Adam Wainwright and Josh Johnson: Injuries Moving Forward
For all the time, energy, and late nights that we work on our pre-draft rankings there are certain things that are just unknown to us. One of those variables is injury status, and 2011 that was no exception — especially for two top tier pitchers. Adam Wainwright was out for the season when forced to [...]
Game Report: Mets Prospect Juan Urbina
During the 2010 season, I made the three-plus hour journey from my house in NW Georgia to Greeneville, Tennessee, home of the Greeneville Astros, the Appalachian league affiliate of the Houston Astros for the first time. On that evening, Greeneville was playing the Kingsport Mets, a team led by Mets prospect and Scouting the Sally [...]
Bullpens Help Pave Way for Tampa Bay Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks
Everytime you hear a pregame posteason show, you’ll hear the same basic tenants of a “winning ball club.” Key hits, strong starter performance and of course, a strong and deep bullpen. I think bullpens are the key to the modern game. I’m not necessarily talking about having multiple LOOGY’s to get all the southpaws in [...]
NY Yankees Prospect Mason Williams Delivers on High Bonus
For some Yankee fans the 2010 draft was a failure before the players even received their assignments. The big over-slot signing was Mason Williams, who got first round money as a fourth round pick. And as always the case, with big money there are substantial expectations whether it is in the draft, international free [...]
New York Yankees World Series Dreams Rest on Ivan Nova’s Shoulders
“…and the further I investigated, the nearer the terrifying image appeared. Where I’d begun my search, the apparition had returned, staring sharply, if only to ridicule me once the results of my inquiries were unearthed.” No, those aren’t the grumblings uttered by Dr. Frankenstein, nor are they the lamentations of a bemoaned Red Sox fan [...]
Giants Catcher Hector Sanchez Forces His Way Into San Francisco’s Plans
Hector Sanchez, C, San Francisco Giants – Coming into 2011 Hector Sanchez was a bit of an afterthought in the catcher pecking order in the Giants system with Buster Posey firmly entrenched in San Fran and Tommy Joseph being the new kid on the block (even though he was coming off a poor first season). [...]
Anthony Rendon or Ryan Zimmerman? A Good Problem For The Nationals To Have
What do you do when you draft and sign the single best player in three consecutive drafts? Well, you could engage in a four minute half-dance, half-fist pump escapade while listening to Mark Morrison’s ‘Return of the Mack’. Or you could just call yourself the Washington Nationals who drafted and signed Right-Handed Pitcher Stephen Strasburg, [...]
A Retrospective On Rockies Tyler Matzek
Over at Fangraphs, I posted a scouting retrospective on Tyler Matzek titled, “2011 Proves Rocky For Rockies Tyler Matzek” including information about the August 2011 start I was in attendance for. And while I saw plenty of improvement from the September 2010 start which dropped his prospect status significantly in my mind, He was still [...]
Rays Matt Moore And David Price Form Top Left-Handed Duo
This story is about Matt Moore, a six-foot-two inch left-hander with an electric arm. Moore gets tremendous whip and extension, sitting often reaching 96-97 MPH on his fastball. Reports even have him hitting triple-digits in short spurts. This pitch features excellent arm side run and Moore’s slightly-across his body release point adds deception. Moore has [...]
Has Improved Conditioning Helped Yankees Jesus Montero?
A leaner Jesus Montero has been on display by the New York Yankees recently and Jake Hopkins takes the time to notice his physique in the most manly of ways.