him. I never bought it. And when you watch this swing from 2009, you’ll see why.
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Tags: Column, Jack Marder, Jack Marder Update, Jack Marder Video, Oregon
By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
March 30, 2011
This is not a name that is widely known, which makes him my kind of guy. Travis Radke is a tall left-hander whose best years are all in front of him. He’s got all the components I want in left-handed starters – athletic features and durable build, arm speed and fastball command, a curveball he can throw for strikes, and a change-up coming along. In his small school league, the mighty Tri-Valley League, he’s going to have a ton of strikeouts this year. When he gets to the larger world, which for him will begin at Portland next year, Radke is going to be a guy who I think comes along quickly.
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By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
March 29, 2011
Readers here know I have an affinity for the players who have tools and get no fair looks from the majority of pro scouts because too many people in scouting look only for the finished product and don’t look into the future. Somewhere this has changed, and it’s making the game a worse place to be.
I understand the pressure to deliver ready-made players, but the more front offices demand players who do no require development, the more costly busts they will absorb. They will sign too many players who are finished developing at a young age and maximized performance will be confused with upside. They will not have been scouting for the future, but for the present, and this is not scouting projection. This is scouting performance. This is the cardinal sin.
What happens when you have a player who performs but isn’t yet at physical maturity? What happens when that same player comes closer to physical maturity and shows the work ethic and most important tool for a position player closer to the draft? What happens when you have a left-handed hitter with hands – by that I mean bat speed and bat control, the even more scarce commodity that you can take to the bank – and he’s flying under the radar this late in the draft cycle?
You get a guy like Trent Gilbert.
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By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
March 19, 2011
I probably have the longest scouting history on earth for Jason Wheeler, except for the guy who once played for the great Willie Foster. This update comes off a recent look against Hawaii. It was the first time I had seen him pitch since Fall, when I thought he threw the ball very well.
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By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
March 8, 2011
Scott McGough has the potential to become a major league closer. In my first look at him since 2010, he struggled a little bit, but that didn’t diminish my opinion of his overall future potential.
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By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
March 7, 2011
When a guy with five tools who plays in Hawaii gets to the mainland and so close to the airport that you hear the jets taking off, you can be sure to see a ton of scouts in town.
Another thing that amuses me is the notion that somehow, the guy is hidden because he plays in Hawaii. Really? Where were you during the Cape? If people asked me what do you think of this guy, I’d say, want to see what a first rounder looks like?
In a draft where multi-tool position players are hard to come by, Kolten Wong is a rarity – a left-handed hitting second baseman with plus offensive potential. Don’t let the body fool you. The former high school running back has a low center of gravity and is powerfully built through the shoulders, hips and thighs. But that doesn’t make him stiff. Wong has a very live body, which he shows if you keep your eyes open.
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