By John Klima
March 31, 2009
UCLA third baseman Casey Haerther
UCLA has produced three notable major league infielders with above-average power in the last decade, with corners Troy Glaus, Garrett Atkins and second baseman Chase Utley. Its corner infield prospect for the 2009 draft, Casey Haerther, presently a third baseman in college, will take a crack at running with that tradition.
There’s enough interest in Haerther to indicate that he’ll probably go pretty good in June. We’re not saying Haerther is Glaus or Atkins right now, because that would be like calling me Stephen King, and that just wouldn’t be fair to either of us. (more…)
Category: '09 Meet the Player |
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Tags: Casey Haerther, Chaminade High School, Chase Utley, Cody Haerther, Conor Jackson, Garrett Atkins, Ryan Braun, Troy Glaus, UCLA
By John Klima
March 30, 2009
Since our first video installment here on Baseball Beginnings was a hard-throwing right-hander (Stephen Strasburg), we felt that a look at a soft-tossing left-hander was a worthy follow-up. Have a look at Oklahoma State left-hander Tyler Lyons, a junior who will probably hear his name called somewhere inside of the first five rounds. The full report on Lyons, who pitched for Team USA last summer, is forthcoming. In the meantime, the scouting video shows us a few nice things.
First of all, this kid repeats his mechanics. That alone has value. Lyons shows some moxie: a kid with the confidence to throw his breaking ball when he’s in a jam. He won’t light up the radar guns, but as the wise Gene Handley once said, “If you’re left-handed, you better have the curveball.” This kid has a curveball. There’s also the makings of a change-up he throws late in the video. Lyons’s forte is fastball command and this breaking ball. He could use more power, but so could 90 percent of left-handed pitchers on planet earth. A comparison for me is J.P. Howell, though Lyons is physically more stocky than Howell is. Roll the tape:
Read updated Tyler Lyons Scouting Report
Read Back to School: Q&A with LHP Tyler Lyons
Watch Tyler Lyons Cape Cod League bullpen video
Watch Tyler Lyons Cape Cod League game video
Watch Tyler Lyons vs. Cory Vaughn
Read Tyler Lyons Scouting report
Tyler Lyons Drafted by the New York Yankees
Category: '09 Videos, '10 Videos, 2009 Draft |
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Tags: J.P. Howell, Oklahoma State, Stephen Strasburg, Team USA, Tyler Lyons
By John Klima
March 28, 2009
Arizona right-hander Jason Stoffel threw eight pitches in the seventh inning Friday night at UCLA, all fastballs, with four of them clocked at 94 mph. We’ll have a report and video up on him in the coming days.
Read Jason Stoffel Q&A
Read Jason Stoffel Scouting report
Watch Jason Stoffel Scouting video
San Francisco Giants Draft Jason Stoffel
Category: 2009 Draft |
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Tags: Jason Stoffel
By John Klima
March 28, 2009
On a side note, two kids that I covered in my prior incarnation as a newspaper slave faced each other for one at-bat Friday night. They would be UCLA sophomore left-hander Matt Grace and Arizona sophomore shortstop Bryce Ortega. They were both Class of 2007 high school kids from Palos Verdes, perhaps best known today as the place where USC football coach Pete Carroll lives and surfs. (more…)
Category: 2010 Draft |
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Tags: Bryce Ortega, Matt Grace
By John Klima
March 27, 2009
The first part of Scouting 101 is now up as we fill in our menu pages. It’s the basic framework of scouting grades used by major league scouts and what we use here at Baseball Beginnings when we write up our scouting reports. We will post more information on the page as time allows.
Take a look at it here.
Category: Uncategorized |
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By John Klima
March 27, 2009
DRAFT CARD: Ryan Ortiz, C,
Oregon State (2009 draft)
6-3, 205, BR/TR
Games seen: 2, Innings: 9
(more…)
Category: '09 Scouting Reports |
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Tags: 2009 Draft catchers, Oregon State, Ryan Ortiz
By John Klima
March 26, 2009
Arizona State right-hander Mike Leake, fresh off a 15-strikeout performance last week, pitches Saturday at 2 p.m. at USC .
Category: 2009 Draft |
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Tags: Arizona State, Mike Leake, USC
By John Klima
March 25, 2009
(photo: Baseball Beginnings)
Matt Hobgood, RHP, 6-4, 250, Sr. Norco High (2009 draft class)
Matt Hobgood’s junior season put him on the prospect map. He won a ton of newspaper awards and was named California’s Junior of the Year by CalHiSports, joining a list with a big league linage. Hobgood joined fast-tracker Mike Moustakas and current major leaguers Delmon Young, James Shields, Gerald Laird, Jon Garland, Eric Chavez, Randy Wolf, Dmitri Young and the exiled Barry Bonds.
Hobgood, a 6-4, 250-pound right-hander, vowed not to live off one season alone. He trimmed 15 pounds off his frame and gave his body a look more like Giants right-hander Matt Cain and less like Yankees right-hander Joba Chamberlain. After shutting out Riverside Poly and holding outfielder Jake Marisnick hitless Tuesday, Baseball Beginnings caught up with Norco’s horse for a Q-A. (more…)
Category: '09 Meet the Player |
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Tags: 2009 Draft, Jacob Marisnick, Matt Hobgood
By John Klima
March 25, 2009
Update from USC today has shortstop Grant Green day-to-day with a minor ankle sprain suffered before Monday’s game. He should be in the lineup this weekend at USC when Arizona State is in town, with right-hander Mike Leake on the mound on either Friday or Saturday for the Sun Devils. It’s another potential First Rounder vs. First Rounder match-up.
In other news, stay tuned for the aforementioned Matt Hobgood Q-A. Should be up tonight.
Read Grant Green Q&A
Read Grant Green Scouting report
Watch Grant Green Scouting video
Watch Grant Green Scouting video Part 2
Watch Grant Green vs. Gerrit Cole video
What kind of pro will Grant Green Be?
Oakland A’s Select Grant Green
Category: 2009 Draft |
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Tags: ASU, Grant Green, Matt Hobgood, Mike Leake, USC
