The Write-Up: David Price's second rehab start

PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- David Price made his second rehab start on Wednesday evening at McCoy Stadium against Reds affiliate Louisville. Here’s The Write-Up on his start.

Age: 31

Height: 6-5

Weight: 215

Throws: Left

How Acquired: Free agent, Dec. 2015

Line: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R/3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K; 89 pitches, 61 strikes (68%); 14/20 first-pitch strikes (70%); 9 swing-and-misses.

The plan for David Price in this second rehab outing was to get in 85-90 pitches, ideally spread over five or six innings of work. Price instead ended up laboring through 3 2/3 innings to the line you see above.

Going into a rehab outing like this, I’m not necessarily concerned with results. There were two criteria I was looking for to determine whether Price is ready to return to the majors: Sustained arm strength and command of his arsenal. Unfortunately, I saw neither.

Read full post ...

The Write-Up: Trey Ball

PORTLAND, Me. -- After repeating High A Salem in 2016, Trey Ball took the mound in the season’s third game for his Double-A debut as the Sea Dogs took on the Reading Fightin Phils at Hadlock Field. Here’s The Write-Up on his start.

Age: 22
Height: 6-6
Weight: 190
Throws: Left
How Acquired: Draft, 1st rd., 2013
High School: New Castle (Ind.)

Line: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 6 K; 84 pitches, 52 strikes (62%); 12/24 first-pitch strikes (50%); 10 swing-and-misses.

Ball has a tall, lanky frame with long limbs. He was listed at 175 pounds in the 2013 draft out of high school, so he’s put on roughly fifteen pounds of lean muscle with room still to grow. He comes set with his hands at shoulder height and his glove in front of face. He takes a short step back and the hands remain in place as he turns into his delivery with a high leg lift and stands tall over the rubber on his posting leg with good balance. As he drives off the rubber towards the plate and the hands break, his front elbow goes up and he hides the ball behind his back leg. He has short arm action and average arm speed. He gets over his front side and lands balanced in a good position to field.

Read full post ...

The Write-Up: Jalen Beeks

PORTLAND, Me. – Jalen Beeks returns to Portland to start 2017 after earning a mid-season promotion from High A Salem in 2016, splitting his 132 2/3 innings nearly evenly between the two levels in 13 starts at each (67 1/3 in Salem versus 65 1/3 in Portland). Beeks took the mound in the season’s second game as the Sea Dogs took on the Reading Fightin Phils at Hadlock Field. Here’s The Write-Up on his start.

Age: 23

Height: 5-11

Weight: 195 lbs.

Throws: Left

How Acquired: Draft, 12th rd., 2014

College: Arkansas

Line: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K; 84 pitches, 54 strikes (64%); 14/20 first-pitch strikes (70%); 16 swing-and-misses.

Beeks has an undersized, filled-out frame with a strong lower half. He comes at you from the first base side of the rubber with a high three-quarters arm slot. He comes set with his hands just below his belt and brings them back up with a high leg kick as he turns his back towards the hitter at the height of his delivery. As his hands break, he brings his left arm behind his back leg with a wrist hook. As he delivers, his front foot gets down early and the arm lags behind, creating added stress on the arm and making it difficult to locate. All this movement and rigidness does create deception in the delivery, and coupled with his quick arm out front makes it tough to pick up the ball out of his hand. 

Read full post ...

The Write-Up: Teddy Stankiewicz

PORTLAND, Me. -- Teddy Stankiewicz returned to Double-A Portland to start 2017, taking the ball in the Sea Dogs’ home opener on April 7 against the Reading Fightin Phils. Here’s The Write-Up on his start.

Age: 23

Height: 6-4

Weight: 215 lbs.

Throws: Right

How Acquired: Draft, 2nd Rd., 2013

College: Seminole State (OK)

Line: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 2 K; 74 pitches, 42 strikes (57%); 13/24 first-pitch strikes (54%); 7 swing-and-misses

Stankiewicz has a lean, lanky, athletic build and is most likely fully developed. He has a semi-wind-up, rhythmic delivery in which he drops his hands to belt and brings them back up with his high leg kick before dropping and driving towards the plate. The ball comes from a low three-quarters arm slot. He repeats his delivery well, which helps his ability to throw strikes consistently with a four-pitch mix (fastball, curveball, slider, changeup). 

Read full post ...

The Write-Up: Andrew Benintendi

PORTLAND, ME - Andrew Benintendi, the seventh-overall pick in the 2015 draft, opened the year in High A Salem. In 34 games, Benintendi posted a .341/.413/.563 slash line that led to a mid-May promotion to Double-A Portland. I first saw Benintendi last August during his first taste of pro ball in Lowell and wrote up a report on him here. With the promotion to Portland, I was able to get another look at Benintendi during a three-game series at the end of June. The soon-to-be 23-year-old Benintendi started all three games in center field while going 6 for 12 with two doubles, two walks and a strikeout.

During this three-game look, my two biggest areas of focus were assessing his ability to use the whole field and his defense in center field. The first time I saw Benintendi he had an aggressive pull approach, and my initial looks defensively last year were limited.

Listed at 5-foot-10; 180 pounds, Benintendi has an undersized, yet athletic, strong, and compact build. During batting practice on Friday afternoon, it was clear that he struggled to drive the ball to the opposite field during the first round with weak fly balls and pop ups into foul territory. However, in-game during the series, Benintendi showed the ability on more than one occasion to drive the ball the other way, alleviating some of my concerns on the hit tool with his pull approach, particularly his two strike approach and pitches on the outer half.

Read full post ...

The Write-Up: Eduardo Rodriguez's mechanical adjustment

SoxProspects Assistant Director of Scouting Chaz Fiorino was in attendance for Eduardo Rodriguez’s final rehab start. This is his report from the field, including his take on a mechanical adjustment to the windup of Rodriguez. Chaz also wrote up Rodriguez's previous rehab start here.

PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Eduardo Rodriguez made his fifth rehab start with Pawtucket on May 24, in what we now know was his final minor league start of the stint. He has since been announced as tonight’s starter for Boston, replacing a struggling Clay Buchholz in the rotation. Rodriguez’s final line on the day was 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, thus making it the best results he’s had in a rehab start to date,  returning from the right knee injury suffered in spring training. He threw 102 pitches, 69 of them strikes; throwing first-pitch strikes to 18 of 25 batters and generating eight swing-and-misses.

Read full post ...

The Write-Up: Eduardo Rodriguez

SoxProspects Assistant Director of Scouting Chaz Fiorino recently took in Eduardo Rodriguez's start in Pawtucket. This is his report from the field.

PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Eduardo Rodriguez made his fourth rehab start with Pawtucket as he continues recovering from a right knee injury suffered during spring training. As we now know, Rodriguez was recalled from his rehab without being activated days later, as he continues to suffer from soreness in that knee. That he was still not fully healthy was apparent in the outing, as described below, and is evidence that the Red Sox did the right thing by shutting him down in the short term.

Rodriguez’s final line was 5 2/3 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K. He threw 100 pitches, 71 of them strikes. He pitched with a free and easy delivery and was able to consistently pound the strike zone with a four-pitch mix, throwing first-pitch strikes to 20 of 25 batters. However, his velocity and pure stuff were still a step back from where he was at his peak last year.

The fastball mostly sat 91-92 mph and topped out at 94 once. The decline in velocity had me thinking—as we now know, correctly—that he was still cautious of his right landing leg, and as a result not generating as much power from his legs in his delivery. Overall, the fastball lacked movement and the usual life on the pitch he has had in the past when sitting in the 94-95 mph range.

Read full post ...

The Write-Up: Michael Chavis, Luis Alexander Basabe, Stanley Espinal

Recently, SoxProspects Director of Scouting Ian Cundall and Assistant Director of Scouting Chaz Fiorino traveled to the Fall Instructional League to report on the goings-on in Fort Myers. This is the sixth of six reports from the trip.



FORT MYERS, Fla. --  Michael Chavis was the Red Sox first, first-round selection of the 2014 MLB draft, going 26th overall. At the time, he was listed at 5-foot-10, 180 pounds out of high school. The 20-year-old Chavis is now listed at 210 pounds, and that he has apparently added 30 pounds since high school is incredible given his already strong, undersized, compact frame. Chavis is very strong in both the upper and lower body with a strong core and looks maxed out physically at this point. Though undersized, he has a very strong frame with athleticism.

At the plate, Chavis stands open from the right side with a slight crouch. He generates rhythm and timing pre-pitch with his hands as he slightly waggles them back and forth. Chavis generates plus bat speed through the zone and is an overly-aggressive hitter both early in counts and generally in chasing out of the zone.  Chavis’ calling card is his plus power that he generates from his plus bat speed, strong forearms, strong wrists, and uphill swing path.

Read full post ...

The Write-Up: Jamie Callahan, Dioscar Romero, Jake Cosart and Kevin Kelleher

Recently, SoxProspects Director of Scouting Ian Cundall and Assistant Director of Scouting Chaz Fiorino traveled to the Fall Instructional League to report on the goings-on in Fort Myers. This is the fourth of six reports from the trip.

 

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Listed at 6-2, 230 pounds, 20-year-old right-hander Jamie Callahan has an athletic, lean, solid pitcher’s frame with limited projection physically. The former 2012 second-round pick had a short stint on Friday, displaying a fastball, slider, and changeup. The fastball was 91-94 mph, slider 82-84 mph, changeup 86 mph. Most notably Callahan comes out from a high, overhand arm slot in his delivery with long arm action in back. It was an abbreviated look and the overall package was average at best. Callahan made strides forward this year after repeating Greenville in 2014 with an increase in his K/9 from 7.37 to 9.47 and decrease in BB/9 from 5.47 to 3.32. Still only 20 years old, Callahan is very raw at present.

Read full post ...

The Write-Up: Michael Kopech, Jose Almonte and Enmanuel De Jesus

Recently, SoxProspects Director of Scouting Ian Cundall and Assistant Director of Scouting Chaz Fiorino traveled to the Fall Instructional League to report on the goings-on in Fort Myers. This is the second of six reports from the trip.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Listed at 6-4, 210 pounds, Michael Kopech threw four innings on Friday. The former 2014 first-rounder will likely see longer-than-usual stints in the Instructional League making up for innings lost this past year while serving a 50-game suspension after violating the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Kopech starts with his hands at shoulder height in front of his chest, then drops his hands down to the belt and back up again as he goes into his semi-wind-up delivery. He stays closed off for a long period of the delivery and shows the ball behind his body as he delivers towards home from a three-quarters arm slot. The delivery is already noticeably different from the time he was drafted to now; he is a lot more compact, fluid, and balanced.

Read full post ...

The Write-Up: Logan Allen, Travis Lakins, William Cuevas and Yankory Pimentel

LOWELL, Mass. and PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Over the last few weeks of the season, Assistant Director of Scouting Chaz Fiorino took in several Lowell Spinners and Pawtucket Red Sox games. The following are his reports on four players, including two top picks from this years draft and two less-heralded international arms.

Logan Allen



Age: 18


Born: April 23, 1997
, Fletcher, NC


Height: 6-3


Weight: 200


Bats: Right


Throws:Left


Drafted: 8th round, 2015


How Acquired: Draft High School: IMG Academy (FL)



Date Seen: 
9/6/15 - 4.1ip, 6h, 1er, 0bb, 2k, 75p-50s (66%); 12/20 first-pitch strikes (60%)



Physical Description - Strong frame; filled-out throughout; baby-faced.



Arm/Delivery Mechanics - Easy; no-wind-up delivery; pitches from middle of the rubber; hands set at chest height; short arm in back; slight back tilt in delivery; stays on line; repeats delivery.



Read full post ...

The Write-Up: Benintendi, Basabe and more from Lowell

LOWELL, Mass. -- Over the month of July, Assistant Director of Scouting Chaz Fiorino took in several Lowell Spinners games at LeLacheur Park. The following are his reports on six players, including two top picks and a potential steal from this year's draft class.

OF Luis Alexander Basabe



Age: 18

Born: August 26, 1996
, El Vigia, Venezuela
Height: 6-0

Weight: 170
 

Bats: Switch

Throws: Right

How Acquired: International 
free agent (August 2012)



Dates Seen: 7/10-7/13; 7/25 (24 plate appearances) 



Physical Description - Athletic, lean, room for added strength. 



Stance/Hit Approach -  Switch hitter. Left-handed, stands slightly open with slight crouch; small leg lift; hands in good position to hit; left-handed pull approach. Right-handed stance more square to the plate and crouched; short stride; hands in good position to hit. 



Hit - 20/40  (current/future grade) - Quick bat from both sides. Left-handed swing appeared more advanced; more length in swing from right side. Very aggressive early in counts; first-pitch swinger; wants to hit; poor pitch recognition lead to lots of swing-and-miss; will improve with experience. 



Power - 30/50 - Surprising power for strength; raw power at present; good frame to add strength.



Run - 60/60 - Makes the defense rush; showed instincts to steal bases; definite basestealer potential. 



Arm - 60/60 - On-line throws with carry; made a throw from right field warning track to second base on the fly. 



Field - 30/50 - Dropped routine fly ball in center field trying to rush throw to get runner at home tagging from third; did not get great first-step reads; inefficient route running; misplayed a few balls in the gaps; covers plenty of ground; athleticism and speed will improve defense along with more experience.



Summation - 18 year old; switch-hitting outfielder. Raw at present with athleticism; speed, arm strength and raw power. Current lack of plate approach & fundamentals defensively. High risk; future potential regular; everyday-type center fielder.


Read full post ...

The Write-Up: Travis Shaw, Jackie Bradley Jr., Garin Cecchini

PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Last weekend, Assistant Director of Scouting Chaz Fiorino sat on three games between the Pawtucket Red Sox and Toledo Mud Hens at McCoy Stadium. What follows are his reports on three members of the Pawtucket lineup.

Travis Shaw

The Line: 4 for 9, 1 2B, 0K, 1BB

The 25-year-old, left-handed hitter saw time at third base Friday and Saturday night before his one-day call up to the big leagues on Sunday. Shaw had 10 impressive plate appearances, consistently putting the ball in play and driving the ball to all fields. Shaw’s success came up the middle and pull side to right field, where his four hits fell in. The lone extra base hit came on an 0-1 breaking ball he was able to catch out front and drive into right-center field for a double.

Read full post ...

The Write-Up: Henry Owens

PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- 22-year-old left-hander Henry Owens took the McCoy Stadium mound against the Columbus Clippers, Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, on May 15. Owens’s final line for the day showed six innings pitched, three hits, no runs, one walk, and five strikeouts. He threw 88 pitches total with 53 for strikes. Owens threw first-pitch strikes to 11 of 21 batters and generated six total swing-and-misses in his six innings of work.

Now listed at 6-foot-6, 220 pounds, Owens reportedly put on 20 pounds of muscle heading into the 2015 season (Link). Owens has packed on muscle considerably each off-season since being drafted out of high-school in 2011 at 175 pounds. Physically, Owens has very long arms and legs, and will always be on the skinny and lean side, so it is tough to see a noticeable difference in his stature from the stands. This added bulk should help Owens through the course of a season after he admittedly felt that his body began to break down and did not feel like he had his legs under him towards the end of the 2014 season after 168 innings, a significant increase from his 135-inning total in 2013.

Read full post ...

The Write-Up: Eduardo Rodriguez

PAWTUCKET, R.I. – 22-year-old left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez began the year as the third-youngest player in the International League and the youngest pitcher in Triple-A. On Saturday, Rodriguez made his fourth regular season start at the level, going six innings, allowing one earned run on seven hits and one walk, notching six strikeouts. In total, he threw 93 pitches, 58 for strikes. Most impressively, Rodriguez was able to generate 15 swing-and-misses, thanks in large part to an overpowering fastball, the ability to throw his changeup in any count and his ability to consistently stay around the strike zone.

Rodriguez threw a heavy dose of his fastball-changeup combination in the early innings before mixing in his slider more in his last two innings. The fastball sat 93-95 mph and topped out at 96. The pitch had late life with some sink down in the zone. It is a plus-grade pitch with the ability to miss bats and overpower hitters at times. He picked up five of his six strikeouts on the fastball, all swinging.

Read full post ...

The Write-Up: Matt Barnes, Brian Johnson, Keith Couch

Assistant Director of Scouting Chaz Fiorino checks in with scouting observations from recent Pawtucket Red Sox games.

Matt Barnes

April 19: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

In his 25th-career Triple-A start, and second start of 2015, right-hander Matt Barnes threw a total of 84 pitches as he continued to get stretched back out as a starter. Barnes displayed strong control in the outing with 54 of 84 total pitches for strikes, and 16 of 22 first-pitch strikes. Barnes also generated seven total swing-and-misses in this outing. He featured a three-pitch mix: a fastball, curveball, and changeup.

The fastball was 91-95 mph, sitting mostly 92-94. Barnes located well for the most part, but made one mistake-pitch, a 2-2 fastball he left over the middle of the plate that was belted for a two-run home run. Outside of that pitch, he located pretty well, particularly arm-side, picking up one of his three strikeouts on a 1-2 fastball down and in at the knees that caught the right-handed hitter looking. Barnes fastball was mostly straight with some slight arm-side run when down in the zone. The pitch tends to get on hitters quick and is a plus-grade offering.

Read full post ...

The Write-Up: Clay Buchholz

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- On the final day of the SoxProspects.com staff’s trip to spring training and with the big league club facing its opening day opponent, the Phillies, Clay Buchholz made an appearance on the back fields. Chaz Fiorino wrote up the Red Sox opening day starter’s five-inning appearance against the minor league rookie ball contingent.

With any spring outing of this nature, and any spring outing in general, the very last thing I focus on is the stat line. That said, if you’re into that, Buchholz’s results were exactly as you would hope facing low-minors hitters. Buchholz threw a reported seventy-nine pitches over five innings, facing eighteen batters. He allowed no hits, struck out ten and walked one.

Results aside, I was focused on seeing a few different things from Buchholz that lend themselves to future success against big league hitters: (1) Staying in sync, on-line towards the plate and balanced with his delivery; and (2) the ability to throw strikes to both sides of the plate, change speeds, and command and control his secondary offerings with sharpness. Buchholz did not disappoint, and mixed in his entire arsenal: a four-seam fastball, two-seam fastball, cutter, curveball, and changeup.

Read full post ...

The Write-Up: More reports from Fort Myers

FORT MYERS, Fla. – This latest batch of scouting reports from Spring Training by Chaz Fiorino reaches all levels of the system, from one pitcher who started spring in major league camp to another who will make his stateside debut this summer. 

Wendell Rijo

Rijo is a 19-year-old, right-handed second baseman. He has a young, under-sized frame at 5-foot-11, 170 pounds, with room for added strength as he physically matures. Defensively, Rijo is an athletic, high-energy guy with lower half quickness in his lateral movements. Rijo’s athleticism immediately stood out in the field taking groundballs during morning workouts. However, there were a number of times when he struggled with his glove transfer to his throwing arm or booted a few groundballs. The athleticism and raw tools were easy to see defensively to project future average potential defense at second. The arm profiles best at second base as well. Offensively, I only got a glimpse of Rijo in two at-bats and a few batting practice swings. Rijo has a high hands setup and displayed surprisingly sneaky raw power in his morning batting practice. In the two at-bats I caught, Rijo was late getting his front foot down in time and was drifting forward with his body at the plate. This resulted in a couple late swings and getting off-balance on off-speed pitches. Rijo looked aggressive at the plate and ready to hit. Very young at age 19 and slated for High A Salem, Rijo is still a ways away, but has impressive raw tools for a 19-year-old, projected middle infielder with plenty time to develop.

Read full post ...

The Write-Up: More from the Fort

Assistant Scouting Director Chaz Fiorino checks in with more of his scouting observations from minor league games in Fort Myers.

- Listed at 6-foot-5, 230 pounds, Justin Haley (pictured, left) has a tall, strong, filled-out build. The 2012 sixth-round pick out of Fresno State comes set with his hands at shoulder height, using a simple, no-wind-up delivery and a high three-quarters arm slot with short arm action in back and minimal extension to the plate. The fastball ranged from 88-91 mph and was fairly straight. His secondary offerings included a hard, short slider that looked like a cutter at 85-88 mph; a changeup at 80-82 mph with fade, flashing average potential; and a loose, 12-to-6 curveball at 75-78 mph. Most worrisome was that Haley struggled with command in his three innings of work, walking a pair of batters, as vastly improved control was the key improvement in his great 2014 campaign. The fastball velocity was a tick down from previous reports, not a surprise in what was Haley’s first spring outing.

Read full post ...

The Write-Up: Thursday at the Fort

Assistant Scouting Director Chaz Fiorino checks in with his scouting observations from Thursday's minor league games in Fort Myers.

- Rafael Devers (pictured, left) carries a strong, filled-out, muscular build on his listed 6-feet, 215 pounds, featuring a thick lower half. Offensively, he rolled over on pitches in his first two at-bats for groundouts to the catcher and second baseman, but recovered to collect two hits in his next two at-bats on line drives to right field. The hits came on an impressive, easy line drive swing with plus bat speed. In the first of the two successful plate appearances, Devers swung and missed on an 0-1 changeup but battled back to a 2-2 count before driving an 89 mph fastball to right. In his last trip to the plate, he took a hanging 1-2 curveball to right field. The right fielder misplayed the ball and Devers made a great heads-up play to take second base. Defensively at third base, Devers had one opportunity, making the play on a routine ground ball before making a poor throw into the dirt at first. Given his thick frame and size, he does not move exceptionally well at third. However, he did show plenty of arm strength to make throws from across the diamond. A future move defensively to first-base would not be surprising.

Read full post ...

The Write-Up: Rusney Castillo

In this edition of The Write-Up, Chaz Fiorino gives his initial thoughts on new Red Sox signee Rusney Castillo.

Player: Rusney Castillo
Team: Pawtucket Red Sox
Bats/Throws: R/R
DOB: 09/07/1987 (Age 27)
Height: 5-9
Weight: 205

Scout: Chaz Fiorino
Dates Scouted: 9/9/14 – 9/10/14
Stat line: 2 for 8, 2K, 1 BB, 1CS, 0 XBH

Physical Description: Short, strong, lean, athletic build. Maxed out physically. According to Baseball America, he has put on 20 pounds of muscle since defecting from Cuba.

Hitting Mechanics: Square stance, stands upright, feet shoulder-width apart. Hands in good position to hit. Bat points straight up, perpendicular to the ground. He loads by lifting his front heel off the ground with his toes pointing down, generating power and torque in his lower half. Uses a short stride. Line-drive swing with slight uphill plane. Length in swing. Solid bat control.

Read full post ...

The Write-Up: Matt Barnes

In this edition of The Write-Up, Chaz Fiorino provides a detailed scouting look at SoxProspects #11 prospect Matt Barnes.

 
Pitcher: Matt Barnes
Team: Pawtucket (AAA)
Throws: R
DOB: 06/17/1990 (Age 24)

Height: 6-4

Weight: 205

Scout: Chaz Fiorino
Date Scouted: 08/30/14
Stat line: 7 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 10 K, 102-73 Pitches-Strikes. 15/28 first-pitch strikes. 16 swing-and-misses.


Physical Description: Athletic, strong, durable frame. Long legs, high waist. Not much room for physical growth.

Arm/Delivery Mechanics: – Three-quarters arm slot. Worked from middle of the rubber. Hands set at the belt. Brought hands to chest with first move towards the plate. Long arm action in back with a slight wrist turn. Great balance over the rubber on back leg. High leg kick with average extension towards the plate. Stayed on line consistently and pitched downhill.

Read full post ...

The Write-Up: Brandon Workman

In this edition of The Write-Up, Chaz Fiorino provides a detailed scouting look at Brandon Workman.

Pitcher: Brandon Workman

Team: Pawtucket (AAA)
Throws: R
DOB: 08/13/1988 (Age 26)
Height: 6-5
Weight: 225

Scout: Chaz Fiorino

Date Scouted: 08/29/14
Stat line: 6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 108-68 Pitches-Strikes. 14/25 first pitch strikes. 8 swing-and-misses.

Physical Description: Tall, strong-framed, mature body. Filled out throughout. Maxed out physically.

Arm/Delivery Mechanics: High three-quarters to overhand arm slot. No windup, stands square to the plate on rubber. Hands set at the belt. Slight bounce in step with back leg as he pivots in front of rubber in delivery. Brings arms up to head level with high leg kick. Short arm action in back. Definite effort in delivery but was able to stay online and repeat throughout.

Read full post ...

The Write-Up: Henry Owens

In this edition of The Write-Up, Chaz Fiorino provides a detailed scouting look at SoxProspects #3 prospect, Henry Owens.

Pitcher: Henry Owens

Team: Portland (AA)
Throws: L
DOB: 7/21/1992 (Age 22)
Height: 6-6
Weight: 205 

Scout: Chaz Fiorino
Date Scouted: 7/19/14
Stat line: 6.1 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 104-67 Pitches-Strikes. 16 swing-misses.

Physical Description: Tall, lanky, long limbs. Huge hands and feet. Still has room for strength gains in legs and upper body.

Arm/Delivery Mechanics: Semi-wind up. First-base side of the rubber. High 3/4 arm slot. Short arm action in back. Hands set at chest, drops hands and pulls back up in rhythm with delivery. Low-effort arm action/delivery. Hid the ball well generating deception.

Read full post ...

The Write-Up: Matt Barnes

In this edition of The Write-Up, Chaz Fiorino provides a detailed scouting look at SoxProspects #9 prospect, Matt Barnes.
 
Pitcher – Matt Barnes
Team – Pawtucket (Triple-A)
Throws – Right
DOB – June 17, 1990 (Age 24)
Height – 6-foot-4
Weight – 205 pounds

Scout – Chaz Fiorino
Date Scouted – July 2, 2014

Stat line – 3 1/3 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K; 83-46 Pitches-Strikes.

Physical Description – Athletic, strong, durable frame. Long legs, high waist. Not much room for physical growth.

Arm/Delivery Mechanics –  Three-quarters arm slot. Long in back with wrist curl. Works from middle of rubber with hands set at the chest. Fluid delivery. Great balance over rubber on back leg generating power. High leg kick with average extension towards the plate. Struggled with release point and repeating delivery this outing, pulling off his front side.

Read full post ...

The Write-Up: Notes from McCoy

In this edition of The Write-Up, Chaz Fiorino provides detailed scouting notes from McCoy Stadium based on a doubleheader scouted on June 14.

Anthony Ranaudo

Date scouted: June 14 Game 2

Line: 5 2/3 innings, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K; 96P-62S

In this outing, Ranaudo's fastball ranged 89-93, and sat 89-91, which is a tick below where I’ve seen him in the past. In turn, Ranaudo did a much better job repeating his delivery and staying on line to the plate than previous starts. He’s made a very slight mechanical adjustment to minimize movement in his delivery and to get out on his front side a bit easier. This allows him to better command the strike zone.

His best secondary pitch was the curveball, as is usually the case. The curveball came in at 75-78 mph with true 12-to-6 action. His changeup was in the 81-84 mph range and it presently grades a tick below-average. There have been recent reports of Ranaudo beginning to develop a slider as a fourth offering, and in this outing, I saw two sliders at 82 mph. They were flat and missed up and out of the zone arm side, grading below-average – a 40 on the 20-80 scale. With his ability to spin a well above-average curveball, I would be surprised if he isn’t able to develop a close to major league average slider with repetition in the future.

Read full post ...

The Write-Up: Early Reports from Pawtucket

In this edition of The Write-Up, Chaz Fiorino provides detailed scouting notes from McCoy Stadium based on games scouted on May 2-4.

Brandon Workman 
Date scouted: May 2

Line: 5 2/3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K; 96P-59S

Workman put together his best start of the year to that point on May 2 in his fourth outing with Pawtucket. Workman likes to pound the zone and challenge hitters with his fastball, which sat 90-92 mph. Although he throws it with average velocity, the pitch plays up due to his ability to command it. He struggled with his release point early, walking a hitter in each of the first three innings, all left-handed hitters. Workman has yet to walk a right-handed hitter in his now five starts with Pawtucket this year.

Workman eventually settled in, getting through 5 2/3 innings on 96 pitches. In addition to the fastball, Workman mixed in his curveball at 78-79 mph, a cutter at 84-85, and a changeup at 83-85. The curveball is Workman’s best secondary pitch. It has true 12-to-6 action when he is able to effectively get on top of it. As Workman worked through the order the second time around, he began mixing in more curveballs and cutters. The changeup is his fourth offering and grades below average. He seemed to yank the changeup, making it hard to distinguish from the cutter at similar velocities. 

Read full post ...

The Write-Up: Garin Cecchini and Christian Vazquez

Chaz Fiorino is the newest addition to the SoxProspects.com scouting staff. In his new series, The Write-Up, he'll provide detailed scouting reports from the field. The format may evolve a little, but we are excited to add Chaz's expertise to the fold, and look forward to his reports.

Garin Cecchini

Dates scouted: April 3, 5, 6

Line (four-game series): 6 for 12, 1 2B, 3 BB, 3 K, .500/.600/.583 

The soon-to-be 23-year-old left-handed hitter is listed at 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, with an athletic build, strong lower half and room for potential additional strength in his upper body. His incredibly advanced approach and hit tool, which grades around 65/70 on the 20-80 scale, are well-documented and were on display all series. There is no question the hit tool will play at the next level.

The biggest question mark is his defense, where Cecchini remains a work in progress at third base. Will Middlebrooks’s trip to the DL—and Cecchini’s hot start to the season—begged the question of whether Cecchini could have received the call to Boston that briefly went to Brock Holt. Red Sox Manager John Farrell confirmed last week what many suspected: “While he’s had good at-bats there, there’s still some development defensively that’s taken place. His time is coming but didn’t feel like it’s right now.”

Read full post ...