Innholdsfortegnelse for May/June 2020 i Baseball America

I really miss baseball. As a reader of Baseball America, you do too. While much of the world—and all of sports—has virtually stopped because of the coronavirus pandemic, it has given us time to appreciate the little things. Health, family, food, education and, of course, sports. Sports are much more than the games themselves. They are about the personalities, experiences and the sense of community they create. I’ve often said that sports are a microcosm of society, and that’s more apparent than ever today. Baseball is woven into the fabric of our society, and not being able to go to the ballpark or local diamond in your community has really hit home over the last few months. It has made us realize that sports are not only an escape, they…

Allan Simpson had a baseball craving. He had spent his summers in the early to mid 1970s working for teams, initially for the Alaska Goldpanners—then the perennial National Baseball Congress World Series champions—before becoming general manager for the Rookie-level Lethbridge Expos in Alberta, in his native Canada. Restrictive immigration rules basically short-circuited Simpson’s ambition of a career in baseball at the time, but after a five-year absence, Simpson wanted to be involved in the game again. He wanted to start up a baseball magazine. Simpson put in a call to me. At the time I was covering the Mariners for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and we agreed to meet at the 1980 Winter Meetings in Dallas to discuss his plan. Who was I to say no? I welcomed the opportunity to…

BIO The Spencer Torkelson File 1B, Arizona State Born: Aug. 26, 1999 in Petaluma, Calif. Height: 6-1 Weight: 220 Bats: Right Throws: Right Drafted: Never 2019: Sophomore • Led Pac-12 with 23 home runs, fifth most nationally • Third player in conference history with back-to-back 20-homer seasons • Second team All-America • Led Team USA with eight walks, tied for team lead with two homers 2018: Freshman • Hit 25 homers to lead the nation and break ASU’s freshman home run record • Second team All-America • Pac-12 Freshman of the Year The end to the 2020 season came without warning for Spencer Torkelson, as it did for players around the country. On March 12, the day the coronavirus pandemic led the NCAA to take the unprecedented measure of canceling…

Jordan Walker vs. Blaze Jordan HITTING: At his best, Jordan has a handsy, fluid righthanded swing with a professional, all-fields approach and solid ability to handle velocity and make adjustments to offspeed pitches. While Walker has a solid hit tool, he’s a bit more power over pure hitter, and the length of his arms could create more swing-and-miss issues going forward. A slight edge for Jordan here. POWER: Jordan is more famous for his displays of power throughout his high school career, but Walker has the more projectable frame when looking at future power potential. Walker is 6-foot-5, 220 pounds compared to Jordan, who is 6-foot-2, 218 pounds. Both are among the top five in the prep class, but Walker has the slight edge. SPEED: Neither Walker nor Jordan are…

Casey Martin vs. Nick Loftin HITTING: Martin’s freshman season with Arkansas was more impressive than any single season Loftin has produced with Baylor, but Loftin’s approach is more mature, he has fewer holes in his swing and significantly fewer swing-and-miss concerns than Martin. POWER: While Loftin did show increased power production during the truncated 2020 season, Martin has double-digit home run totals in each of his two full college seasons, while Loftin’s single-season high was just six. Martin’s collegiate isolated slugging percentage mark is .235 compared to just .161 for Loftin. SPEED: Scouts have called Martin a double-plus runner, and that has translated to 24 stolen bases in 27 attempts during his collegiate career, which is good for an impressive 89 percent success rate. Loftin is more of an average…

When Minor League Baseball returns following the coronavirus pandemic, it will look nothing like it used to. The Professional Baseball Agreement between Major League Baseball and MiLB expires on Sept. 30, and a proposal by MLB would eliminate 42 minor league teams and realign the remaining clubs for the 2021 season. No matter how the PBA negotiations shake out, the outbreak of the novel coronavirus will likely have drastic effects on the 2021 season. Without an effective, widely disseminated vaccine, everything about the game day experience will be fundamentally altered for the near future. From the box office to the turnstiles to the suite level to the seating bowl to the restrooms and everywhere in between, a day at the ballpark will be forced to strike a balance between entertainment…

Allan Simpson set out to make Baseball America the authority on scouting, player development and the draft when he launched the magazine in 1981. His vision survives 40 draft classes later, and in a fitting bit of synchronicity, the 2020 draft class skews toward college talent, just like the 1981 draft class that was previewed in BA’s first year. For even more scouting reports for draft-eligible players, please see our BA500 draft ranking at BaseballAmerica.com. This year’s draft reports were written by Carlos Collazo, J.J. Cooper, Kyle Glaser, Teddy Cahill and Bill Mitchell. 1. SPENCER TORKELSON, 1B | ARIZONA STATE AGE: 20. B-T: R-R. HT: 6-1. WT: 205. DRAFTED: NEVER. Torkelson exploded onto the college scene at Arizona State with one of the best freshman seasons ever, leading the nation…

Reid Detmers vs. Garrett Crochet FASTBALL: This is likely the biggest gap between the two, with Crochet having double-plus fastball potential with a heater that explodes out of his hand and gets up 100 mph at its best. That is high-end fastball velocity from a lefthander that is seldom seen. Former South Florida lefty Shane McClanahan, now in the Rays’ system, also hit 100 mph prior to the 2018 draft. Detmers has much fringier fastball velocity and typically sits in the low 90s. BREAKING BALLS: Consistency with a breaking ball gives Detmers the edge here. His easy plus curveball has big depth and shape, and while Crochet’s slider has plus potential as well, he gets to those 60-grade pitches less frequently than Detmers. The big break and low-70s velocity on…

Patrick Bailey vs. Austin Wells HITTING: Scouts seem to be higher on Wells’ pure hit tool, though both catchers have similar college production, albeit with one extra season for Bailey. Their numbers are glaringly different when considering summer stats. Wells hit .308/.389/.526 with seven home runs in the Cape Cod League and Bailey hit .231/.333/.308 in a smaller sample with USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team. There are more swing-and-miss concerns with Bailey than Wells, whose swing is purer. POWER: Both players have above-average power potential, so this one could come down to who is able to get to more of that power in games. Wells seems to get to his power more easily, and has plus raw juice, while Bailey has more above-average power. SPEED: This is the least important…

On March 30, the NCAA’s Division I Council approved a proposal to give eligibility relief to all spring sports athletes, effectively granting athletes an extra year of college eligibility to account for the cancellation of the 2020 season caused by the coronavirus pandemic. With the vote, Division I joined all other collegiate sports’ governing bodies in granting extra eligibility due to the loss of the 2020 season. Division II, Division III, NAIA and the National Junior College Athletics Association previously ruled in favor of eligibility relief. For players who already had eligibility remaining after the 2020 season, their aid will be required to remain at the same level. For 2020 seniors, the NCAA will leave it up to individual schools on a case-by-case basis to determine how much aid to…

THIS DRAFT WILL BE TALKED ABOUT FOR A LONG TIME Regardless of the quality of its players, the 2020 draft will be remembered for a long time. The coronavirus pandemic ground the season to a halt in mid-March and complicated the scouting process for both scouts and players, much the same way the virus had complicated life around the globe. With Major League Baseball’s decision to shorten the draft to just five rounds, it catered to owners looking to cut costs at the expense of amateur players and in opposition to front offices and scouting departments looking to add as much talent as possible during an exceptionally strong draft year. Fewer draft rounds guarantee that fewer future big leaguers will enter pro ball in 2020. The 2020 class is one…

Zac Veen vs. Garrett Mitchell HITTING: Mitchell’s pure bat-to-ball skills are superior to Veen’s, but Veen’s swing is looser and more fluid than Mitchell’s has ever been. While Veen might have more swing-and-miss in his game, his hitting upside is a tick higher. POWER: Both Mitchell and Veen have similar raw power, though Veen comes with a still projectable 6-foot-5, 200-pound frame that should add more weight in the future. The bigger separator is that Veen’s swing has plenty of leverage to tap into his power in games right now, while Mitchell has a long track record of struggling to get to his during games, dating back to his time in high school. SPEED: This category isn’t close. Mitchell is one of the best runners in the entire draft class.…

Mick Abel vs. Jared Kelley FASTBALL: Kelley and Abel have reached similar peak velocities, both getting up to the 99 mph range at various times, but Kelley gets the edge here because his fastball velocity is more consistently in the upper 90s. The Texan also has exceptional feel to spot his fastball where he wants. BREAKING BALL: Abel gets the nod here, because his low-80s slider was voted the best overall breaking pitch in the high school class by scouting directors on our preseason best tools list. Abel’s slider is consistently sharp with good depth and tilt, while the development of Kelley’s breaking ball is one of his bigger questions he faces. CHANGEUP: Both Kelley and Abel have changeups that stack up among the best in the class, though Kelley’s…

The goal of every team is to find impact players in the draft. Whether drafting from college or high school, pitchers or position players, organizations seek elite players who can impact games. To do that, scouts hone in on players’ tools, grading them on a 20-80 scale to project their potential impact. To give a player even average (50) grades means he can be a solid, everyday major leaguer. Giving him plus (60) grades indicates the belief the player has all-star-level tools. But only the cream of the crop receive 70 grades, and only the elite of the elite receive a coveted 80 grade. Players with that level of tools are the ones we talk about as perennial all-stars, MVPs and potential Hall of Famers. Scouts are understandably wary of…

With the March 27 ratification of Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association’s deal, the 2020 draft was saved. Saved in the sense that it will still take place in some capacity, which is certainly better for baseball at all levels than no draft at all—which some owners might have preferred in order to save money in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic that has disrupted revenues from the 2020 season. But many in the industry are already discussing the ramifications of a shortened draft with severely limited signing bonus restrictions. First and foremost, incoming draftees are the most negatively affected. “Once again, here we go, the next generation of MLB stars who have had their entry path sacrificed without a seat at the table,” one agent said. “It…