Broken Bat - Suggestions: Scouting Report Additions

Forum >> Suggestions >> Scouting Report Additions

Post ID	Date & Time	Game Date	Function

#8892	07/20/2014 3:10:57 am
Haselrig Joined: 04/13/2014 Posts: 2790 Novi Doubledays III.4	Any way to add one or two positive scouting report terms for control and plate discipline? Maybe something like "He can paint the corners" if a pitching prospect has good potential in control and "He can be a real Picasso" if he has great potential in control. For plate discipline, maybe "He can be a patient hitter" if he has good potential in that area. Right now, it's hard to differentiate between prospects with those two attributes other than to avoid prospects with negative control comments.

#8893	07/20/2014 4:55:43 am
newtman Joined: 11/02/2013 Posts: 3343 Inactive	I completely agree, more differentiation on these in terms of potential would be a very good thing. Also, something like "he will never have any patience" for guys with no potential to develop patience. Right now some of these stats are guessing games as to what will develop. Updated Sunday, July 20 2014 @ 5:00:54 am PDT

#8896	07/20/2014 8:25:24 am
curtisp5286 Joined: 08/25/2012 Posts: 95 Inactive	I think these may be deliberate omissions on Steve's part. These are some of the most difficult areas to predict when trying to figure out how real life prospects will develop. On the other hand, some prospects do show very good control/plate discipline from the very beginning. Maybe only a minority of prospects(10% maybe) should have comments about control or plate discipline in their scouting report. There really are some prospects who you can tell excel in these areas even at a very young age. Curtis P

#8901	07/20/2014 9:15:48 am
Haselrig Joined: 04/13/2014 Posts: 2790 Novi Doubledays III.4	Plate discipline I could concede. I can see how that could be the more realistic approach. For control though, there are at least two negative scouting comments regarding control with no balancing positive ones. I could be wrong, but I think that's the only attribute with that arrangement. If there's an underlying reason for that I'm not seeing, then the suggested additions can certainly be disregarded. It's just something I've noticed over and over in prospects reports as I put together my free agency plan for next season.

#8903	07/20/2014 10:42:24 am
newtman Joined: 11/02/2013 Posts: 3343 Inactive	I'd be willing to bet that the reason there are negative without positive comments is because control affects all pitches, but is secondary to velocity, movement, and CoS. Thus a very high control pitcher is not necessarily good, but a low control pitcher will be inconsistent. I think it would be nice to see more differentiation on scouting reports, but I can see why he doesn't include any positive control aspects.

#8904	07/20/2014 10:59:33 am
Haselrig Joined: 04/13/2014 Posts: 2790 Novi Doubledays III.4	Yep, that's probably pretty close to the mark. Just one of those things you notice but don't really see all of the angles to.

#8919	07/20/2014 9:04:13 pm
admin Joined: 01/27/2010 Posts: 4985 Administrator	We wanted there to be a certain amount of uncertainly in scouting. So some skills and some parts of the skill spectrum aren't well covered in the scouting reports. For control, there are 3 "negative" comments and no "positive" comments. In minor league baseball, there are a lot of wild young pitching prospects (mastering control tends to come with practice/age) so that's highlighted. Whether a pitchers really masters control is something that might develop only after a while and later in a prospects career, so that's why the higher end of the spectrum is not well covered in the scouting report. Steve

#8922	07/20/2014 9:31:08 pm
ReekyLeek Joined: 11/19/2013 Posts: 115 Inactive	Makes sense but that being said you do find some that make their way thru the system with low velocity but due to great command come up and have great success. Mark Buehrle, Jared Weaver to name a few. They manage to remain great pitchers using pinpoint command. And these pitchers tend to have the longest careers. So isn't it possible to add it to the rare pitcher that may already have good control at a young age?

#8924	07/20/2014 10:05:52 pm
Seca Joined: 05/05/2014 Posts: 5199 Waterloo Dinosaurs Legends	Buehlre was a 38th round draft pick (who knew there where that many rounds?). Weaver pitched in the 90s when he first hit the majors. I don't see why this is necessary. Control and change of speeds are 2 things that develop as the prospect grows. You have an idea of velocity, movement, and overall. You can make a decent estimate of a pitcher's control.

#8927	07/20/2014 10:56:11 pm
admin Joined: 01/27/2010 Posts: 4985 Administrator	According to fan graphs, Buerle throws a fastball, curveball, changeup, slider (at times), and cut fastball/cutter. So yes, he's a command pitcher. But he does have an arsenal of pitches with movement and change of speeds that combine with great control to get him outs. He just doesn't have a lot of velocity. Steve