Baseball Prospect Report

By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
May 28, 2012

Ron Miller is a guy I always liked, even when I knew some people would bury him over the body. Hey look, a lot of your so-called draft darlings are pretty ordinary athletes, but Ron’s got something most don’t — quick twitch muscles in his hands, wrists and forearms.

I get tired of reading that power comes from leverage. OK, I can talk down the first base line with a copy of my two books, Willie’s Boys and Bushville Wins, balanced on my head, but it doesn’t mean I can hit the ever-loving snot out of the baseball. Raw power is hard to find; harder to find is a guy who can bring it into a game. Is he the finished product as a hitter? No, of course not, and he’ll have to learn how to use right field enough to be dangerous, otherwise he’s going to run into the Ron-Ron shift. Here’s a sneak peak at your future spray chart defenses: the shortstop and the third baseman will practically be holding hands, the second baseman will be at short, and the center fielder will be way over in left while the left fielder is getting chalk on his spikes down the line. So take that low-and-away slider and drive it right. That’ll really screw them up.

Great example of a non-showcase kid using natural ability to rise above pay-to-play players of inferior natural ability; great example of a guy working hard within the current system we have to make it. I got no problem putting my name on him, I have for a while, and for the last time, I don’t care if he can’t run. Go show ‘em what a ballplayer looks like.

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Category: '12 Meet the Player | No Comments »
Tags: Ron Miller, Ron Miller Interview

By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
May 1, 2012

(We meant to run this with his last video clip, so here it is instead.)

No love for Ron Miller, which is an absolute shame. I have said it before and I will say it again – Miller and Trey Williams are the best power bats I have seen among Southern California high school players this year. They are the only two guys with bat speed I trust, with strength I trust. You cannot give a guy the ability to make the sound of contact explode in your ear drums. So I’ll take my chances with raw power. Some people will say it’s BP power and the bat won’t play. I don’t agree. I think he’ll hit.

Miller, I bet I know more about this guy by talking to him in 10 minutes than most of the industry has learned, but that’s because I take the time to consider the human element of baseball. This guy has worked hard to get the most out of that which you cannot give him, the hands, speed, wrists, and quickness. I don’t want to hear any scouting jibberish about not wanting to go into black neighborhoods, now. Go where the players are.

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Category: '12 Scouting Updates | No Comments »
Tags: Ron Miller, Ron Miller Update

By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
April 30, 2012

Ron Miller is about the only guy I have ever met who can make a Baum bat sound so good, as he does for most of this video. The rest is earlier Area Codes BP. Maple, meet Ron. Ron, meet Maple. You guys were born for each other.

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Category: 2011 Draft | No Comments »
Tags: Ron Miller, Ron Miller Video

By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
April 4, 2012

Ron Miller is seen here as a growing kid playing scout ball in 2010. This clip starts with him swatting the ball to right field in BP a few times before he starts doing what he does best — turning and burning, gripping and ripping, with easy bat speed and lift.

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Category: '12 Videos | No Comments »
Tags: Ron Miller, Ron Miller Video

By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
March 15, 2012

Number 2 on the Compton Countdown is a guy my old pal Zuk would have loved – Ron Miller.

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Category: '12 Videos, 2012 Draft | No Comments »
Tags: Other Events, Ron Miller, Ron Miller Video

By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
February 15, 2012

Ron Miller’s got raw power. I wrote over the summer that this guy has the bat speed to kill a guy and I’m right.

I was standing alongside the first base dugout with a bunch of other guys Saturday when he cut loose a swing and rifled a foul ball thataway. I mean, this ball was ON YOU. At first, Miller smiled, I am sure he was thinking, either, a) oh crap, I killed a scout, or b) if I killed a scout, maybe it’s one who doesn’t like me, or c) Nobody hurt? Then it’s all good.

But wait, there’s more. A pitch or two later, he fouled another one off the light tower. Literally, the glass from the broken light bulb showered down upon us. It was as close to The Natural as I’ll ever get, so I’d like to thank Ron for that. I sort of felt like hobbling around the complex and pumping my fist in the air, but resisted the temptation. The guy next to me was actually shaking broken light bulb bits out of his air. It was awesome, thanks for the memories.

If the rotting outfield signage is any indication of MLB’s commitment to the upkeep of its wonderful Academy, I’m sure that bulb will be replaced sometime in the year 2018, at which point, Ron might be mashing in the majors and the Academy will be watching him in that big screen in the conference room and putting his name in all its press releases. It is wise never to walk away from raw, plus, plus, right-handed power.

Back to the scouting. Miller’s body looks a lot trimmer. I’ve seen the underground video of him jump roping and lifting weights – I think he ought to take that jump rope out to the on-deck circle in front of all the scouts who go to see him and jump. Do it. Show them the feet are enough for first base because the question they are all asking is what position are you going to play? Miller took ground balls for probably the first and last time at shortstop and his hands were fine. His feet were completely adequate for first. His arm is enough for first. Hey, guess what? From what I saw, I think if he put his mind and body to it, he could train himself to play third, though most people would tell him his feet don’t work well enough for that and he’ll never get the chance. I say, get the jump rope, and check back in a few years. At the very least, the guy can play first base in the National League, so I think he’s helped dispel the notion that he’s an AL or nothing guy. That’s a big step ahead at this stage of his career.

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Category: 2012 Draft | No Comments »
Tags: CJ Saylor, Daniel Robertson, Jose Munoz, Kamal Muhammad, Kevin Maxey, Other Events, Rio Ruiz, Ron Miller, Sammy Ayala, Tanner Rahier, Tim Lopes, Trey Williams, Tyrone Taylor, Vahn Bozoian

By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
August 6, 2011

I like Max Fried’s name. Namely because I can play with it – is it “freed,” as in, I would have been freed at 7 if they hadn’t stretched the last game of the night to nine innings – or is it, “fried,” as in, I am fried after digging through prospects. I’m not sure.

I can say that Fried, who might be coming to a High School near you, improved significantly since I saw him here last summer. Thinner, taller, smoother and you can’t give a guy a breaking ball. Another Southern California lefty, Kyle Twomey is smooth and sneaky fast, which is what it says on my scouting cards, but could also be the name of a band. And a couple of California right-handers, Chase De Jong and Justin Garza, get results in different ways – one guy growing into his arm and the other sneaky quick.

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Category: 2012 Draft | No Comments »
Tags: 2011 Area Code Games, Austin Fairchild, C.J. Hinojosa, Chase De Jong, Clint Coulter, Courtney Hawkins, Justin Black, Justin Garza, Kyle Twomey, Leon Byrd Jr., Lucas Giolito, Max Fried, Riley Ferrell, Ron Miller, Sheldon Neuse, Stryker Trahan, Tanner Rahier, Teddy Stankiewicz

By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
November 24, 2010

Had a few looks at the Brewers elite team this fall. As usual, I didn’t see each guy, each week. Here’s what the notes say, alphabetically.

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Category: 2011 Draft, 2012 Draft, 2013 Draft | No Comments »
Tags: Aaron Brown, Adam Ehrlich, Brewers Elite, Christian Lopes, Dante Flores, Desmond Henry, Dominick Smith, Max Homick, Ron Miller, Rouric Bridgewater, Tim Lopes, Travis Harrison, Trent Boras