Baseball Beginnings

By John Klima
January 22, 2010

Ryan Wheeler proved that he is a major league prospect in 2009, lighting up Northwest League pitching with a rookie season that earned him the Arizona Diamondbacks Organizational Player of the Year.

Short-A is still a long way from the big leagues, but Wheeler’s first steps in pro ball showed that he has a chance to make it. His 1.002 OPS jumps off the stat sheet, as does more walks than strikeouts and 21 doubles.

From the scouting side, Wheeler brought the fast hands and projectable body into pro ball. He showed signs that he was a better athlete than given credit for by playing good first base defense and showing stamina and consistency throughout the hot and isolated Yakima summer.

Baseball Beginnings caught up with Wheeler recently for this Q&A, where he discusses his newly discovered professional approach and how it sparked his confidence. He also fondly recalls his favorite play of the summer, which wasn’t achieved with his bat, but with his arm.

Wheeler also discussed his work in Instructional League, and how some of those solitary fall ball days hint at a future where the Diamondbacks are going to find a place for his bat.

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Category: '09 Meet the Player, 2009 Draft, 2009 Minor Leagues | No Comments »
Tags: Arizona Diamondbacks, LMU, Ryan Wheeler

By John Klima
January 1, 2010

Right-hander Matt Hobgood hasn’t spent the winter sitting on the couch watching Norco High graduate Toby Gerhart of Stanford make a run at the Heisman Trophy. Instead, Hobgood committed himself to a new off-season workout routine that he believes will help him progress as a new professional. Today Baseball Beginnings presents the conclusion of our exclusive Matt Hobgood interview.

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Category: '09 Meet the Player, 2009 Draft, 2009 Minor Leagues, Baseball Beginnings Exclusives | No Comments »
Tags: Baltimore Orioles, Matt Hobgood

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 5^th 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 | 1 Comment »
Tags: Baltimore Orioles, Matt Hobgood

By John Klima
September 1, 2009

Tyler Blandford went down to the wire. Drafted in the 5^th round by the Seattle Mariners out of Oklahoma State, Blandford suspected he might be going back to school, until negotiations took shape at the last minute.

“Everything ended up working out, but it was a pretty crazy story,” Blanford told Baseball Beginnings. “I declined the last offer with like a minute left but told my agent that I wanted the scouting director to call me when it was all over with. (Tom McNamara) called me at the last minute and I ended up talking to the GM (Jack Zduriencik) and reaching an agreement with him. So now I’m working out (in Peoria, Ariz.) and will head to Instructs as a starting pitcher.”

Blandford bounced between the bullpen and the starting rotation for Oklahoma State, a necessity because of a schedule that often included two mid-week games. He believes that the lack of continuity probably hurt his overall command and contributed in some measure to sliding in the draft. After agreeing to terms with the Mariners for $325,000, well above the approximately $150,000 slot price, conjecture began about his future role.

The quickest route to the big leagues for any power arm is the bullpen, but it must be balanced against his starting potential. Blandford said he did not make signing with the Mariners contingent on beginning his career as a starting pitcher, but he said he was very happy to learn that the Mariners will try him as a starter first. But in his mind, Blandford knows that he may yet end up as a closer.

“I think maybe in the long run I might be a back end of the pen guy, but starting will give me more innings right now so I can get better, sooner,” he told Baseball Beginnings. (more…)

Category: '09 Meet the Player, 2009 Draft, Baseball Beginnings Exclusives | No Comments »
Tags: Oklahoma State, Seattle Mariners, Tyler Blandford

By John Klima
August 25, 2009

Alex Hassan got his wish and then got it again. Growing up in Milton, Massachusetts, he aspired to be drafted, played at Boston College Prep High and was selected in the 20^th round of the 2009 draft by the Boston Red Sox out of Duke University.

There was a catch. Hassan was drafted as a right-handed pitcher, not as an outfielder, as he had always envisioned himself to be. So Hassan waited until July to begin playing for Orleans in the Cape Cod League, mainly as an outfielder. Hassan showed well for himself offensively, hitting .289 in 30 games. He had five doubles, two triples, and one home run, which is a pretty nice extra-base hit output for a one-month look on the Cape.

Hassan drove in 20 runs, made the Cape Cod League All-Star team, and signed shortly after the game at Fenway Park. When he signed, Hassan went in as an outfielder rather than a pitcher. Red Sox scouting director Jason McLeod explained to Baseball Beginnings the organization’s thought process.

“We drafted him as a right-handed pitcher. He’s athletic and has the makings of three future average pitches,” McLeod told Baseball Beginnings. “He was a kid who performed pretty well offensively in the ACC, and although the power numbers weren’t there, Duke is one of the harder places to hit home runs in the ACC. He worked out for us at Fenway and put on a good show in BP and followed that up with a good showing at the plate in a prospect game.”

McLeod said that was where Hassan hit his way into a chance to play every day.

“When he went to the Cape our intention was still to sign him as a pitcher, but every time we saw him, he swung the bat well,” McLeod said. “We eventually determined he had a chance to make a bigger impact as an athletic right-handed hitting outfielder. If hitting doesn’t work, we will have the option to move him back to the mound.”

When Baseball Beginnings caught up with Hassan midway through the summer, he was a guy drafted as a pitcher who was carrying his bats to the field like pitching was for someone else. You can’t expect a drafted player to come out and say what they’d like to do most, especially in the 20^th round where demands aren’t best made. What Hassan did over the summer was show with his performance what he could never say with his words.

He came to hit. And if that doesn’t work out in the future, there is always Plan B. (more…)

Category: '09 Meet the Player, 2009 Draft | 1 Comment »
Tags: Alex Hassan, Boston Red Sox, Duke University

By John Klima
August 18, 2009

Tyler Lyons confirmed first to Baseball Beginnings Monday night that he has not signed with the New York Yankees and will return to Oklahoma State for his senior year.

When Baseball Beginnings first saw the left-hander, he was gutting it out on a frigid night in Palm Springs in March, essentially surviving on curveballs and change-ups. Lyons was a wasp without a stinger for the first few months of his junior season at Oklahoma State. He was only throwing between 84-87 that night and he managed to survive with command of his change-up and control of his curveball. Despite lacking his best velocity, Lyons still showed a lot of reasons to like him in that game, but it wasn’t until the second half of the college season and his summer pitching for Chatham that he put to rest any concerns about his arm speed, health or effectiveness.

This summer, Lyons performed like he believes he is capable of. Drafted in the 10^th round by the Yankees, Lyons decided to pitch the summer on the Cape to re-establish his velocity and value. Pitching with his stinger again, Lyons worked 89-91 when I saw him in July, with the same plus curveball and change-up. The ball was coming out of his hand much better and his arm speed was where it needed to be. On the photo on the right, Lyons is on top of the ball and he’s creating power. Lyons progressed past the dead arm period that hindered him for most of the 2009 college season, in which he battled for each of his seven wins and finished 7-6, 4.07. He gave up 114 hits in 97 1/3 innings, walked 25 and struck out only 77.

I have come to believe that scouts derived the term “pitch ability” from the beer commercial advertising, “drink ability.” I often wonder how much some younger scouts drink on the Cape and how much they work. In the case of Lyons, he was pretty hard to miss. You don’t exactly see left-handers with three pitches, closed mechanics, routine 89-90s and savvy. And let’s face it. Contrary to popular belief, 89-91 from right-handers is becoming the industry norm. It’s a dark and dirty secret I hate to share with the world and it comes to me from deep inside baseball’s crusty walls. When you get a left-hander with that velocity plus a second and third pitch, you might want to consider that the radar gun is a crutch and a left-hander with a curveball and a change-up can get right-handers out. Somewhere in the process, changing speeds has become marginalized.

In either case, Lyons pitched well at Chatham. He should have been a Cape Cod League All-Star. Lyons went 2-4 with a 1.77 ERA. In 45 2/3 innings, he struck out 44, walked eight and allowed 35 hits. He allowed only one home run and hit six batters, which is an indication that he’s fighting for the inner half.

Baseball Beginnings caught up with Lyons before a recent start to talk about what went wrong, what has gone right, the odds of signing with the Yankees, and why pitch ability is all about smooth and refreshing outs.

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Category: '09 Meet the Player, '10 Meet the Player, Baseball Beginnings Exclusives | No Comments »
Tags: New York Yankees, Oklahoma State, Tyler Lyons

By John Klima
August 14, 2009

Jack Marder grabbed the bat and threw the cell phone in his bag. He went to the ballpark on the final day of the draft and figured that playing college baseball at Oregon would be worth more than signing out of high school.  

Instead, the Arizona Diamondbacks took a flyer on Marder in the 30^th round. He played this summer for Conejo Oaks, in the wood bat California Collegiate League, and ran his average up to .390 after a slow start. Facing a steady stream of older pitchers, some who have already been drafted, and whose fastballs do business in the low 90s, Marder showed that he was not overmatched.

The official Baseball Beginnings prediction is that Marder will play college baseball at Oregon and hit from the start.

He’ll eventually find his way to the Cape where the hours of dead time to hit with wood will suit him just fine. When he does, it won’t be the first time he’s faced good pitching with a wood bat.

He’ll never be the kind of player with astounding tools, but he’s got the bat, the tool that counts. The organizations that like college players who become more affordable because they lack either premium power or premium athleticism, but whose ability to perform the nuts and bolts duties of fielding and running and to consistently create deep counts, will find Marder to their liking. Some of those guys find their way to the big leagues because how you play the game isn’t a physical tool scouts grade for. You have to be careful not to miss the guys who can hit and play the game with just enough athletic ability. Small market teams are populated with players like this. 

Marder has understood for several years that he’s not going to be for every scout or every organization. He believes in himself more than some people believe in him.  Baseball Beginnings caught up with Marder before his Conejo Oaks team headed to Wichita for the NBC Tournament. (more…)

Category: '09 Meet the Player, 2009 Draft | No Comments »
Tags: Arizona Diamondbacks, Jack Marder, Oregon

By John Klima
July 2, 2009

Brad Glenn has right-handed power to all fields, which you can’t miss, and was always going to be his ticket into professional baseball. The Tulsa native who played four years of college baseball in Tucson shook off a slow start to hit nine more home runs as a senior, capping his Arizona career with 43 home runs. Glenn turned down the Oakland A’s as a 17^th round pick in 2008. He returned to school to finish his degree and wound up falling to the 23th round in the 2009 draft, by the Toronto Blue Jays.

Glenn knows what notions he has to disprove and what facets he has to improve on as a pro. He only hit .256 this season for a  streaky Arizona team, and he struck out 55 times in 211 at-bats. He won’t light you up with OBP. His other tools won’t ring a door bell. But power always plays. If Glenn can find a way to consistently tap into that, he could find a way to hang around the game for a while.

Baseball Beginnings caught up with Glenn toward the end of the college baseball season and discussed the ups and downs of his bumpy college career, and how he hopes he can hone his power as a pro.

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Category: '09 Meet the Player | No Comments »
Tags: Arizona, Brad Glenn, Cape Cod League, Toronto Blue Jays

By John Klima
July 1, 2009

Preston Guilmet will never be the guy who blows you away. He’s long understood that he’ll have to exceed expectations at every stop. Guilmet achieved that in the draft, upping his stock from a 22nd rounder as a junior in 2008 to a 9th rounder in 2009.

Guys like this sometimes surprise people in the baseball industry. They get outs, they eat innings, they grind, they never miss a start and next thing you know, they have 15 wins.

Guys who do that tend to move up, even if it’s slower, and even if they’re never going to be anyone’s radar gun darling. It never worked that way for the tall and lean right-hander at the University of Arizona, where he was a workhorse for four seasons.

It won’t work that way in pro ball, where he will have to dispel a whole new set of expectations. But you never know – there are guys like this who end up in the big leagues after being told they have no business there at all. You just never know which kid is going to make it.

Guilmet knows this is what he’s in for as a professional, but as he explained to Baseball Beginnings a month before the Cleveland Indians drafted him, that’s nothing new. He’s got the right name for what he pitches with – guile. Sometimes guile resonates longer than stuff. A pitcher geared for a marathon instead of a sprint, he discussed what it is like to be a marksman in a machine gunner’s game.

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Category: '09 Meet the Player | No Comments »
Tags: Arizona, Cleveland Indians, Preston Guilmet

By John Klima
June 26, 2009

Chad Thompson began the spring as one of the top high school right-handers on the Southern California watch list, but after a fast start and a pop in his elbow, that changed. The 6-7 Thompson underwent elbow ligament replacement (Tommy John) surgery on May 1, but still hoped to have shown enough that he could be drafted and undergo a professional rehabilitation stint.

The Yankees drafted Thompson (17th round, 525th overall) and will take the flyer that Thompson can follow the career path of former Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart, who fell out of the first round in his draft, signed for a comparable amount, and began a road which led him to the major leagues.

Thompson’s not the first nor the last young pitcher to get the name of the former left-hander who was once known for 287 major league victories instead of a surgery that prolonged his career and now bears his name. Thompson knows his career isn’t over, but still, the setback was a disappointment. Baseball Beginnings caught up with him in May and talked about where he is and where he hopes to be.

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Category: '09 Meet the Player | No Comments »
Tags: Chad Thompson, New York Yankees