August 15, 2013

What Scouts Are Saying

August 15, 2013

by Baseball Prospectus

Printer-friendly

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

Diamondbacks 3B Matt Davidson: "This guy has a steady approach and he looks like he is in complete control of his ABs. I doubt he will scare off now that he is in the big leagues, and his power and approach should work in the majors. He might bring more offense to [the Diamondbacks] than some of their regulars."

Marlins RHP Nathan Eovaldi: “He might have the best fastball I have seen all year. The off-speed stuff is still a work in progress, but the slider is definitely useable. There's no doubt in my mind he would be an elite closer, but he may become a middle-of-the-rotation starting pitcher, and he was better than that on Saturday against the team with the best record in baseball.”

Pirates OF Andrew Lambo: “He shows pretty easy power, but it will be interesting to see how he handles major-league pitching. He doesn't shy away from the spotlight and plays the game with a chip on his shoulder, but he has a chance to impact their lineup right away. He can defend himself and impact games.”

Red Sox LHP Jon Lester: “Got to see him recently and, despite his lack of dominance compared to past years, he remains a personal favorite of mine. You hear a lot of guys commenting that he has fallen in love with his cutter and that is why he hasn't been as dominant as he has in years past, but the biggest difference I see is his curveball isn't the same. It looks more like a sweepy, get-me-over pitch that he just flips into the zone, and in the past it was more of a bastard 1-7 hammer. It's always going to give lefties trouble, but the downward action on it used to give righties serious issues and I'm not seeing that anymore now that it has more side-to-side action. Still, there aren't many pitchers who can take a plus pitch out of their arsenal and still have a lot of success. ”

Marlins OF Giancarlo Stanton: “I don't know if he's still hurt or if he is upset he's still in Miami or if he just doesn't care, but he was a non-factor all weekend against the Braves—unless you count the ball he misplayed from a pop up into a two-run double on Sunday. He's still very young and has loud tools and a huge upside, but the Marlins probably aren't going to get exactly what they want for him when—not if—they trade him.”

Minor Leagues

Blue Jays Double-A RHP Marcus Stroman: "One of the most inspiring minor league pitching performances I’ve seen this year. He’s very athletic on the mound and attacks hitters, shows three plus pitches and plus command. The concerns over the durability are legitimate…go back the last 25 years and you won’t find a right-hander his size that’s been a starter in the league for longer than three years. That said, he seems to feed off those questions and I love guys with a chip on their shoulder. He could compete in the big leagues right now."