Player Profile: South Carolina RHP Evan Beal

Video of Beal from H.S.: http://bit.ly/Hkunb7

Grade: Freshman

Hometown: Fairfax Station, VA

Notable Information: Drafted in the 8th Round of the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Kansas City Royals; Rated No. 393 best high school prospect in the nation (2011) by Perfect Game USA; Rated No. 2 player in Virginia (2011) by Baseball America

Body: 6-3, 185

Background with the player: Observed player’s outing v. University of Kentucky on 3/16/2012

Tools:  Beal has the ideal body for a young pitching prospect.  He is listed at 6’3 on the South Carolina website (although other publications list him as tall as 6’5) and has an athletic body type that could carry an additional fifteen to twenty-five pounds at full maturity.  Like many pitchers, Beal’s release point is of the high three-quarter variety (there are very few straight overhand deliveries—Josh Collmenter, etc.) and the delivery is smooth and easy, as the ball appears to explode out of his hand upon release.  From the windup Beal’s rhythm, pace, and composure reminds me greatly of Rick Porcello, and like Porcello (at least out of high school) Beal features an overpowering fastball.  While he is facing collegiate hitters, Beal’s FB velocity is still a 60 at present, as it sits around 92-94 mph with the ability to play up to 95-96.  In the outing that I observed Beal’s command of the fastball was pretty solid and the pitch featured a bit of late run on it.  Beal had two secondary offerings that he featured—a sharp curveball and a hard slider/cutter that had some nice late movement on it.  It is hard for me to throw a grade on either pitch as this moment, given my limited background with the player, but from my vantage point both pitches had great, late break that has the ability to miss bats consistently.   

Results: As of tonight, March 27, 2012 Beal has appeared in 10 games, throwing 14 and 2/3 innings, allowing 7 hits, 5 walks, and six earned runs for a 3.68 ERA and .817 WHIP.  He has struck out 23 batters over his 14.2 innings for a K/9 ratio of 14.11.  However, he has been prone to the long ball, giving up three homers in his limited workload.  Specifically, in the outing that I saw—an appearance v. Kentucky on Friday night game—Beal gave up a walk-off homer.  In his inning and a third of work, Beal struck out three hitters and looked great, except for hitting a batter and giving up the long ball.  The homer was off of his curveball, a spinner that he left over the heart of the plate.  Regardless of the result I was very impressed with Beal’s arsenal and his numbers (specifically his strikeout numbers) this year, show that his stuff is dominant.  However, with that being said, I think that he should be careful not to fall in love with his curveball—it is a very good pitch and has missed bats, but I felt that he relied on that pitch too much and has the ability to use his fastball far more than he showed in his appearance vs. UK.

Projection:  This year Beal has been used as a reliever by South Carolina coach Ray Tanner.  Beal definitely has the pedigree to start and I think that next year Beal will become USCe’s Friday night starter.  Much of Beal’s professional value will fall on his ability to develop another serviceable off-speed pitch.  His curveball and slider/cutter are solid weapons, but at the next level a passable changeup or split is usually needed for one to consistently work through a lineup three or four times.  Obviously, scouts are already aware of Beal, as he was drafted in the eighth round last year, so those actually in the business see the potential.  If all goes well for Beal (continued development, no injury issues) I could see him being a 1^st round talent in 2014.  

Scouting at Dick Howser (Pt. 3)

FSU v. FIU (cont.)

In my last entry I focused on a handful of FIU’s position players.  This post will focus on a couple of Florida International pitchers, R.J. Fondon (Game 1 starter) and Mason McVay (Game 2 starter).  Unfortunately the stadium scoreboard does not feature a pitch reading and I still do not own a radar gun, so it was impossible for me to get clear, accurate readings on velocity.  However, I felt that I was able to gain a solid understanding of both players’ arsenals.

Fondon, a senior LHP out of Pembroke Pines started the opening game of the series on Friday night.  Last season Fondon compiled a 6-6 record with a 3.05 ERA in 16 starts.  Statistics such as wins and ERA can sometimes be misleading because they are team-dependent, but talent evaluators often like to look at how many strikeouts a pitcher tallies (especially at the amateur ranks) because they feel that it helps to shed light on how dominant a pitcher truly is.  Last season Fondon only had 55 strikeouts in 97.1 innings pitched (a K/9 ratio of only 5.1) which indicates that his future professional prospects may be limited.  However, there are always exceptions to any “rule” so it would be unwise to write off Fondon just from looking at statistics. 

Physically, Fondon has a strong pitcher’s frame, at 6’2” and 190 pounds and he looked to be comfortable within his own body and able to repeat his delivery without too much of a problem.  He probably has the frame to comfortably carry another 20 pounds or so, which could benefit him down the line.  While he was able to repeat his delivery comfortably, Fondon struggled with command of all of his pitches throughout the start.  Fondon predominately featured his fastball and slider and occasionally mixed in a slow curveball to keep hitters off-balance.  His fastball velocity was nothing special and I would speculate that it ran from 86-91 with the vast majority of pitches sitting in the 86-88 range.  Again, his command was nothing special and he did fall behind on a number of hitters.  His slider was probably his best pitch, although he featured two different kinds of sliders—a flat, get-me-over cutter type of pitch and a traditional sweeping slider with two-plane break.  Fondon threw his cutter early in the count against right-handed hitters and used it in the middle innings as a bit of a change-of-pace.  The traditional slider was clearly the superior option, as the two-plane break was sharp and the pitched flashed average (50-grade) potential.  While he was able to get a few strikeouts and induce a number of groundouts with the pitch, Fondon still struggled to command the pitch consistently and surrendered a number of walks on the day.  Much like his cutter, Fondon’s slow curve was not as potent as his slider.  He did not use the slow curve too often, but it was effective on a couple of occasions and he was able to strikeout FSU SS Justin Gonzalez with it. 

Fondon was able to earn the win and his line from the night read as follows 5.1 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 2 K. While his line is not all that impressive, it should be noted that he fought through a 45 minute rain delay in the second inning.  Overall, I feel comfortable saying that Fondon does not feature plus (or even above average) stuff (although his slider does project to be an average pitch), so he will have to improve and refine the command of his entire arsenal to be anything more than an organizational arm in professional baseball.

FIU’s Game 2 starter was LHP Mason McVay.  McVay is a Redshirt Junior that redshirted in 2010 because he was recovering from Tommy John surgery.  As a freshman in 2009 McVay was predominately used as a reliever and finished the season with 22.1 innings pitched and 23 strikeouts (0-2, 8.06 ERA).  Last season, as a RS-Soph, McVay was again used as a reliever, striking out 37 in 30.1 innings pitched (1-1, 3.56 ERA).  McVay is a physically imposing lefty, as he stands at 6’7” and is said to weigh in at 240 pounds.  Many pitchers of McVay’s size and stature often struggle to repeat their delivery, remain sound mechanically, and consistently command the strike zone.  McVay was no different as he fell behind FSU hitters quite often, surrendered five walks, threw one wild pitch, and had to be pulled after four innings due to a high pitch count.  However, McVay also flashed a significant amount of promise. He pumped in his fastball with pretty good velocity—presumably between 91 and 95 mph (and sitting at 92-93) and was able to overpower a number of Seminoles, especially left-handed hitters Jose Brizuela and Sherman Johnson.  Like Fondon, McVay also utilized two different breaking balls, a hard slider and a slow curve.  When thrown effectively, McVay was able to bury his slider beneath the hands of right-handed hitters and work it down and away to lefties.  He struggled commanding the pitch in the first and second innings, but he really settled in during the third and fourth innings and was able to induce a number of strikeouts and weak groundouts.  Overall, the pitch flashed average to above average as it had late, sharp two-plane break.  McVay’s curveball was a get-me-over type of pitch that he used early in the count vs. both sides.  Although, he may have gotten one or two swings and misses on it the pitch itself was not very effective, and in its current form it would not be a legitimate offering at the next level. 

As previously mentioned, McVay was erratic mechanically and had some real difficulty repeating his delivery, which I believe may be traced back to an inconsistent landing point with his front leg.  When McVay missed with his fastball he was generally missing high, with his arm to dragging through the zone.  Similarly, his a number of his breaking balls were flat, spinners as he was not consistently getting on top of the pitches and replicating his release point.

McVay’s final line for the day: 4 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 9 K.  Overall, there were some obvious pros and cons with McVay’s outing.  Clearly, he struggled to command all of his pitches.  However, after a long first two innings (4 BB), McVay was able to settle in and was more consistent with his delivery as he only walked one batter over the next two innings.  McVay also flashed above-average velocity, especially for a pitcher from the left-side.  His slider, while inconsistent, also flashed above-average potential.  6’7” left-handed pitchers with two average to above-average pitchers do not grow on trees and if McVay if is able to remain health and refine his command as the season progresses he may see himself being drafted in early June. 

"Scouting" at Dick Howser (Part Two)

FSU v. FIU

In the second weekend of the college baseball season Florida State hosted Florida International (FIU) out of Miami, FL.  FIU plays in the Sun Belt Conference and presented a much deeper and more talented roster than Hofstra (whom FSU played in the weekend prior).  Florida State won the three game series, but FIU took game one.  I was only able to attend Games 1 and 2 of the series (and I will be writing about FSU players in more detail at a later date), but a number of Florida International players caught my eye.

The first player that jumped out to me was FIU center fielder Pablo Bermudez (R/R).  Bermudez is a senior out of Miami Shores, FL and is listed at 6’0” and 195 pounds.  Last season, as a junior Bermudez was the Conference Player of the Year, hit .373 with 16 2B, 5 HR, and 17 SB.  However, despite his solid season Bermudez was not selected in the MLB First-Year Player Draft.  Bermudez had a very nice series, including three hits in Game 1, but in scouting the player’s on-field results (especially at the amateur levels) are not as important as the process.   While he does not appear to be freakishly-athletic or super muscular, Bermudez seems to be every bit the 195 pounds he is listed.  Defensively, Bermudez appears to be up to the task in center field.  He looked comfortable patrolling the outfield and took good, accurate routes on both fly balls and base hits into the gaps.  The only time that I was able to clock Bermudez’s home to 1^st split was when he dropped down a bunt for a hit.  So, while Bermudez recorded a scorching 3.68 from the right side, the results are slightly skewed given his head start.  Regardless, a 3.68 on a bunt-for-hit situation should still clock around a 4.1 or 4.2 on a normal swing, which would give Bermudez a plus (60) to plus-plus (70) speed tool.  At the plate, Bermudez appeared comfortable, was rarely off-balance, and he displayed plate discipline throughout the weekend, delivering solid AB’s in Games 1 and 2.  While his power potential is rather limited, Bermudez displayed solid gap power, delivering a double to right-center field in Game 1.  Overall, I came away rather impressed and was surprised to learn that he was not drafted at all last year.  I fully expect Bermudez to be drafted this summer, but I think that the draft position (which round) will be dependent on his ability to handle top-notch pitching.  Florida State’s pitching is rather pedestrian this season, so it will be interesting to see how Bermudez fares against quality arms such as conference foe Tyler Ray of Troy.

The second FIU player that caught my eye was second baseman Tyler James Shantz (R/R).  Shantz is a junior from Greenwood Village, Colorado that is listed as 6’1” and 205 pounds.  Shantz did not appear to be that tall, but he definitely looks like he is a solid 200 pounds.  I honestly expected Shantz to be playing shortstop when FIU took the field given his athletic body type (but I will discuss FIU’s shortstop Julius Gaines next). Regardless, Shantz looked very comfortable at 2B and I think that he would probably be able to handle playing shortstop (at least at the college level) given how smooth his movements were.  Balls hit to Shantz were few and far between, but his footwork on a double play turn was smooth and his arm was adequate.  At the plate, Shantz showcased an (overly?) aggressive approach and appeared to be guessing quite a bit which left him vulnerable to off-speed pitches.  However, like Bermudez, he hit a double to right-center field.  Mechanically, his swing looked compact (and athletic) and the swing path allowed the barrel to stay within the zone for an extended period of time.  However, from what I saw in my limited time at the game, it appears that Shantz may have to focus on honing his approach and recognizing pitches earlier out of the hand.  Regardless, I think that Shantz is a very interesting prospect because of his athleticism/size and it will be fun to see how he develops as the year progresses.

Given my consternation with Shantz’s assignment to man the keystone, I was naturally curious about FIU’s shortstop, Julius Gaines.  Gaines, a freshman out of McDonough, Georgia, is listed at 6’0” and 165 pounds, but I think that his weight is probably closer to 150 pounds.  Because I hurriedly fell in love with Shantz’s athleticism, I felt a bit vindicated when Gaines made an error on a routine groundball to his right in the first inning of Game 1.  However, after watching Gaines play 17 more innings of baseball over the weekend, I realized that the kid could play ball and could be a player to watch in the coming years.  Clearly, Gaines’ lack of size and strength are detractors, but he is only a true freshman and given a couple of more years to fill out and work with strength coaches, he could easily end up weighing 175-180 pounds by the time he draft eligible.  Even taking into consideration his first-inning error, Gaines remained composed and displayed polish and solid fundamentals in the field.  I still have some questions about his athleticism and if he would be able to handle playing shortstop professionally—but again, he is young and I only got to see him play in two games, hardly enough time to get an entirely accurate portrait of his true defensive capabilities.  At the plate, Gaines showed the ability to make adjustments within AB (something that is rare for a true freshman in college).

Exhibit A: In Game 1, in his first AB (immediately after committing the aforementioned error) Gaines flailed at a breaking ball early in the count, but fought off a couple of fastballs and later in the count ripped a single on a breaking ball.

Exhibit B: In Game 2, Gaines worked a ten-pitch AB, fouling off a variety of pitches, including a handful of sliders that had given him trouble early in the count.  In the final pitch of his AB, Gaines made solid contact on a low-away FB and flew out to RF.  Given more time to add strength and refine his swing, that fly out becomes an extra base hit.

Overall, Gaines is an appealing young prospect and I really liked his approach at the plate and ability to make in-game adjustments.  Unfortunately, I was not able to get a home-1^st time to measure his speed, and I still have questions about his overall athleticism and ability to stay at shortstop, but I think that Gaines is a player worth watching, especially if he is able to add some muscle to his frame.

"Scouting" at Dick Howser (Part One)

Throughout the past year or so I have read and listened to many MLB prospect writers/experts that have dismissed many collegiate baseball players as non-prospects, deficient talent, career minor leaguers, or organizational fillers.  At first I did not agree with what these writers and experts were saying.  How could college baseball players not be legitimate talent?  However, as I’ve become more familiar with scouting and player development their theory makes sense.  Players drafted out of high school are thrust into a professional environment at the age of 17 or 18, while those drafted out of the Latin markets are afforded the ability to refine their tools and learn from professional instruction when they are 16.  There is no doubt that college coaches are knowledgeable, competent, and solid instructors and mentors, but NCAA rules limits practice time thereby cutting into the student-athletes development as baseball players.   So why the 16-22 year olds drafted out of high school or signed out of various Latin markets are constantly cultivating their tools without much limitation, collegiate baseball players are not able to consistently train and have to navigate class, homework, etc.  

The past few weekends I have been able to watch Florida State’s baseball team take on the Hofstra Pride and the Florida International Golden Panthers.  Rankings in college baseball typically from a number of sources (Coaches, NCBBWA, Baseball America, etc.), but just for perspective, FSU’s baseball team was ranked anywhere from #8 to #20 in the pre-season.  They lost a handful of key players to the MLB draft last year, including LHP Sean Gilmartin, who was drafted by Atlanta Braves in the first round year. 

As I have had the chance to attend (and actively “scout”) a number of minor-league baseball games and seen firsthand what top prospects look and perform like, I was interested to see how everything  would play out because I had never had the chance to attend a Division-I baseball game in person. 

FSU v. Hofstra

               

This three-game series was the opening weekend for college baseball in 2012 and FSU handled Hofstra pretty easily, taking all three games of the series.  While team results are not of any importance for scouts (or aspiring scouts), the talent disparity between the two programs was easily discernable.  However, in order to showcase my #want I will still run down a number of players that caught my eye, even if their professional prospects are slim to none (hey, they are all still more talented than I).

                Game 2 starter for Hofstra was RHP John Tiedemann, who listed as 6’0 and 175 pounds by the Hofstra website.  Tiedemann is a junior college transfer from Cuenta College in San Luis Opispo, California.  Tiedemann’s high three-quarter delivery was clean and simple but he still had some command issues and only lasted 2+ innings after walking four and giving up three hits (and three runs).  I didn’t have a radar gun and there was no listing on the stadium, but it was clear that he was throwing his fastball in the mid-80’s and might have run it up as high as 86-87 (maybe).  Even though I was not able to sit behind home plate, I did get to see him warm up in the bullpen before the game started, and his FB did show a bit of run and sink to it.  Additionally, Tiedemann featured a half-decent slider that he was able to use to induce a strikeout, but the pitch was not professional-quality as it did not feature an especially sharp or two-plane break.

                Hofstra’s Game 3 starter was John Schilt (listed a 6’1, 190).  His arsenal was extremely similar to Tiedemann’s, as his fastball was nowhere near overpowering and his breaking pitches were not especially sharp either.  Like Tiedemann, Schilt struggled with his command and was removed from the game after 0.2 IP with 5 BB.  Hofstra’s relief pitchers were not particularly impressive or relevant so I’ll move on to a few of their position players.

                SS Dalton Rouleau had a solid series and is the prototypical scrappy college shortstop.  Like Tiedmann, Rouleau is a transfer from California; however he attended Allan Hancock College.  Rouleau’s lack of size and projection is evident, as he is only 5-9 and 170 pounds (listed).  His size limits his pop and ability to drive balls into the gaps consistently, but throughout the series he worked the count and fouled off numerous pitches in two-strike counts.  While he was able to steal two bases in GM 2, he did so by smart and aggressive baserunning—he is by no means a blazer.  In GM 2 Rouleau was 1-3, 2 BB, 2 SB and in GM 3 he was 1-3.

                OF Danny Poma is yet another transfer out of California. He previously attended Cuesta College, but in 2011 he proved that he was up to the task at the Division-I level, as he garnered All-Colonial Athletic Association honors by hitting .382/.452/.528 with 16 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, and 20 SB.  Out of all of the Hofstra position players, Poma (listed at 6-1, 220) definitely looked the most like a future professional baseball player.  However, it should be noted that Poma does not really profile as a true prospect.  He has decent size and athleticism and his movements in the field looked fluid, but he did not play in center field.  Instead, in all three games Poma started at RF.  While it may not seem like a big deal, the fact that he does not play center field at the college level indicates that he will probably not be able to handle the increased defensive responsibilities at the professional level either.  Furthermore, while in RF he badly misplayed a fly ball (committing an error) and also took a few poor angles.  Now some of this may be because the wind was swirling throughout the game (and because it is still early in the season and teams from the north have had limited practice time outdoors) but it does raise potential questions about his defensive chops and focus.  Also, while I mentioned Poma’s athletic frame, his 4.5 time from home to first on a play that required maximum effort down the line signifies that speed is not necessarily one of Poma’s greatest assets despite his 20 SB last season (it also shows how pitchers and catchers struggle to control the running game at the college level).  At the plate Poma had an aggressive, yet solid approach and he displayed the ability to sit back and work to the opposite field.  Furthermore, Poma remained balanced throughout most of his ABs and was able to generate significant torque from his core and hips to flash gap-power.  Poma went 4-5 (2B and SB) and 0-4 in Games 2 and 3 respectively.

                Finally, Hofstra’s 1B Jared Hammer had solid a series offensively, going 2 for 5 in GM2 and 3 for 4 with a double in GM 3.  However, Hammer at 6-1, 235 is a typical “bad body” baseball player.  He only profiles as a first basemen, and given the offensive demands of the position he will have to hit consistently and for power to be a legitimate prospect.  While Hammer hit well during the series, it should be noted that FSU does not feature top-line or even plus pitching for the college level (much less even average and below-average in the professional realm).  So it should come as little surprise to find out that Hammer had some notable deficiencies in his swing.  For somebody his size, Hammer’s swing is not particularly long, but the swing path is not direct—rather it appeared as if he had a hitch that prevented him from consistently keeping the barrel through the zone.  As a result his swing was a bit loopy, which will leave him vulnerable to plus velocity in on the hands (provided he faces such quality in the future).  Regardless, Hammer showed good hand-eye coordination and ability to work the count and get the bat on the ball.  While his professional prospects are slim, if he continues to produce and get on base he will earn the chance to play at the next level until he fails.  

Upcoming Posts

While I had originally planned on including analysis of FSU players in this entry as well, I have decided to hold off on posting my thoughts on them until a later date, when I hope to publish more complete player-specific profiles and actual OFPs.  In my next entry, I will write about FSU's series with Florida International University and a number of Golden Panthers such as Pablo Bermudez, Tyler Shantz, and Mason McVay.