By John Klima
June 12, 2010
I see Tyler Shreve as a closer. This video shows you why. Taken in Summer 2009, you can see Shreve’s burly body type. He threw hard, low 90s, but lacked balance and coordination. He had a hard time staying closed, but you couldn’t take away the arm speed. I haven’t seen him pitch since summer, but he would profile for me as a bullpen arm. It would fit his mound persona and stuff.
By John Klima
February 14, 2010
Dylan Covey continued to show the quantity and quality of stuff that separates him from a strong national crop of high school right-handed starting pitchers, but he wasn’t the only starting pitcher who helped himself Saturday at the Major League Scouting Bureau Southern California Invitational Showcase at the Urban Youth Academy. (more)
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.
By John Klima
August 16, 2009
Bryce Harper, the made for TV prospect, went hitless. Anthony Wolters, an undersized shortstop who can run and play defense, showed he also will place himself in the running to be a top-round pick next June on Sunday night at the Aflac game at Petco Park in San Diego.
By John Klima
August 9, 2009
Right-hander Jesus Valdez touched 92 Sunday afternoon in his best outing of the Area Code games at Blair Field in Long Beach, Calif.
By John Klima
August 6, 2009
Tyler Kuresa (Oakmont HS, Roseville, Calif.) lined a hard-contact RBI single up the middle in the first inning and Stefan Sabol (Aliso Niguel HS, Calif.) followed with a well-hit RBI double down the third base line. Christian Yelich (Westlake HS, Thousand Oaks, Calif.), an intriguing prospect because of his 6-4, 185 frame, drove a ball to deep center field for a RBI triple in the first inning Thursday for the Brewers Blue (Southern California) against the A’s (Southeast), starting Day 2 of the 2009 Area Code Games at Blair Field in Long Beach, Calif.
Yelich won’t be a speed burner any time soon, but he has enough athletic actions to warrant a closer look, and may have grown a bit since the end of the high school season.
The damage was done against A’s starter Nate Foriest (Harpeth HS, Kingston, Tenn.), who pitched with his fastball at 85-87 and with a curveball at 75-76 in the first inning. Listed at 6-2, 190, with a lean, loose and fast arm, Foriest did well for himself by adjusting the second time through the order and turning a showcase into a simulated game environment. He showed that one inning wasn’t worth giving up on him.
