Baseball Beginnings

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.

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Category: 2011 Draft | No Comments »
Tags: Alex Meyer, Archie Bradley, Austin Hedges, Brandon Loy, Brett Mooneyham, Brian Humphries, Chad Wright, Christian Lopes, Dean Espy, Dylan Bundy, Eric Snyder, George Springer, Gerrit Cole, Harold Martinez, Henry Owens, Jack Armstrong, Jack Marder, Jackie Bradley Jr., Jason Esposito, Johnny Ruettiger, Matt Barnes, Matt Purke, Phillip Evans, Ryan Carpenter, Scott McGough, Sonny Gray, Taylor Rogers, Taylor Wall, Travis Harrison, Trevor Bauer, Tyler Anderson, Tyler Pill, Tyler Rahmatulla

By John Klima
May 8, 2010

Jack Marder and Gerrit Cole meet here on Beginnings after meeting on a recent Friday night. Have fun with the short clip below, then watch, as your head can also explode along with ours at the umpteen hyperlinks to content we have created on these two guys in the last year.

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Category: '11 Videos | No Comments »
Tags: Gerrit Cole, Jack Marder, Oregon, UCLA

By John Klima
April 22, 2010

Jack Marder’s hands worked in high school and they work now.

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Category: '11 Scouting Updates | No Comments »
Tags: Jack Marder, Oregon

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.

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Category: '11 Videos, 2009 Draft | No Comments »
Tags: Arizona Diamondbacks, Jack Marder, University of Oregon

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
June 10, 2009

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

Category: 2009 Draft | No Comments »
Tags: Arizona Diamondbacks, Jack Marder

By John Klima
May 10, 2009

We close out this busy week with the final installment of Jack Marder video. If he gets to you, Oregon fans, you’ll love him.

Read Jack Marder Q&A
Read Diamondbacks or Ducks
Read Jack Marder Scouting report
Watch Jack Marder Scouting video
Jack Marder Drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks
Read Andrew Lambo Q&A

Category: '09 Videos | No Comments »
Tags: Jack Marder, University of Oregon

By John Klima
May 9, 2009

 

Jack Marder, SS
Newbury Park HS
6-1, 180
B/T: R/R
Games 1, Innings 7 (Plus off-day BP and Infield)

 

 

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Category: '09 Scouting Reports | No Comments »
Tags: Jack Marder

By John Klima
May 7, 2009

If you were any closer, you’d have to wear a mask. As an added bonus, there is a part 2 installment of Jack Marder taking infield later in the week.

Read Jack Marder Q&A
Read Diamondbacks or Ducks
Read Jack Marder Scouting report
Watch Jack Marder Scouting video Part 2
Jack Marder Drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks
Read Andrew Lambo Q&A

Category: '09 Videos | No Comments »
Tags: Jack Marder

By John Klima
May 6, 2009

Jack Marder is the best high school hitter you’ve never heard of. You wouldn’t find his name on any of the major pre-season lists. He wasn’t one of the 2009 glamour boys in Southern California, but if you watch his swing and know what you’re looking for, it’s hard to miss.

Marder knows what your scouting report is going to say. Scouts will downgrade him because he’s not the flashiest athlete, but he’s also got enough athleticism. He’s not the rangiest defender, but he’ll position himself before the pitch because his feet always move. He’s not going to wow with his arm strength, but he’s going to get rid of it quickly and be accurate. He won’t be an Olympic sprinter but he’ll pick apart a pitcher with a slow release to steal bases and always go first to third.

All of these aspects are the mental parts of the game. You can be the smartest player in the world, but to play in the big leagues, you have to be able to hit.

Marder is from Newbury Park High School, along the Conejo Grade in Ventura County, where hitting genetics seem to reside in the local gene pools. He played with Newbury Park’s Andrew Lambo in high school and with Matt Dominguez and Mike Moustakas on the 1927 Yankees of club teams a few years back. He is two years younger than the former first round picks in 2007.

Marder is committed to play Pac-10 baseball at the University of Oregon if he doesn’t sign out of high school. What we have here is an average-sized ballplayer who can hit, the kind of player that an inexperienced area scout might dismiss as a good high school player who will be a great college player but never amount to a thing in pro ball, much less sniff the big leagues.

Go ahead. They said the same thing about Dustin Pedroia. Those guys aren’t in baseball today. (more…)

Category: '09 Meet the Player | No Comments »
Tags: Dustin Pedroia, Jack Marder, Jack Wilson, Matt Dominguez, Mike Moustakas, University of Oregon, Willie Mays