I haven’t seen Evans since 2009. At the time, he was a stocky and strong body type middle infielder who could cover range with soft hands and actions and throw. By the time I saw him here, he looked taller and you could really see the bat speed. Offensively, he looked stronger than his years and hit line drives with authority. That’s the thumbnail sketch of this player for those just learning about him. We’ll check in on him in the near future.

Now, Rathjen has an arm in right field, but I also missed it because the infield I saw in Thousand Oaks was about half-speed. I graded the arm a 45. I had guys tell me he threw better. I said that I can only grade what a guy gives me. I saw him at the All-Star game airmail a throw from right field into the third base stands. OK, now I get it. 60 conservatively. I just wish I had seen it when he thought nobody was watching.

In fairness, I can say he took something off the throw I saw for better accuracy. When you throw for scouts, they just want pure strength and don’t really care about the accuracy as much as they should. In the future, he’ll have to merge the arm strength with the accuracy, which he should be athletic enough to capture with some reps.

Physically, Rathjen is lean and lanky, and his body type is similar to Brewers outfielder Corey Hart. His offensive platform is that of a right-handed hitter who is predominantly a left-center field gap hitter when at his best. He gets some extension and will drive the ball, but he’s not what I would term a lift hitter. In the coming years, as he adds strength and physically matures, more of those gapers could become home runs, or he could be a very reliable doubles hitter with an above-average arm, serviceable range, solid average speed with probably a little more room to squeak a bit more out from time to time. At this stage, he is a very solid player with room for pro projection and will be a definite draft in 2011.

The first thing you would absolutely notice about Stafford is the overhand 12/6 curveball with true bite, power, and plane and the complete and total confidence he has to throw the pitch at any time in the count. Stafford likes to mix and match and its clear that he doesn’t stay true to one pattern. The curveball was 76-78 for hard strikes in this look, in which I graded the rotation and command above average.

Stafford has the arm power to be a front line left-handed starter. I had his fastball at 91-94, including peaks at 94 into the seventh inning. Stafford averaged 91-92 with the fastball and I graded his command above average, specifically with the ability to cut the plate in half and make good use of his slider, which was 81-85 in this look, and with hard life.

In many cases, a left-hander often has to decide which pitch is better for him, be it the curveball or the slider, because too many times one usually takes away from the other. In this look, Stafford’s stuff was so sharp that he was capable of incorporating all three pitches in and attaining various looks and angles. His slider had the arm action run on right-handers and changed planes from a differing angle than the curveball. I’m sure Stafford, like every other left-hander I’ve ever talked with in my life, wishes both pitches worked as well each time out. This was one of those times, but what you like is the idea that he has enough weapons to compete at the advanced levels when he reaches into the bag and maybe only two of the pitches are really there for him on a given night.

Built with medium hips, broad shoulders, long legs, Stafford has a loose and whippy arm action and exactly the right arm speed he needs to be what he is. He remains balanced and coordinated and closed, lands well, and pitched with poise. I liked the way the ball came out of his hand. He repeated well. The one pitch he told me he was working on was the change-up, which of course, most high school and college coaches don’t let guys throw against metal. I’ve seen it go both ways – some guys have enough confidence in the change to throw it against metal and some put it away. In Stafford’s case, he was just working on a straight change. That would be a below-average pitch at this point, but that’s OK, and I could argue that he had a very good feel for it despite not throwing it very much. It should grade up and here’s why – good understanding of maintaining arm slot, arm speed and deception. It needs more innings but you can envision it becoming a part of the palate, and the creation of a four-pitch major league starter.

I picked him up again in a playoff game against San Clemente in the spring. I thought his frame had lengthened and narrowed out a bit and showed signs of more physical projection to come. Defensively, I felt he was coming along just fine behind the plate, and I thought he was blocking balls well and overall was a very sound catch-and-throw guy at that stage. Offensively, the swing is the thing, and the bat has power, extension and lift, though I felt he was trying to do too much with those swings. That’s understandable – playoff game, elimination game, road game, big crowd, gunning for that short hill in left at San Clemente – but it bit him when he popped up a slider down and away from him in a big spot. Not really a big deal in the grand scheme of things, it’s just that moment in time.

Now, he is a hitter. I thought his metal swing was longer than his wood swing. This happens to guys — you have to slow the swing down with a lighter bat when you’re used to swinging faster with a heavier bat. It’ll play just fine in the pre-draft world but at some point he’ll have to shorten it a touch and retain the bat speed. This guy is closer to who he is in this video than he is with metal in high school.

For me, that’s a very big separating factor for big league hitters who are productive and those with raw power who are too streaky. I have seen showcase swings at the big league level. It can give you power but it can get you in trouble. I’ll see him frequently in this draft cycle and we’ll see how he develops, and I need to see him with wood again, which I will. For me, he’s somewhere between those compact wood swings and those swings for lift at San Clemente. Those who learn to balance compact with lift tend to go a long way.

The first thing I want to say is power is power. Metal can make you look better but chances are if a guy is really driving a ball, then he has the strength in his hands, wrists and forearms. I’m a very big believer that modern baseball has gone away from scouting these hallmarks. I think it’s a mistake. I will say that a guy with true power, even with metal, can make a different sound than other guys do with metal.

The next question is the frequency of this power.

I had a fresh look at Westlake recently in Chatham, right before the massive Great White rolled into town and scared all the out-of-towners out of the water and into the watering holes. I’m a firm believer in Westlake’s aptitude for adjustment as well as his hand and forearm strength. His body has yet to fill but he’s already strong enough to be one of these guys who gives you the steady firm front. Some guys get it and lose it from BP to game, but not Westlake. Consider that the guy can do this and he is a distance away from the full physical projection, especially in his upper body.

The Blue Jays took a flyer on Westlake in the 20^th round. I don’t really care if saying this gets me ripped, but the Blue Jays are on a strict budget. They’ll play dirty to get deeds done dirt cheap. Seriously, they act like they have less money to spend than I do, and all I have is monopoly money.

Not that I’m here to alienate the entire AL East, but I will say that drafting players who fall – usually because they put a price on themselves that teams refuse to pay – only makes the scout look good. It gives a scout a chance to say, ‘Hey, I drafted so-and-so before he was a stud,’ and then when he makes sure his boss isn’t in earshot, he’ll say something to the effect of, ‘And they were cheap.’ Usually it’s more colorful than my recreation.

But in closing, Westlake can hit. I predict 20-plus home run power in the big leagues in the coming years.

Read Aaron Westlake Scouting Snapshot

Now the first thing you would notice with Gretzky is that the hands work. He’s obviously tall, lean and lanky and has much physical projection left, so we really don’t know how strong he will get. For me, he is a projection guy, which I love, because I really like players who continue getting better three, four, five years after high school instead of finished product players, who often have more limited ceilings than advertised. 

The second thing is that he really hasn’t had a ton of at-bats over the course of his young career, which I am OK with, because he’s played other sports. As I’ve often said here, I’m a big believer in multi-sport athletes, especially as baseball players, because it trains differing athletic actions that tend to show up in adult years and helps differentiate those players from their single-sport contemporaries. 

The thing that gets me about Gretzky is that I think he will have the ability to hit bad balls for power. At this stage, how he gets to those balls might not always be the prettiest thing, but you have to take into consideration the fact that he gets his hands into proper hitting position pretty naturally and instinctively. He might not do it each and every time just yet, but that’s going to smooth itself out. That is something some guys have and some guys don’t. I have seen some things that I do not see very often.

I think Oropesa loves the high fastball and needs to recognize, adjust and adapt to the curveball. He has very good hands from the left side, a firm front and foundation, and opposite field power. Oropesa is best when he trusts his hands, but in games this spring, I saw him pressing too much and getting away from dancing with the lady who brought him to the dance. These are the kind of at-bats that turn scouts off, but you need to look at the player from the game perspective.

For starters, Oropesa can hit for power, but is the classic case of a guy who was trying to do too much when I saw him. Instead of consistently using the entire field or center field, he was gunning to get his team back into a game with one swing. I don’t blame him. His team needed the help. From a scouting standpoint, you see a guy who needs to keep his hands back and let pitches get deeper. He is strong but needs to gain more flexibility. I’m seeing too much stiff back here.

These things are correctable and I’m looking forward to seeing him again. He’s got the high hips and long legs you find in your big leaguers. He needs to find a position and work at it. He won’t be a burner, but should gain a step or two with conditioning in coming years. 

Read Ricky Oropesa Scouting Update

A tall dude with high hips, broad shoulders, long legs and a strong chest, Johnson isn’t a power arm, but excels at being a guessing game guy. This means he’s not afraid to pitch with his fastball and really not afraid to pitch with his secondary stuff. The velocity in this look was a pedestrian 89-91, but it’s more than enough for a left-hander. His fastball command, however, is an above-average weapon and his fastball movement grades to big league average. The slider here was 77-84, averaged 81, again with better movement and command than velocity. The change-up for right-handers worked well enough here, 81-82, average 81, with the ability most of the time to put it where he wanted.

Amderson uses other tricks of the trade to help him irritate hitters. He works with a deliberate pace and holds runners. His fastball gets arm-side run and he’s fearless with it against metal, which I liked. His arm speed is average, which is sufficient for him. He could stand to add more power to his slider in the coming years. He will change speeds off his fastball and his change-up, make four pitches out of two, and has a really advanced feel for a college guy.

Read Tyler Anderson Scouting Update

Mooneyham is made for the mound, with tall and very broad shoulders. His fastball in this look was 89-92, averaged 90, and I felt lacked major league average movement and command. The curveball was 72-77, with average command, but lacked the power and bite the pitch should have. He threw a few change-ups at 78, which were average pitches.

All this said, Mooneyham has a good arm. He needs to tighten his delivery based on this look. Too many times, he’s open, too many times, his fastball is starting up in the zone. His arm slows on the change-up. His stride and landing points were inconsistent in this look. He pitched with a slow tempo and didn’t look very confident in this outing. He wasn’t pitching with his fastball and this didn’t help him.

All this said, Mooneyham is still a major league prospect. But he needs polish. What I’m looking for next time I see him is more consistent mechanics, more conditioning, and more confidence in himself and his fastball. I am by no means writing him off, but I want to see what comes next.

Gray has a strong arm, without question. In this look, he was 91-94 with the two seam and 95-97 with the four seem. He also threw an 84-86 slider and no change.

The size issue is going to be something he will have to dispel as a professional. I don’t bring this up to beat the drum on the guy. He has the arm strength to make it, but physically, he’s going to have to prove that he belongs because he won’t profile physically for everyone. I’ve seen a great deal of right-handers with the “right” frame who are absolutely awful. As big as Gray’s arm is, I have a feeling he won’t be for every team and every scout, for two reasons. One is the size. That can be beaten.

The other is the max-effort delivery in which Gray drastically falls off to the first base side. It’s a distinct style that works for him and I wouldn’t want to go changing the guy. But there are likely to be some teams who feel like he’s a risk factor for future injury based on his sometimes violent delivery and off-balanced landings. Maintaining the closed and compact delivery through better stamina will probably be the determining factor on his role in the coming years.

I imagine there will be some teams who love Gray as a starter and aren’t dissuaded. He’d be best going with one of those clubs if he wants to be a starter. I think the ones that are worried about him as a starter will more likely see him as a closer, thinking they’ll get more mileage out of the arm and the investment, and some of his delivery points would be better served in a short role rather than a long role. There would also need to be a standout third pitch, which this look didn’t show.

For me, you can’t take away the big arm. But I think finding the correct role for this guy in the coming years will be crucial to the long-term success of his career. I think he’s closest to the big leagues as a closer.