Juan Soto Is Special

On Thursday evening, I drove to Woodbridge, Va., to see the Single-A Potomac Nationals, primarily to watch Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon’s first game on his minor league rehab assignment for the purposes of this guest blog. Rendon injured his big toe by fouling a ball off his foot and has not played since April 13, leaving a mammoth hole in Washington’s lineup in recent weeks.

Rendon batted third and served as the designated hitter for the P-Nats, unfortunately keeping me from seeing how his toe affected him defensively. At the plate, Rendon went 2-for-4 with a single, double, a hit-by-pitch and two long flyouts to right field in his five plate appearances. He struck the ball well each time and made hard contact twice, appeared to be seeing the opposing pitchers well and his timing seemed solid considering the layoff.

Rendon purposely did not run the bases aggressively, though the lack of opportunities for true hustle masked if this was precautionary or not. He needs a few more games to see some higher-quality breaking pitches and play some defense, but should be activated before I publish my next guest blog, likely on Monday.

However, as enjoyable as it was to see a major league superstar in that environment, I will forever remember this game as Juan Soto’s breakout performance.

As mentioned in my previous column, the 19-year-old Soto is Washington’s No. 2 prospect and I watched his first home run for Potomac in person last week. I scouted him several times in 2017, so I was well acquainted with his impressive skill set. That said, Soto only played 32 games last season due to injury and is two years away from legally being able to buy a beer, so I tried to keep my fiery prospect prognostications on a simmer until seeing him again this year.
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Last night, Soto hit another two home runs, the first of which an absolute mammoth shot to right field that sounded like a shotgun blast off the barrel. The second one was less highlight reel, but almost equally impressive, a lazy fly ball into a summer breeze that somehow continued to carry well over the right-center field wall. Good players can hit long home runs, but the special ones are able to make what looks like a routine fly ball a 400-foot home run. Soto has a chance to be special.

As I was making my long drive home and pondering how to interestingly describe Rendon’s productive evening, I could not stop replaying Soto’s at-bats in my mind and watching the videos on my phone at stop lights. This feeling of excitement is what has me willing to spend much of my summer in minor league stadiums and eager to drive 327 miles roundtrip in one day (thanks Google maps). It makes the long drives and the questioning look from relatives as to why you do this all worthwhile. So for a memorable and magical evening, thank you, Juan Soto!

*Originally Published at MASNSports.com at 5/4/18*

THE Joshua Kusnick Experience #29 – #JJ2DC

THE Joshua Kusnick Experience #29 is LIVE!

This week our conversation begins with Josh and I discussing the impressive beginning to the season Milwaukee’s Jeremy Jeffress is having and we start the Twitter campaign #JJ2DC to send Jeffress to the All-Star game.  Next we chat about our mutual enjoyment of the NFL Draft, former 2-sport prospect Drew Henson and Ryan meeting Josh’s great friend Murray Cooke.  Finally Josh mentions client David McKinnon, who Ryan completely whiffed scouting in Cape Cod, how many former clients Josh keeps in touch with, and we mention a potential Live Event over All-Star Game week.
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Scouting Report – Wil Crowe

Wil Crowe           RHP        Potomac Nationals (High-A)         Date Evaluated: 4/25/18

Fastball (50/55) Slider (50/55) Changeup (50/55) Curveball (40/45) Command (50/50)

Crowe was Washington’s 2nd round pick, 65th overall, in the 2017 MLB Draft.  Listed at 6-2 240lbs, Crowe is well-built with a thick lower-half and zero projection remaining.  The 23-year-old pitcher (born 9/9/94) throws from a traditional high 3/4s arm slot and utilizes a simple, one-step windup into his medium effort delivery.  He has a medium leg-kick and gets reasonable extension toward home plate.  Crowe is a decent athlete who reasonably repeats his mechanics, impressively fields his position and holds runners well.  He has a mature approach attacking hitters, moving the ball in and out, up and down to keep hitters off-balance.  His command and control in this outing was average, which was impressive considering the poor weather (sub-50s and drizzle) and inconsistent strike zone.


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Crowe features a traditional 4-pitch repertoire, consisting of a fastball, changeup, curveball and slider.  His fastball sat 90-93mph throughout the outing, mainly 92mph, with quality movement – at the higher velocity bands the ball showed some cutting action and at lower speeds it will sink toward his arm-side.  His slider was 84-86mph, some showing quality break away from righties and others with a slurvy, 10-4 shape – it was average in this outing and could be above-average with further refinement.  The changeup sat 81-84mph with good arm action and quality movement, like a waterfall about 55 feet from the mound.  It consistently fooled left-handed hitters and was his best off-speed pitch on the evening.  Finally Crowe throws a 78-81mph curveball with a loopy shape he locates for strikes.  It was more of a “get-me-over” pitch, but could be a future average offering.

Crowe has a past Tommy John surgery which elevates the injury risk in his profile.  The lack of a plus offering limits his ceiling, but the combination of a durable pitcher’s frame, and the potential for four average or better pitches gives him a profile as a #4 starter.  Aside from injury, I envision him as a productive back-end starting pitcher.  Crowe should see Double-A this season and could be major league ready late in 2019.

https://youtu.be/Bd7oX0YuVAY

Promising Prospects Aplenty For Potomac

Wednesday evening I made the drive north to Wilmington in order to get my first look at the 2018 Potomac Nationals.  In spite of the drizzle and cold temperatures, I came away quite impressed with the collection of talent the Washington Nationals have assembled at their High-A affiliate, not to mention the beginnings of a head cold.

Washington’s 2nd round pick last summer and top-10 prospect RHP Wil Crowe started Wednesday’s contest and pitched well despite the conditions, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits and 1 walk verses 5 strikeouts over 6 innings.  Crowe featured a 90-93mph fastball that moves like Jagger, a low-80s changeup and a mid-80s slider, plus an intriguing low-70s curveball.  He has a relatively simple windup and while his control wavered a bit, showed a mature approach toward attacking opposing hitters.  I am curious to see if he gains a tick or two of velocity as the weather improves, but Washington looks to have found a  good one in Crowe.

When Crowe was finished, there was little drop off, as Ronald Pena entered the game throwing 94-95mph fastballs, along with a hard mid-80s slider.  Lefty Hayden Howard relieved Pena and was showing an 88-91mph fastball and a mid-70s breaking ball to keep hitters off-balance.  And finally, closer Gabe Klobosits looked the part of a late-inning reliever, flashing a 93-96mph fastball and an 86mph slider with quick, late break.  While not quite Washington’s “Law Firm” of Kintzler, Madson & Doolittle, Pena, Howard & Klobosits does have a nice ring to it.

Offensively I was fortunate enough to see Washington’s #2 ranked prospect Juan Soto’s second game for Potomac, as he was promoted from Hagerstown earlier this week.  And Soto did not disappoint, going 2-5 and hitting an absolute monster home run to right field.  He has lightning-fast hands and an uncanny ability to put the barrel on the baseball to create hard contact.

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Additionally, both center fielder Blake Perkins and catcher Jakson Reetz caught my eye, as they each spent this offseason improving their physique.  Perkins has added good muscle and strength, particularly to his upper body, but the mass did not appear to hinder his speed or range defensively.  On the other hand, Reetz looks a bit leaner from last year, which has helped his quickness and agility behind the plate.  Reetz has also made adjustments to his swing, freeing up his arms and unlocking some additional bat speed.  He looks like a totally different player this season and is a possible “sleeper” in the system.

I would encourage everyone reading to make the trek to Woodbridge this season and watch the P-Nats, as they have several top prospects and should be one of the top teams in the Carolina League.  So get to Pfitzner Stadium this summer and look for me behind the plate scouting tomorrow’s superstars.

*Originally Published at MASNSports.com on 4/27/18*

https://youtu.be/etITY0XCX7Y