December 13, 2013

Hot Stove Scouting Report

Introducing New Staff and a New Series

by Jason Parks

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Over the past few months, we’ve been behind the prospect curtain putting together the pieces for a new scouting series, one that will feature the work of several new talent evaluators in addition to the already established staff. The new series is an expansion of our advance scouting reports, specifically focused on the hot stove season, featuring tool-based scouting grades, projections, and statistical data. The reports are designed to provide a comprehensive look at who a player is at present—and how he might perform going forward—using the bountiful MLB.tv archive as a resource to study tendencies and identify weaknesses and strengths in all game situations and circumstances. In lieu of colorful superlatives and paper-based hype, I’ll just say that this series is going to be very cool. You can find the first two reports—on Robinson Cano and on Justin Morneau—here and here.

Earlier this offseason, Baseball Prospectus lost two key members of the prospect team to the baseball industry, promotions that left us thick on pride and thin on personnel. We saw this as an opportunity to expand our existing coverage, to bring on a surplus of aspiring writers and scouts to add to our already strong core of talent, to branch out to regions of the country where our in-person coverage was limited, and to provide a platform for the baseball scouts of tomorrow to write quality reports on the prospects of today.

Over the next few months, we will be rolling out details of our expanded coverage, which will include new scouting templates for our eyewitness and advance scouting series. In addition to the new user-friendly templates, we are in the process of building a scouting-specific database for the 2014 season, where readers can access all pertinent information on a prospect, from tool-based grades to in-person reports to applicable scout quotes and statistical analysis.

As with the new coverage, we will be introducing the new members of the prospect staff throughout the offseason, starting with the first wave of evaluators who will be participating in the Hot Stove series. I’ll let them provide their own bios, but I’ll just say that I’m more than confident in their scouting chops, and I can’t wait to watch them grow into their new roles here at Baseball Prospectus.

Josh Herzenberg: My dream of pitching in the big leagues was taken away by the underwhelming radar gun readings in college. I have a Master’s Degree from Georgetown and experience working in advance scouting with the Washington Nationals. I’ve learned that the southeast is much too hot during the summer and the northeast is much too cold during the winter. My claims to fame include winning a sixth-grade geography bee and having a solo in 11th-grade choir. I’m really looking forward to being a part of this great BP team and will be one of the go-to evaluators for east coast prospect coverage. Lastly, I believe Mike Trout is overrated because I struck him out once and if I can do that, well, he’s overrated. Twitter handle: @josh_herz.

Ryan Parker: In addition to running my own scouting site and contributing to several others, I've worked for the Arizona Diamondbacks. All that considered, nothing has made me prouder than to join the Baseball Prospectus family. Despite what popular media dictates all scouts aren’t grizzled old timers who emphasize scouting reports with well-timed spits of tobacco. My knowledge of baseball comes from numerous sources, including a youth spent in Texas where my family was lucky enough to own a baseball training center frequented by major leaguers, two years working for the Arizona Diamondbacks, hundreds of baseball games observed across all levels, and currently working with athletes here in Charleston, SC, helping to refine their swings. My strong suit is mechanical analysis on both hitting and pitching. You can always reach out to me on twitter @RA_Parker and I look forward to interacting with some of the most knowledgeable readers in the game.

Jordan Gorosh: I write for Bless You Boys, the Tigers SB Nation affiliate. I live in Chicago, and will be covering the Midwest League next year. I attended Indiana University, and was a preferred walk-on before my shoulder popped like a balloon. I have the world's biggest man crush on Robert Stephenson. I look forward to interacting with, and learning from the tight knit BP community. Twitter handle: @jgoro8.

Ethan Purser: After spending the majority of my adolescence with my body on a baseball field and my head in a prospect handbook, I've spent the past few years covering the Atlanta Braves farm system for SB Nation and ESPN SweetSpot while pursuing a bachelor's degree in economics. I spent this summer scouting prospects on the amateur side for Perfect Game USA, evaluating players from the class of 2014 and beyond. My coverage area will include the South Atlantic League and the Southern League, and I aim to chip in commentary during 2014 amateur draft discussions, as well. On Twitter @EthanPurser. Topics include baseball, guitars, and Steven Seagal.

Jason Parks is an author of Baseball Prospectus. Follow @ProfessorParks
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