FORT MYERS, Fla. – There was a strange weather dynamic at this year’s 20th Perfect Game World Showcase, with rain and chilly temperatures most of the day Saturday and down-right cold (reported wind-chill in the 20s) on Sunday morning.
It might be tempting to assume that those somewhat adverse weather conditions might have a detrimental effect on the prospects in attendance from this hemisphere’s warmer climate zones, including the 14 that made the trip to Southwest Florida from Puerto Rico.
But Saturday’s – and in the case of the 60-yard dash, Sunday’s – workout results dispelled any such conspiracy theory. Four of the top-five 60-yard dash clockings were turned in by class of 2017 Puerto Ricans, including an event-best of 6.37-seconds from Carlos Diaz.
Two of the top three velocities recorded on throws across the infield belonged to Puerto Ricans, including the event-best velo of 92 mph produced by Christopher De Guzman. Not to be outdone, three of the best seven outfield throws, velo-wise, were rifled in by Puerto Ricans, including a 93-mph effort form Ezequial Pagan, which ranked No. 2.
And then there were the catchers’ workouts, where the efforts of only one 18-year-old from Las Piedras, P.R., were needed to dominate the leader-board. Six-foot, 200-pound top prospect Santis Sanchez recorded an event-best 88 mph throw from behind home plate to second base and a catcher’s Pop time of 1.88-seconds, which was good for fourth-best.
He seemed to more than live up to his No. 112 overall national ranking (No. 4 in Puerto Rico) and corresponding numbers of 6 and 1 at the catchers’ position in his class. The cold weather could not slow the always-smiling Sanchez down.
“This is a little tough for me because I come from Puerto Rico where there’s always very warm weather,” the Spanish-speaking Sanchez said through an interpreter while bundled up in a sweatshirt before the start of Sunday’s first game at Terry Park Stadium, an early-morning hour (8:30 a.m.) when everyone in attendance was feeling every bit of that 20-degree wind-chill. “But this is part of the process and I’m happy to be here.”
Ah, the process. Every draft-eligible prospect has learned how to respect and manage it, and if he hasn’t he will learn how to very soon or be left behind in the big wake of the boat that’s about to leave the harbor.
The 2017 PG World Showcase – which ran this weekend at Terry Park in conjunction with the PG World Uncommitted Showcase and the PG National Underclass East Showcase – represents the last opportunity for Puerto Rican high school seniors eligible for the MLB June Amateur Draft to be seen in front of MLB and Perfect Game scouts on the mainland.
“I came here to show off my ability in front of the scouts and maybe get the opportunity to play in the major leagues in the future,” Sanchez said. “This is a nice experience because I’m able to share it with other baseball players who also want to be in the major leagues and it’s nice for me to be here with everyone.”
The only other opportunity members of PG’s scouting department have had to watch Sanchez up-close was at the PG Caribbean Top Prospect Showcase held in November in San Juan, P.R. His scouting report from that event could not have been any more glowing, with the young man described as a prospect with a “big and extra-strong athletic build, especially in the lower half. … Elite arm strength behind the plate … (and) very accurate with his throws. … Right-handed hitter … (with) present bat speed who can put a charge into the ball on his pitch.” Sanchez received a perfect 10.0 grade from PG scouts at the 2016 PG Caribbean Top.
At this weekend’s PG World, the accolades continued: “(Sanchez) put on a defensive show with plus arm strength from behind the plate but also swung it well at the plate … showing hard carry off the barrel to all fields, especially to the pull-side.”
“The first reason Santis is so interesting is that when we were at the Caribbean Showcase in November, we didn’t know anything about him; he had never been to a Perfect Game Showcase,” PG Vice President of Player Personnel David Rawnsley said Sunday while trying to find a bit of refuge from the biting wind.
“So here we have a kid that 6-2, 205 or 210 and has the best arm of any catcher in this class. He has a big, loose swing (and) lots of bat-speed, so he’s a power-power player with the power in his bat and then the power arm … and (overall) he’s just a pretty good baseball player.”
Sanchez described a life back home where he gets up in the morning and takes classes – including English lessons – and then heads out to the field to practice and participate in local league play. It’s a life that revolves around baseball almost 24/7.
For and 18-year-old, Sanchez wears very handsomely a kind-of baby face and at first-glance he might appear to be one of those prospects that could stand to lose a few pounds. Rawnsley balks at that notion, noting that while Sanchez has a big body, he’s big in the places scouts like to see a catcher big in – the core, thighs and gluts – and he only needs to work at adding a little more tone to his physique.
“He’s got the mobility and the straight-ahead speed, and watching him catch he’s got that athletic quickness,” Rawnsley said. “You watch him throw, and that arm is so loose. It’s a little bit of a long release but he’ll have no trouble throwing people out even with a little bit of a long release because of that arm strength; it’s an easy plus big league-caliber tool.”
His presence at the PG World Showcase gives him one more opportunity to better understand how this MLB draft process works. He’s been pleased with the physical development of his game and realizes now that he needs to do a lot of growing up between now and the draft. Life in the United States is different than the one he knows back home in Puerto Rico and it will become radically different if he signs a professional contract.
“We’re very glad to have him here and, obviously, the scouts from the 30 (MLB) teams that are here are excited to see him in different environments, too,” Rawnsley said. “He’s going to be a guy the international scouts are really going to focus on prior to the draft.”