When I saw him in the summer, Bratsen looked like he was still growing into hitting with wood. It’s sometimes hard to get a clean read on high school players late in the summer when many are fatigued. Bratsen was like that for me. I thought he had a good body and was still growing, which contributed to the lack of balance. Those are correctable with growth and experience. At this stage, I’d like to see him again to re-assess.

If the first start of Dylan Covey’s 2010 season was about pure power stuff, his second start Friday afternoon was about showing he can compete with whatever works best on a given day. In six innings, Covey probably had two innings – the first and the fifth – where the stuff was as sharp as it was in the previous week. The best pitches of both innings were the harder curveball at 84, one that projects as his separating major league weapon. He pitched at 92-94 in the first three innings, and by the sixth, was still throwing 92-93.

Covey’s bullpen session produced a few more fastballs in the dirt than he would have probably liked, but he adjusted in game and consistently stayed in the lower half and battled to stay around the plate. He bumped 95 on the faster hair-dryer guns and 94 on the boxy Stalkers. It doesn’t really matter which gun. We’re not handing out speeding tickets here. The important thing is that the velocity was 91-95, averaged 92-93, and his best fastballs have either a little cut action or tail.

He frequently used a second, slower curveball at 81. This is a pitch he later described as one that just “rolls off” his fingers. The pitch has shape and basically served as a change-up in this outing. It was a pitch Covey went to frequently and with confidence.

There were a few other good scouting moments for Covey in this outing. One was a pick-off in which he came off the mound, trapped a runner, and threw him out at first. He became a shortstop for a split second right there.

There was nothing wrong with his power in this outing. For Covey, his fastball command was probably below his average, but not enough to hurt him as a prospect.

The truth is, outings like this make the difference between perceptive scouts and radar-gun readers. You need to evaluate a guy when he has to battle because he will often show you more about depth of stuff and confidence in secondary pitches than he needs to when the best two pitches do exactly what they are supposed to do 90 percent of the time.

In this case, Covey pitched with everything off his fastball, and showed he can make it work even when a fastball goes in the dirt, a hard curve occasionally stays up, and a change is the secondary curveball many college pitchers would call their primary curveball.

More on Dylan Covey:
Watch Dylan Covey Video – Season Debut
Read Dylan Covey Updated Report - Season Debut
Read Dylan Covey Scouting Report
Watch Dylan Covey November Scouting Video
Watch Dylan Covey October Scouting Video
Watch Dylan Covey September Scouting Video
Read about Dylan Covey at the Major League Scouting Bureau workout

Olt looks like he lost a little bit of weight from where I saw him last summer in the Cape Cod League, when he was getting back into playing shape after missing much of the 2009 season. This immediately showed itself in Olt’s athletic actions around third base. A former shortstop, he has many of those same agile actions that you would like to find in that position. He would lack the range to stay there as a pro, but at third, he gets around just fine and keeps his feet constantly moving. His arm is a weapon and I thought he threw better in the spring than he did in the summer. Offensively, I still like Olt a lot, mainly because he showed power to all fields in the summer. He is balanced and has good bat speed, strong hands and forearms, and his swing is naturally tailored to lift the ball. He shows adaptability from pitch to pitch, and I think this approach will become one of those un-graded weapons for him as a pro. The only aspect I’d like to see more of is aggressiveness. I don’t think he’s timid but I’d like to see him attack earlier for the kind of guy he is. This can also be connected to coaching orders. All I know is this: I hate seeing guys like that taking first pitch fastballs, Moneyball be damned. I want hitters to hit.

Read Mike Olt Q&A
Read Mike Olt Scouting Report

Hill is listed at 6-3, 200 and comes with a durable starting pitcher’s frame. With a big body, long legs, high hips and a thick trunk, Hill should have more power than he does now. That’s the factor that might help make Hill a better pro than a college pitcher. He has a barrel chest and broad shoulders and average arm speed, but with the proper combination of conditioning and instruction, he could be a better pro than the draft round he will likely fall in. In other words, he’s a tweener, but there might be more to work with than meets the eye. Hill’s fastball velocity was 89-91 and sat 90 in three innings. His slider was 83-84 and his change-up was 79-81. His two-seam fastball has sink and movement and he will be a serviceable pro if he can consistently use this pitch low in the strike zone. He won’t blow anyone away despite a frame that indicates there should be more power, but an improved change-up should help level that playing field. Right now I would conclude Hill has a touch more power than he is presently showing, but that alone will not make for enough power. His control and command on all pitches is serviceable enough to where Hill could be a decent guy if he can find a touch more power and a signature secondary pitch. Conclusion: This is a good draft pick to send to a good pro pitching coach. 

Grades: Fastball: 4/5, Slider 3/5, Change 3/5, Control 3/5, Command 3/5. OFP: 50

Reed hit 94 Thursday in the first inning against Alabama-Birmingham, averaging 91, and pitching from 89-94. His slider worked at 79-82 and his change-up at 79. In his previous start, Reed hit 92 in the first inning and averaged 90.

Read Ace vs. Ace: Addison Reed vs. Alex Meyer

At 6-4 with one of the best pitching frames you’ll find, Walker is a basketball player who got his feet wet in about 20 innings as a junior at Yucaipa (Calif.) HS in 2009. He turned to pitching full time this summer, though he wasn’t seen nationally. He surfaced on most pre-season watch lists after pitching for a scout team last fall, but it’s pretty ignorant to think you could hide a guy with this body, a fresh arm, and the ability to hit 93.

Tuesday afternoon, coming off the basketball season, Walker worked three innings. His fastball hit 93 in the first inning, with a change-up at 72-73, and an occasional curveball at 76. I thought the best two curveballs Walker threw were in the bullpen. The best one was a true curveball that hinted that Walker possesses above-average rotation, velocity and command of the pitch in coming years.

Walker averaged 90-91 with his fastball before declining into 88-89 velocity at the end of the outing. His fastball has a little tail on it against right-handers. Overall, he has the ability to keep the ball consistently around the plate. For someone with limited innings under his belt, Walker has his moments where he is very good at getting on top of the ball, getting extension, and letting his height work for him. While Walker isn’t as advanced as some prospect pitchers of his age, he also has more projection and ceiling than many pitchers who are automatic Division I and draft candidates.

Watch Taijuan Walker Scouting Video

When you break down Sale’s delivery, you find very solid points. He comes across the rubber in coordination, he aims at the plate, he lands fairly well, he is aware of getting on top of the ball and creating extension and downhill plane, and he has natural life on the fastball.

Sale already shows you some signs of having an instinctive idea of what he’s doing. From a hitter’s perspective, Sale does well by hiding the ball much longer than many other college pitchers. This adds to his deception and makes his movement more effective.

Physically, Sale has the frame and arm speed that suggests more power. He’s got a curveball and a slider and, in my look, a concept of how to pitch one off the other. Sale is a definite first-rounder for me and I think a viable possibility as a future No. 1 or No. 2 major league starter.

Read Chris Sale Scouting Report

 
Read Jesus Valdez Scouting Update - Season Debut
Watch Jesus Valdez December Scouting Video

Some projections have Cox going in the first round in 2010. While I agree he’s a solid draft pick, I don’t see him as a premium pick. Here’s why. If he’s going to stay at third base as a major leaguer and be a standout player, he’ll need power. There are no signs in this video that Cox is tailored for lifting the ball. He’s armsy and likes extension, but he doesn’t drive the ball. He makes contact, but not with what I would term hard contact. 

If a guy likes to get extension but is armsy and does not lift the ball, then that is potentially a guy with a hole in his swing at the big league level. In that case, Cox will have to show adjustability and an understanding of how to work counts to his advantage. I think he’ll hit the good fastball, which is a good start, but he’ll need to prove he can drive the quality breaking balls. Cox does keep the bat head in the zone for a long time, which is a good sign.

Drafted in the 20^th round out of high school by the Dodgers, I don’t mind Cox for what I think he is. He didn’t fall very far from the Blake DeWitt tree, another example of how you can tell what certain organizations like to draft for in terms of body types and how much stock a club puts in physical projection. Cox has modest height and he’s stocky and strong with a low center of gravity. But he’s just about maxed about physically, which tells me that he has limited power and his swing is not tailored for his strengths.  He also lacks a standout secondary tool that would make him a premium pick. In conclusion, I don’t think this guy is a terrible hitter, but he’s not a cornerstone type. He will most certainly have organizational value and will have to hit his way to the top. He will help himself if he can play multiple positions.

Grades: Hit: 2/6 Power: 2/4 Run: 4/5 Arm: 3/5 Field: 3/5 OFP: 49

More on Dylan Covey:
Read Dylan Covey Updated Report - Season Debut
Read Dylan Covey Scouting Report
Watch Dylan Covey November Scouting Video
Watch Dylan Covey October Scouting Video
Watch Dylan Covey September Scouting Video
Read about Dylan Covey at the Major League Scouting Bureau workout