Baseball Beginnings

By John Klima
July 18, 2010

Right-hander Nick Kingham is part of the Pittsburgh Pirates draft of 2010 which, for the Pirates, might be best remembered as the year of the right-handed high school starting pitcher. After drafting Taillon and Allie in the first and second rounds, the Pirates missed on A.J. Cole, then went to Kingham, who pitched his way into a ride to Oregon and onto the national radar with a good spring that showed velocity and physicality more in tune with what you draft for in your major league starting right-handers. No matter which way Kingham goes, it’ll be because of the development over the past year. That was the main topic of our conversation for this Baseball Beginnings Q&A.

On a side note, Kingham is a funny kid. Nice guy. He became the second guy in the history of Beginnings (following Angelo Gumbs) to ask me to redo his shot. Kingham picked game face. I said, OK. But I reserve the right to harmlessly give him a hard time for it.

(more…)

Category: '10 Meet the Player | 1 Comment »
Tags: Nick Kingham, Oregon, Pittsburgh Pirates

By John Klima
February 11, 2010

Nick Kingham is the kind of guy who is fun to scout, mainly because you can take a look at the body type and the arm speed and easily conclude that there’s more in that arm to come.

(more…)

Category: '10 Videos | No Comments »
Tags: Nick Kingham, Oregon

By John Klima
September 22, 2009

Baseball Beginnings is pleased to unveil our first NATIONAL look at the June 2010 draft here in September, 2009, eight months before the first name is called.

In the scouting world, every quality player is on a follow list. It’s a good bet that most of these players are already on such lists, but it’s important to remember that things will change over the next eight months – no list, no matter this one or one by a team should be considered definitive at this time of year, but should instead be regarded as a road map.

Some players who are not on this list will be hot and others who were hot in summer and fall will lose some luster in spring. That’s why you won’t see rankings here, because Baseball Beginnings works like a major league team. We’re not ranking players right now. And when we do, we keep them in-house. The world is full of people who will rank players. A good scout NEVER tells.

Every single player on this list has been seen by our scouting staff IN PERSON, meaning we don’t take our information from secondary sources. It’s on us.

(more…)

Category: 2010 Draft | 1 Comment »
Tags: A.J. Vanegas, Aaron Sanchez, Adam Duke, Albert Minnis, Alex Balog, Andrew Cole, Artie Lewicki, Austin Kubitza, Brando Tessar, Brandon Moore, Cameron Bedrosian, Chris Roglen, Christian Pfaff, Cito Culver, Cody Buckel, Colby Suggs, DeAndre Smelter, Dylan Covey, Eric Stevens, Evan Hudson, Forrest Koumas, Griffin Murphy, Jake Cole, Jameson Taillon, Jason Adam, Jesse Biddle, Jesus Valdez, John Simms, Jordan Shipers, Josh Mason, Kaleb Cowart, Karsten Whitson, Kevin Gausman, Kevin Ziomek, Kyle Richter, Luke Taylor, Mason Justice, Nathan Foriest, Nicholas Frey, Nick Kingham, Peter Tago, Robbie Aviles, Robby Rowland, Sam Wilson, Scott Frazier, Stetson Allie, Taijuan Walker, Trevor Teykl, Tyler Shreve, Tyrell Jenkins, Zach Lee

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.

(more…)

Category: 2010 Draft, 2011 Draft | No Comments »
Tags: Adam Duke, Area Code Games, Chad Lewis, Henry Owens, Kris Bryant, Marcus Littlewood, Michael Schaub, Nick Kingham, Scott Frazier

By John Klima
August 5, 2009

Right-hander Chris Roglen (Fort Collins, Colo.) pitched three innings and showed the makings of a four-pitch starter who would be draft quality out of high school or very desirable for a Division I college program. At about 6-3, Roglen isn’t a giant, but his long legs and compact delivery combine to allow him to pitch with his fastball at 89-91, with a useable slider at 77 and a decent curveball at 71. Based on his body and arm action, Roglen has some projection and is worth watching.

His starting counterpart, 6-6, 240-pound Washington right-hander Evan Hudson (Bothell HS, Bothell, Wash.) pitched with his fastball from 87-91 and a slider at 85.

His Nationals teammate, Josh Sale, a left-handed hitter with power, got into a Jake McCasland pitch for a home run to right-center field, to the left of the 387-foot marker. In Sale’s next at-bat against right-hander Nick Kingham (Sierra Vista HS, Las Vegas), Sale hit a soft fly ball to left field for an out. Kingham pitched at 88-90 with a smooth windup and potential for more power in the future. Right-hander Adam Duke (Spanish Fork HS, Salem, UT) also hit 90 in his first inning. He also hit a batter on the back leg and pitched with an aggressive demeanor. 

(more…)

Category: 2010 Draft | No Comments »
Tags: Adam Duke, Area Code Games, Chris Roglen, Drew Robinson, Dylan Everett, Evan Hudson, Jake McCasland, Josh Sale, Kris Bryant, Marcus Littlewood, Nick Kingham, Ryan Brett, Sam Wilson