Baseball Beginnings

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.

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Category: '09 Meet the Player, 2009 Draft, 2009 Minor Leagues | No Comments »
Tags: Arizona Diamondbacks, LMU, Ryan Wheeler

John Klima | October 19, 2009

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

Category: 2009 Draft, Baseball Beginnings Exclusives | No Comments »
Tags: Arizona Diamondbacks, Ryan Wheeler

John Klima | June 10, 2009

Ryan Wheeler worked out for the Diamondbacks, Giants, Mariners, Padres and Dodgers at their respective major league parks. He also had a workout for the Cardinals. The Diamondbacks, placing an emphasis on hitters in the early rounds, were pleased to find that Wheeler was available in the 5^th round with the 156^th overall pick.

“I think it’s a really good fit for both of us,” Wheeler said. “I thought I saw the ball real well in their park and I know they were looking for bats. I’m looking forward to getting started.”

Read Ryan Wheeler Q&A
Read Ryan Wheeler Scouting Report
Watch Ryan Wheeler Scouting Video
Read about Ryan Wheeler in the Cape Cod League
Ryan Wheeler Drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks

Category: 2009 Draft | No Comments »
Tags: Diamondbacks, LMU, Ryan Wheeler, Torrance

John Klima | June 10, 2009

Today, the Arizona Diamondbacks selected Ryan Wheeler in the 5th round (156th overall) in the draft. Follow the links below for Baseball Beginnings content on Wheeler.

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

Category: 2009 Draft | No Comments »
Tags: Arizona Diamondbacks, LMU, Ryan Wheeler

John Klima | May 25, 2009

Trayce Thompson has basketball genes but baseball in his blood. His Dad, Mychal, was Mr. 1/1 (First pick, First round) of the 1978 NBA draft and enjoyed a long and productive career. Two of Trayce’s older brothers are Division I college basketball players. And even though Trayce grew up with Clyde Drexler coming over from a few doors down to try to get Mycheal off the couch and go to the gym with him, he still had baseball in his mind when he was out shooting with another friendly visitor, Uncle Chuck Barkley.

Here at Baseball Beginnings, we like guys who have played multiple sports prior to signing. It’s really a sentiment from Old World scouting, where the belief was that no sport requires more fine motor skills than baseball. So if you take a guy who knows how to move his feet and his hands, you got yourself an athlete. It worked for Goose Tatum, a stud member of the old Harlem Globetrotters and a pretty good baseball player in his own right.

Some of the baseball players with other sports in their pasts who we’ve covered leading up to the 2009 draft are Bonita HS shortstop Jiovanni Mier, a soccer player, and Loyola Marymount first baseman Ryan Wheeler, who used to play basketball with North Carolina’s Deon Thompson in high school. Willie Mays played everything in high school, so did Reggie Jackson. Gary Carter was a prep quarterback. John Elway, you know his deal.

In the showcase and specialization age, the multi-sport baseball player is largely a thing of the past, but a player like Thompson shows why different athletic experiences before going into baseball fulltime still has its advantages. That’s the view here, which probably runs contrary to a lot of opinions in the amateur baseball field.

At this time last year, Thompson said he was just trying to get a Division I school to take him, but athleticism helps a player come quickly into baseball. His ride is at UCLA, but signs indicate that the draft will never let him get there. Baseball Beginnings caught up with Thompson and talked about his basketball past and his baseball future.

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Category: '09 Meet the Player | 2 Comments »
Tags: Chad Thompson, Jiovanni Mier, Matt Hobgood, Mychal Thompson, Ryan Wheeler, Trayce Thompson, Tyler Matzek, UCLA

John Klima | May 22, 2009

Back in the day (2007 to be exact), Angelo Songco was the other freshman hauling the BP bucket through airport security. His Loyola Marymount teammate, Ryan Wheeler, was the guy with the bag full of batting helmets. In a few years, both guys might be making enough to pay someone to carry their stuff for them. And let’s face it, if you play in the big leagues, you have nicer stuff than the rest of us working class honks.

But they have to get to the big leagues first. 

Songco is the kind of power hitter a lot of scouts tend to like. What does it for the scouts is a swing that allows him to rip balls to the opposite field as well as pull balls. They like it when he gets his arms extended. It’s a classic kind of swing extension, and if you miss it, you can see his swinging silhouette on the T-shirts his family wears around the ballpark. On the trail this spring, I can tell you that I overheard a lot of guys liking him.

Baseball Beginnings caught up with him for a Q&A, with a special cameo appearance by teammate Ryan Wheeler, who helped us size up Songco’s hands. (more…)

Category: '09 Meet the Player | No Comments »
Tags: Angelo Songco, Cape Cod League All-Star, Loyola Marymount, Ryan Wheeler

John Klima | May 19, 2009

 

Ryan Wheeler, 1B
Loyola Marymount University
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Games seen: 2; Innings: 18 (Also saw as HS player)

 

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Category: '09 Scouting Reports | No Comments »
Tags: Loyola Marymount, Ryan Wheeler

John Klima | May 19, 2009

Shopping list for team drafting for what they would term definite first base prospects: Quick hands, ability to generate power, drive ball to all fields, physically durable, preferably a good athlete, someone who isn’t a hack with a glove.  

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Read Ryan Wheeler Q&A
Read Ryan Wheeler Scouting Report
Read about Ryan Wheeler in the Cape Cod League
Ryan Wheeler Drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks
Catching up with Ryan Wheeler

Category: '09 Videos | No Comments »
Tags: Loyola Marymount, Ryan Wheeler

John Klima | May 18, 2009

Ryan Wheeler is that one rare guy the head coach of a Division I college baseball team would probably trust enough to give him a key to the batting cage. This is always a funny moment and it goes something like this: Coach gives kid key. Coach tells kid not to tell anyone else. Coach makes sure nobody saw it. This conversation never existed.

Unlocking the key to his own swing has been at the core of Wheeler-Gate at Loyola Marymount, where the left-handed first baseman used a good sophomore season and a better summer in the Cape Cod League to grow beyond his days as a high school non-prospect.

Wheeler wasn’t drafted out of Torrance High School in 2006 because he spent more time drilling jumpers in an empty gym than he spent hitting liners in the batting cage. By his own admission, he came into his high school baseball seasons in basketball shape, but his legs were faster than his bat.

Most players of this stature are not drafted out of high school because scouts consider them impossible to sign based on college commitments and would rather spend the pick on a player they can send out to the minors.

Those were not Wheeler’s circumstances. He was simply discarded because he was too far behind other high school players. But a kid can catch up if the ability is actually there. Wheeler is a textbook example of why experience matters in scouting and why impatient, quick-to-judgment scouting can make you miss players.

Wheeler wasn’t ready to sign, but he was probably worth somebody’s 30^th round pick. Instead, Wheeler never filled out a follow card. What he showed was, in his own words, a slow guy who could make contact but not drive the ball.

When he showed up as a last-minute roster addition in the Cape last summer, he showed the pull and straight-away power that he began to unlock as a sophomore. He was only two summers removed from being a player who was going to either have to be a junior college player or a recruited walk-on. Instead, we doubt he’ll get past the first 100 picks.

The player with the key to the batting cage has been found. Baseball Beginnings caught up with our old friend Wheeler, who one day might see his name in canvas on that chain link fence back home in Torrance.  (more…)

Category: '09 Meet the Player | No Comments »
Tags: Cape Cod League All-Star, Deon Thompson, Loyola Marymount, Ryan Wheeler

John Klima | April 19, 2009

TWOBB is an artful and humorous rip-off of the old TWIB slogan, or this week in baseball.

This is going to be a busy week at BB World HQ. We’re going to roll out some of the college players we’ve accumulated this season while hitting the road to cover some players that are going to be on this site before the draft.

Last week, while Grant Green was doing his thing, I drove out to Yucaipa to see Matt Davidson hit. This week is highlighted by Thursday’s Riverside Poly visit to Norco which will again feature Norco right-handed pitcher Matt Hobgood against toolsy outfielder Jake Marisnick. Both Hobgood and Marisnick will have video and additional content on the site in the coming days. We’re also planning on getting out to see shortstop Jiovanni Mier and hopefully to catch UC Riverside RHP Joe Kelly.

We have plans to get additional Tyler Skaggs material, because his pre-draft interest is soaring. Other players that are coming to the site include Loyola Marymount’s lefty-lefty duo of Angelo Songco and Ryan Wheeler. One other player we have video of but need to get caught up on is Newbury Park infielder Jack Marder, who might be the best pure high school hitter this year.

It’s been a pretty good first month around these parts. We thank you for coming by and hope you’ll keep coming back.

Category: 2009 Draft | No Comments »
Tags: Angelo Songco, Grant Green, Jack Marder, Jake Marisnick, Jiovanni Mier, Joe Kelly, LMU, Matt Davidson, Matt Hobgood, Ryan Wheeler, Tyler Skaggs, UC Riverside, USC