Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Florida Diamond Club Showcase Observations


As I mentioned briefly yesterday, I still have a ton of raw scouting notes on a handful of players that participated in the WWBA this past weekend and the Florida Diamond Club Showcase two weekends ago.  Yesterday I touched upon a few players that I only got to see for a couple of plate appearances, innings, hours, etc., but today I will focus on some guys that I was able to see over the course of an entire weekend’s worth of games, batting practices, and infield/outfield routines at the Florida Diamond Club Showcase.  

2013 SS Oscar Mercado: 6-1, 177, R/R, Florida State commit. Those within the industry have known about Mercado for a while now, as he has been a regular on the showcase scene. Baseball Prospectus’ Nick Faleris provided an analysis on him here. From what I saw at the showcase, Mercado is a great athlete and possesses the necessary quick-twitch athletisicm that is necessary for a major-league middle infielder. He has fluid movements, nimble footwork, a quick transfer, and a solid arm--all of which indicate that he should be able to stick at shortstop at the highest level. On the second day of the showcase he did play CF and actually looked very natural there, despite not playing there much at all over the past few years. If for some reason things do not work out for Mercado at SS, he has the athleticism, instincts, speed, quickness, and arm to transition to CF. At the plate he was a bit inconsistent, and I felt that like he’s late with his trigger and load at times.  Regardless, he features very good bat speed and quick wrists that allow the hit tool to play up (at present).  I didn’t get any run times on Mercado, as he spent so much time barreling balls into the outfield and working walks, but he was a nuisance on the basepaths, swiping three bases over the course of the weekend. SYNOPSIS—Mercado showed out at the FLDCS and is a legitimate athlete at a premium defensive position; I’d be extremely surprised if he was not drafted in the first round of the draft

2013 3B/OF Tucker Neuhaus: 6-3, 190, L/R, Louisville commit. Neuhaus plays shortstop for his high school team and is committed to Louisville in part because of the coaching staff’s willingness to let him play short for the Cardinals. During the showcase weekend he played at third base and right field, both of which fit his profile better. He has a long frame with more room to add mass in both his upper and lower halves. He is pretty athletic, but he does not profile as a shortstop at the next level. He looked decent at third base, showing off some soft hands and plus arm strength, but he had some accuracy issues as his throws tended to sail on him. I personally like him better as a RF, especially as he continues to mature and add mass over the next few years.  He put on a show in batting practice on the first day, and it continued into game action, as he belted out a homerun off a lefthanded pitcher. There is some length in his swing but throughout the weekend he showcased some true pull power. During the second game, Neuhaus swung a bit “uphill” at times and displayed that his long swing could get him into trouble at times. Overall, Neuhaus presented an intriguing combination of plus power potential and plus arm strength. I’m not entirely sure of his draft prospects given his defensive profile, but  I liked the overall package.

2013 1B/OF Nick Longhi: 6-2, 212, R/R, LSU commit. Longhi made some noise this summer at the Area Code Games in California, and he had a solid weekend in Lakeland for the FLDCS. He has a muscle bound body with a thick lower half. Combine that with a below-average arm, and I feel that his future probably lies at first base rather than the outfield (although he is a solid athlete for such a big guy). Longhi has a high hand set in the batter’s box, and he lowers his hands during the pitcher’s delivery, which makes for a lot of pre-swing movement. The slight hitch and hole in his swing makes for some swing and miss, but did not present too much of an obstacle over the weekend, as he generates good bat speed and easy plus power with plus-plus potential. At times he can hit entirely with his upper body as he tends to “spin”, but his enormous strength allows the power and bat to play at present. Down the road, he will have to make some slight adjustments, but the bat has some serious juice. Again, I’m not too sure on his draft prospects—the defensive profile may scare off some teams—but the power is real, so even if he ends up in Baton Rouge, he remains a college bat to keep an eye on over the next few years.

2013 RHP/INF Brett Hanewich: 6-3, 208, S/R, Stanford commit. I don’t think he even played in the field during game-action at the FLDCS, but if he did I missed it. I wasn’t too enthralled with his showing during the two BP rounds, as he had a tendency to jump at the ball and hit front-footed. His body is impressive and imposing for an 18-year-old, as he is chiseled with broad shoulders.  His fastball sat between 86-91 during his two innings in Lakeland, but he showed out more in Jupiter, when he sat between 89-93 with a hammer curve between 73-75.  The pitch got a little loose at times, but it had a good shape and flashed plus. His delivery was pretty clean overall, although one could nitpick and say that it was a bit too mechanical/rigid and limited his momentum towards the plate.

2013 C/3B Adrian Chacon: 6-1, 195, R/R, UNC commit. Chacon saw limited time in the field for the West squad at the FLDCS, but he was impressive during BP and I had the chance to see him briefly at the WWBA in Jupiter. Chacon is solidly built with a muscular physique. I felt that he profiled better as a catcher (although I did not get much of chance to see him behind the plate), so he will probably be able to add on mass without sacrificing much defensively behind the dish. At the WWBA he threw out a runner trying to steal second base and clocked in a 1.89 pop time. It was difficult to get a read on his receiving skills, but I was very high on his ability in the batter’s box. At times he hit too much off his front-foot and his hands got a little noisy and drifty, but overall Chacon was solid. He did a fine job of throwing his top hand through the zone and creating a nice, fluid, direct path to the ball.  He also showed the ability to backspin the ball and consistently square up pitches. It is always hard to evaluate how high school catchers will be able to handle the responsibilities of catching professionally, so my gut instinct is that Chacon ends up in Chapel Hill, but scouts that are more familiar with Chacon may feel that he has “it” so I would also not be surprised to see him popped in an early-mid round rang of the 2013 draft.

2013 RHP Spencer Trayner: 6-0, 160, R/R. UNC commit. Chacon’s high school teammate, Trayner is also a Tar Heel commit that performed well at the FLDCS and the WWBA. While he doesn’t possess the traditional pitcher’s frame, Trayner was able to flash solid-average to plus velocity at both events, sitting 90-92 in Lakeland and 91-93 in Jupiter. Trayner normally throws from the traditional high ¾ arm slot, but on occasion he would drop down El Duque style and deliver a sidearm 87-88 mph fastball.  Although he threw it sparingly, Trayner also flashed a late-breaking 80 mph slider with good two-plane depth. 

2013 RHP Dane Dunning: 6-3, 190, R/R. Florida commit. Dunning features a long, lithe frame with room for future projection.  He has an easy and seemingly clean delivery, and he appears to stay over himself well.  Throwing from the common high ¾ arm slot, Dunning has a solid release distance and stride length, which helps his 86-91 mph FB play up a bit. The pitch appears to have some real life and jump in on righthanded hitters. His secondary pitches, a 73-80 mph CRV and 80 mph CH, were used sparingly so it was hard to get a true gauge on the quality, although the curveball had good shape. Florida’s 2012 recruiting class was decimated due to a plethora of high MLB draft choices, and 2013 may be no different.  Dunning offers some serious projection and it will be interesting to see how high his draft stock may rise this spring.

2013 MIF Christian Arroyo: 6-0, 180, R/R. Florida commit. Arroyo starred for USA Baseball’s 18U team that won the Gold medal at the World Championships is South Korea this summer. I had the chance to interview Arroyo twice this summer and he is an outstanding young man and was by far the best interview I conducted while interning for Baseball America. On the field, Arroyo typically fits the “gamer” profile as he does not have one loud or exceptional tool. However, he is an extremely instinctual player. He features only average speed presently, and given his thicker lower half, he projects best as a second baseman professionally. His arm strength may also be average at best, but his transfer and release are extremely quick.  At the plate Arroyo utilizes a short, compact swing. He was able to consistently control the bat and square up pitches to make solid contact.  Furthermore, Arroyo has an advanced approach at the plate and a good feel for hitting in general—he was able to work the count, use the entire field, and borderline pitches throughout the FLDCS weekend and the WWBA tournament in Jupiter. High school “gamers” are not often selected early in the draft, as pure athletes who feature more projection than the polished yet understated Arroyo, so it is more likely that we see him donning the Orange and Blue in 2013.

More to come in the following days, including observations on Brian Navaretto, Bernardo Bonifacio, Matthew Railey, Iramis Olivecia, Shaun Anderson, Ian Hagenmiller, etc. 

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