Baseball Beginnings

By John Klima
February 20, 2010

The scouting sheet wasn’t nearly as close as the score sheet when Long Beach State right-hander Jake Thompson beat Pepperdine right-hander Cole Cook 2-1 in a game between two of Southern California ’s best 2010 collegiate right-handed MLB draft pitching prospects Friday night at Blair Field in Long Beach.

Thompson distanced himself from Cook in this outing with several advantages that figure to play prominently in his pro future. While each right-hander shared 91-93 velocity in the first few innings, the similarities stopped there.

The right-handers have differing body types. At 6-4, Cook has long and rangy arms, large hands and feet and an elongated body type. Also at 6-4, Thompson has a rugged build, characterized by broad shoulders, a strong upper body, durable hips and thighs, and calves that haven’t been seen in Southern California since Mark Prior. This translates into power and durability.

Another difference between Thompson and Cook can be found in Thompson’s consistent power deeper into the game, a better, harder and more consistent slider, and a more consistent straight change-up.

Thompson hit 94 early in the first inning and he maintained 91-93 fastball velocity into the eighth inning. His final pitch of the eighth inning, a rising fastball for a strikeout, registered at 92. In the ninth inning, he hit 95. The amount of quality major league strikes Thompson threw Friday was evidenced in his pitch count, 74 strikes out of 105 pitches. He throws a hard two-seam fastball that sweeps away from right-handed hitters, giving him a more dynamic look than many other college power arms.

Thompson’s secondary weapon is a hard 11-7 curveball thrown consistently at 83-84 with power and definition. This will be the pitch he takes with him.

A third pitch, his straight change-up, is thrown sparingly at 77-78, and has the making of a quality third pro pitch based on his deception.

One of Thompson’s best weapons isn’t physical, but is in his approach. Many college power arms are afraid to invite contact against metal bats. Thompson is not timid.

He repeatedly showed he is not afraid to pitch with his fastball and showed confidence. He struck out six and walked two, but Thompson’s attacking mode tells you what he is going to think against pro hitters with wood bats. He’s saying that if you’re going to hurt him, you’re going to have to square up consistent fastball and slider strikes and not sit back and wait for his mistake. 

This approach will play well for Thompson when he advances as a pro. While Thompson probably won’t pitch at 95-96, he will likely get more mileage out of 92-94 because his movement and command are assets. He repeatedly showed the ability to throw first pitch strikes with all pitches. Only one ball was hit hard through six innings. Thompson gutted through the seventh, then relied on power, aggressiveness and defense to complete the game.  

Cook will have a pro future, but will need to develop more consistent power out of a projectable body type that suggests there should be more. Cook’s fastball was at 91-93 and sat 91 in the first two innings, but with below-average fastball command on a pro scale. By the seventh inning, Cook’s fastball was 88-90 with better command.

His harder slider was 78-81, but he consistently put the pitch in the dirt in the first inning. He mixed in a straight change-up at 81-83, sometimes throwing it too hard.

He later deviated from throwing the harder slider in the middle innings and instead favored an across-the-body slurve that generally hit 77. It’s a college friendly pitch that he essentially used as a change-up, and, in the old days, would have been called a fade away. It lacks shape and power to be a pro weapon, but helped him get seven strikeouts in seven innings.

Cook has a lot of good components but will need to address some adjustments as a professional pitcher.  His body type is similar to former Pepperdine right-hander Dan Haren, and while Cook can show arm speed, he doesn’t maintain it as well as Haren did at the same stage. More strength and stamina will help Cook maintain his stuff deeper in games and help him continue to develop the hard slider so it can be a pro weapon. His overall command, while below-average on a pro scale in this outing, isn’t dramatically disturbing. It should improve and be enough to compete as a pro.

Both Cook and Thompson present interesting cases. In a pure horse race based on this look, Thompson is closer to the major leagues.

Watch Jake Thompson November Scouting Video

Categories: '10 Videos, 2010 Draft, Ace vs. Ace
Tags: Cole Cook, Jake Thompson, Long Beach State, Pepperdine