August 15, 2014

What Scouts Are Saying

August 15, 2014

by Baseball Prospectus

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Many of our authors make a habit of speaking to scouts and other talent evaluators in order to bring you the best baseball information available. Not all of the tidbits gleaned from those conversations make it into our articles, but we don't want them to go to waste. Instead, we'll be collecting them in a regular feature called "What Scouts Are Saying," which will be open to participation from the entire BP staff and include quotes about minor leaguers and major leaguers alike.

Major Leagues

Orioles 1B/3B Chris Davis: “His timing is off; his hands and wrists aren't working; he's a mess. It's to the point where you hope he's been playing with some sort of undisclosed injury this year, because even the batting practice displays are uncomfortable.”

Nationals OF Bryce Harper: "He's only 21 years old and there is a lot of talent there, but we are starting to reach the point where there may be cause for concern. He has not had a good year, and his hitting mechanics are all screwed up. It's as if he is almost jumping at the ball. He comes out of his swing so hard and fast. He plays out of control all the time, in every facet of his game, and it's clear he has become a distraction to Matt Williams. It would not surprise me if they end up trading Harper for a young arm and hold on to Denard Span."

Minor Leagues

Twins Double-A OF Byron Buxton "(Prior to his injury.) He's is getting his timing back. The last few games he's looked significantly better than he did last week."

Yankees High-A OF Aaron Judge: "Judge is a beast. I had him top out at 116 mph off the bat. He destroys left-handed breaks, and you cannot beat him upstairs either. He eats any fastball and mistake in the zone. Level swing that is not forced, power to all fields, overall hitting tool is approaching a 6. He is a very good athlete for his size, moves well in all phases. One thing to check on … has he adjusted to quality breaks from the RHP and has he learned to stay back when either side pulls the string?"

Royals High-A LHP Sean Manaea: "Something to watch is his ability to hide the ball against RHH. They do not chase him as often. I did not think his break was crisp enough for professional RHH to be enticed, as they would easily lay off it out of the zone. Sometimes he would let the break hang trying to pound inside on RHH, thus floating in the wheelhouse. But he has good plane and life on the fastball that he gets leverage on and can keep it down. He should be a decent groundball-producing arm."

Orioles DSL RHP Ofelky Peralta: "Funky mechanics are a nice way of saying he cannot locate his pitches at all."

Padres Double-A OF Hunter Renfroe: "He's showing big tools. There's easy plus power, plus arm, and he shows the ability to swipe a bag. The hit tool progression is going to determine whether he is just an everyday guy or an all-star."

High School

Eagle's Landing Christian Academy (Georgia) OF Dazmon Cameron: "The perception being perpetuated by some out there that Daz Cameron has gone backwards is completely misguided. He was being touted as a 1/1 candidate from his sophomore year of high school onward, and while there wasn't a more obvious player at the time. There's a reason very few scouts will make such proclamations that far out. He has developed at a steady rate and is still clearly one of the best prospects in the class. If the draft were today he'd be off the board in the first half of the first round. The fact that a couple of other players have emerged as top of the draft talents takes nothing away from what Cameron is, and those doubting him right now will be proven wrong come June."