Q&A with Jack Marder, Newbury Park HS (2009 Draft)
By John Klima
May 6, 2009
(photo: Baseball Beginnings)
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…)
