Brett Jacobson and the PG Predraft

Once we learned that Brett Jacobson's high school team had lost their playoff game, we asked him if he wanted to pitch in the PG Predraft. We've always liked Brett and had come to realize he comes on very strong later in the year. Perfect Game's Kirk Gardner (Wisconsin Blazers coach) told him we could get him in. Last year he attended the PG National at Tropicana field in June. He also played for Gardner's Blazer team in the PG/BA World Championships.

June - Here is our report on him from the PG National:

Brett Jacobson is a tall lean MLB bodied RHP from Carefree, AZ. Jacobson is a 6-6 right hander with a young body and a present 90 mph fastball. His delivery and arm action are clean and he's just going to keep improving. He is very athletic to go with his extremely projectable body. He ran a fast 6.85 60 to show that athleticism. He also can swing the bat. He has nice balanced mechanics and a live fast arm. His CB was good in the mid 70s and he showed a slider in the upper 70s. He also turned over a couple nice change ups. He's a fairly sure shot to end up throwing mid 90s or even higher. Jacobson could move way up the prospect lists quickly over the next few months. Possible high draft pick and highest caliber college pitcher. Brett is an excellent student.

Jacobson threw very well and we strongly considered selecting him to the AFLAC All American Classic. Looking at him later in the year, it became obvious that we probably should have selected him.

October - The PG/BA WWBA World Championship

Moving forward to the PG/BA WWBA World Championships, Jacobson pitching for the Wisconsin Blazers went head to head with the Dallas Panthers. The Panthers had several highest level prospects including AFLAC All Americans like Ben Booker and Ryan DeLaughter. This time we saw Jacobson at his best, mowing down the hitters with a 93 mph fastball (touching 94) and very good breaking ball. He was getting a real good downward angle on his fastball and showed nice smooth mechanics.

I sat there with a MLB Scouting Director talking about some of the top pitching prospects at the event. Here's a few of the many outstanding pitchers at that event.

Zach Putnam (MI), Buster Posey (GA), Mike Bowden (IL), Bradley Clark (FL), Brandon Erbe (MD), Kyle Hancock (TX), Jeremy Hellickson (IA), Tyler Herron (FL), Shooter Hunt (NJ), Jeff Lyman (CA), Thomas Mendoza (FL), Matt Olson (VA), David Phelps (MO), Iain Sebastian (GA), Scott Taylor (VA), Chris Volstad (FL), Josh Wall (LA), David Duncan (OH), Wade Miley (LA), Travis Wood (AR), and many more. Top underclassmen like Kyle Drabek (TX), Dellin Betances (NY), Ryan Jenkins (TX), Josh Thrailkill (NC), Gavin Brooks (CA), Clayton Kershaw (TX), Kasey Kiker (AL), Corey Rasmus (AL), Aaron Miller (TX), and many other highly regarded pitching prospects.

The Scouting Director and I agreed that Brett Jacobson was one of the better prospects in the entire event. Very much a potential early pick.

This Year

Jacobson plays basketball and started the high school season behind most top rated pitchers as far as conditioning. Early on he was not as sharp as he was late last year. He was scheduled to pitch the next game after his high school team was beat out. We didn't expect Brett to travel to Cedar Rapids Iowa on such short notice, but we felt it might help him if he did.

Here was the plan:

Jacobson, being the competitor he is, booked a flight to Cedar Rapids. For those that have flown to Cedar Rapids, you know this is not an easy or cheap flight. Jacobson's schedule was set up to fly into Cedar Rapids arriving at approximately 3PM. Then rush directly to the Ball Park and get ready to pitch. We scheduled his appearance for 4PM. Once done pitching he was to rush to the airport and catch the 5:30PM flight back to Arizona so he wouldn't miss another day of school. We really thought twice about the difficulty of someone flying all day, jumping off the plane, pitching in front of a hundred or so highest level scouts, and rushing out of there to catch a plane. Talk about Barn Storming!

What happened:

Brett Jacobson's had to go through Denver. After a short lay over, the plane he was catching to Cedar Rapids got delayed because of engine trouble. He tried to catch another plane and finally they told him he might not be able to catch a flight until the next day. After trying every conceivable option as he talked to our staff over his cell phone, we finally decided he should head back home. So all in all, you could say it was a wasted day. All for naught, nothing gained.

But Think About

This How many highest level pitching prospects would have the confidence, let alone fortitude to attempt such a risky adventure. In ways, this speaks volumes regarding the makeup of Brett Jacobson. One of the very few pitchers we've had who would do such a thing was Scott Kazmir (now in the Big Leagues). If there was a big important game or event, Scott Kazmir was going to get to it. Fear was never part of the equation. Seems like we found another guy with the same attitude. So Brett Jacobson was technically a no show. Except, MLB Scouting Departments need to know what really happened. He did not pitch, but the effort he put forth and his fearlessness should score extra high. I know it scores high too us.

Is he signable?

We don't know Jacobson's signability as he has committed early to Vanderbilt. We have no idea what it's going to take to sway him from that great school and program. What we do know is this... Brett Jacobson must be very interested in the draft and if things work out he must be signable. What other reason would he have for doing what he did to attend a Predraft Camp in Cedar Rapids Iowa a few weeks before the draft?