2012 Volume #12

Through various webcasts, I was able to watch a few games this weekend and jot down notes along the way. I present them to you in a mostly unaltered form.

Important Note: I must stress that these notes are — in most cases — based on only one game of data. A player is not at his best every time out, and we need multiple viewings before we get a clear picture of the player.

Previous Volumes:

• Volume 01
• Volume 02
• Volume 03
• Volume 04
• Volume 05
• Volume 06
• Volume 07
• Volume 08
• Volume 09
• Volume 10
• Volume 11
• Index

Other than Baltimore Orioles prospect Dylan Bundy, the most talked about minor league pitcher this seasons has been Seattle Mariners prospect Taijuan Walker.  The 19-year-old right handed hurler, along with Danny Hultzen & James Paxton, headlines the Jackson Generals Double A rotation.  I had the opportunity to catch his start this past Monday evening, the second game of a double header.  Although Walker left injured with two outs in the third inning, I saw more than enough to confirm the hype around Walker.

First, the Injury.  I did not see the injury occur in real time.  I asked the two scouts sitting next to me if they saw anything and neither of the scouts saw a thing.  It was evident that he hurt his ankle since he came up lame on a ground out.  Under the watchful eye of the Generals manager and trainer, Walker took two warm ups and was deemed good to go.  After he threw two pitches to Cubs prospect Jae-Hoon Ha, the second pitch being laced for a double, it was evident that the ankle was causing him trouble.  He was not pushing off the rubber like he was prior to the injury and the manager and trainer made the right move by removing Walker from the game.  According to Greg Johns' Mariners.com notebook, Walker sprained his right ankle "after getting his cleat caught on the mound running to cover first base."  I may have gotten that on film.  Judge for yourself.  Of course, I was conserving my camera's battery and only shooting for a few second increments so this is the best evidence we've got of the injury.

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Last June, during my annual trip to watch some Appalachian League action, I took in a game over at Pioneer Park in Tusculum, Tennessee, home of the Greeneville Astros.  Pioneer Park is the class of the Appalachian League, a beautiful campus stadium that is also home to the Tusculum College's baseball team.  My main purpose for the trip to Pioneer Park was to watch Mets prospect Juan Urbina and to catch Astros prospect Aviel Ovando, who ended up sitting out the contest with an injury.  I figured, since Ovando wasn't playing, I'd concentrate on the Astros starting pitcher, Chris Lee.  Unfortunately, I spilled a drink on my notes so I can't offer much of a scouting report.

Chris Lee was a 2011 draft pick of the Astros in the 4th Round out of Santa Fe Community College.  He is a tall, lanky left handed pitcher with a fastball sitting in the low 90s and a very raw slider.  The Fastball had some good sinking movement.  His Command of his fastball was fair at best and the command of the slider was atrocious.  Most of his slider went in the dirt.  This kid is definitely a project and has a very low floor to go along with a high ceiling.  I wouldn't be surprised he was still pitching for Greeneville next July when I make my annual trip to the Appalachian League.

Been getting some prospect video updated for the MLB draft.  Videos of Courtney Hawkins, Lucas Giolito, and Trey Williams after the jump

It always excites me to watch a top flight prospect, especially one featured in Bullpen Banter's own 2012 Top Prospect List.  It makes for good writing, whether I believe the hype or not.  Rays Shortstop Prospect Hak-Ju Lee has made his way on many of these top 100 lists, even sneaking into a few top 50 lists along the way.  With a reported combination of fantastic speed, good plate discipline, excellent defense & an ability to hit for a high average, I was curious to see whether the hype matched the actual prospect.

Defense:  I imagine Hak-Ju Lee has had better defensive games than the two I saw, where it seemed like he was rushing through the motions.  His range was good and he'll certainly play Shortstop on the next level; however, his motions were not always smooth.  On two occasions, he had trouble transferring the ball from the glove to his throwing hand.  Even with slower runners, there was a willingness on his part to rush the ball to first.  His arm is plenty good so I don't understand why he was doing this.  Overall, I'd say he will be an above average shortstop on the next level.

Speed:  On video, I clocked Lee down the line on a successful drag bunt in 3.5 Seconds, which is extremely fast.  I also clocked Lee down the line on an unsuccessful drag bunt in 3.6 seconds.  With a full swing, he sprinted to first in 4 seconds flat.  Like Ichiro, Lee is already running on contact, which helps him post such a fantastic time.  How his speed translates to base stealing is just a guess.  At the end of the video below, Lee is picked off first base by a Left Handed Lookouts reliever.  His intent when he was picked off wasn't to steal, I think he simply fell asleep with a 6-1 lead in the ninth.  It was beyond strange and quite humorous

Apologies for getting behind on the SoCal Report these past couple weeks. If you’ve missed any of the previous editions, scroll to the bottom of this article for links to the others. To stay up to date with all my notes (real-time), follow me on twitter: @peter_wardell

This past weekend, #13 Stanford visited town to take on #12 UCLA, a matchup I marked, circled and highlighted on my calendar months ago. Boasting one of the nation’s top pitchers (Mark Appel) and a formidable lineup, Stanford gave the hometown Bruins their biggest challenge of the season. The visiting Cardinal swiped two of three with 7-2 victories Friday and Sunday while the Bruins took Saturday’s matchup 7-4.

Below you’ll find notes, videos, pitch charts and more. While obviously performance does matter, I try to look at tools and abilities, analyzing players from a draftability/projection standpoint. Many (as noted) are 2012 MLB Draft eligible, however some are not.

This past weekend I was able to take in all three Lake Elsinore Storm at Rancho Cucamonga Quakes games. This was my first look at Rymer Liriano, and second look at 2b Cory Spangenberg. As always, I would like to thank Mike Lindskog and the rest of the Quakes staff, they always take care of me and put on a great show. I would also like to thank the Lake Elsinore coaches, for allowing me to do my thing on the field and set up shop. I'm sure I'll get to knock out more video, but not sure when, I may focus more on some draft guys, but I was able to knock out a few from the series, and some quick hit videos of a few bombs that were hit in the series. I like doing the multi angle home runs because they're kinda cool, and it allows me to showcase some guys that I like for whatever reason. So below you'll see some video of Liriano and Spangenberg of the Storm, and Angel Sanchez, Michael Pericht, and Chris Jacobs.