By John Klima
December 31, 2009
Matt Hobgood recently turned 19, a few months removed from his professional debut after the Baltimore Orioles made the Norco (Calif.) right-hander the team’s no. 1 pick and the 5th overall selection in the 2009 MLB Draft. Hobgood, who signed for $2.5 million with a “22” mixed into the tail of that contract to reflect his favorite number, went to rookie ball where he is well aware that many observers expressed concern about results and diminished velocity.
Hobgood has always pitched with a chip on his shoulder. As an amateur, he believed he belonged in the same company as the other power arm starting pitchers in his draft class. He has heard the comments that his body is too big to allow for success over a long career. In all our conversations with Hobgood, he has made it a point to express his differing opinion.
Baseball Beginnings caught up with Hobgood recently, moments after the right-hander finished a winter workout. What we found was a young pitcher who recognizes that he wasn’t lights out in Bluefield, but on the other side of the coin, Bluefield is rookie ball for a reason.
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Category: '09 Meet the Player, 2009 Draft, 2009 Minor Leagues, Baseball Beginnings Exclusives |
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Tags: Baltimore Orioles, Matt Hobgood
By John Klima
December 30, 2009
I’ve seen enough of Robbie Aviles to convince me that he’d be getting looks no matter what part of the country he is from. He possesses a fast arm and a right-handed frame suitable for physical projection.
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Category: '10 Scouting Reports |
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Tags: Robbie Aviles
By John Klima
December 29, 2009
Manny Machado will get plenty of looks in 2010, including this one.
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Category: '10 Videos |
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Tags: Manny Machado
By John Klima
December 28, 2009
Oh, to be a California pitcher, where the mounds don’t freeze in the winter and the grass stays green. To be a hitter from Connecticut means that you better have an extra set of keys to the indoor batting cage or maybe you’ve got one built inside a parking garage. East Coast guys have to battle to make winter workouts happen. Here’s a look at two high school players from opposite coasts, California high school pitcher Adam Plutko and Connecticut first baseman Tim Kiene.
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Category: '10 Videos |
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Tags: Adam Plutko, Tim Kiene
By John Klima
December 27, 2009
The Los Angeles Dodgers might not be pleased with me for sharing this information, but you can’t keep a good scout down. The Dodgers are signing a good share of cheap fillers to minor league contracts, but they have a serious bullpen prospect in converted right-handed pitcher Kenley Jansen, a late-roster addition to the Arizona Fall League who got his feet wet as a pitcher late last season in the California League.
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Category: 2009 Minor Leagues |
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Tags: Kenley Jansen, Los Angeles Dodgers
By John Klima
December 26, 2009
The Arizona Fall League is hyped as a league for can’t-miss young prospects, but in reality this league is vastly more important for older players like Reds outfielder Chris Heisey, a 17th round pick in 2006 from Messiah College, a Division III Christian college in Grantham, Pennsylvania. Heisey, who will be 25 on Opening Day, had his most productive minor league season in 2009 when he hit 22 home runs and drove in 77 runs between Double-A and Triple-A.
Heisey’s most valuable tool is his power, which he’s clearly developed with patience and hard work as a pro. I had never seen Heisey before two games in the Arizona Fall League and two BPs, and liked him for what he is. Heisey has strong hands, bat speed, good actions, and a good sound off the bat. He’s not talented enough to be a dominating major league player, but I think he’s got enough pop to produce gap-to-gap power.
I’m sure there will have been some scouts who looked at this player and his age and concluded he is a fringy 48-49 extra at the major league level at best, but I think there’s more here.
This is obviously a very hard-working player who has raised his grades all the way up his organization. Heisey could fit in on the major league level as an outfielder who can play all three positions and provide 16-18 HR power if he gets frequent at-bats. This is a good example of a professional ballplayer without the earth-shattering talent who nonetheless has made himself a candidate to be a very serviceable big leaguer.
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Category: 2009 Minor Leagues |
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Tags: Chris Heisey, Cincinnati Reds
By John Klima
December 25, 2009
I blame Sports Illustrated for being sucker-punched by publicists pretending to be scouts. I blame the hype for getting in the way of player evaluation and not letting a player be the kind of player his physical nature and talents hint that he’s going to be.
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Category: 2010 Draft, Baseball Beginnings Exclusives |
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Tags: Bryce Harper
By John Klima
December 24, 2009
Austin Kubitza won’t get the same national attention as his fellow Rice commit, Texas right-hander Jameson Taillon, but Kubitza is a legitimate pro prospect in his own right if he can continue developing. He’s got the components you want in your power-armed right-handed prospects – the right body, the balance, the arm speed. He was, without question, feeling things out when I saw him.
These are the kinds of guys who make or break a good scout. You have to be able to recognize the difference between projection and performance. As I like to say, the only place that stats matter are in the big leagues. I’m not really concerned with his balls-to-strikes ratio in the summer before his senior year. Kubitza is a pitcher who has the physicality to get far and will probably be able to mull his options over in June. Here’s a scouting report on the Colleyville Heritage HS (Texas) right-hander.
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Category: '10 Scouting Reports |
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Tags: Austin Kubitza
By John Klima
December 23, 2009
Texas high school prospect Jared Lakind signed with Arkansas, where he could also serve as a left-handed pitcher. Here’s a look at him swinging the bat.
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Category: '10 Videos |
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Tags: Arkansas, Jared Lakind
By John Klima
December 22, 2009
Josh Sale has left-handed power going for him and the kind of long-term frame that allows you to imagine him as a regular in a major league lineup.
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Category: '10 Videos |
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Tags: Josh Sale
