One
of the more fascinating topics in any baseball draft is identifying
the players with the most eye-popping tools—the players that can
hit the ball farther than anyone, or run the fastest, or throw the
hardest.
There
are many other tools beyond those basic three that scouts grade when
evaluating prospects, and we’ll take an up-close look at 11
categories in all—five that are uniquely applicable to
hitters/position players, five that are inherent with pitching, and
the catch-all category of best athlete than can spill over to any
position.
With
2011 acknowledged as one of the best and deepest draft classes in
many years, perhaps ever, it figures that any accounting of “Best
Tools” this year is going to include some very notable players.
Scouts
are loathe to hand out perfect 80 grades on the standard 20-80
scouting scale, and aren’t especially generous when it comes to
doling out a 70, either. But one area where that has been unavoidable
this year is on fastball grades, where pure velocity is the
overwhelming determining factor in assigning a grade, as movement and
command are considered separately.
It
should be noted that when a scout evaluates a fastball, he is looking
at velocity in the pitcher’s comfort zone is, not at what he tops
out at. If a particular pitcher sits comfortably at 88-90 mph, but
will bump a 93 once in a while outside the strike zone, he’ll grade
the pitcher with a 40/45 fastball based on the comfort range, not on
the rare 93.
A
story was circulated in scouting circles in mid-May that one team had
gone through all its 2011 scouting reports and found that there were
more than 100 draft-eligible pitchers, at all levels, that had
touched 95 mph, a seemingly incredible number for one draft class.
But it is also quite believable for those who have closely followed
the depth in the 2011 class.
In
every major-league scouting system, there is a standard accounting of
the grades associated with fastball velocity. Generally, it slots
nicely into the following: 89-91 mph (50), 92-94 (60), 95-97 (70),
98+ (80).
Based
on that scale, UCLA righthander Gerrit Cole and Kentucky righthander
Alex Meyer, both elite-level prospects, have at least 70 fastballs as
they have generally sat in the 96-99 mph range this spring. Other
college pitchers such as Santa Clara righthander J.R. Graham and
Johnson County (Kan.) CC righthander Jeff Soptic have been seen at
98-100 mph at various times, although they aren’t as consistent at
that velocity as Cole and Meyer, and probably factor into the second
or third rounds.
Has
there ever been a high-school pitcher whose fastball grades out as
highly as Owasso (Okla.) High righthander Dylan Bundy?
Bundy,
the top prep prospect in this year’s draft, has been a steady 95-97
mph, and also touched 100. Numerous other high-school arms like South
Carolina righthander Taylor Guerrieri, California righthander Robert
Stephenson and Florida righthander Jose Fernandez have had outings
where they’ve been steadily in the 93-97 mph range, even touching a
98.
Here
is one person’s take on the top tools in the 2011 draft in those
dimensions where scouts commonly evaluate prospects.
Best
Tools - Position Players
BEST
HITTER
Definition:
The ability to hit pitches of all types, consistently hard to all
parts of the field. Typically, a player who might contend for, or
even win a batting title at any level of competition.
Best
Candidates, High School:
3B Javier Baez (Arlington County Day HS, Jacksonville, Fla.), C Blake
Swihart (Cleveland HS, Rio Rancho, N.M.), OF Dwight Smith (McIntosh
HS, Peachtree City, Ga.).
Best
Candidate, Junior College:
IF Cory Spangenberg (Indian River State, Fla.).
Best
Candidates, College:
3B Anthony Rendon (Rice), 1B C.J. Cron (Utah), 2B Kolten Wong
(Hawaii).
BEST
POWER
Definition:
Chicks dig the long ball! But you have to be able to do it when it
counts, not just with metal in BP.
Best
Candidates, High School:
OF Josh Bell (Dallas Jesuit Prep), 1B Dan Vogelbach (Bishop Verot HS,
North Fort Myers, Fla.), OF Travis Harrison (Tustin, Calif., HS), C
Kevin Cron (Mountain Pointe HS, Phoenix).
Best
Candidate, Junior College:
3B Sean Buckley (St. Petersburg, Fla.).
Best
Candidates, College:
1B C.J. Cron (Utah), OF George Springer (Connecticut), 1B Aaron
Westlake (Vanderbilt).
BEST
SPEED
Definition:
60-yard dash times are important, but you have to be able to use that
speed on the field, as well.
Best
Candidates, High School:
OF C.J. McElroy (Clear Creek HS, League City, Texas), OF Roman Quinn
(Port St. Joe, Fla., HS), OF Bubba Starling (Gardner-Edgerton HS,
Gardner, Kan.).
Best
Candidate, Junior College:
OF Keenyn Walker (Central Arizona).
Best
Candidates, College:
OF Zach Cone (Georgia), SS Jace Peterson (McNeese State), 2B Kolten
Wong (Hawaii).
BEST
ARM STRENGTH
Definition:
There are quite a few top position prospects in this draft who can
throw in the mid-90s off the mound, but that isn’t as important as
throwing from your regular position.
Best
Candidates, High School:
C Austin Hedges (J. Serra HS, San Juan Capistrano HS, Calif.), SS
Trevor Story (Irving, Texas, HS), OF Tanner English (St. James HS,
Murrels Inlet, S.C.).
Best
Candidate, Junior College: 3B
Damek Tomscha (Iowa Western CC).
Best
Candidates, College:
OF Jackie Bradley (South Carolina), SS Nick Ahmed (Connecticut), OF
George Springer (Connecticut).
BEST
DEFENDER
Definition:
Includes arm strength, but considers everything else that goes into
the complete defensive package—footwork, release, balance,
accuracy, consistency, etc.
Best
Candidates, High School:
SS Francisco Lindor (Montverde Academy, Clermont, Fla.), C Austin
Hedges (J. Serra HS, San Juan Capistrano HS, Calif.), OF Bubba
Starling (Gardner-Edgerton HS, Gardner, Kan.).
Best
Candidate, Junior College: SS
Travious Relaford (Hinds, Miss.).
Best
Candidates, College:
3B Jason Esposito (Vanderbilt), SS Brandon Loy (Texas), C James
McCann (Arkansas).
Best
Tools - Pitchers
BEST
FASTBALL
Definition:
Not just the top velocity, but the velocity a pitcher can throw
quality strikes with. This is why scouts all have radar guns!
Best
Candidates, High School:
RHP Dylan Bundy (Owasso HS, Tulsa, Okla.), RHP Taylor Guerrieri
(Spring Valley HS, Columbia, S.C.), RHP Robert Stephenson (Alhambra
HS, Martinez, Calif.).
Best
Candidates, Junior College: RHP
Ian Gardeck (Angelina, Texas), RHP Kenny Giles (Yavapai, Ariz.), RHP
Jeff Soptic (Johnson County, Kan.).
Best
Candidates, College:
RHP Gerrit Cole (UCLA), RHP Alex Meyer (Kentucky), RHP Matt Barnes
(Connecticut).
BEST
CURVEBALL
Definition:
Scouts will euphemistically call this, “the ability to spin it”,
especially as it relates to high-school pitchers; aka, “The
Hammer”.
Best
Candidates, High School:
RHP Archie Bradley (Broken Arrow, Okla., HS), RHP Taylor Guerrieri
(Spring Valley HS, Columbia, S.C.), RHP Dillon Maples (Pinecrest HS,
Southern Pines, N.C.).
Best
Candidate, Junior College:
LHP Chris Joyce (Santa Barbara, Calif.).
Best
Candidates, College:
RHP Trevor Bauer (UCLA), RHP Sonny Gray (Vanderbilt), RHP Chris
Marlowe (Oklahoma State).
BEST
SLIDER
Definition:
Often confused with a hard curveball/slurve, or a cut fastball, by
scouts and fans alike. Hitters, though, recognize one when they see
one . . . if they see it soon enough.
Best
Candidates, High School:
RHP Dylan Bundy (Owasso HS, Tulsa, Okla.), RHP Kyle Crick (Sherman,
Texas, HS), RHP Jose Fernandez (Alonso HS, Tampa).
Best
Candidate, Junior College:
RHP Jeff Ames (Lower Columbia, Wash.).
Best
Candidates, College:
LHP Andrew Chafin (Kent State), RHP Gerrit Cole (UCLA), LHP Jed
Bradley (Georgia Tech).
BEST
CHANGEUP
Definition:
More of a learned skill than physical tool, but often the missing
ingredient needed for upper-level success.
Best
Candidates, High School:
RHP Aaron Nola (Catholic HS, Baton Rouge, La.), RHP Tyler Beede
(Lawrence Academy, Groton, Mass.), RHP John Magliozzi (The Dexter
School, Milton, Mass.).
Best
Candidate, Junior College:
LHP Nick Lee (Weatherford, Texas).
Best
Candidates, College:
RHP John Stilson (Texas A&M), LHP Danny Hultzen (Virginia), LHP
Tyler Anderson (Oregon).
BEST
COMMAND
Definition:
Also referred to as “pitchability”; it isn’t just who has the
fewest walks, it’s who can throw all their pitches where they want,
when they want.
Best
Candidates, High School:
RHP Dylan Bundy (Owasso HS, Tulsa, Okla.), RHP Hudson Boyd (Bishop
Verot HS, Cape Coral, Fla.), LHP Henry Owens (Edison HS, Huntington
Beach, Calif.).
Best
Candidate, Junior College: LHP
Miguel Pena (San Jacinto, Texas).
Best
Candidates, College:
RHP Taylor Jungmann (Texas), LHP Danny Hultzen (Virginia), LHP Sean
Gilmartin (Florida State).
Best
Tools - General
BEST
ATHLETE
Definition:
Often confused with a player who is a stud in another sport;
coincidently, not someone who excels at everything athletically.
Best
Candidates, High School:
OF Bubba Starling, (Gardner-Edgerton HS, Gardner, Kan.), SS Johnny
Eierman (Warsaw, Mo., HS), OF Brandon Nimmo (East Cheyenne, Wyo.,
HS).
Best
Candidate, Junior College:
OF Brian Goodwin (Miami-Dade, Fla.).
Best
Candidates, College:
OF Mikie Mahtook (Louisiana State), OF George Springer (Connecticut),
RHP Sonny Gray (Vanderbilt).