Before They Were Pros: NL West

As part of Perfect Game's partnership with Baseball Prospectus, David Rawnsley and Patrick Ebert will be conducting a “Before They Were Pros” series, providing scouting reports on some of the top prospects in baseball from when they were in high school attending PG events. This six-part series (one for each division in MLB) will appear once Baseball Prospectus has provided their own detailed scouting reports of the top prospects, team-by-team, as part of their own series.

We continue with a look at the National League West. Be sure to read Baseball Prospectus' features on each of the five teams:

Diamondbacks | Rockies | Padres | Giants | Dodgers

And here are links to the other 'Before They Were Pros' series already conducted:

NL East | NL Central | AL East

Arizona Diamondbacks

Braden Shipley – RHP

If you read enough of the Before They Were Pros series or take the time to delve into enough player's backgrounds, you'll find perhaps a surprising number of top prospects and present Major Leaguers who are conversions from one position to another. Braden Shipley is another of the position player to pitcher conversions.

Shipley attended high school in Medford, Oregon, and was not a very heavily recruited high school player. In fact, he had no commitment when he attended the PG West Uncommitted Showcase in November of his senior year. He went to that event as a 6-foot-1, 170-pound primary shortstop and secondary pitcher and did both at the showcase. Shipley was a decent middle-infield prospect, although his 7.50 speed in the 60-yard dash was a drawback. He had smooth actions in the infield, enough arm strength and swung the bat well. There was no standout tool but he knew how to play and was physically projectable. As strictly a position prospect he garnered a PG grade of 8.5.

But Shipley also took the mound and was much better than that. He had a short, quick and very easy arm action off the mound and an upper-80s fastball that touched 90 mph that really jumped on hitters quickly. Shipley also threw a 74 mph curveball that had hard, tight spin and an occasional changeup. He received a PG grade of 9.5 off the mound and definitely profiled as a high D-I or even professional prospect. His overall report after the event read:

Projectable athletic body, some developing strength, young face. Quality 2-way prospect, best on mound this event. FB touches 90 mph, short/quick/clean arm action, FB jumps on hitters, hard spin on downer CB, very good sharpness at times, needs to learn to throw inside more. Velo/stuff projects. Solid infield actions, good bat speed, handles the barrel very well, short swing with consistent hard contact. Should keep getting better in all areas. Quality D1 type player, maybe more.

Shipley first committed to Western Nevada CC after the event, then later to the University of Nevada. He played almost exclusively at shortstop as a freshman for the Wolf Pack, hitting .287-1-19 in 44 starts and earning second team All-WAC honors. Shipley did manage to work in 10 innings on the mound, posting an 8.71 ERA and allowing 27 baserunners.

A trip that summer to the Alaskan Summer League turned Shipley's career path around. He received more mound time, going 1-2 with seven saves and a 2.44 ERA and was named the top overall prospect in the league by Perfect Game while featuring a consistent mid-90s fastball out of the bullpen. Shipley was a full-time pitcher when he returned to Nevada, going 9-4, 2.20 in 98 innings as a sophomore while getting only 12 at-bats. He virtually duplicated that performance as a junior, going 7-3, 2.77 in 107 innings while getting two token at-bats, both resulting in strikeouts.

Shipley was the third college pitcher selected in the 2013 draft and was the 15th overall selection, signing with the Diamondbacks for a $2.25 million signing bonus. —David Rawnsley

Aaron Blair – RHP

Aaron Blair has one of the more unique development resumes one could find among top prospects today, and his continued improvement since signing with the Diamondbacks isn't surprising in context. He's gone from receiving a PG grade of 7.5 as a high-school junior to being a lightly recruited high-school senior to a good D-I starter in college to a top draft pick and present top prospect.

The now 22-year-old right-hander grew up in Las Vegas and went to the 2008 Jr. National Showcase. He was listed at 6-foot-1, 175-pounds at that point and did very little to either distinguish himself or even show that he was projectable. Blair pitched in the 79-81 mph area at that event, but just as notably in some ways ran the 60-yard dash in 8.67 seconds and was timed at 5.41 from home to first base. That's another way of saying that he wasn't that good of an athlete at that point in time.

But approximately a year later, at the beginning of his senior year, Blair was up to 88 mph and pitching for the Ohio Warhawks at the WWBA World Championship. He threw again for the Warhawks at the 2010 18u WWBA National Championship after graduating and being picked in the 21st round by the Houston Astros, where he topped out at 91 mph with a hard spinning mid-70s curveball. Blair was also now listed at 6-foot-5, 229-pounds, a huge improvement in size and strength.

Blair traveled across the country to attend Marshall in West Virginia and his record at Marshall was reflective of that program's record, as Blair went 9-16 in three seasons, including 5-5, 2.85 in 84 innings as a junior, while the Thundering Herd finished a combined 57-102 during that span.

Where Blair made his reputation with scouts was pitching for Yarmouth-Dennis in the Cape Cod League the summer before his junior season. He went 6-0, 1.17 during the regular season, then added two more wins during the playoffs to cap off a perfect summer that saw him win almost as many games in two months as he did in three college seasons. Blair pitched in the 91-94 mph area in the Cape, with a curveball that was now touching 80 mph and an outstanding changeup he'd developed at Marshall.

Blair was the 36th overall pick in the 2013 draft and signed for a $1,435,000 bonus. —David Rawnsley

Brandon Drury – 3B/2B

Ranked as the 493rd high-school prospect in the class of 2010, Perfect Game only had one extended look at Drury, which occurred in 2008 at the NorCal Underclass Showcase. This was the summer before Drury's junior year in high school, and he received this report after his performance:

Brandon has a very athletic build, good hands and actions in the infield, soft hands, looks easy in the field, made plays in games, very good bat speed at the plate, ball flies off bat when centered, hard line-drive contact to all fields, very good juice in bat, can hit, very good game contact, very interesting player. He is also a good student.

At 6-feet, 175-pounds, Drury received a PG grade of 8.5 at the time, although he added another inch and 10 pounds of strength to his athletic frame prior to graduating in 2010. It was easy to see him improving across the board after throwing 82 mph across the infield and running the 60-yard dash in 7.42 seconds.

Hailing from Grants Pass, Oregon, it was expected that Drury's game would take a step up in college, as he had committed to play in-state for national Division I powerhouse Oregon State, who were coming off of recent back-to-back College World Series championships in 2006 and 2007. Oregon State also had done (and continues to do) an excellent job recruiting in the Pacific Northwest, rarely letting their top recruits get away.

While Drury being drafted in the 13th round of the 2010 MLB Draft wasn't a surprise, the Braves clearly did their homework to gauge his interest and sign him away from the Beavers. —Patrick Ebert

Colorado Rockies

Jonathan Gray – RHP

Although it's hard to accurately predict a pitcher eventually recording triple digits on the radar gun some day, it wasn't that hard to believe for Gray. Already 6-foot-4 and 225-pounds coming out of high school, Gray peaked at 93 mph after participating at a pair of Perfect Game/WWBA tournament events in 2009. The second of which occurred in Jupiter, Fla. at the WWBA World Championship.

Gray opened the spring of 2013 as the 58th best overall draft prospect according to Perfect Game after being ranked the 177th high=school prospect three years earlier. In the months that followed he not only established himself as a no-doubt first rounder, but he also put himself squarely in the conversation for the first overall pick, and was eventually named PG's top ranked prospect for the draft.

With an extra-large and powerful frame that evoked comparisons to big-league starter Josh Johnson, Gray routinely worked in the upper 90s and frequently touched 100 mph in his starts for the Sooners. He maintained that velocity exceptionally well deep into ball games thanks to his workhorse build, and also changed speeds effectively between his upper-80s slider and surprisingly good changeup. He proved to be nearly untouchable, going 10-3 with a 1.64 ERA, striking out 147 and allowing only 83 hits and 24 walks in 126 innings of work.

Here's Gray's pre-draft report:

A combination of better conditioning and improving mechanics have vaulted Gray from a potential first round pick before the season to a potential first overall pick when the Houston Astros kick off the draft on June 6. Gray has been lighting up radar guns in the 95-100 range while peaking as high as 102 mph consistently all spring and maintaining his velocity deep into starts. His slider, which some scouts feel the Oklahoma coaching staff calls too frequently, is a second plus pitch in the mid to upper 80s with a hard and deep late bite. Not only has Gray shown dominant stuff that has been compared to Justin Verlander, he’s shown the ability to use it as well, posting a 8-1, 1.20 record in 89 innings, with only 51 hits and 16 walks allowed to go with 104 strikeouts. Batters are hitting .166-1-15 against Gray this year. Gray was a well-known prospect out of Chandler, Okla. as a high schooler, topping out at 93 mph, but was only picked in the 13th round (Royals) and again in the 10th round (Pirates) after attending Eastern Oklahoma JC in 2011 before transferring to Oklahoma.

After the Astros selected right-hander Mark Appel with the first pick of the 2013 draft, and the Cubs took the Golden Spikes Award winner from that year, Kris Bryant, the Rockies were thrilled to have Gray fall in their lap with the third overall selection. —Patrick Ebert

Ryan McMahon – 3B

McMahon was a stranger to national level baseball scouts until late in the summer in 2012, prior to the start of his senior year in high school.

The reason for that was a combination of playing quarterback and going to Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California. Mater Dei is a football powerhouse that produces future NFL players at almost every position, but is occasionally referred to as "Quarterback High." Five eventual NFL quarterbacks have attended the private Catholic school, including Heisman Trophy winners John Huarte and Matt Leinert.

While McMahon was never a potential NFL quarterback, he did start 15 games for Mater Dei between his junior and senior seasons, throwing for 1,863 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Mater Dei also has a very successful baseball program and boasts present and past alums such as Danny Espinosa, Sergio Santos, Matt Treanor and Bobby Meachan. McMahon was a three-year starter for Mater Dei in baseball and hit .405-4-32 during his senior season and .376-10-73 over his career.

The only time McMahon appeared in a national level scouting event was at the 2012 Area Code Games. The AC Games are held annually in early August and McMahon was surely already deeply involved in football workouts. Despite that, he put on a very impressive performance and solidly put himself on the baseball prospect map as a potential high round draft choice. I recall turning to a SoCal based scouting friend during a McMahon at-bat and asking him "Do the area scouts here know they have a potential first-rounder?" My own notes from that event were about as glowing as possible:

All-American quality tools and athleticism, first-round potential. Sweet left-handed swing, bat speed, looseness, has everything. Very athletic at 3B. Top 50 player, resembles Corey Seager with a better swing.

The Rockies picked McMahon, who had a baseball commitment to Southern California, with the 42nd overall pick near the top of the second round and signed him to a $1,328,000 signing bonus that exactly matched the slot for that pick. It was considered a pretty aggressive selection at that time by the industry as a whole, but early indications are that it was a very wise one as well. —David Rawnsley

San Diego Padres

Hunter Renfroe – OF

A two-way talent whose tools were highlighted by an incredibly strong arm and power potential at the plate, Renfroe participated in back-to-back 18u WWBA National Championships in 2009 and 2010 playing for the Mississippi Bandits. He received high marks at the time for his defensive mechanics behind the plate, registering pop times in the 1.90 range while using a compact, balanced swing to drive the ball to the gaps.

He also threw in the 88-91 mph range on the mound, although threw mostly fastballs in the process, and his two-way career didn't continue past his freshman season at Mississippi State when he made six relief appearances for the Bulldogs.

Although Renfroe hit .154 and .252 during his first two years in college, he made an immediate impression the two summers that followed in the Cal Ripken Collegiate League, being named the top prospect of the league each year. During his second summer in the league Renfroe hit an eye-popping .366 with 16 home runs in just 134 at-bats.

Even though he touched the upper 90s on the mound and popped 1.7's from behind the plate, Renfroe continued to post big numbers during his junior year as an outfielder, with the prototypical power-bat/arm profile for right field. He recorded eight outfield assists while hitting .345 with 16 home runs, and proved to be a star on the big stage of the College World Series as well, hitting a booming three-run home run in a 4-1 victory over Oregon State that carried the Bulldogs to the championship round against the eventual champion UCLA Bruins.

Here's his report prior to the 2013 draft, when he was ranked PG's 11th overall prospect:

The real Hunter Renfroe has stood up this spring, and there may not be a player in the 2013 draft class who has a better overall tool set than the powerful Mississippi State right fielder. After playing sparingly for the Bulldogs as a freshman and hitting a modest .252-4-25 as a sophomore, the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Renfroe has busted out with a monster junior season and leads his team with a .410 average, 14 homers and 45 RBIs … Though he is viewed as a legitimate big-league prospect at any number of positions, Renfroe seemed to find a comfort zone this spring for the Bulldogs as a right fielder, and his easy transition to that position speaks to his superior athleticism and versatility. There isn’t a tool in his bag that doesn’t rate as above average but it’s his prodigious power at the plate, both for distance and frequency, that truly sets him apart.

Renfroe's continued development in college led to him being selected with the 13th overall pick in the 2013 draft by the Padres. —Patrick Ebert

Taylor Lindsey – 2B

A well-known talent coming out of high school, Lindsey was ranked 76th in Perfect Game's high-school class of 2010 player rankings. While Lindsey called shortstop home in high school, his future position on the field was somewhat in question as he lacked the ideal range and at short. A high-level athlete, Lindsey could play almost anywhere else on the field, but it was his advanced left-handed bat and overall approach and the strength in his swing that drew the most attention.

Although he wasn't a regular on the national travel circuit, Lindsey did attend both the 2009 Area Code Games and the WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla. that same year. Here is a collection of reports from his performance in Jupiter:

Patient at plate, has pop on inner half, good bat speed … aggressive hitter, rotational, swings uphill … closed slightly, hands high, good approach, confident, very good quick hands, line-drive hitter with power potential, good drive off bat … stands tall, simple approach.

And the Area Code Games:

Very nice swing, big bat speed, has lift, drives the ball deep, projects more, squares up good stuff, looks and acts like a top-level hitter. Didn't stand out on defense, played some OF as well.

The Los Angeles Angels used a supplemental first-round pick on Lindsey in the 2010 MLB Draft to steer him away from his home-state commitment to Arizona State. —Patrick Ebert

San Francisco Giants

Christian Arroyo – SS/2B

Arroyo was a well-known prospect at Hernando High School in Florida, playing in close to 20 Perfect Game events beginning in his freshman year, including the 2012 PG National Showcase, and also played for the 2012 USA National 18u team. He received a PG Grade of 10 at the National Showcase and this scout wrote the following glowing report on him:

Medium athletic build, good present strength. Right-handed hitter, outstanding plate coverage and hand/eye coordination, short crisp swing with bat speed, squares up everything, no problems against plus velocity, hard line drive contact to all fields, gap power, has special ability to square up the ball. Second base tools defensively, 7.10 runner, good hands, stays balanced and light on his feet, arm strength playable. Bat is special.

Despite his impressive resume, Arroyo was generally not considered the type of prospect that would interest many pro teams as a high draft pick out of high school. While his bat was a special tool, his running speed and arm strength, two prospect barometers for a middle-of-the-field athlete, were simply average. Arroyo was seen by most as a player who would go to Florida (he was an excellent student) and be an immediate impact player for Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan. In fact, O'Sullivan, in private conversations before the draft, expressed shock that he might lose Arroyo to the draft.

There was talk through the late spring that there were a couple of teams that were looking at Arroyo very high, but most of the industry believed he was more of a third to fifth-round option and more likely going to Florida. Some even thought his best future position was behind the plate.

That the Giants were the team that snapped Arroyo up with a first-round pick, the 25th overall, shouldn't have been surprising in retrospect. The team selected high-school middle infielder Nick Noonan with the 32nd overall pick in 2007 despite concerns about his ability to stay at short. They also famously picked Joe Panik out of St. John's with the 29th pick in 2011 despite concerns that the future playoff hero didn't have a true plus tool. Both players were very intelligent middle-of-the-field players whose best tool was their bat. The Giants valued those two, along with Arroyo, for their ability to play baseball and hit rather than their athleticism.

That formula seems to have worked well for them thus far. —David Rawnsley

Steven Okert – LHP

Okert was a two-way talent in high school, performing at a high level both on the mound and at the plate for Rowlett High School in Texas. He didn't play at a Perfect Game event until the summer after he had already graduated from high school, the 2009 18u WWBA National Championship, playing with the Frozen Ropes travel team organization.

With a sturdy 6-foot-3, 195-pound build Okert offered intriguing power potential as a first baseman and a power arm on the mound. At the 18u WWBA National Championship he peaked at 88 mph, sitting comfortably in the 86-88 mph range while throwing both a curveball and a changeup in the mid-70s. It was noted at the event that his mechanics could be brushed up as he threw across his body, and that he would need to make sure to keep his focus on conditioning given his strong lower half.

After two years at Grayson County College, a junior college located in Denison, Texas, Okert transferred to the University of Oklahoma thanks to a significant spike in velocity. He now had the ability to sit in the low to mid-90s when used in short relief, a role that seemed to suit him well despite having three pitches in his arsenal. Here's his pre-draft report in 2012:

(Okert) started the 2012 season in the Sooners rotation, but was moved to the bullpen after five starts. Since then, Okert’s stuff has been nothing short of outstanding with a fastball consistently in the 94-96 mph range, touching 97, to go with a solid slider and changeup. A moreconfident presence on the mound speaks to the greater comfort zone he has achieved as a reliever. Okert has a smooth, easy delivery and demonstrates good command of his fastball to both sides of the plate, but it is still not refined overall as he has served up 33 walks in 69 innings this spring, while striking out 65 and posting a 6-6, 3.26 record. Okert’s overall package would seem to be a good fit in the third to fifth rounds, but the sheer power in his left arm has scouts talking him up as high as the second round.

Although he didn't go as high as the second round, the Giants did select Okert in the fourth round that year, which marked the third time he was drafted after being taken by the Brewers in the later rounds in both 2010 and 2011 after his freshman and sophomore years at Grayson County College. —Patrick Ebert

Clayton Blackburn – RHP

2011 was the year of the high-school pitcher in the state of Oklahoma. Dylan Bundy was the fourth overall pick and had some scouts calling him the best high-school right-hander they'd ever seen. Some didn't even think Bundy was the best high-school pitcher in the state, believing Archie Bradley, who went with the seventh overall pick, had a higher ceiling. Then there was Mike Fulmer, who went 44th overall, and Adrian Houser, who was plucked up with the 69th overall pick. Mason Hope got into the act in the fifth round.

As perspective, there has been only one high-school pitcher from Oklahoma selected in the first five rounds since 2011.

Blackburn was a known prospect in high school but certainly not a high profile one. He went to the 2009 Perfect Game Sunshine South Showcase as a 6-foot-2, 210-pound primary first baseman and received a PG grade of 7.5 at that position. However, his report from the event noted the following:

Also pitched, strong arm, 82-84 mph fastball from OH release, good extension, FB flashes hard boring action, hard CB spin, has potential on the mound.

Blackburn improved significantly over the course of the next year and was invited to the 2010 Area Code Games. He pitched in the 87-90 mph range with his characteristic feel for pitching. His notes from that outing read:

Soft build, young look, full delivery, full arm circle, pretty smooth delivery, loose out front, H 3/4's release. Has arm strength, FB straight, CB spin soft, nice changeup, knows how to work changeup well.

Blackburn was signed with Oklahoma when the Giants took a flier on him in that loaded 2011 Oklahoma draft class in the 16th round and were able to sign him for a surprisingly low $160,000 bonus. —David Rawnsley

Los Angeles Dodgers

Chris Anderson – RHP

Lightly recruited out of Centennial Park High School just northeast of the Twin Cities in Minnesota, Anderson participated in Perfect Game's Midwest Scout League during the fall of his senior season to gain additional exposure. Already a well-built athlete at 6-foot-3, 210-pounds, Anderson peaked at 91 mph during the fall, and then 92 the following spring, prior to attending Jacksonville University.

Anderson grew another inch and added 15-20 pounds to his already workhorse build while in college, and although he enjoyed two solid-yet-unspectacular seasons in his first two years at Jacksonville, he started to make a much bigger name for himself during the summer of 2012 when he pitched on the Cape. While his performance numbers may not reflect his success, he was throwing in the low 90s on a regular basis and started to find more consistency with his off-speed pitches.

Those pitches included a low- to mid-80s slider and a continually improving changeup. By his junior year Anderson opened the spring by sitting in the low to mid-90s with his fastball, peaking a few ticks higher, and effectively changing speeds between his improving secondary pitches.

Frankie Piliere has this to say about Anderson as part of his Draft Focus report in the spring of 2013:

Flash forward to this spring and we find a very different pitcher. His velocity is up—he’s now sitting 92-95 mph and reaching as high as 96-97 mph. He’s also been locating exceptionally well. But, the biggest difference has been with his secondary pitches. Anderson is throwing a plus slider, as well as a potential solid-average changeup, and he’s missing a lot of bats in the process. His slider at 81-84 mph is becoming a legitimate above average offering, and the changeup command is there in a way it hasn’t been before. In other words, Anderson has gone from merely an intriguing power arm with a durable frame, to a full-fledged three-pitch starter.

Anderson was a well enough known draft commodity for the Cubs to take him in the 35th round of the 2010 draft out of high school. That wasn't high enough to lure him away from college, but it stands as enough proof that he was on team's radars even before he exploded onto the prospect scene two years later. That explosion led to him selected in the first round by the Dodgers in 2013. —Patrick Ebert

Scott Schebler – OF

The state of Iowa has had a steady trickle of high profile high-school prospects over the years, helped significantly by the Perfect Game spring and fall leagues that give the state's young players a chance to play during more than just their summer high-school seasons. Scott Schebler was definitely not one of those high-profile prospects, though.

Schebler went to school at Prairie High School just outside of Cedar Rapids, Perfect Game's home, and played five sports in high school and was all-state in three of them. He started playing in the spring and fall leagues immediately after he entered high school, along with attending numerous showcases, including the 2007 National Underclass, where he received a PG grade of 8. He had upped that grade to 9 by the end of senior year, when the comments on his 2009 Midwest Top Prospect Showcase report read:

Strong athletic build, fairly mature. Aggressive hitting style, looking to pull everything, has good bat speed, lift in swing, ball jumps hard on contact, will hit HR's at the next level. 6.91 runner, moves well in the outfield, raw arm strength, will improve throws with better fundamentals. Bat is a plus.

Still, Schebler was only the 719th ranked prospect on the PG Class of 2009 rankings and was signed to attend Des Moines Area Community College, a well respected Division II junior college program.

At DMACC, Schebler continued to do what he'd always done which was hit. He posted a .446-20-82 line in 58 games as a freshman. When he ran the 60-yard dash in 6.52 seconds at the PG Pre-Draft Showcase in mid-May of 2010, it was noted how he was getting stronger and more athletic, but teams still weren't excited. The Dodgers and area scout Mitch Webster liked Schebler the best but only ventured a 26th-round pick on him. The Dodgers stepped up, though, signing Schebler away from Wichita State with a $300,000 signing bonus. —David Rawnsley