Scouting Video: Mike Yastrzemski, OF, Vanderbilt (2012 Draft)
By John Klima
July 2, 2010
I saw Mike Yastrzemski with Vanderbilt in Southern California earlier this spring. From a scouting standpoint, the name means nothing to me. That’s no disrespect to his family, but what it means is I need to look at a guy for who he is, regardless of name on the front and name on the back of the shirt and decide what kind of player each guy is.
The first thing I noticed was the physicality. He had the look of a player fresh out of high school with a wiry frame, who had yet to fill out and gain strength. He had a very narrow waist, quickness, and lacked the strength to hit with wood every day just yet.
When I saw him swing, I felt he was the best pure hitter Vanderbilt had. Left-handed hitting, he had all the building blocks – firm front, quick and loose wrists, head down, and bat speed. In my coverage notes that day, I simply wrote, “best hitter here.” I had no prior knowledge of the player nor had I ever seen him. The bat talks.
Now, this is saying something, becaue I watched Jason Esposito. But the notes said ‘best hitter here,’ not ‘closest to big leagues.’
In this look, I graded the contact as the best tool, going 30/70, believing that spray hitting will be this guy’s calling card in the coming years. I caution against extreme physical projection with this player. He should get stronger, might get a growth spurt yet, and 50 power production would be the highest future power grade you could put on him at this point in time. I would say his other tools all project out to be big league average at best, which would be adequate for the advanced levels. He’s also a few years away from reaching this projection.
The bat will be the thing and everything else will follow along. He will be athletic enough to stay up the middle. The flip side of that is that I saw him as a young college ballplayer right out of high school holding his own offensively. Tools don’t lie, but sometimes they hide while a young player is developing and adjusting to a new speed of a new level. He’ll be an interesting guy to follow in the next few seasons.
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