Texarkana (TX) OF/LHP Slade Heathcott has reappeared on the scout’s radar long before he was expected to this spring.

Heathcott injured is knee playing football during the fall and had ACL reconstruction done by the famed Dr. James Andrews in mid-November. He’s back on the baseball field, though, and even had two home runs in a game last week.

The difference, however, is that Heathcott is only playing outfield and has not been cleared to pitch. In fact, scouts say that Heathcott may not pitch all spring and that he doesn’t even want to pitch if he’s cleared.

Where that complicates things for scouts is that Heathcott was an Aflac All-American selection as a left handed pitcher last summer. He was up to 92 mph at the Aflac Game and consistently showed a plus curveball all summer. While Heathcott did play some outfield at various events, including the PG National Showcase and the Area Code Games, it was more of a secondary position at that point.

Heathcott grades out very well as an outfielder. He is a 6.7 runner with a full out, aggressive running style and reportedly ran 4.22 to first base last week even with a full knee brace and noticeable limp. His arm strength is an obvious plus and he has upper level raw bat speed.

Heathcott is signed with Louisiana State. Interestingly, LSU is one of the few schools that doesn’t issue a press release after the early signing period in November. Such a press release would have listed Heathcott as either a LHP or an OF depending on what he was recruited to play. The current LSU team does not have any two-way players, although star RF Blake Dean was a 90 mph left handed pitcher in high school.

Colorado First Baseman Moving Up the Charts

Grand Junction (CO) is very well known to baseball scouts and fans as the junior college equivalent to Omaha. The city has hosted the Junior College World Series for almost as long as the CWS has resided in Omaha.

But rarely has the city drawn scouts before the late May festivities. And Grand Junction isn’t a city you just happen into on the way from point A to point B; it’s located in far western Colorado near the Utah border and little else.

But that is different this year, thanks to Grand Junction HS 1B Geoff Baldwin. The Major League Scouting Bureau has reportedly put a 58 OFP on Baldwin, which would indicate a potential first round pick.

Baldwin put himself onto the prospect map last summer when he blasted two long home runs during batting practice at Coors Field as part of the Area Code Games tryout process. When I saw Baldwin play at the actual Area Code Games in early August, I saw a smooth actioned 6-4, 200 lb left handed hitter who had a sweet looking swing but didn’t have the strength or the present raw bat speed to get too excited about. His defensive actions at first base were excellent and you could tell he was an athlete, although his 7.52 speed limited his potential to perhaps play a corner outfield spot.

I’m told that Baldwin is an excellent basketball player who averaged 23 pts/10 rebs a game this winter, so the impressions on his overall athletic ability seem to be justified.

Evidently the big difference in Baldwin’s game between when I saw him last summer and what scouts are seeing this spring is that he’s gained 20 lbs of muscle through maturity and a dedicated strength program. The smooth swing with some lift in it is still there, but it’s backed up by some serious bat speed.  Baldwin has also been putting up some serious performance numbers, including a recent streak when he went 11-13 with 6 home runs.