Someone I know got noticed ... warts and all!
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd...sp&partnered=rss_mlb
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No surprise here!!! Good luck D!
I think the reports are fictitious, by someone who has never ever seen the players. Not totally wrong, but definetely not exactly correct either.
Here’s Gerritt Cole’s report
Fastball: Cole was throwing 95-98 mph early and settled in at 92-94 throughout his start.
Fastball movement: He usually has plus arm-side sink and bore, though he was fairly straight in this outing.
Slider: It's an average pitch now, which he throws 78-82 mph, but it projects as a plus pitch in the future. It has some depth coming from a 3/4 arm angle.
Changeup: It's a little too firm at 79-80 mph, but he's got a good feel for it.
Control: He's an above-average strike-thrower for a high schooler, letting his stuff work for him in the zone.
Poise: His makeup on the field can be an issue, as he gets animated with umpires and teammates at times.
Physical Description: Cole is a projectable high school right-hander who compares a bit to Kyle Farnsworth.
Medical Update: Healthy.
Strengths: His projectability and his stuff, with the ability to throw three average to plus pitches, and to throw them for strikes.
Weaknesses: He has some mechanical issues with his delivery, with an arc in the back and a tendency to throw across his body; he gets too emotional on the mound.
Summary: A projectable high school right-hander with the capability already to throw a fastball up into the upper 90s is bound to garner interest. Throw in a future plus slider and a changeup, all for which he can throw for strikes, and it's no wonder Cole is considered one of the top prep pitchers in the class. He's going to have to work out some kinks in his delivery and he's got Scott Boras as an advisor, but neither of those issues should keep him from being drafted early.
Problem… Gerritt Cole has three PLUS pitches that he can command right now. And we’ve seen him at least a half dozen times and he throws nothing straight! His change up might be his best pitch. It’s a plus plus change! He doesn’t need to project, he has a big MLB arm right now! I have yet to see him being too emotional on the mound.
Here is Rolando Gomez’s report
Player Name: Rolando Gomez
Position: Shortstop
School: Woodrow Wilson HS (Calif.)
School Type: High school
Academic Class: Senior
Birthdate: 10/2/89
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 170 lbs.
Bats: Both
Throws: Right
Report Date(s): 02/10/08
Game(s): Urban Youth Academy Showcase
Focus Area Comments
Hitting Ability: Gomez has a loose, fluid swing and a quick bat. He's got a good approach, though he sometimes gets a little power-conscious.
Power: He's got enough of it to get him into trouble. Power will not be a part of his game at the next level.
Running Speed: He's got below-average speed.
Base running: Despite the lack of speed, he knows how to steal bases at this level and is adept at taking leads and taking extra bases..
Arm Strength: He shows a plus arm from shortstop.
Fielding: He's got good and quick hands could get the chance to show he can stay at shortstop.
Range: His range is a little behind his other defensive skills and could force an eventual move to second base.
Physical Description: Gomez is a small middle infielder who might profile best as an offensive-minded second baseman.
Medical Update: Healthy.
Strengths: His bat. He's got a good approach and a fluid swing. He also has excellent baseball instincts.
Weaknesses: His size and his overall lack of strength because of it.
Summary: He may not look like much at first glance -- and his size is an issue -- but Gomez really knows how to play the game. He's got a terrific approach at the plate for a high schooler and smooth mechanics. Defensively, he's got the hands and arm to stay at shortstop, but his range may force him over to the right side of the infield, where he could be an interesting offensive-minded second baseman.
First it’s the wrong profile, wrong school, wrong size, wrong player.
Second Gomez is a plus runner, not a below average runner, he has been timed in the 60 anywhere from 6.4 to 6.7.
He has outstanding range due to his quickness and speed. He has a good arm, but wouldn’t call it a plus arm. He lacks size but not strength, in fact, he has unusual power for his size.
I think many of the right players are being mentioned in these articles, just inaccurate information. It will play no bearing on the draft. The scouting department reports are what counts. And if any of those has Rolando Gomez as a below average runner there will be a scout that could be looking for a job before long.
These are just two of many examples in those draft articles that are wrong in some ways for some reason!
JMO
Still... Always a good thing to be mentioned.
Here’s Gerritt Cole’s report
Fastball: Cole was throwing 95-98 mph early and settled in at 92-94 throughout his start.
Fastball movement: He usually has plus arm-side sink and bore, though he was fairly straight in this outing.
Slider: It's an average pitch now, which he throws 78-82 mph, but it projects as a plus pitch in the future. It has some depth coming from a 3/4 arm angle.
Changeup: It's a little too firm at 79-80 mph, but he's got a good feel for it.
Control: He's an above-average strike-thrower for a high schooler, letting his stuff work for him in the zone.
Poise: His makeup on the field can be an issue, as he gets animated with umpires and teammates at times.
Physical Description: Cole is a projectable high school right-hander who compares a bit to Kyle Farnsworth.
Medical Update: Healthy.
Strengths: His projectability and his stuff, with the ability to throw three average to plus pitches, and to throw them for strikes.
Weaknesses: He has some mechanical issues with his delivery, with an arc in the back and a tendency to throw across his body; he gets too emotional on the mound.
Summary: A projectable high school right-hander with the capability already to throw a fastball up into the upper 90s is bound to garner interest. Throw in a future plus slider and a changeup, all for which he can throw for strikes, and it's no wonder Cole is considered one of the top prep pitchers in the class. He's going to have to work out some kinks in his delivery and he's got Scott Boras as an advisor, but neither of those issues should keep him from being drafted early.
Problem… Gerritt Cole has three PLUS pitches that he can command right now. And we’ve seen him at least a half dozen times and he throws nothing straight! His change up might be his best pitch. It’s a plus plus change! He doesn’t need to project, he has a big MLB arm right now! I have yet to see him being too emotional on the mound.
Here is Rolando Gomez’s report
Player Name: Rolando Gomez
Position: Shortstop
School: Woodrow Wilson HS (Calif.)
School Type: High school
Academic Class: Senior
Birthdate: 10/2/89
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 170 lbs.
Bats: Both
Throws: Right
Report Date(s): 02/10/08
Game(s): Urban Youth Academy Showcase
Focus Area Comments
Hitting Ability: Gomez has a loose, fluid swing and a quick bat. He's got a good approach, though he sometimes gets a little power-conscious.
Power: He's got enough of it to get him into trouble. Power will not be a part of his game at the next level.
Running Speed: He's got below-average speed.
Base running: Despite the lack of speed, he knows how to steal bases at this level and is adept at taking leads and taking extra bases..
Arm Strength: He shows a plus arm from shortstop.
Fielding: He's got good and quick hands could get the chance to show he can stay at shortstop.
Range: His range is a little behind his other defensive skills and could force an eventual move to second base.
Physical Description: Gomez is a small middle infielder who might profile best as an offensive-minded second baseman.
Medical Update: Healthy.
Strengths: His bat. He's got a good approach and a fluid swing. He also has excellent baseball instincts.
Weaknesses: His size and his overall lack of strength because of it.
Summary: He may not look like much at first glance -- and his size is an issue -- but Gomez really knows how to play the game. He's got a terrific approach at the plate for a high schooler and smooth mechanics. Defensively, he's got the hands and arm to stay at shortstop, but his range may force him over to the right side of the infield, where he could be an interesting offensive-minded second baseman.
First it’s the wrong profile, wrong school, wrong size, wrong player.
Second Gomez is a plus runner, not a below average runner, he has been timed in the 60 anywhere from 6.4 to 6.7.
He has outstanding range due to his quickness and speed. He has a good arm, but wouldn’t call it a plus arm. He lacks size but not strength, in fact, he has unusual power for his size.
I think many of the right players are being mentioned in these articles, just inaccurate information. It will play no bearing on the draft. The scouting department reports are what counts. And if any of those has Rolando Gomez as a below average runner there will be a scout that could be looking for a job before long.
These are just two of many examples in those draft articles that are wrong in some ways for some reason!
JMO
Still... Always a good thing to be mentioned.
That's an interesting perspective. I hadn't really looked at the other players. There are some things in the one report I focused on that are either off (the weight is old news by 2 years and 30 lbs.) or that I could quibble with (he was 93-97 on the day they mentioned and only walked 1 in 4 innings, and that one was a pitch-around).
But to tell you the truth, PG, I have found that scouts are often different sorts of animals, and accuracy is not always there. Some of them may be compiling reports from several other sources and things get lost in the translation or in simple confusion among players.
Not as bad as the lot of another poster, whose son was ERRONEOUSLY identified as having a significant shoulder injury by Baseball America in an on-line article posted yesterday. BA got rightfully chewed out for that bit of sloppiness and corrected the article within 24 hours (and hopefully in the print edition). But you wonder where the incorrect information ever got started, and how come no one ever thought to verify it before throwing it out there on the World Wide Web. What is it about the internet age that makes people so willing to accept sloppy journalism?
An old professor of mine used to say, "D a m n me or praise me, but for heaven's sake, MENTION ME." Meaning, as long as they're talking about you in the top group, it can't be but so bad. We're going to take it in that spirit.
But to tell you the truth, PG, I have found that scouts are often different sorts of animals, and accuracy is not always there. Some of them may be compiling reports from several other sources and things get lost in the translation or in simple confusion among players.
Not as bad as the lot of another poster, whose son was ERRONEOUSLY identified as having a significant shoulder injury by Baseball America in an on-line article posted yesterday. BA got rightfully chewed out for that bit of sloppiness and corrected the article within 24 hours (and hopefully in the print edition). But you wonder where the incorrect information ever got started, and how come no one ever thought to verify it before throwing it out there on the World Wide Web. What is it about the internet age that makes people so willing to accept sloppy journalism?
An old professor of mine used to say, "D a m n me or praise me, but for heaven's sake, MENTION ME." Meaning, as long as they're talking about you in the top group, it can't be but so bad. We're going to take it in that spirit.
Thanks for the link, MD. Hopefully I can get to a computer that doesn't block the video streaming. Now, that's gotta be cool to see your kid in action on the net.
It'd be a lot cooler if they hadn't chosen his first outing of the year, a short preseason scrimmage stint in very cold weather! He looked a little bumpy that day for my tastes, not as smooth as usual (i.e., as he is now in midseason form). Not a bad outing for your first time in live action against batters after the winter layoff, but not the one I would have chosen as representative of how he usually looks.
But as the article says, still 6 weeks to go ... if our team makes it that far in the playoffs, that is. Could be only 5, maybe even only 4, starts left. The rain isn't helping, because the postponements push games to the end of the season in 3-game weeks, so that our third pitcher gets the starts that would otherwise have gone to our top 2 guys in a typical 2-game week.
Tempus fugit!
PG, the inaccuracies about others give me some comfort, since I don't agree with everything they said about D either. I will say, I have seen GC get a bit feisty on the field, though I heard one scout say they LIKED his fiery nature. Maybe a Kevin Brown type?
But as the article says, still 6 weeks to go ... if our team makes it that far in the playoffs, that is. Could be only 5, maybe even only 4, starts left. The rain isn't helping, because the postponements push games to the end of the season in 3-game weeks, so that our third pitcher gets the starts that would otherwise have gone to our top 2 guys in a typical 2-game week.
Tempus fugit!
PG, the inaccuracies about others give me some comfort, since I don't agree with everything they said about D either. I will say, I have seen GC get a bit feisty on the field, though I heard one scout say they LIKED his fiery nature. Maybe a Kevin Brown type?
Actually what I said is "I have yet to see him be "too" emotional on the mound". Just exactly, what is, too emotional on the mound? Some of the things Cole does are going to be simple to stop as he grows older... Just needs the right person to tell him to stop doing that!
Guess I kind of like it myself. Some of the greatest pitchers who ever lived were very feisty!
Guess I kind of like it myself. Some of the greatest pitchers who ever lived were very feisty!
Gibson, Drysdale, Ryan, Clemens.....
"Some of the greatest pithcers....were feisty". Interesting choice of words.
Perhaps young Mr. Cole has "it".
"Some of the greatest pithcers....were feisty". Interesting choice of words.
Perhaps young Mr. Cole has "it".
