Crack of the Bat
More Jupiter Part 4
By Blaine Clemmens
This report was supposed to wrap up the first full day at the 2005 WWBA Championships, but after reviewing the Juice roster, I decided to focus this report on the co-champion Chet Lemon's Juice and their many prospects. After watching the Hassan Pena show in the stadium, my goal was to catch the back half of the games on the "blue" fields; one featuring Chet Lemon's Juice and the other featuring the East Cobb Astros. To this point I have written about some of the trials and tribulations of a one man scouting team trying to cover a 67 team tournament taking place on 13 fields over four plus days. I hope you can hang with me for a few more reports.
Before I get rolling, I wanted to add something about a player that was not able to perform for the All American Prospects, a player I missed watching play, U of Florida bound outfielder Ryan Lockwood. Lockwood is one of the better baseball players in the Southeast and should have a stellar college career. He was not able to perform with AA Prospects due to a dislocation of the ulna tendons of the left thumb associated with a small fracture. He injured it playing in the Florida Diamond Club pro showcase sliding head first into second base (yet another example of why sliding head first is always a dangerous decision). Lockwood will be out of the cast and was to have the pins removed on December 5th and will begin therapy the next day. He should be back on the field in February and ready for the high school season.
Ok, back to the report that will wrap up my first full day at the 2005 WWBA Championships. After sitting on the NY/SF Bandit Stars vs. Louisiana All Star Baseball Team game for quite awhile, I went over to the "blue" side to catch the conclusion of the 3:00 block of games. The main focus was to catch some of the game between the Columbia Angels out of Texas and perennial power Chet Lemon's Juice, the eventual co-champion. That game was on Blue 6 and another top team, the other eventual co-champion, East Cobb Astros were playing the Seattle A's on Blue 7. Good spot for a scout to be, watching two of the most polished and talented youth teams in the nation.
The EC Astros were covered pretty well in the first report, so let's focus on the Juice. I recall pulling up to their game in my golf cart down the right field line. I believe the Astros were on the field to my left, so I was in view of both games. The reason I was down the line as opposed to behind the backstop was because I had already scouted the Juice starting pitcher, lefty Justin Edwards (committed to UGA). I saw Edwards at the Area Code Games and he was one of my favorite pitchers I scouted all summer. Edwards is one of the lefties that experienced scouts talk about when they tell young scouts to put down the radar gun when scouting a lefty.
You see, though the radar gun can help you gauge arm strength and the differential between a pitcher's fastball and his offspeed pitches, it cannot tell you if he can pitch or not. I already knew what type of stuff Edwards has and what he is all about; 85-88 fastball, plus change-up, plus curveball, command down in the zone, command in and out, plus pitchability, plus competitiveness.
So you see, I didn't need to sit behind the backstop and decided to watch the game from my favorite angle, behind first base, up the line a bit. From there you can see a pitcher's body and arm work and the depth of his pitches in the zone, not a secret to good scouts. You can also see the open side of right hand hitters, as well as many exposing tendencies of all hitters.
When I pulled up Edwards was in the midst of tossing a no-hitter. He ended up giving up only one hit, a two out single in the seventh inning. In all he punched out 11 Columbia Angels and was masterful, just like I saw him in August. At the Area Code Games Edwards performed well and likely started to become more intriguing to the pro scouts.
He was already a plus college pitching prospect and signed with one of the nation's top programs. However, as can and so often does happen at Perfect Game's top events, Edwards again performed on a big stage against top competition and is now likely rapidly rising up the draft lists of many MLB clubs. He is not real projectable (6'0" 185), but his arm works free and easy and he is only going to get stronger. Don't be shocked to see him go off the board in the top five rounds in June, maybe even higher if he jumps to the 87-90 range this spring. He really is fun to watch pitch.
Note: later in the quarter-final game against Midland, the Juice brought Edwards into the game in the sudden death inning (bases loaded, one out I believe). He promptly punched out the Midland three and four hole hitters to set up his team's win in the bottom of the extra frame. Big time indeed.
As for other Juice prospects, you have likely heard of most of them and I had seen a lot of them over the summer. The top Juice players are polished and talented SS/2B Marcus Lemon (headed to U of Texas), tooled and at times explosive OF Jonathan Piggott (headed to U of Florida), razor sharp and wickedly good LHP Carmine Giardina (headed to U of Texas, though expect him to go in the top two rounds), and hard hitting hard nosed 1B/3B Chris Duffy (headed to Central Florida).
Of those players, expect Giardina and Piggott to get the most draft interest. They have tools and abilities that profile well to the pro game right out of high school. Giardina raised his level a notch (was sharp all summer, in all the top events) by reaching up to 92 with his fastball. He goes in and out with ease and has a plus curveball too. His curveball reminds me of what Andy Pettitte's looks like on TV. On some draft depth charts, he is likely the top lefty in the nation and in the top five high school pitching prospects overall.
Piggott can run, has power in the bat to all fields, a strong arm and a strong, athletic body (6'2" 190). He has plenty of natural ability that profiles well to right field. He is in the category of David Christensen, but has a more projectable build. It is conceivable to consider Piggott going off the board in the top five rounds too, depending on the strength of his college commitment.
Lemon can play, no doubt. However, there are likely some concerns with the pro contingent about how he would fit in the pro game out of high school. From the left side Lemon is a tick above average as a runner (in the three tournaments I have seen) and from shortstop, his arm is a bit below average, when considering his arm strength and the time needs to get rid of the ball with something on it. I like how quick his bat is on the inner half and he will flash pull side power and I have seen him make the plays he needs to make on the defensive side (personally I like him a lot better at 2B).
I like his quiet hands at the plate but have some concern that they start from a dead stand still, a la Paul Molitor. You have to be pretty stinking good at the pro level to hit with still hands, no matter how quick your bat is. Lemon could be that player, but I would like to see how it plays out in college first. There is obviously the pro pedigree and you have to upgrade Lemon because he does play with savvy and within the flow of the game, two things that can't be measured but two things that are difference makers in the game of baseball. Its not that I think he can't compete in pro ball out of high school because I know he would, but just feel that he would be served best by going to school. My opinion, you certainly may disagree. Buying him out of Texas could also be a factor.
Duffy is a bruiser of a hitter and he sure does play hard. I love watching him compete and he runs into his fair share of balls. My concern with Duffy is that he swings and misses a lot and his power is good, but it is not a plus tool. Therefore, he should be college bound where he can learn to shorten his swing and continue to add strength. He is strong and as he continues to mature, he will understand that he steps into the box with power and doesn't need to swing max effort to access that power. I feel the same way about Hank Conger (Braves Scout Team), though Conger does have plus power and is going to go early the draft, mostly due to his left hand bat, but he also has a plus arm and brings those two plus tools to the catcher position.
I could go on longer about the Juice prospects including RHP Max Pearlman (plus body, upper 80s fastball and flashes an above average slider), OF Ryan Puskar (a 6'1" 196 lb. player I had not seen and really liked - very lively bat with short and powerful swing and he had two huge clutch hits that I saw - he is a pro prospect), RHP Billy Bullock (another U of Florida commit - plus body - 6'6" 215 - with a lot of sink on the FB and a plus slider), and catcher Joe Bowen (good, quiet receiver, quick bat, good hitter, very good player). Their top/only '07 prospect, RHP Jonathan Bachanov is one of the players I missed seeing. If I did keep going on and more in depth about the Juice players, then this "last" report from the Friday games would go on forever.
Actually, let's shut it down now - I have a master's degree final project to finish and you have to get back to work or whatever it is you were doing before you decided to spend 20 minutes with me. A long winter is coming and there is no hurry to rush through the WWBA reports. I promise, the next report will feature the night games at the stadium from Friday the 17th, including the INCREDIBLE performance by catcher Max Sapp from the Orlando Scorpions. Trust me, you had to be there to fully appreciate what he did that night against the Akadema/IN Yankee Nationals in the 5:00 PM game. It was jaw dropping and significantly raised his draft stock.
Knowing how I write, just getting through what Sapp did, not to mention power armed righty Tyler Blandford from Akadema/IN Yankee Nationals, would take another 25 paragraphs. Oh, then there was the Houston Heat/Long Island Titans game and finally the ABD Bulldogs/Pepsi Puerto Rico game. I really liked some players on the Heat and ABD, which would take another 25 paragraphs. I can't help it; I am a fan of players and love watching the good ones perform well.