Back In The Area

Greetings. After having been away scouting the northeast ( New England, New York, and New York City ), I have been reassigned to the Carolinas. I've seen some new names pop up in the area, and know I've got some catching up to do. Anyone care to voice an opinion on the legitimate "pro prospects" in North Carolina? Oh, I do know about Cameron Maybin.

Thanks

 

prospects in the Area: I think there is a few beside Cameron.

Adam Warren, RHP, New Bern, Drew Taylor, LHP, Wake Forest, Josh Dowdy, RHP, Wakefield, Nick conaway, RHP, South Stokes are the pitchers IMO

Jeremy Synan, SS, Greensboro area, Garrett Gore, OF, Hoggard(Wilmington) are the hitters who catch my eye. Synan has a very sweet Left handed swing with power.

I think the Four pitchers are all very talented:

Adam Warren is a strike machine, high 80's into the low 90's with good Curve and developing Change. He is probably 6'0 ft, 185lbs. Great student, Great person. A winner in my opinion. Will always keep your team in the game. Has the control to throw inside constantly. A must with wood bats.

Drew Taylor is probably almost 6'2 185lb. High 80's into the 90's with lots of movement, very advanced change up. Throws cutter to Right hand hitters and Curve to left hand hitters. Baseball America projects him to go in the first 5 rounds of the draft. Was 88-91 in Fort myers. Some scouts had him as high as 92/93 in the 5th thru 7th inngs against the Florida Bombers. His stock is rising quickly.

Josh Dowdy is probably 6'1, 175lb. High 80's touching 90/91. The ultimate competitor and teammate. A bulldog on the mound. A "here it is...hit it if you can" pitcher. Good breaking ball in the upper 60's. Good change up that he throws different speeds......66-69mph, then will throw one 77-79. Will really pull the string on you. Good command....will throw inside and make you get dirty. With Wood bats at the next level he would be very tough.

Nick Conoway is probably close to 6'2, 200lb. I have only seem him twice but both times he was legit 90-93 with above average Curve. Kind of fell off the radar this summer/fall. Not sure why. Didn't seem him in Fort Myers........someone who throws like that should have been there IMO. Plays at a class 1A High school so i do not know what kind of competition he faces during his High School season.

***All of the above pitchers can touch higher in the Velocity dept, but I quoted numbers at which I think they pitch at consistently.

 

Other than talent, size is a issue for a prospect. I'd say Conoway and Taylor deserve a close watch......but Jeremy Synan is the real deal. He has a pro body with ML skills. The kid is always the first one on and first one off the field...hustle, hustle, hustle....great attitude. The biggest concern as it is with most is...signability. He reminds me of the Drew Myers kid at USC a few years ago, but with more power.

Good to hear from you again MLB...

 

I would be glad to talk to you about Dowdy and Taylor, both played for me in teh State Games 2 years ago and I will see Dowdy this year when we play Wakefield early on. Just give me a call.

 

Braves, You are so right about the size thing but doesn't it just drive you nuts!!!! If a kid can pitch.........well he can pitch. We are seeing more and more undersized pitchers winning ballgames. There are quite a few 5'11- 6'1 guys doing quite well for themselves.

 

It sure does. Look at Addison Johnson. The kid has tremendous heart and is extremely talented....scouts won't give him a glance.

I understand the why's but you have to really admire the scout that signed Mike Hampton out of school.

ML scouting is just like any other profession. Think vanilla... Are you going to risk your job pushing to sign a 6' or under pitcher throwing 90's or the 6'6" pitcher with the same skills but not the same competitiveness? ML coaches are arrogant enough to believe they can teach everything else. And the funny thing is if you talk to two of them about a certain subject....you'll get three different answers. It's an insecure, funny business that changes philosophies based on each club.

Don't get me wrong. They are some great scouts that work hard for their clubs...but if they make the wrong picks they want to be able to say their observations were based on low risk projectibility vs high risk undersized projections. Can't really blame them for that. They're job is on the line.

 

Its good to hear you are back. Where did the Rays send Hank? How did you enjoy the northeast?

 

MLB Scout , i think i know you ... Your son Transfered from NWC to MP some few years ago then went on to play up the road a bit in Surry, correct ?

 

Thanks For the Info

Thanks alot for all the info! 44Magnum.....I'm not sure where Hank has ended up. He did not come back with us this year. The Northeast was actually alot of fun. I grew up in that area, so it was not too foreign to me. Living hotel to hotel for 12 weeks was no picnic, but you do what you have to do. LOL

Yes Intimidator Coach, my son was at Surry (and NWC and MP). He was drafted in 2003, returned to Surry in the fall of 2003 and developed elbow trouble. Had Tommy John surgery 12/23/03 in Birmingham, AL by Dr. James Andrews. He has fully recovered and is now at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville, AL. Two weeks ago, he signed with USC-Aiken for the 2006 season. I had a chance to visit him in Alabama just before his last visit with Dr. Andrews and got to watch him long toss. They were throwing on a soccer field and he worked back to 330'. I figured his arm must be ok. LOL

 

DRAFT QUESTIONS

MLB SCOUT,
While we have your attention , could you answer some often asked questions. I know the answers vary from organization to organization, but answer them from the Devil Rays philosophy.
1. Do you scout performance or tools?
2. What do you get excited about when you look at a high school player? Seperate pitchers and position players.
3. Explain signability.
4. How much value do you put on ' make up '. ?
5 Finally, if you are sold on a kid ,how many layers of management do you have to go thru before that kid gets drafted?

When we get someone on this board that actually knows something we like to pick their brain before we let them go. lol Remember we aren't very smart, go slow.