Quoting The Experts – Name Your Favorite Washington Nationals Sleeper

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Perhaps the number one question I get (besides how did I convince Mrs. NatsGM to marry me) is who’s your favorite sleeper currently in the Nationals farm system. Unfortunately with the rise of the internet and the increased awareness of fans, determining who is considered a true “sleeper” is often difficult and a major roadblock to the conversation.

Nevertheless, in the past few days I reached out to several top evaluators to pose the same question to them – “Who is your favorite sleeper in the Washington Nationals system?

Jim Callis, Senior Writer MLBPipeline.com

“”My favorite Nationals sleeper prospect is Osvaldo Abreu. He has shaken off a down 2014 season and has played well this year. He has a line-drive bat and shows some doubles power and the ability to draw some walks. He has plus speed and solid defensive skills, and looks like he could play on either side of the second-base bag. It’s still early to know whether he’s going to be a regular or more of a utility-man, but it’s an interesting array of skills.”

Jeff Moore, Baseball Prospectus Prospect Team
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“I like Spencer Kieboom a little. He’s sound behind the plate and has more power than he’s shown this year. It’s not a high ceiling, but it’s a big league profile as a potential backup catcher and maybe one that plays more than most.”

Tucker Blair, Baseball Prospectus Prospect Team

Koda Glover.  He was selected in the 8th round this season out of OSU. where he acted as their closer. Glover has a big fastball, and was sitting 94-97 with life and from a downhill plane in my recent viewing in Hagerstown. The slider flashes fringe-average and is very inconsistent, but I think there’s more in the tank. The arm action and deception helps to play up the 85-87 mph offering, and I think with pro development we could be looking at a potential 7th inning arm. Nice find in the 8th round.”

Nick J. Faleris, Foley & Larner LLP Sports Industry Team and Special Assignment Evaluator at Perfect Game USA

“Does Rhett Wiseman qualify? Wiseman has displayed enough growth in his offensive game over the past 15 months to keep open the possibility there is more to come. Specifically, the 2015 third rounder has found success working more regularly to find fastball counts and unleashing a high-effort, pull centric cut in those situations, otherwise keeping shorter and flatter to contact with comfort working the other way. If he can find the right balance between all-out hacks and a more defensive compact approach there is room for him to emerge as a 15 home run bat with an average hit tool but only marginal on-base skills, the aggregate of which could play as a solid everyday corner outfielder whose ability to finish on the grass makes up for inefficient reads and routes.”

Armchair Evaluation – Scouting the Cape Cod League All Star Game

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Veterans Field, Chatham Massachusetts

A few weeks ago the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League held their annual midsummer All-Star Game, perhaps my favorite collegiate scouting event each summer. Unfortunately due to extenuating canine circumstances, I was unable to attend this contest between East and West held in Wareham, Massachusetts. However, thanks to television coverage from Fox College Sports, I still received the opportunity to evaluate many of the top prospects on the Cape and likely in the 2016 MLB Draft.

This year’s event was dominated by the pitchers, as the East squad narrowly defeated the West 1-0. Below are my scouting notes on several of the more intriguing prospects from this exhibition game.

Ian Hamilton RHP Washington State University (Wareham)

Entering the game in the top of the 6th, immediately Hamilton caught my attention as he hit 96mph on the television radar gun and induced 6 whiffs in his 16 pitches. Hamilton showed a 91-94mph fastball with some sinking action, a mid-80s slider with sweeping action and an overhand curveball. Hamilton has a relatively clean motion and adds some deception by slightly turning his back to the batter during the delivery. He has some projection remaining in his frame and looks the part of a potential early round selection next summer.

Eric Lauer LHP Kent State University (Orleans)

One of the more well-regarded pitchers on the Cape this summer, Lauer threw the 3rd inning for the East squad and showed three potential average or better pitches in his fastball, slider and curveball. He is a big, physical lefty who achieves deception during his motion by turning his back to the hitter and cross firing toward home plate. His physical build portends a durable workhorse capable of pitching 180+ innings per year and his simple, repeatable motion should allow him to pound the strike zone. The lack of elite velocity likely limits his ceiling, but Lauer projects as a solid major league starter.

Aaron McGarity RHP Virginia Tech (Chatham)

An intriguing local 2016 MLB prospect Aaron McGarity entered the game in the 7th for the East All-Stars and I was particularly interested to see how he would do against such quality opposition. McGarity more than met the challenge, needing only six pitches to carve through the West hitters 1-2-3.

So, order for your Kamagra through online services by logging into a viagra sans prescription site of online pharmacies. On the other levitra generic vardenafil hand, a man with healthy lifestyle can help restore the erectile function. Kamni capsules are safe and efficacious women viagra pills way for treating loss of libido among women. Medical science has formulated Kamagra with Sildenafil citrate has offered a great https://drscoinc.com/residents/ purchase viagra no prescription opportunity to avail the treatment. In this brief appearance McGarity flashed an 87-94mph fastball with some arm-side movement and a hard biting low-80s slider with quality tilt. He has a long, lean, projectable body along with an obvious lightning-quick arm but has some excess effort and movement in his delivery. My initial reaction is a future in the bullpen for McGarity but I am extremely excited to watch his development next spring in Blacksburg.

Brandon Miller RHP Millersville University (Chatham)

One of my favorite things about the Cape Cod League and their All-Star game is the opportunity for players from smaller schools to play against top-quality competition – a player that fit this mold this year is Division 2 pitcher Brandon Miller.

Immediately one must be impressed with Miller’s near-perfect pitcher’s physique, standing 6-4 200lbs with long legs and a high waist. Miller showed an upper-80s fastball with arm-side running action, a quick-biting low-80s slider, a mid-70s changeup with fading movement and a low-70s curveball. His mechanics need work and he needs to incorporate his lower half more into his delivery to improve his velocity, but this is a raw arm with excellent physicality and potential.

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Other Notes:

University of Maryland C/1B Nick Cieri caught my attention with a particularly impressive at-bat in the bottom of the 5th inning against earlier mentioned RHP Brandon Miller. After fouling off several pitches and working a full count, Cieri took a quality low-and-away fastball and smacked it to left field for a single. Cieri battled injuries last season as a sophomore but will need to have a strong offensive year in 2016 as he hopes to replace Brandon Lowe, Jose Cuas and LaMonte Wade in the lineup – oh and get himself drafted as well next June. Cieri is a high-level local prospect for the 2016 MLB Draft.

Perhaps the most recognizable name on either roster, Notre Dame 2B and Harwich Mariner Cavan Biggio, entered the game in the middle innings to a warm applause. The left-handed batter has a unique trigger at the plate and a bit of excess movement during his swing, but he does have some solid bat speed. I worry about his future power and offensive potential, along with his defensive profile, but he is a noticeable “gamer” like his father and should out produce his natural ability.

Finally, Tulane University junior catcher Jake Rogers flashed an outstanding arm in the 8th inning, recording a sub 1.85 pop time in throwing out speedy Stanford University 2B Tommy Edman. This singular play in front of dozens of scouts should get him drafted relatively early next year.

Armchair Evaluation – Adam LaRoche as a Pitcher

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Friday night in the midst of a blowout 13-6 loss to the New York Yankees, current Chicago White Sox 1B and former Washington Nationals’ fan-favorite Adam LaRoche received the opportunity to fulfill a career goal by pitching the 9th inning. Although he produced 4 hits in this contest, the most important news was that LaRoche pitched and shut down the Yankees lineup 1-2-3.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/140282304/adam-laroche-makes-big-league-mound-debut

The real thing starts from order cheap levitra below: Research – Acquire as much information as possible on this topic. These apps aid the engineers to set the functionalities into these designs to make them workable and viable. purchase viagra online http://www.devensec.com/maps/devens_viewshed.pdf Urologists in the UK suggest their patients to consume this tablet, only generic tadalafil tablets when they have sexual arousal. Kamagra jelly viagra sale http://www.devensec.com/rules-regs/decregs201.html is perfect and suitable for the Testosterone replacement therapy. In his major league debut as a pitcher, LaRoche threw 12 pitches, 7 strikes and 5 balls, in shutting down the Yankee lineup; he induced a ground out and pop out to second base, along with a strikeout to Brendan Ryan. LaRoche featured a 4-pitch arsenal consisting of an 82-83mph fastball touching 85mph, a low-60s curveball, a 50mph slow-curveball/eephus and a 70mph changeup. LaRoche pitched exclusively from a modified windup which involved turning his back to the batter, creating a difficult angle to pick up the baseball and providing him some deception. He stands tall throughout his delivery and repeated his motion relatively well, though he has a small stride to the plate, failing to maximize his length and long limbs.

From a scouting perspective LaRoche’s pitching mechanics would have to be classified as well below-average, though there appears to be potential for improvement if he could incorporate his lower half more into his motion. This refinement could allow him to increase his velocity and control the bottom portion of the strike zone more effectively. I would put a present “3” on his fastball due to his being left-handed and the deception in his motion allowing the offering to “play up”. Unfortunately I would have to put a “2” on his off-speed pitches, though his 50mph eephus graded an easy “7” for pure personal enjoyment.

For his first career appearance at the major league level, one must be impressed by Adam LaRoche’s effort on the mound and the fact he struck out a major league hitter. Certainly with a mid-80s fastball and a lack of an offspeed pitch, not to mention 252 home runs and over $70 million in career earnings, LaRoche obviously made the correct decision to be a hitter. That said LaRoche has a quality motion and looks comfortable throwing from a mound, an obvious byproduct of having a father, Dave, who was a former major league reliever and coach. No question the White Sox hope this was his first and only appearance on the mound, but LaRoche deserves sincere Congratulations on an impressive 2nd major league debut – This time as a pitcher.

Scouting Washington Nationals Prospect Nick Pivetta

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Sunday afternoon, on what has to be the warmest day in several years in the Maryland area, I ventured up to Bowie to watch the Baysox host the Harrisburg Senators, Washington’s Double-A affiliate. In particular I wanted to seize the opportunity to watch intriguing right-handed pitching prospect Nick Pivetta, along with observing Ryan Zimmerman’s first game of his rehabilitation assignment. Zimmerman looked to be in midseason form, going 1-2 with a sharp single to right field before being lifted in the 4th inning. Conversely Pivetta wilted like a tomato plant in the summer heat, allowing 7 runs on 7 hits over 4 innings pitched, which helped send the home fans happy with a 7-2 victory over Harrisburg.

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Washington’s 4th round pick in the 2013 draft, the 22-year-old Pivetta has a prototypical, monstrous pitcher’s frame at 6-5 220lbs. He possesses a relatively clean and simple pitching motion; however Pivetta struggles to maintain his delivery as he often over-rotates his hips, causing him to fly open and lose his release point. This weakness hinders his fastball command and the overall consistency of his offspeed pitches, not to mention his ability to pitch deep into his outings.

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Despite the poor results I left Sunday’s contest with a relatively favorable impression of Mr. Pivetta. Although his outing was cut short, he still managed to show an above-average to plus fastball and the potential for two average future off-speed pitches. Furthermore he owns a durable, projectable body with room to add some additional muscle.

Without question Pivetta still has obvious weaknesses, as he needs to improve the consistency of his mechanics, which when coupled with additional experience on the mound, should improve his fastball command and offspeed offerings. He is still raw but with three potential average or better pitches and a starter’s body, Pivetta projects as a #4/5 starter down the road. Pivetta is a nice arm for the Nationals to continue to develop and likely a coveted name in trade discussions this month.

* Thanks to Matt Wilson and the Bowie Baysox for their continued hospitality. *