Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2019 i Baseball America

@BaseballAmerica @BaseballAmerica BaseballAmericaMag ReadBA Order your copy of Head Of The Class today for just $24.95 store.BaseballAmerica.com CELEBRATE THE RICH HISTORY OF COLLEGE BASEBALL Our new book collects four decades of college baseball reporting and analysis—from 1981 to 2019—by BA and its industry-leading voices. TRACE THE GAME’S EVOLUTION We cover each decade—the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s—with the top 10 storylines that shaped the college game and rank the top 25 programs for each decade. BEST OF THE BEST We rank the top 25 programs of the Baseball America era—led by the incomparable Louisiana State—based on factors like postseason success, All-America team representation, draft pedigree and major league impact. ON-THE-GROUND REPORTING FROM OMAHA Head of the Class contains contemporary reports from every College World Series since 1981. Also included in…

BASEBALL FACTORY’S CHIEF BASEBALL OFFICER We hear it from catchers after nearly every one of our Baseball Factory tryouts, “What was my pop time?” When meeting a catcher’s father for the first time, pop time usually comes out shortly after his name and the player’s name. I get it. We measure it. It goes on evaluations. Coaches often ask for it. But where does a pop time really fall on the priority list for catchers? In my opinion it’s pretty far down the list. It certainly falls below catching the ball. You’re a catcher. It’s in the name of your position. It sounds simple, but it is alarming how many catchable pitches end up on the ground during an average high school game. Going further, the ability to receive the…

First baseman Pete Alonso smashed a rookie-record 53 home runs, clicked with a city and its fans well beyond simply blasting moonshots, coined a slogan or two and perhaps inspired a comedy genius to reboot a classic sitcom. Oh, and the 24-year-old also infused the Mets’ clubhouse with a sincere, caring spirit, mauled the club’s record book, made the All-Star Game, won the Home Run Derby, showed the scouting community he had been underestimated, bolstered his defense at first base and became the “Polar Bear.” What a first season for Alonso, the unanimous selection as the Baseball America Rookie of the Year. “I couldn’t have asked for a better rookie year,” Alonso said. “This is a fantasy come true.” The reality, though, took hard work, scouting, player development and the…

ALEX BREGMAN, 3B/SS ASTROS Bregman launched 41 home runs and led the majors with 119 walks while hitting .296/.423/.592. He ranked second in the majors with 8.4 WAR and fifth with a 162 OPS+. GERRIT COLE, RHP ASTROS Cole led the majors with 326 strikeouts and a 185 ERA+. He ranked second with 20 wins and an 0.90 WHIP, third with a 2.50 ERA and fifth among pitchers with 6.9 WAR. MIKE TROUT, OF ANGELS Trout didn’t play after Sept. 7 but still ranked fifth in the majors with 45 homers and first with a 185 OPS+. He hit .291/.438/.645 and produced 8.3 WAR to rank third in baseball.…

Designed for a combination of power and speed, the Easton ADV 360 -3 offers a two-piece composite design for barrel tuning. With the two-piece construction featuring a connection with proprietary Nitrocell foam to isolate the handle from the barrel for a more solid feel and power, the Power Boost soft knob technology creates additional leverage and power potential while reducing vibration and improving comfort for the bottom hand. The carbon handle is built from 90 percent carbon fiber to create stiffness, with feel. The balance of power and speed includes a more flexible and responsive barrel with a natural sound. “The ADV 360 is one of the most technologically advanced bats in the game,” said Easton Dan Jelinek, senior vice president of sales and marketing. “The product innovation will not only drive…

1. ADLEY RUTSCHMAN, C AGE: 22. B-T: B-R. HT: 6-2. WT: 216. DRAFTED: Oregon State, 2019 (1st round). SIGNED BY: Brandon Verley. TRACK RECORD: A celebrated recruit who won Oregon high school state player of the year in 2016, Rutschman accomplished everything there was to do in college at Oregon State. He led the Beavers to the College World Series title in 2018, led USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team in nearly every offensive category the following summer and entered 2019 as the consensus top draft prospect in the class. He lived up to it by hitting .411 with a nation-leading .575 on-base percentage and won both the Golden Spikes Award and the BA College Player of the Year Award. The Orioles drafted him No. 1 overall and signed him for…

1. WANDER FRANCO, SS AGE: 19. B-T: B-R. HT.: 5-10. WT.: 170. SIGNED: Dominican Republic, 2017. SIGNED BY: Danny Santana. TRACK RECORD: Wander Franco hit .325 in 2019 and managed to lower his career batting average. His .339 average was the best among all Florida State Leaguers with 200 or more plate appearances. He did that while being four years younger than the average FSL hitter and a year younger than anyone else in the league. Franco has always had a knack for being his team’s vocal leader. It’s partly because of his talent, but it’s also because of his high-energy personality. He is exceptionally competitive in whatever he does, and he’s comfortable in the spotlight that has followed him ever since he signed as the No. 1 prospect in…

1. SIXTO SANCHEZ, RHP AGE: 21. B-T: R-R. HT.: 6-0. WT.: 185. SIGNED: Dominican Republic, 2015. SIGNED BY: Carlos Salas (Phillies). TRACK RECORD: Originally signed by the Phillies for $35,000 in July 2015, Sanchez was traded to the Marlins in the February 2019 trade that sent J.T. Realmuto to Philadelphia for catcher Jorge Alfaro, lefthander Will Stewart and Sanchez, who was the Phillies’ No. 1 prospect at the time. Prior to the trade, Sanchez established himself as one of the top pitching prospects in baseball on the strength of an explosive three-pitch arsenal. A 6-foot, 185-pound righthander, Sanchez struggled with right elbow inflammation in 2018, restricting him to just 46.2 innings in his final season with the Phillies. Sanchez enjoyed good health in 2019, pitched a career-high 114 innings and…

1. CARTER KIEBOOM, SS/2B AGE: 22. B-T: R-R. HT: 6-2. WT: 190. DRAFTED: HS—Marietta, Ga., 2016 (1st round). SIGNED BY: Eric Robinson. TRACK RECORD: The Nationals’ 2016 draft featured five players who have made their major league debuts, including Kieboomm their first pick in that draft. Carter became the second Kieboom to play for the Nationals when he made his debut on April 26 and homered in his first major league game. His older brother Spencer is a catcher who played for the Nationals in 2016 and 2018. The younger Kieboom spent two weeks in the majors when Trea Turner was injured before returning to Triple-A Fresno for the rest of the season, where he ranked in the top 10 in the Pacific Coast League in on-base percentage (.405) despite…

How does one live up to impossible expectations? When no matter how well you do, there is a sense you should have done even better. That’s the challenge Stephen Strasburg has faced for a decade. But 10 years since his anointment as the greatest draft prospect ever, Strasburg is at peace with the career he’s had. “I think it’s pretty obvious that the expectations that people had for me from early on were a little insane,” Strasburg said. “And I think you just become more comfortable with yourself, more comfortable with the results, and you set yourself to your own standards. Those are always going to be more important than what others think you should be doing.” It’s been 10 years since the Nationals drafted Strasburg first overall in 2009…

As the major league scouting community traveled to Jupiter, Fla., for the 2019 edition of the Perfect Game World Wood Bat Association World Championship, many of the best players in the 2020 draft class sat it out. It’s typical to have some of the elite members of the upcoming draft class—particularly pitchers—sit out the biggest travel ball tournament in the country, because they have typically established their draft stock at this point in the season. But this year many evaluators noted that there were fewer top-end prospects than usual, perhaps because of added events like the Prospect Development Pipeline showcase. Only one player currently ranked in the top 10 for the 2020 high school class—Mississippi first baseman Blaze Jordan—played at WWBA. While that seems disappointing at first blush, it does…

@JOE_SHEEHAN The end of the 2019 season brought bad news. Major League Baseball attendance slipped by about 1.5%, following a 4% falloff in 2018. It’s the fourth straight season, and the sixth in seven, in which attendance has fallen. Overall MLB attendance is down 8.5% since 2012, a big number. A look at the team level makes it very clear what is happening. America’s baseball fans are rejecting the rebuilding processes that are leading to unwatchable baseball. The largest attendance losses came in Toronto (down 7,100 fans a game) and Seattle (down 6,200), places where front offices spent the 2018-19 offseason telling their fans, “Hey, we tried for a few years. Check back in 2021.” The Tigers and Orioles, launching into rebuilds around largely anonymous rosters and racking up huge…

With each passing year, another rookie record falls. In 2017, Aaron Judge set a new rookie record with 52 home runs. In 2018, Juan Soto recorded a historic .406 on-base percentage for a teenager. In 2019, it was Pete Alonso’s turn. The Mets’ first baseman hit a rookie-record 53 home runs to lead another banner season for rookies. Alonso shined brightest in a season where baseball’s top three prospects—Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr. and Eloy Jimenez—debuted and showed flashes of why they are considered future franchise players. Rookies stood out at every position across the diamond, pushing many worthy players off our all-rookie team. Pirates shortstop Kevin Newman, Nationals outfielder Victor Robles, D-backs first baseman Christian Walker and Indians outfielder Oscar Mercado all made big impacts for their respective…

Whether it’s Jose Altuve or Alex Bregman giving pinpoint feedback on glove design and materials, or designers sourcing leather from the United States to Japan, today’s gloves have been engineered with adjustments birthed in Major League Baseball and bred throughout all levels of the game. And one component takes center stage in many of the latest updates: premium materials. The EASTON PROFESSIONAL COLLECTION HYBRID design, inspired by the likes of Kevin Pillar, Alberto Mondesi and Ramon Laureano, offer position-specific patterns in a Hybrid construction that includes USA chrometanned Horween steer-hide leather in the palm and lining with a lightweight Japanese-tanned professional reserve steer-hide shell back. Rolled leather welting provides durable shape and improves the break-in time, while the steer-hide binding increases durability. Using sheep wool shearling fur in the wrist…

1. TRISTON CASAS, 1B AGE: 20. B-T: L-R. HT: 6-4. WT: 238. DRAFTED: HS—Plantation, Fla., 2018 (1st round). SIGNED BY: Willie Romay. TRACK RECORD: After reclassifying to enter the draft a year earlier than his peers, Casas emerged as one of the top high school position prospects in the 2018 draft by displaying standout all-fields power both with aluminum and, while playing in international competition for Team USA, wood bats. In 2019, he cemented his status as a standout player for his age and experience level, primarily at low Class A Greenville. He ranked in the top three of all 2018 high school draftees in OPS and homers while also joining Xander Bogaerts as the only Red Sox teenager in the last 50 years to hit at least 20 homers…

1. NATE PEARSON, RHP AGE: 23. B-T: R-R. HT: 6-6. WT: 245. DRAFTED: JC of Central Florida, 2017 (1st round). SIGNED BY: Matt Bishoff. TRACK RECORD: Pearson pitched mostly out of the bullpen for Florida International as a freshman before transferring to the JC of Central Florida in 2017. While there, his stock climbed. The Blue Jays drafted him 28th overall that year and signed him for $2,452,900. In college, Pearson sat at 92-94 mph and reached 98. When he went to the short-season Northwest League after signing, he pitched in short stints and was regularly mid-toupper 90s and reached 101 mph. The next season, however, a back injury prevented Pearson from pitching until May 7. He returned, threw 1.2 innings, then didn’t pitch again during the regular season when…

1. RONNY MAURICIO, SS AGE: 19. B-T: B-R. HT.: 6-3. WT.: 166. SIGNED: Dominican Republic, 2017. SIGNED BY: Marciano Alvarez/Gerardo Cabrera. TRACK RECORD: Mauricio ranked as the No. 3 prospect in the 2017 international signing class—Rays shortstop Wander Franco was No. 1—and signed for $2.1 million. That set a franchise bonus record for a Latin American amateur that was surpassed by Venezuelan catcher Francisco Alvarez a year later. Mauricio shined in his pro debut in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League in 2018, ranking as the league’s No. 2 prospect. The Mets pushed him to the low Class A South Atlantic League in 2019, where he, Phillies shortstop Luis Garcia and Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez were the only 18-year-old regulars on Opening Day. Mauricio produced modestly but impressed scouts enough to…

BALTIMORE ORIOLES The increased emphasis on using analytics and feeding data into the Orioles’ minor league system has been credited with unlocking some of the potential in 2016 first-round righthander Cody Sedlock. Sedlock made 22 appearances and logged 95 innings, both career highs, while splitting his season between high Class A Frederick and Double-A Bowie. He recorded a 2.84 ERA and 1.20 WHIP and averaged 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings. The Orioles have been waiting for the 24-year-old Sedlock to offer the kind of production that justified making him the 27th overall pick out of Illinois. “The farm system’s taken a huge jump this year,” executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said. “Some of that was the draft with the No. 1 pick. Most of it was what…

In his start in the Arizona Fall League’s annual Fall Stars Game, Royals prospect Daniel Lynch was extremely impressive. The 6-foot-6 lefthander whiffed two hitters in a scoreless inning and showed a fastball that reached 99 mph. Because the game was played at Salt River Fields, the first strikeout came with a little bit of an asterisk. The park utilized the TrackManenforced strike zone for the AFL’s six-week season, which led to some interesting calls. Lynch opened the Fall Stars Game with a strikeout on a pitch that initially appeared to be more than a bit low, especially against 5-foot-9 Rays prospect Vidal Brujan. Yet, after a brief pause, home plate umpire Erich Bacchus reared back and rang up Brujan, who stared at Bacchus, dumbfounded. Except that in this case…

FACTORY ATHLETICSTM is BA’s For the Love of the Game Selection Partner • AJ DEROSE, 13 WILLISTON PARK, NY: AJ is a member of the National Junior Honor Society and was chosen for the Coaches Award at his school as a student who played at least three sports, demonstrated good sportsmanship on and off the field and excelled academically. He was the captain of the baseball team and was recently chosen to be presented in front of the entire Mineola school district as a student who inspires others in the classroom and on the field. AJ has volunteered his time at numerous clinics, helping younger children in sports. • JADA BROWN, 14 WATERTOWN, SD: Jada has made an impact on the field by showing her teammates how important it is to…

John Smoltz knows a thing or two about limiting hard contact. He allowed a lower opponent average in the 1990s than any starter but Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, David Cone, Roger Clemens or Curt Schilling. But even Smoltz couldn’t help gushing about the Astros’ Justin Verlander during the FS1 broadcast of Game 2 of the American League Championship Series pitting Houston against the Yankees. “It’s hard to find an average that starts with a ‘2,’” said Smoltz on the telecast, referring to Verlander’s historic season in which he limited hits and baserunners like few starting pitchers in history. Verlander in 2019 recorded the third-lowest WHIP and fifth-lowest opponent average in the modern era, which stretches back to 1901. The names surrounding him on the lists—Pedro Martinez, Walter Johnson, Nolan Ryan,…

1. JASSON DOMINGUEZ, OF AGE: 17. B-T: B-R. HT: 5-10. WT: 210. SIGNED: Dominican Republic, 2019. SIGNED BY: Juan Rosario/Lorenzo Piron/Edgar Mateo. TRACK RECORD: Dominguez had been on major league teams’ radar screens since he was 13 years old. The Yankees signed him for $5.1 million, which tied Dominican shortstop Robert Puason, signed by the Athletics, for tops in the class and ranks as the largest international bonus the Yankees have ever handed an amateur. (Japanese righthander Hideki Irabu still holds the record.) He got his feet wet in the Yankees’ Dominican instructional league. SCOUTING REPORT: Yankees international scouting director Donny Rowland said Dominguez has “possibly the best combination of tools, athleticism and performance that (he’s) run across.” His body is built similarly to Yoan Moncada. Dominguez is shorter than…

1. CRISTIAN PACHE, OF AGE: 21. B-T: R-R. HT: 6-2. WT: 185. SIGNED: Dominican Republic, 2015. SIGNED BY: Matias Laureano. TRACK RECORD: After failing to hit a home run over his first two pro seasons, Pache has completely shed his reputation as a glove-first, light-hittingr center fielder by getting bigger and stronger and learning which pitches he can drive. After hitting a career high nine home runs in 2018, Pache topped that by hitting 12 in 2019, in a season spent primarily in the pitcher-friendly Double-A Southern League. SCOUTING REPORT: Pache continues to stand out for his elite defensive ability. As a 70-grade runner with a tremendous first step and a 70-grade arm, it’s easy to project Pache as a Gold Glove center fielder. He aggressively tracks down balls in…

1. SPENCER HOWARD, RHP AGE: 23. B-T: R-R. HT.: 6-2. WT.: 205. DRAFTED: Cal Poly, 2017 (2nd round). SIGNED BY: Shane Bowers. BACKGROUND: When Howard arrived at Cal Poly he was an 83-85 mph walk-on righthander who wasn’t ready to be a college pitcher. He seemed destined for the club team, but he worked hard in the weight room during his redshirt freshman season and increased his velocity, which led to a solid summer as a reliever in the West Coast Collegiate League. He had an excellent redshirt freshman season as a reliever for Cal Poly, then moved into the rotation the next season and went 8-1, 1.95. Howard’s stuff has steadily gotten better as a pro. He battled through a dead arm period early in 2018, but by September…

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS A year ago, righthander Luis Frias’ future was looking up. It also might have been pointing toward the bullpen. His secondary stuff needed work. His command could be erratic. His weight was a concern. But after an impressive 2019 season in which he reached low Class A Kane County, Frias faces fewer questions. He improved his curveball and developed a split-changeup. He began repeating his delivery more consistently. He also took his conditioning more seriously. Frias, who has always had an electric fastball that regularly reaches the upper 90s, logged a 2.83 ERA with 101 strikeouts in 76.1 innings between short-season Hillsboro and Kane County. He still has a ways to go, but it has become much easier to envision him in a major league rotation. “When he…