Scouting Report: Anthony Gose, OF, Toronto Blue Jays

As a second round pick in the 2008 draft, Phillies prospect Anthony Gose was considered an extremely risky proposition on draft day. As both a pitcher and offensive player, he boasted a low-90′s fastball from the left side and arguably the best wheels in the entire draft. Even with the tools, the uber-raw Gose was drafted as a major project with a long road to Philadelphia. In a draft which saw the Phillies select fellow tool sheds in Zach Collier and Anthony Hewitt prior to Gose, Gose has clearly taken the lead in prospect status among the three and is now top five in the system. With a .259/.323/.353 triple slash line and 76 stolen bases in 96 attempts, the young outfielder has yet to scratch the surface of what he can be.

Physique and Athleticism: A thoroughbred, Gose combines explosive speed with fluid movement. Muscle definition through the shoulders, hips, and forearms indicate the ability to add size while lean calves and a slim torso point to his being able to maintain his athleticism as he continues to mature. Physically, I could argue his having the most physical projection of any position player I saw in the “Sally” this season.

Offense: While his overall line left a bit to be desired, his age, combined with physical projection and unrefined hitting mechanics make Gose a high risk, high reward project. However, he already does a few things well. In game action, he tended to play to his strengths by working deep counts and keeping the ball on the ground. In striking out more than three times for every walk, he lacks true feel for the strike zone, but this should improve considering his propensity to at least see a number of pitches.

From a mechanics standpoint, Gose has considerable room for improvement. His hands are quick, but he leads with his front elbow just enough to cause a bit of drag in the back of his swing. This leaves him susceptible to fastballs just below the letters and higher. Once he learns to keep his front elbow tight, some of his foul balls straight back should turn into hard line drives. This mechanical adjustment, along with increased strength should give him the power ceiling of a Carl Crawford.

Defense: In watching Gose in centerfield, I could not help but think of “The Bad News Bears” and “Kelly” catching everything from foul pole to foul pole. In making spectacular sliding catches in both outfield gaps, he showed gold glove caliber range. As impressive as those catches were, however, his routes can definitely improve, as well as his overall body control. He was borderline reckless in the outfield and could leave himself open to serious injury. In seeing him twice, he was not in a situation where he needed to show off his arm strength.

Speed: With 76 stolen bases, it’s quite obvious Gose has some serious wheels as exhibited by his almost beating out a hard one-hopper to second base. However, he does not have the best first step and was pretty raw on the base paths. In game action, he was picked off twice and struggled with his jumps. It’s actually scary to think about the stolen base numbers Gose could put up should his overall base running ability improve from average to plus. Triple digits is not out of the question.

Anthony Gose makes a great first impression in person even though his offensive metrics were not impressive. In terms of prospect status, his physical projection more than makes up for his being little more than an embryo in terms of baseball development. With continued growth, Gose should be a top 100 talent by 2011 and in the conversation for MILB’s most exciting player. I normally shy away from projections, but I certainly would not be surprised if Gose becomes Carl Crawford lite and runs rampant over the National League East for years to come.