By John Klima
June 19, 2010
Left-hander Henry Owens should be one of the best high school arms in Southern California for the 2011 Draft and will likely be on the national radar entering the new draft cycle. We will have plenty on him in the coming months, but here is an introductory look based on an outing last spring in which he was effective with fastball command and curveball against Marina’s Chad Lewis.
By John Klima
June 15, 2010
No sooner does one draft cycle end than the next one begins. The next draft cycle always starts with a group of players pretty much everyone knows, but from now until next June, the draft cycle is nothing but a horserace. What follows are some of the prospects that I have already seen and will see more of in 2011.
This is not meant to be a complete list or a ranking, and if this story is the first time you are discovering Baseball Beginnings, we invite you to stick around throughout the year to see video and read about the players we are talking about. If you stay with us, by the time draft day rolls around, I promise you many players that are not even in this story will come alive for you through video, scouting reports, scouting updates and interviews.
If you’re a 2011 prospect and you’re not in this story, it doesn’t mean you are not a prospect. It just means I haven’t seen you yet. If you can play, chances are I will find you.
Here, then, is a sneak peak at what is inside the 2011 stable, both high school and college, on a national scale.
By John Klima
April 28, 2010
The radar gun is a crutch so I’m not going to waste my time with velocities in this story. I’ll see Henry Owens with plenty of guns on him in the coming months, but what he does as a pitcher is what will determine his fate in the coming years.
By John Klima
November 26, 2009
Today concludes our two-part look at the 2009 Angel Elite season with our player summaries. As we mentioned Wednesday, this list does not represent rankings and follows the professional scouting model, where at this time of the year you are simply following players between summer and spring.
By John Klima
October 26, 2009
Wednesday’s Angels Elite Fall Ball game against Orange Coast College at Mazmanian Field at Mt. Sac was a bit of a skeleton crew because many 2010 draft prospects were in Florida participating in a nine-field beauty pageant of a showcase. Safe to say, there were no scouts and agents tripping over themselves in golf carts begging for atta-boys from BA and PG here. Folks, we’re not lobbyists for certain players. We see, we report, we film, we write, and the KID decides what kind of player he becomes, not us. This is the way it works in professional baseball (or at least it should if politics and favortism doesn’t interfere). Pure and simple.
What was left on Angels Elite was an opportunity to get prolonged looks at some guys you might not otherwise get to see. (more…)
By John Klima
September 21, 2009
Right-hander Dylan Covey pitched so impressively in his first outing for Angel Elite last Wednesday that one scout quipped, “He broke all our guns.”
Covey was outstanding. He only threw a bullpen at the Area Codes and pitched well at Aflac, but he was better here, specifically because his good curveball was great. (more…)
By John Klima
August 8, 2009
Right-hander Scott Frazier will be draft quality out of Upland HS. Listed at 6-6 and 205, he entered the game throwing hard, hitting 90 or 91 in his first five pitches. He is tall and rangy with a fast arm, durable build and good balance and coordination.
