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Advance Scouting Report

Filed by: Mark Anderson, Jr.

Player Name: Miguel Cabrera

Context: 10 Games; 9/11/13 to 9/21/13

PA

AB

H

1st P

K

BB

TB

Hard

AVE

OBP

SLG

OPS

TOTALS

44

35

12

17

4

8

16

13

.343

.477

.457

.934

Sample vs. Season:

Similar average and on-base percentage to overall season; slugging is decreased substantially; demonstrating more contact-oriented approach during sample; multiple injuries likely playing a role in decreased slugging.

SCOUTING BREAKDOWN

Physical/Health:

Physically imposing; listed at 6’4”, 240; listing might be a little light; broad shoulders; thick middle and lower half; exceptionally strong; forearms/wrists hold near-elite strength; battling multiple injuries; hip flexor and abdominal injury have been lingering for a while; groin strain suffered 9/21/13; all injuries reported as day-to-day status.

Hit Tool

Elite hitter; best hitter in the game; extremely balanced in the box; quiet load; short stride; hands explode to and through the hitting zone; tremendous bat speed; hip turn is impressive and consistently on-time for maximum effect; excellent swing plane; barrel stays in the zone as long as anyone I have ever seen; can make contact on any pitch type in any part of the zone; plate coverage is off the charts; can make loud contact outside of the zone in any direction; knows the strike zone extremely well and adjusts quickly to what the umpire is calling; gifted natural hitter with innate feel for contact; handles velocity well and adjusts to speed variation quickly; uses entire field exceptionally well; no obvious weakness in raw hitting ability; does some unorthodox things at times but does it with a plan; very good understanding of game situation; will swing in any count; best pure hitter I have ever scouted. — Grade: 8

vs. LHP

vs. RHP

Exceptional ability to see the ball from LHP; no identifiable weakness; calm, cool and collected in all at-bats observed; handles stuff to pitcher’s arm side extremely well; forces pitchers to challenge inside and then can beat them when they go there; don’t let him face LHP in critical spots.

Slightly more aggressive approach against RHP; more willing to swing early in count; doesn’t look as settled but still stings the ball consistently; still kills RHP but should be forced to hit RHP in tight spots.

Notable At-bats

Date

Description

9/11/13

Sixth inning vs. Quintana (LHP); First pitch FB off the plate called for a strike and third pitch FB borderline strike low/away; displayed visible frustration after both pitches; fouled off fourth pitch low/away; took way inside but didn’t back off plate; fouled FB substantially off the plate away on sixth pitch; lined seventh pitch (SL way down) off the fence in RF; displayed exceptional strike zone knowledge, plate (and off-plate) coverage, and ability to adjust within the at-bat to what the pitcher was doing.

9/13/13

Seventh inning vs. Coleman (RHP); three straight SL; low-away, low and in the dirt, in sequence; fooled on all three pitches; high-quality (60-70 grade) sliders; unusual sequence that hitter didn’t appear to anticipate; demonstrated limited susceptibility to good SL.

9/21/13

Fourth inning vs. Sale (LHP); CH 82 low; CH 83 away off plate, lined to RF; even with different location, hitter quickly adjusted to similar velocity and lined a sharp single; should have been a double; difficulty running showed and was thrown out at 2B.

Power

Raw power is extremely impressive; top-of-the-scale power hitter; power extends from line to line with ease; explosive bat speed and massive strength provide dangerous combination; can show in-game power on any type of pitch in any part of the zone; goes with the pitch and displays full extent of raw consistently; doesn’t muscle up to drive the ball out of the park; everything is easy; elite power. – Grade: 8

vs. LHP

vs. RHP

Extreme care required; crushes LHP; .700+ slugging against LHP in 2013; appears to see the ball exceedingly well; will adjust unload if LHP try to stay arm-side; execution must be perfect and that still might not be enough.

Power is still elite but not as daunting as against LHP; forced to pull the ball more against RHP at times and doesn’t always completely turn on it for power; extremely dangerous versus RHP as well.

Notable At-bats

Date

Description

9/17/13

Sixth inning vs. Maurer (RHP); started SL-SL, then CB-CB; even (2-2) count; all off-speed to this point and hitter still caught up with FB at 93 for home run to RF; unusual sequence from pitcher and hitter still had little trouble staying back and punishing the ball.

Speed/ Baserunning

Typically no threat to run; near bottom of the scale runner at full health; reluctant to push on the bases during current sample; injuries are clearly hindering running ability; multiple balls that should be doubles were kept as singles; couldn’t take extra bases on gap hits by teammates; extremely limited running overall; no threat on the bases at this time.

Conclusions and Means of Attack

No clear approach to attack or exploitable weaknesses; can hit anything and everything, in and out of the strike zone; tremendous understanding of the strike zone; great feel to hit; elite level power that plays to elite level; adjusts as fast as any hitter in the game; shows willingness to deviate from pre-conceived game plan and still accomplish goal; nearly unstoppable force; born to hit; injuries appear to be limiting ability to tap into true raw power at this time, but can still get after it and drive the ball out of the park; typically very good pitch recognition but will get fooled by plus to plus-plus SL and will chase at times; should never face LHP in high-leverage situations; can get hitter by over-sequence and avoiding anything close to predictability; throw any pitch in any count; must change locations of pitches constantly; hitter is too intelligent to repeatedly throw the same velocity or the same location; impeccable execution is paramount.

Have to truly understand that an acceptable outcome in these at-bats is a walk; quality – and on the surface random — execution of full depth and breadth of arsenal and entirety of strike zone is the only possible way to attack the hitter.

Matchup Stats at a Glance

First Pitch Swing

17/44; 38.6 percent

Bunt Threat (Sac, Push, Drag)

Did not show bunt; no threat to bunt at any time.

Defensive Positioning

Straight up; normal depth; sprays the ball; no advantage gained from alternate positioning.

Outfield

Straight up; deep to all fields; ball falling in front of fielders for singles is an acceptable end state.

Splits

vs. LHP

.377/.494/.738

vs. RHP

.340/.428/.618

Thank you for reading

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Schere
10/04
game plan: hope he keeps it in the park and try to throw him out at second base. Got it. :)
JimmyJack
10/04
Splits

vs. LHP
.377/.494/.738

vs. RHP
.340/.428/.618

Man, what a m0therfu
chabels
10/04
"no threat to bunt at any time"

Just wait until Dusty gets his hands on him. Might leave him out of the lineup from time to time because of all the base clogging, though.
ddufourlogger
10/04
This just in: He's good.
icebaseball16
10/04
Is there anyone else who is close to an 80/80 hit and power tool right now?
izzy2112
10/07
Trout may be the closest. Nobody since Pujols is 80/80 though.
newsense
10/04
"best pure hitter I have ever scouted"

Did you ever see Bonds or Pujols at their best?
DetroitDale
10/04
It pains me to say this , but the injury that affected his baserunning is now affecting his power, too. Check the September numbers. He's still a guy you don't want to mess with, but he's not the guy described in this report right now either.

I've noticed most of these scouting reports are on famous guys we already know about. (Miggy, McCutcheon, Votto, etc) I think a profile this on a lesser known player that teams are still counting on would be beneficial, too (Ex. on my team: Omar Infante, Austin Jackson, Jose Iglesias, and if you're doing pitchers, Doug Fister and Rick Porcello) I'm not saying I just want guys on my team profiled, I don't know who to suggest on other teams, because I don't know who they are, which is why I'm suggesting scouting reports on less famous players.