Archive for archie bradley

Arizona has some impressive depth, as well as a few high-ceiling players at the top of the system. The organization has added some solid up-the-middle talent to go with an enviable group of pitching.

#1 Tyler Skaggs (P)

Skaggs, 21, reached the majors in his fourth professional season. The southpaw has the potential to develop into a top-of-the-rotation starter. He has an above-average fastball for a lefty and a contact I spoke with said, “He gets a lot of extension out front and the fastball jumps on hitters.” Skaggs also has a curveball with plus potential and a changeup that could be average or better. The talent evaluator feels the changeup has plus potential, as well. “He throws it with good arm speed… He was just learning to believe in it [in 2012] and I think he does now.”

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With the closest Midwest League stadium five hours away, my providing first hand scouting coverage of that league is difficult to say the least. Fortunately, a contact has been kind enough to provide me the scouting scoop on more than a handful of the league’s top prospects. These aren’t exact quotes, but summaries of conversations had over the course of the first two months of the minor league season. Read the rest of this entry »

Last year was an exceptional one for the state of Oklahoma. Its high school baseball programs gave Major League Baseball not one, but two potential star pitchers. And another three prep arms are loaded with potential. I personally cannot remember the last time I was this excited about the future of a state-specific draft class. It’s even more impressive coming from a state like Oklahoma that is not a baseball hotbed like Texas, Florida or California. The last top-flight prep arm to come out of an Oklahoma high school was Miami’s Chad James, a 2009 draftee.

Dylan Bundy, RHP, Owasso
Selected: 4th overall by Baltimore
2011 Top 15 Prospect Ranking: 1st

Perhaps you’ve heard of Bundy, the best prep prospect to come out of the high school ranks since… forever? The teenager has carved his way through the low-A lineups. He’s given up just two hits and two walks in 20.0 innings of work. That is not a typo. Bundy finally gave up a run (although unearned) in his sixth start of the year. He’s whiffed 33 batters and is also getting a healthy number of ground-ball outs. Bundy could probably jump to double-A at this point and hold his own, although it’s hard to get a true read on his current skill level because he’s only pitching 3.0 or 4.0 innings at a time. As long as he stays healthy Bundy looks like a surefire of a No.1 starter – a comment I normally never make about a prep pitcher with six pro starts. You typically see top flight prep prospects reach the Majors in three to four seasons; Bundy could reach the Majors within one to two years.

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