Scouting Report: Chris Beck (RHP)
Posted on 4 April 2012
BLUF: Three-pitch starter with at least number three potential and hints of a number two starter.

The Player: Chris Beck (RHP, Georgia Southern) – Beck has been a little more hittable than scouts would like this spring. In eight outings (seven starts), he has allowed 50 hits across 47 2/3 innings, walking 12 and striking out 61. He has a 3-2 record and 3.59 ERA. Beck dominated throughout his sophomore season in 2011, allowing only 79 hits in 103 innings while striking out 109. Pitched only 30 innings as a freshman, posting an 8.31 ERA, mostly out of the bullpen.

Basis of Report: Personal Observation (2011 Cape Cod League), Industry Contacts

Scouting Report

Body (6-3, 220): Well proportioned. Broad shoulders. Thick, powerful legs that help generate velocity. Good upper body strength without sacrificing flexibility or range or motion. Built for durability.
Delivery/Mechanics: Very simple, clean delivery. No excess moving parts. Arm action is clean and consistent. Works down the plane of the mound well. Good arm speed that is timed well with his lower half. Good drive off the back leg. Remains balanced throughout windup and delivery, all the way through his finish. Good extension out front on all three pitches.
Fastball (FB) Velocity (Wind-up): High – 96, Low – 90, Average – 91-93, Grade – 60/60
Fastball (FB) Velocity (Stretch): High – 96, Low 89, Average 91-93, Grade – 60/60
Fastball (FB) Movement: Solid life in the strike zone. Will flatten out when he overthrows. Has flashed ability to sink and cut the ball when he wants to, but lacks consistency. Has aptitude to make strides with additional movement. Grade – 40/50
Overall Fastball: Plus velocity and potential for more movement give him a chance for a true plus fastball that he can rely on heavily throughout starts. Pitches aggressively with FB and has enough angle to keep the ball away from the barrel of the bat and induce weak contact. Grade – 60/60

Breaking Ball (BB): Averages 82-84 mph. Cross between a curveball and slider. Gets caught on either end of the spectrum at times. When consistent with his release and spin, pitch flashes as plus offering with good 10-5 break. Potential swing-and-miss pitch. Must learn to use it out of the strike zone more as a chase pitch, particularly on the back foot of left-handed hitters. Grade – 40/60
Change-up (CH): Averages 83-85 mph. Flashes good feel for the CH. Shows sink and fade at its best. Overthrows at times, straightening it out and leaving it up in the zone. Needs to trust the grip more and let it do the work. Potential third average or better pitch that could round out his arsenal. Grade – 30/50
Control: Struggles to control FB at times. Will battle strike zone. Has simple delivery and is a solid athlete, so control should be a plus down the line. Still learning and somewhat raw. Grade – 40/60
Command: Command lags way behind. Can throw strikes most of the time but lacks ability to locate consistently. Has spurts where FB is located to both sides, but spurts are rare. Little command with breaking ball or CH. If control begins to come around, fringe-average command should follow and he could have average command at his peak. Grade – 20/50

Summation: Solid to plus raw stuff across the board with some projection to improve more as he matures physically and mentally. Not a ton of physical projection remaining. Relies heavily on FB and needs to use it to set up the breaking ball and CH. Still learning finer points of pitching and defense, but has intelligence and should get it with time. If CH and command gain consistency, very real potential to be a number three with a chance to overstep that and become a number two in his best years.

Relative Risk: High. Has a lot to learn and command projection takes a leap of faith. Hard to argue with raw ingredients though.

Draft Projection: Mid-first round pick that could go higher to a team looking for college pitching.

Just what I was thinking. On the other hand, there will be little pressure when he makes the team in year 5 of Theo's 10 year plan

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Cubs’ Top Pick Albert Almora: Early Reactions, Scouting Reports, Etc.
By Brett on June 5, 2012

Last night, the Chicago Cubs made Miami high school outfielder Albert Almora their top pick, selecting him sixth overall in the 2012 Draft. It was an expected pick, but also one that’s easy to get behind. Almora has above average tools across the board, is a hard worker, is smart, and has a very polished approach. He wasn’t just an acceptable pick at number six, he might genuinely have been the perfect guy for the Cubs.

We’ve talked about Almora a great deal over the last couple weeks, but, now that we know he’s the guy, it’s worth running down some more thoughts on the 18-year-old.

The reactions/scouting reports have been many, together with useful tidbits:

From Cubs’ Scouting Chief Jason McLeod: ”If you look at the total package of Albert, he has the ability to no doubt play in the major leagues, but it’s also the makeup and work ethic, how he carries himself and the leadership he’s shown. It’s what we’re looking to do here with the Cubs – to bring in somebody that will be an impact player and to impact those around him …. It goes back to the evaluation of him as a player on the ability, but even more on the makeup side. He’s driven to succeed and be the best. We feel that in this market there is something to the whole ‘Theo Epstein first draft’ and our first draft. But that will subside quickly and it will be about him and what he does for this franchise moving forward. We feel he will handle it well because of who he is and what it means to him to be great.”
McLeod noted that, while it was a nice surprise to have the option of taking someone like Mark Appel, Almora was the guy they wanted all along.
From Almora, himself: ”I’m speechless. I don’t remember much of anything that happened tonight. I know that the Cubs drafted me, and I’m grateful, but I’m still kind of shocked and overwhelmed.”
Also from Almora, showing some confidence: “I believe in my ability. But I’m not going to lie. In my book, I was the No. 1 pick.”
Almora a huge “makeup” guy, the kind of kid Epstein/Hoyer/McLeod have shown a preference for over the years. What that means, in short: he’s a good kid who works really hard. He’s got a 4.1 GPA in high school, and he works out with his dad constantly.
Offensively, Almora’s upside is a .300 hitter with a good approach, 20 home run power, and average speed. He’s 6’2″ 180 lbs, so you can see how he could add a little muscle and, in turn, some power.
Almora’s defense in center field is said to be so good that some scouts believe he could be an average defensive center fielder in MLB *right now.* This is not a case of a kid being the best athlete on his team, so they just stash him in center field. Almora actually is a serious center field prospect.
Almora was the 7th youngest player taken in the first round (behind Carlos Correa, Lucas Giolito, Corey Seager, Lucas Sims, Stryker Trahan, and Lewis Brinson).
Almora has played for USA Baseball more than any other player in history.
Given that the Cubs were so publicly attached to Almora for so long, it would be fair to infer that other teams knew the Cubs were going to be selecting Almora. And if other teams knew the Cubs were going to be selecting Almora, it would be fair to infer that the Cubs and Almora’s “advisor” (now agent) Scott Boras have had preliminary discussions about getting a deal together. That could have the makings of a relatively quick signing, even though Boras is known to usually take his clients up to the deadline (this year, the signing deadline has moved up to July 13). A quick signing has a number of benefits, the most obvious of which is that the kid can start playing baseball right away if the organization wants (depends on how much the player has played already that year).
Obviously, last night, Almora wouldn’t say whether he expects to sign and/or for how much. But the Cubs’ slot amount there is $3.25 million, and I think that’s probably about what he gets (and is worth).

Hawger, your man Adam Brett Walker went #97 to the Twins. The Brewers passed on him at #92. They really would have added some power to the organization if they popped him but they went with Tyrone Taylor a toolsy HS OF instead.

Sox take 2B/3B Joey DeMichele from Arizona St. He's a tweener but he can flat out hit. Another nice pick if he can find a position.

That is supposedly the 3rd outfielder they have taken, but these guys get moved around all of the time. Thanks for the update.

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Sox take a Junior College pitcher in the 4th and a HS SS in the 5th. Still haven't seen a Kid from Illinois drafted yet.

Cubs continue the trend of taking pitching by selecting RHP Trey Lang from Gateway Community College in Arizona in the sixth round. All of the Cubs picks have been pitchers except for Almora.

Hey Kevin Ross from NIles West got drafted in the 8th round by the Pirates. Too bad there will be no money left for him after Boras sucks it all up for Mark Appel.

I'm surprised Jason Goldstein from Highland Park hasn't been drafted yet. Looks like Illinois will be getting a good catcher along with a couple good pitchers (Kevin Duchene Joliet Catholic and Tyler Jay Lemont) next year.

Boras fucked Appel.

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/ ... om-astros/

The Cubs drafted C/P/1B Blake Hickman from Simeon in the 20th round.

Seattle drafted LHP Brett Lilek from Marion Catholic in the 37th round.

Toronto drafted LHP Ryan Borucki from Mundelien in the 15th round.

The Cubs took a DIII kid I have seen play for the last few years. I believe he is a 2 time all american SS and his team just won the national championship for the 2nd year in a row. Exceptional defensively but probably projects to 2b as I can't possibly believe he weighs more than 17O as a college SR. Decent power and hits for average. Very cool to see him get drafted.

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Appel grew up an Astros fan so yea, he took some bad advise for sure from Boras, costing himself at least 2M. And he's a Stanford guy? WTF? Stupid.

This was a pretty fucked up draft but they got at least two things right. 1. the players were pretty much drafted in order of talent 2. The players are signing WAY earlier than ever. Five 1st rounders have already agreed to terms including #1 pick Carlos Correa.

The system needs some serious tweeking but at least the new CBA has some positive results.

The White Sox have agreed to terms with first-rounder Courtney Hawkins on a $2.475 million bonus, a deal that will become official once he passes a physical on Monday.

The Sox have agrred to terms with 25 of their 41 picks including their top 6.

So is he doing back flips?

Hopefully he in the lineup in St Louis tonight.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

The Pirates did not sign Mark Appel. It looks like he's heading back to Stanford for his senior season. Appel is the only first rounder not to sign. Boras strikes again.

Is the draft and follow no longer allowed with these new rules?

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Appel must really think highly of himself.

Turning down the Pirates wasn't that crazy but the initial demands which made houston pass on him was crazy.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Yeah, I alway turn down $3.5M and a chance to pitch for a first place team to go back to my shitty college apartment for the chance to make $3.5M next season and pitch for a shitty team.

Assuming he has insurance on the 3.5, he could probably get 6-6.5 million if he's the number one pick next year. Not 8, or whatever Boras presumably told him was his worth this year. I'm not saying I'd do it, but something I'd think about.

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I think he gets less next year because some teams will be scared away and he will have little leverage to negotiate since he won't be able to go back to school.

Just a dumb move.

I understand your point, but I think that's why these silly Cub rumors have already started. The assumption of the Cubs having the number one pick, which is quite realistic, is topped with the theory they will pay as much as they can without losing a draft pick. But as Big Chicagoan has said, what's the leverage? Appel is betting on himself, and could fall into a slot, if you'll pardon the expression. Even without tough negotiations, he could still make double the Pirates offer, as I referenced above.

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Bonus Pool Final Spend:

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/dra ... -spending/

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The Blue Jays should have known better than to take a pitcher from Drake.

Blue Jays prospect right-hander Marcus Stroman was suspended 50 games for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug. Stroman was the 22nd overall selection in June's draft. He tested positive for Methylhexaneamine.