Scouting Video: Joe Munoz, 3B, #90, Diamondbacks (2012 Draft)
By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
July 18, 2012
Joe Munoz is seen here taking BP. Loose, athletic body, whippy swing, so on and so forth. Is that leg kick all the way gone yet?
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Because The Hat said so: Catching up with Diamondbacks RHP Prospect Trevor Bauer
By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
February 29, 2012
Bauer 2009: He picked the school, but the hat picked him. (Photos: UCLA)
Pretty soon, there will be more e-bay pages of Trevor Bauer stuff than Trevor Bauer actually has pitches. And if you know anything about Bauer, you know that’s really saying something. One item I am most certain you will not see for sale anytime soon is Bauer’s legendary UCLA hat. I imagine the moment that Bauer first met this hat had to be something like the sorting hat scene from the Harry Potter movies: “This one is highly ambitious, clever and cunning, creative and crafty, not for the common mold. Oh, skipped his senior year of high school ball for this fitting? Send him to the house of Savage, and leave him be for three.”
And then, of course, the hat faded from Bruin blue to battery acid. At least the sorting hat got washed off every now and then, or at least I think it did. But like Crash Davis said, when you put up big numbers, you can do whatever the hell you want and the media will think you’re colorful.
As Bauer said to me a few days ago, “You were really the first person on the bandwagon before there was a bandwagon.” In 2009, literally a few weeks after we started the site, I went out and put Tim Lincecum Jr. on this guy. Then in the 2010 College World Series, he’s on TV, and we’ve got all these hits from Bristol…and the play-by-play guys are calling him Timmy Jr., thinking the fading hat is colorful, and wondering what the hell this guy is doing with the rubber bands and the wiggle stick.
Catching up with Diamondbacks 3B Prospect Ryan Wheeler
By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
February 17, 2012
Wheeler in the Day (photo: Baseball Beginnings)
Ryan Wheeler is the classic example of why, as a scout, you must refute the notion that “there are no secrets.”
Man, I love Wheeler. Pretty soon he’ll have a dollar for everyone who missed him.
He played more basketball than baseball. And when he played baseball, you would have seen a left-handed high school hitter with a smooth, easy swing. Now, about five years later, he’s knocking on the door of the big leagues. This is a guy who was going to beg his way onto a junior college team until he tripped into Loyola Marymount.
Catching Up with Diamondbacks 3B prospect Matt Davidson
By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
January 23, 2012
Davidson in the Day. (photo: Baseball Beginnings)
I remember the first time I watched Matt Davidson. This was in 2009 and we had just started the site. I had heard about him and so I drove all the way out to Yucaipa, smeared on a ton of sunscreen, and brought out the old video camera that weighed about five pounds.
I always remember the orange metal bat he was hitting with and I remember how he looked like he hated swinging the thing. But back in the days when scouts used to be able to work out players after high school games, you might get real lucky and see a high school kid hit with wood. I learned a lot about Davidson that day, starting with the video of the wood BP you can revisit after the jump.
Baseball Beginnings on Anthony Meo, No. 63, Diamondbacks
By Jen Marder
June 8, 2011
The Arizona Diamondbacks selected Anthony Meo in the 2nd round (63rd overall) in the 2011 MLB Draft. Baseball Beginnings has been scouting Meo from the start of the draft cycle. Enjoy links to the content we have published on him through the year.
Watch Anthony Meo Video
Read Anthony Meo Scouting Report
Read Anthony Meo Scouting Update
Baseball Beginnings on Archie Bradley, No. 7, Diamondbacks
By Jen Marder
June 6, 2011
Today the Arizona Diamondbacks selected Archie Bradley in the 1st round (#7 overall) in the 2011 MLB Draft. Baseball Beginnings has been scouting Bradley from the start of the draft cycle. Enjoy links to the content we have published on him through the year.
Watch Archie Bradley Video
Watch more Archie Bradley Video
Read Archie Bradley Scouting Report
Read Summer 2010 Archie Bradley Scouting Update
Watch 2009 Archie Bradley Video
Baseball Beginnings on Trevor Bauer, No. 3, Diamondbacks
By Jen Marder
June 6, 2011
Today the Arizona Diamondbacks selected Trevor Bauer in the 1st round (#2 overall) in the 2011 MLB Draft. Baseball Beginnings has been scouting Bauer from the start of the draft cycle. Enjoy links to the content we have published on him through the year.
Read Dear Cole and Bauer
Watch Trevor Bauer Video
Read Trevor Bauer Scouting Report
Watch Trevor Bauer Video
Watch more Trevor Bauer Video
Watch more Trevor Bauer Video
Watch more Trevor Bauer Video
2010 Draft Recap: Arizona Diamondbacks
By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
June 23, 2010
(Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of 2010 Draft Recaps. The teams will be listed in alphabetical order.)
If you are a pitcher and have a pulse, the Arizona Diamondbacks took a look at you prior to the 2010 draft.
Scouting video/Q&A with Ryan Wheeler (2009 Draft, Arizona Diamondbacks, LMU, Torrance HS)
By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
June 17, 2010
It is a sad day in the life of the young minor league ballplayer when his last good bat breaks – on the road, no less. What he’s left with is the stock wood the parent club gives the kids. For those unfamiliar with how this feels for a young player, it’s a little bit like trying to cut a tin can with a plastic knife. As if the life on the road isn’t lonely enough, it is a little rougher to do it without a bat that feels right and helps create solid contact.
Solid contact has always been what Ryan Wheeler is about. Drafted in the 5th round of the 2009 draft from Loyola Marymount, Wheeler is in his first full pro season at Class A Visalia in the California League, where Baseball Beginnings had a fresh look at Wheeler playing at Lancaster.
Scouting Update/Report: Ryan Wheeler (2009 Draft, Arizona Diamondbacks, LMU, Torrance HS)
By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
June 17, 2010
Ryan Wheeler is at the developmental stage where is learning to remember to dance with the lady who brought him to the dance. In his case, it’s his hands and his swing. Always a gap hitter, Wheeler hasn’t had much difficulty making consistent contact in the California League. On the road between college and the big leagues, Wheeler is learning to find the same load that will allow him to retain his natural swing, but also drive through the ball and generate lift. Peering into the future, I think 30 home runs per season is a reach, but 19-21 as a major leaguer isn’t.
