Comments on: Prospect Primer

By: Victor

Victor — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:03:25 +0000

I see that Isaias Garcia (2B at Palm Beach) has excellent skills, Batting Ave over .300, great base running, and great fielding %. He was batting champ in his first professional year at JC. Why is he not having enough play time? or moved up to AA?

Thanks

By: 3up3down25

3up3down25 — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:59:39 +0000

eric, im not asking you to believe in pj , i was just making a point about the stats you listed. if you watch alot of games you will see about 90% of pitchers at 88-91 , i know they can throw harder but thats where they pitch & i just dont see that big a difference between 85-88 & 88-91 & neither do hitters. you made a comment about mortenson having a 60 FB but it would scale up because of the sink. well wouldnt PJs scale up to about average because of the movement & location…again im not asking you to get on his band wagon , i was just interested in your comments..along with everyone elses..

By: erik

erik — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:02:48 +0000

I’m not saying PJ can’t make it, there are a few that can survive throwing 85-88. But few and far in between. I think of Brian Lawrence and Livan Hernandez. Walters has the control, but I’ll have a lot more faith in him after he proves himself over 20-40 starts in AA and AAA.

By: Bob

Bob — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:13:59 +0000

Thanks for the excellent scouting overview, Erik!

I couldn’t agree more with 3up about P.J.’s chances to be an effective MLB starter, even if he doesn’t add strength & gain a tick or two of velocity (which he certainly could, at 22 yrs. old, 6′4″ 205 lbs.). Walters seems to have near-elite command, composure, and confidence in his abilities–and his durability is now well-established. As we Cardinal fans have observed with Brett Tomko & Jason Marquis, the mental game is obviously huge at the Major League level.

I’ll stop believing P.J. can be a solid league-average #4 starter as soon as minor leaguers start hitting well against him.

By: Arch Support

Arch Support — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:02:35 +0000

Great addition to the blog. As someone with limited understanding of scouting jargon, it’s great to have someone explain what it all means. This helps a lot.

Also, thanks for the context on rate stats and such. Very often bloggers and writers on VEB, BP, and THT will quote rate stats, isolated power, etc. I understand the value of knowing these stats, but until now, I never knew what was average, bad, exceptional. I now have a roadmap when I next see these stats.

Great job.

By: 3up3down25

3up3down25 — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:41:42 +0000

great article, everyone knows i am partial to walters, after looking at your scale .i have a question. if pj has a 40 fastball, average slider ,plus change up, plus command,plus make up. why would he not be considered a #3 to #5 starter.some have said he may not even make it to the bigs. does 2 or 3 mph really drop him that much. if you ask hitters whats the hardest pitch to hit they will answer very quickly change up , so wouldnt a plus change up offset 2 or 3 mph on the fastball.especially with plus command of all 3 pitches..jsut curious to your take on this..& everyone elses comments. great site & thanks for the great coverage on the minor league guys…