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Draft  | Prospect Scouting Reports  | 3/31/2017

2017 MLB Draft Pack: March 31

David Rawnsley      Jheremy Brown     
Photo: UNC Athletic Communications

Once a week leading up to the 2017 MLB Draft Perfect Game will provide detailed scouting reports, and video (when available), on 10 of the top draft-eligible prospects. The first report each week will be available for free, the rest can be viewed with a PG Insider subscription. To learn more about Perfect Game’s subscription packages and to sign up today please visit this link.

Previous MLB Draft Packs:

March 17: Nick Allen, Cole Brannen, Michael Gigliotti, Hunter Greene, D.L. Hall, Keston Hiura, Blaine Knight, Corbin Martin, Brendan McKay, Joe Perez.
March 24: Jake Eder, MacKenzie Gore, Colton Hock, Zach Kirtley, Alex Lange, Royce Lewis, Calvin Mitchell, Glenn Otto, Evan Skoug, Cole Turney.

Prospects covered this week: Shane Baz, J.B. Bukauskas, Hans Crouse, M.J. Melendez, Brian Miller, Seth Romero, Kevin Smith, Alejandro Toral, Logan Warmoth, Drew Waters.




Shane Baz – RHP

Height/Weight: 6-3/190
Bats/Throws: R/R
Birthdate: June 17, 1999
High School: Concordia Lutheran
Hometown: Cypress, Texas
Travel Team: Houston Heat
Commitment: TCU
Projected Draft Round: 1S-2

The first time this scout saw Shane Baz was at the 2015 PG Underclass All-American Games and he left an immediate impression with his athleticism and youthful enthusiasm for the game. Baz, of course, was to return to San Diego in 2016 for the PG All-American Classic.

At that time Baz was as much a position player as he was a pitching prospect, but as the report indicates, his future was clearly on the mound. Ironically, some of Baz's most impressive moments at major events, including the 2015 WWBA Underclass World Championship and the 2016 Tournament of Stars, have come when blasting long home runs. He has obvious enjoyment playing a position and swinging the bat and this aspect of his game and his athleticism will help him develop on the mound.

Here is the report I filed after the 2015 Underclass All-American Games.

Very athletic and projectable build. Two-way prospect with a higher ceiling on the mound. Has an easy leg lift delivery and stays over the rubber well, fast and loose arm that really projects. Fastball was up to 91 mph, easy to project mid-90s in his future. Curveball showed hard spin and power at times. Young mechanics and consistency, especially from the stretch. Shows the same type of arm strength from the infield and has athletic actions defensively. Righthanded hitter, nice calm swing with good hand position and path, fluid actions in the box, shows bat speed and developing power. High ceiling physical talent who is still learning to play the game.

Baz has added 10-15 pounds of muscle since then and has developed as projected on the mound. He spent last summer working in the 92-94 mph range and bumping 95 occasionally. Reports out of Texas this spring indicate another jump in velocity, with mid-90s being the norm and his touching as high as 98 mph. Baz tends to overthrow his fastball at times and will go through streaks of wildness with the pitch. Learning better fastball command, even at lower velocities, will be key to his development at the next level.

Where Baz stands out aside from his sheer raw arm strength is in his ability to throw different pitches with quality and actually with better feel and command than his fastball. He throws three separate breaking balls in a curveball, slider and cutter and all have the potential to be plus pitches. The cutter debuted last June and was immediately an extremely impressive pitch, consistently in the upper-80s with sharp, late-darting life. Baz will get between the three pitches at times, which is very understandable for a young pitcher still getting his repetitions, but even then he has power and hard spin on the ball.

Baz also throws a very credible changeup and can realistically come at hitters with five separate and distinct pitches, although the temptation for any pitching coach at any level might be to narrow the inventory for now and concentrate on mastering one or two first before re-expanding. Despite his young fastball command, it's unlikely that any scout will pin a "future reliever" tag on Baz right now. (DR)


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