I've been getting interested in some scouting stuff, so I've been reading a lot of scouting reports, mostly on prospects. Unfortunately I don't understand a lot of the language, so I'm wondering if someone can help me out with some of terms. Let's start with these ones:
* "good hands/power/arm/etc." Does good = average? above average? future above avg.?
* "advanced approach at the plate" I realize that this is relative to the level the player is at. But what would advanced plate discipline of a AA player be compared to that of an avg. MLBer? I'm guessing that an advanced plate discipline equals avg. MLB plate discipline or a little below avg.
* "X tool needs a lot of work" equals way below avg.? like 30 (on 20-80 scale)?
* "solid" average? plus? projectable plus? projected avg.?
* "average arm at SS/2B/RF/etc." What exactly is an avg. arm for SS? Is it above avg.? What about 2B--below avg.? Anyone know what the avg. arm grades are for each position?
* "sharp bite" or "late bite" I find Roy Halladay's knuckle-curve has sharp late bite, so does this mean that someone who has a "sharp bite" to his slider throws a slider as good as Roy Halladay's curve?
* "nasty pitch" How nasty exactly? Only above avg. 60? Or well above avg. 70? Or superb 80?
It's ironic that these reports give details of player's abilities, yet they are still too vague for me to understand.
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