Yet More Arizona Fall League Observations
by John Sickels on Nov 6, 2008 4:31 PM EST
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PrintJason Donald, SS, Philadelphia Phillies: Looks pretty good with the bat, as expected. I focused more on his defense. He clearly has the arm strength for shortstop, but I thought his range was very marginal, especially to his right. I think he is best off at second base. He could likely play third just fine but might not have enough power for that position. Don't see how he fits into a Phillies lineup, so either trade bait or super-utility may be his role.
Greg Halman, OF, Seattle Mariners: First time I have seen him. Tools are obvious...lanky, fast, lean, strong. He crushed a fastball for about a 440 foot homer. He also swung and missed on almost every breaking ball thrown to him. That's going to be a big problem.
Austin Jackson, OF, New York Yankees: Not as toolsy as Halman, but a sound athlete in his own right. To be honest, he didn't look to me like he's going to develop much home run power. I thought his swing was too level for that. It was just one game and I'm no expert on swing mechanics though.
Logan Morrison, 1B, Florida Marlins: This guy looked great. Very fast bat, quick, relatively short swing, works the count well. Scouts are arguing over how much home run power he will develop, if he'll be a 15-20 homer guy or a 25-30 homer guy. Given his youth and continued improvement, I am very optimistic.
Justin Smoak, 1B, Texas Rangers: He looked great too. Very mobile for his size, good swing with a slight but not extreme uppercut, excellent plate discipline. Teixeira-like outcome is quite possible.
Drew Stubbs, OF, Cincinnati Reds: He has clearly shortened up his swing since I saw him in college. I think this will help him overall, but I'm uncertain now about what his power development is going to look like. Will improved OBP and BA make up for any slippage in SLG?
Chris Valaika, SS, Cincinnati Reds: Impressive bat, swung at pitches outside the zone but still made hard contact on them and drove the ball. Did not get a good read on his defense, but the hitting looks good to me.
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reddick
I’ll be honest, I was not that impressed with him. One scout I spoke with was SUPER impressed however, really loved his tools and intensity. I could see the hustle but he just looked so-so as a player. I am not a trained scout of course.
Also
which way do you lean on Morrison’s future power? Is he similar to Lars Anderson in that regard?
The FSL is a pitcher’s league, so I think you can take some stock in his HR numbers this year. Plus, he’s already got 5 in the AFL. I can see him developing along the lines of a Will Clark type with more power, is that fair?
Josh Donaldson
Does he stay at catcher? Also is his bat legit?
"With 16-year-old Dominican righty Michel Inoa in tow, Gio Gonzalez improving at Triple-A and lefty Brett Anderson carving up Double-Abatters along with Simmons and Trevor Cahill, Oakland’s pitching depthis officially the envy of baseball." - BaseballAmerica.com
donaldson
Bat looks good to me. Didn’t get to see his glove enough to get a read and didn’t hear any buzz about that topic.
Thx!
"With 16-year-old Dominican righty Michel Inoa in tow, Gio Gonzalez improving at Triple-A and lefty Brett Anderson carving up Double-Abatters along with Simmons and Trevor Cahill, Oakland’s pitching depthis officially the envy of baseball." - BaseballAmerica.com
Pitching
John, which pitcher impressed you the most while you were there?
pitching
eh….I thought the pitching was pretty lousy in the games I saw. Not much stood out. Poreda looked very good.
Gaaaaaaauchoooooooos
Thanks for Valaika update John.
Valaika
John’s analysis is spot on. I saw quite a bit of Valaika this year, and there’s no question he’s got a fairly wide hitting zone. I also think his glove will play well enough at SS.
Mike Emeigh http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/minor_key/
Jason Vargas
I know, not a real prospect, but just wondering what his velocity was at.
Gordon Beckham goes off!
“White Sox prospect Gordon Beckham enjoyed his best day as a professional Thursday, going 5-for-5 with two homers, seven RBIs and five runs scored as the Peoria Saguaros pounded the Scottsdale Scorpions, 20-9.”
just thinking of john’s initial report from Arizona on Beckham. I wonder if the scouts are a little less concearned about Beckhams swing after tonight? :-) Yeah, yeah, I know it’s one game…still.
That is one hell of a game. I am a big part of the Gordon Beckham fan club.
"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
-Jonathan Swift
by King Billy Royal on Nov 8, 2008 3:26 PM EST up reply actions
Tyler Flowers
Did you get a chance to see him?
Morrison in LF?
Any chance he sticks over there or is this just a move to get spacing to play others at 1B some? Is this perhaps testing him instead to see if he can stick in the OF? Does he have the arm for it?
I played with Logan Morrison at Northshore HS our senior year in 05. He played LF quite a bit for us when he was not pitching. On the mound, his fastball sat in the low 90’s. We all thought that he had a much better chance of being a pitcher in the pros than a hitter, but the point is that he certainly has the arm to play LF. I would guess his arm is at least league average if not slightly above average. My only question would be, does he have the speed to play LF in Florida. That is a large outfield and the dimensions are quite large as well. I would guess that Morrison would be better suited to stick at first. It’s good to see him working hard and “making it”
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