By Kiley McDaniel

Part three of my getting-caught-up recap will cover the rest of the amateur games I saw since the Kelly-Ferrara recap that weren’t covered in part two of this never-ending recap series.

Inside this report, I’ll have yet another Casey Kelly update (more here, here, and here). And for those of you sick of me talking about Casey Kelly, there’s other stuff in this post as well.

Inside this report we’ll also cover an intriguing, polished prep arm that may be Gainesville-bound, along with a second impression of emerging 2009 draft prep 3B Bobby Borchering (first here), a roundup of interesting prep prospects, potential first-rounders that could be headed to Sarasota, and more after the jump…

(Pictured right: Clearwater Central Catholic senior RHP Ryan Weber)

[Read more →]

By Kiley McDaniel

Part two of my getting-caught-up recap will cover some of the amateur games I saw since the Kelly-Ferrara recap, while the others will be covered in part three which jointly will span the spectrum of mid-range to high-profile and cover 2008 and 2009 draft prospects.

The college game I caught last Friday was a matchup of the perennial power Rice Owls and my alma-mater UCF Knights. The Knights took game one from Rice’s sophomore ace RHP Ryan Berry while Knights junior RHP Kyle Sweat showed the best stuff I’ve seen from him in three years. Of course, my Knights still lost Saturday and Sunday by a combined two runs.

Inside this post we have reports on Rice starter Ryan Berry, UCF starter Kyle Sweat, top 2009 prep hitter Mychal Givens first and second impressions, and two impact freshman college arms, all after the jump…

(Pictured right: consensus top 2009 Draft prep hitter, Plant HS shortstop Mychal Givens)

[Read more →]

By Frankie Piliere

The scouting road has been taking me all over creation of late, but I return to you with a scouting report on Old Dominion junior RHP Dan Hudson.

Hudson had huge buzz building behind him as I went to see him for the first time in the Cape Cod League. He was a guy that was popping up on everyone’s watch list after a fast start in which he piled up huge strikeout numbers. But, when I got to see him, and saw him again and again, I came away unconvinced that the buzz was warranted.

Granted, I think Hudson, a pitcher with a strikeout slider out of Old Dominion, is a very legitimate prospect but not the type of pitcher he was being heralded as early last summer. Needless to say, Hudson has faltered this spring despite posting, once again, huge strikeout numbers and having a sturdy 6′4, 215 lb frame.

And, I think that will allow a team to grab a very solid relief pitching prospect (which I think is where he belongs) somewhere in the 5th or 6th round. Bottom line: he’s not as good as originally hyped to be but much better than what he’s shown this spring. Find out more in his scouting report after the jump…

[Read more →]

By Kiley McDaniel

I’ve been all over the state the last week, and while that has meant less frequent posting, it also means tons of stuff is in the hopper for the next few days.

This is a very busy for scouts with crosschecker season in full effect for top draft prospects and the minor league season hitting it’s stride when “it’s still early in the season” is no longer an explanation for poor performance.

This article will cover the first batch of games I saw last week, starting with an awkward 10:30 AM start for a Clearwater-Sarasota game.

Also in this update: a Tampa-Fort Myers matchup, and reports on Yankees RHP Ivan Nova, Reds LHP Travis Wood, Reds 3B Juan Francisco, and Phillies RHP Edgar Garcia, all after the jump…

(Pictured Right: Yankees prospect RHP Ivan Nova)

[Read more →]

By Frankie Piliere & Kiley McDaniel

We’re now entering the homestretch for the MLB Draft as June 5th quickly approaches. Area scouts have compiled their lists and evaluations and are stepping aside as crosscheckers, scouting directors, and other top team brass come in to see prospects and form the help form the draft board.

And, as that process continues, the draft buzz develops as teams concrete their OFPs, pref lists, their handle on player’s bonus demands, and figure out which players make sense for certain picks. We’re starting to hear such team-specific buzz along with the usual risers and fallers and have compiled a piping-hot batch of draft buzz from our MLB sources.

Inside: A potential first rounder from off everyone’s radar, a landing spot for Skipworth, a new top college closer, Boras’ latest Hosmer demands, prep pitchers in free-fall, and much more…

(Pictured above: Kyle Skipworth after hitting a homerun in the AFLAC All-American Game in August. Photo credit: Glenn Connelly)

[Read more →]

By Kiley McDaniel

On today, the high holiday of NFL Draft day, even the majority of baseball people I know are focused more on football than baseball. Some of that is a function of the NFL Draft becoming an enormous sporting event on the level of the Super Bowl for die-hard sports fans.

The rest is because of the natural relationship that baseball has with football. Fantasy Football season coincides nicely with the end of baseball season and players and staff typically use it to wane themselves off of months of 100% baseball, all the time. Because of this, pigskin has become the sport of choice for distracting baseball people from thinking about baseball all day.

Rather than waxing eloquent about this relationship, I’ll use the rest of the post to compare and contrast a few things I’ve noticed about the drafts and similar things you can expect to see in today’s NFL event and June’s MLB draft, all after the jump…

(Pictured right, Arkansas RB Darren McFadden)

[Read more →]

By Kiley McDaniel

I covered earlier in a Notes column just a taste of the legend of Tampa prep 1B Jamie Mallard. Frankie and I both believe that mechanical breakdowns and scouting reports should be separated, so the legend will continue now in part two, and later this weekend with part three in a scouting report.

For now, I think Mallard’s swing is the majority of the scouting report and also a great exercise for establishing certain philosophies about breaking down an amateur’s swing. As I said in the previous column, it is hard to talk about Mallard and use anything but extremes.

That being said, it is because of those extremes that he could be a dynamic big league slugger. Or he could flame out the low minors. That’s the beauty of the draft, right now, no one is wrong, and especially with high schoolers, there’s a lot of room for disagreement between reasonable people.

You can being you own evaluation of arguably the best power prospect in the 2008 draft after the jump…

[Read more →]

By Frankie Piliere

There are always safe picks in the draft. Those picks may not have the most upside but there’s a good chance that you know exactly what you’re getting. Wade Miley, a 6-foot-2 lefty I got a good look at in the Cape over the summer, fits that mold perfectly.

Miley has been a strikeout pitcher with Southeastern Louisiana, and although I don’t expect him to be that type of pitcher as a pro, it does show his advanced feel for pitching is just overwhelming college hitters.

He’s not the most dazzling pitcher in terms of stuff but he’ll give someone a very safe pitching prospect in the top 5 rounds of the 2007 draft. Check out his scouting report after the jump…

[Read more →]

By Kiley McDaniel

I’ve been hitting (and will continue to hit, although metaphorically) high school games this week because it is district tournament week here in Florida, and some draft prospects are playing their last games of the season, while others are just getting started on a long journey to the state tournament in Sarasota.

I caught three legit top-5 rounds prospects in the last few days, a couple top minor league prospects, and have lined up the top 2009 high schooler in the country, among others for the rest of the week, so it should be a pretty hectic week with lots of content coming as soon as I’m home long enough to type it.

Inside this News & Notes: Casey Kelly versus Anthony Ferrara showdown with 40 scouts in attendance, A Prince Fielder-Babe Ruth combo HS prospect, and more FSL prospect updates, all after the jump…

(Pictured right: Casey Kelly)

[Read more →]

By Frankie Piliere

It’s very easy to write about prospects that the whole world knows about. From a scouting perspective—and I’ve seen said this before—it is far more exciting to write about a “discovery.”

One discovery that I think I made over the summer was Nate Freiman, a first baseman playing for the Orleans Cardinals. You probably have heard little to nothing about Nate as a draft prospect mainly because he’s not flashy, can look awkward, doesn’t play for one of the top baseball programs and doesn’t have draft history under his belt.

For you draft junkies out there, look out for this 6′8 first baseman (for Duke he is currently catching, yes at 6′8) to be picked somewhere around the third round. He really impressed me as a pure, natural hitter. Check out his scouting report after the jump….

[Read more →]