By John Klima
June 23, 2010
(Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of 2010 Draft Recaps. The teams will be listed in alphabetical order.)
If you are a pitcher and have a pulse, the Arizona Diamondbacks took a look at you prior to the 2010 draft.
By John Klima
June 17, 2010
It is a sad day in the life of the young minor league ballplayer when his last good bat breaks – on the road, no less. What he’s left with is the stock wood the parent club gives the kids. For those unfamiliar with how this feels for a young player, it’s a little bit like trying to cut a tin can with a plastic knife. As if the life on the road isn’t lonely enough, it is a little rougher to do it without a bat that feels right and helps create solid contact.
Solid contact has always been what Ryan Wheeler is about. Drafted in the 5th round of the 2009 draft from Loyola Marymount, Wheeler is in his first full pro season at Class A Visalia in the California League, where Baseball Beginnings had a fresh look at Wheeler playing at Lancaster.
By John Klima
June 17, 2010
Ryan Wheeler is at the developmental stage where is learning to remember to dance with the lady who brought him to the dance. In his case, it’s his hands and his swing. Always a gap hitter, Wheeler hasn’t had much difficulty making consistent contact in the California League. On the road between college and the big leagues, Wheeler is learning to find the same load that will allow him to retain his natural swing, but also drive through the ball and generate lift. Peering into the future, I think 30 home runs per season is a reach, but 19-21 as a major leaguer isn’t.
By Jen Marder
June 8, 2010
Today the Arizona Diamondbacks selected Robby Rowland in the third round (#88 overall) in the 2010 MLB Draft. Baseball Beginnings has been scouting Rowland from the start of the draft cycle. Enjoy links to the content we have published on him through the year.
Watch Robby Rowland Video
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.
By John Klima
October 19, 2009
(photo: Baseball Beginnings)
Ryan Wheeler has been named the 2009 Arizona Diamondbacks minor league player of the year following his standout professional debut season at short-season Class A Yakima and Class A South Bend. Wheeler, a fifth round pick from Loyola Marymount, posted a 1.002 OPS (That is not a typo). Wheeler, who wasn’t drafted out of high school, began to blossom playing in the Cape Cod League and then carried over his wood bat comfort zone into pro ball. Every aspect of what we liked about Wheeler from a scouting point of view translated into performance as a pro. The road will get harder as he advances, but Wheeler helped himself in 2009. At Yakima, he withstood the elements and produced a nice triple crown line of .361-6-41, with 21 doubles and four triples and only 32 strikeouts in 263 at-bats. We’ll catch up with Wheeler this winter.
You can scout Wheeler for yourself here on Baseball Beginnings by clicking the links below. We have video of him as an amateur playing at LMU, as well as our exclusive scouting reports and Q&A.
Read Ryan Wheeler Q&A
Read Ryan Wheeler Scouting Report
Watch Ryan Wheeler Scouting Video
Read about Ryan Wheeler in the Cape Cod League
Catching up with Ryan Wheeler
By John Klima
August 26, 2009
And the winner is the Oregon Ducks. Jack Marder was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 30th round. He figured the chances of signing were remote, so he said he wasn’t surprised or frustrated to play college baseball for Oregon. College baseball is a good fit for a player like Marder, whose best tool is the bat.
He played in three games at the National Baseball Congress World Series and went 7-for-14 playing for Conejo Oaks of the California Collegiate League. In 33 games and 120 at-bats, facing college pitchers while he was only a few weeks removed from high school, Marder wasn’t one of these guys who let the bat swing him. He hit .375 (45-for-120) with eight doubles, two triples and 27 RBIs. He stole 11 bases in 12 attempts. This is a guy who won’t be confused with Jimmy Rollins (or Vince Coleman if you’d like to go retro), but Marder has this solid history of being a better offensive weapon than his tools say he should be.
After the jump, you can have a look at Marder swinging the bat this summer for Conejo Oaks.
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 30th 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…)
By John Klima
June 24, 2009
A funny thing happened Tuesday night: I went to an A-ball game and actually saw some guys who might pitch in the big leagues one day.
When one of these games goes 10 innings and features 25 strikeouts, it’s safe to say that either the wind was blowing in or the pitchers were throwing somewhat controlled smoke — or perhaps a combination of both.
Baseball Beginnings scouted the California-Carolina League All-Star game Tuesday night at Lake Elsinore. We were in the house at 2 p.m., we believe before any pro scouts were in the joint. We collected several interviews, most notably with Giants prospect Buster Posey, Royals prospect Mike Moustakas and Braves prospect Cody Johnson.
We’ll get to those stories in the coming days, but before they kick me out of the press box and make me hop the barbed-wire fence, I have to report what mattered most Tuesday night, the pitching. Read the story after the jump, and I hope that wearing shorts today wasn’t a bad idea. (Ah, the joys of online digital journalism as opposed to print. Personality plays!)
By John Klima
June 10, 2009
(photo: Baseball Beginnings)
Today the Arizona Diamondbacks selected Jack Marder in the 30th round (906th overall) of the draft. Follow the links below for Baseball Beginnings content on Marder.
Read Diamondbacks or Ducks
Read Jack Marder Q&A
Read Jack Marder Scouting report
Watch Jack Marder Scouting video
Watch Jack Marder Scouting video Part 2
