As
part of Perfect Game's recurring 'Before They Were Pros' series David
Rawnsley will take a look at some of the top prospects in minor
league baseball and their impact on the sport prior to their
professional careers. This will be done in a six-part series, one
feature for each division in Major League Baseball while identifying
one of the top prospects for each team. Links are provided below to
past installments of the 'Before They Were Pros' series for other
reports on prospects, both past and present.
Houston
Astros
Before
They Were Pros, 2013-14
– Carlos Correa, Mark Appel, Mike Foltynewicz, Lance McCullers
Before
They Were Pros, 2014-15
– Brett Phillips, Colin Moran
Alex
Bregman, SS
Bregman's
amateur career wasn't the longest on record but it may have seemed
like it to many. The New Mexico native first put himself on the
national scene back in 2010 as the star of the USA National 16u team,
a performance that won him the USA Baseball Player of the Year award.
He hit .678 with 19 home runs as a junior. However, even back then,
Bregman carried the tag with scouts, "Outstanding baseball
player, very good hitter, only an average athlete."
Bregman
put on an power show at the 2011 PG National Showcase and was named a
Perfect Game All-American but the real intrigue followed watching
Bregman catch. Following the lead of the scout's tag on him, which
implied that he would have trouble staying in the middle infield as
the game sped up, Bregman popped a 1.87 in drills and looked like a
natural behind the plate. With his established offensive tools and
instincts for the game, it certainly was a future possibility at that
point.
A
broken knuckle on his right hand cost Bregman most of his senior
spring season, and likely the catching experiment, but he was
considered a difficult sign out of his Louisiana State scholarship
regardless. The Red Sox took an unsuccessful flier on him in the 29th
round.
Bregman's
career at LSU has been well chronicled but it stands out for a couple
of things. The first was, again defying the scout's tag on his
athleticism, that he strongly established that not only could he stay
in the middle infield that he could stay at shortstop and actually be
an above average defensive player at that position. Second, that
athleticism that was so marginal didn't keep him from stealing 38
bases as a junior, along with knocking out 34 extra-base hits.
Lastly, his hitting ability and instincts shined in the area that
analysts love; he walked 36 times as a junior and struck out only 22
times.
Throughout
last spring one could sense that the old scout tag on Bregman still
applied, though. His stock slowly crept up almost week by week as he
did what he's always done on the baseball field. Despite already
having the best young shortstop in baseball in Carlos Correa, the
Astros picked him second overall in the 2015 MLB Draft and signed him
for a $5.9 million bonus.
Los
Angeles Angels
Before
They Were Pros, 2013-14
– Kaleb Cowart, Randal Grichuk
Before They Were Pros, 2014-15
– Nick Tropeano, Cam Bedrosian
Joe
Gatto, RHP
Gatto
made his first appearance at a Perfect Game event as a 14-year old at
the 2011 New Jersey Pitcher/Catcher Indoor Showcase. He topped out at
81 mph with a super projectable young build and showed good feel for
his curveball and changeup. Gatto bumped his velocity up to 88 mph
that summer while pitching in multiple WWBA events for the Tri-State
Arsenal. He threw in one showcase during the 2012 summer, earning a
PG Grade of 9.5 at the Mid-Atlantic Showcase while topping out at 90
mph.
So
no one was really expecting fireworks when Gatto took the mound at
the 2013 PG National Showcase but that's what the New Jersey
righthander provided. Gatto topped out at 94 mph with a curveball up
to 78 and was an easy choice for the PG All-American Classic. This
scout's notes from the event were as positive as could be.
+
build, deep quick arm circle, bit cross body, arm works + well, hides
ball, very polished and balanced delivery, good ASR and sink on FB,
big sharp downer curveball, CB potential + pitch, all pitches have +
life and fills up the bottom half of the zone, could have pitched at
any level for those 30 pitches, very impressive.
Gatto's
performance and raw stuff the rest of the summer and into the
following spring was consistent with his national showing but
inconsistent command and mechanics haunted him at times and likely
kept him out of the first round. The Angels drafted him with the 53rd
overall pick in the 2014 draft and signed him out of a North Carolina
scholarship with a $1.2 million bonus.
Oakland
Athletics
Before
They Were Pros, 2013-14
– Addison Russell, Michael Choice, Bobby Wahl, Daniel Robertson
Before
They Were Pros, 2014-15
– Matt Olson, Chad Pinder
Casey
Meisner, RHP
Meisner
was a classic projection draft coming out of a Houston-area high
school, a very slender 6-foot-7, 190-pound righthander who had most
of the positive signs of that type of prospect, along with some of
the drawbacks. The Mets drafted Meisner with their third round pick,
84th overall, and signed him away from a Texas Tech scholarship for
$500,000, about $140,000 under the assigned value of that slot.
Aside
from his obvious physical projectability, Meisner's biggest two
biggest pluses in an evaluation was that he was already bumping 92
mph during the summer prior to his senior year and that he showed
good command and feel for his secondary pitches, a 73 mph curveball
and an upper-70s changeup. One didn't have to do a whole lot of
dreaming on Meisner's velocity, as he would surely add a few ticks
just through physical maturity. And one could project with some
confidence that he would be able to throw strikes and compete at the
lower minor league levels as he did mature physically.
One
drawback that held this scout bit a back on his overall evaluation
was that Meisner tended to lose velocity, and sometimes significant
velocity, both during the course of an outing and also out of the
stretch. He would start at game at 89-91 mph, maybe touch a 92, then
be 86-88 mph in the second inning and even lower after that, with
similar reductions in raw stuff from the stretch. This is not
uncommon among physically immature pitching prospects but it is
always a consideration.
Meisner
had a strong and consistent spring and performed well when
cross-checked. He also put in a strong outing at the PG Pre-Draft
Showcase in mid-May, just weeks before the 2013 draft, topping out at
92 mph with big downhill plane, and, as he usually did, while
throwing strikes with his secondary pitches.
Seattle
Mariners
Before
They Were Pros, 2013-14
– Taijuan Walker, Edwin Diaz, Tyler Marlette
Before
They Were Pros, 2014-15
– D.J. Peterson, Austin Wilson
Drew
Jackson, SS
Fans
are sometimes confused when scouts overlook performance and chase
tools. Jackson, the Mariners fifth round pick in 2015 out of Stanford
and the Northwest League batting champion and Most Valuable Player,
would be a classic example in support of scouts if first impressions
are to be followed.
Jackson,
who is the younger brother of former Cubs outfielder Brett Jackson,
was a well known prospect growing up in California and was considered
a potential top three round pick by scouts in that area. He played at
the 2011 PG National Showcase and received a PG Grade of 10. His
report read as follows:
Tall
angular build, plenty of room to add strength, good physical
projection. 6.60 runner, smooth defensive actions, works thru the
ball well, soft sure hands, quick easy exchange, good carry to his
throws. Righthanded hitter, open crouched stance, tends to lean off
and loose balance, short swing, lacks present strength in his hands
and wrists, line drive swing plane, hits to all fields. Glove will
carry while the bat develops. Excellent student.
The
comment about the bat needing time to develop proved prophetic.
Jackson hit .207-0-4 in 82 at-bats as a Stanford freshman and
.167-0-4 in 108 at-bats as a sophomore. Then he followed up with a
.196-1-7 performance in the 2014 Cape Cod League. He improved
significantly as a junior, but still played in only 40 games and hit
.320-0-9.
Scouts
still knew that Jackson had high level tools and athleticism despite
the lack of numerical proof. The 70 grade arm strength and the 60
grade speed and overall defensive ability would play if the bat would
just improve. Based on his .358-2-26 professional debut, with 47
steals in 59 games, it looks like it has.
Texas
Rangers
Before
They Were Pros, 2013-14
– Roughned Odor, Luis Sardinas, Nick Williams, Joey Gallo
Before
They Were Pros, 2014-15
– Alex Gonzalez, Lewis Brinson, Travis Demeritte
Luis
Ortiz, RHP
Ortiz
is one of those feel good stories that one comes along in baseball
every so often. He was raised by his single mother and an extended
family in a farming community outside of Fresno, Calif., and has
never met his father. Ortiz also battled weight problems early in his
high school playing days with reports having him weighing north of
260 pounds in his early teen years before losing 45 pounds prior to
his junior year.
Ortiz
was simply outstanding at the 2013 PG National Showcase, working
consistently in the 93-95 mph range with a 84 mph slider that was a
legitimate plus big league pitch at times. That put him solidly near
the top of the pitching prospect chart for the 2014 class and secured
him a spot on the PG All-American team. Ortiz also made the USA
National 18u team as the team's closer and was so efficient at that
role he was named MVP of the International World Cup that was won by
the US team.
The
potent one-two combination of a plus fastball and slider, plus Ortiz'
still burly build and success in the closer role, did threaten to
potentially mark Ortiz as a future reliever, something this scout
worried parts of the scouting community would do. But Ortiz seemed
almost to be aware of this undercurrent of talk and always mixed in
other pitches during showcase outings. Sometimes it was a mid-70s
curveball that was distinctly different from the power slider and at
other times it was a changeup/cutter combination that he showed good
feel for.
Ortiz
suffered a scare early in his senior spring season when he missed
some time with a forearm strain but recovered quickly, finishing the
season with a 1.04 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 43 innings and threw well
leading up to the draft. The Rangers picked him with the 30th overall
pick and signed the Fresno State commit for a $1,760,000 bonus.