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Many of our authors make a habit of speaking to scouts and other talent evaluators in order to bring you the best baseball information available. Not all of the tidbits gleaned from those conversations make it into our articles, but we don't want them to go to waste. Instead, we'll be collecting them in a regular feature called "What Scouts Are Saying," which will be open to participation from the entire BP staff and include quotes about minor leaguers and major leaguers alike.

Major Leagues

Cubs RHP Jeff Samardzija: “Jeff Samardzija is an arm that you can find on the mid-market tier every winter.”

Minor Leagues

Diamondbacks High-A 3B Brandon Drury: "I am more and more impressed with this guy every time I see him. He is your prototypical 3B prospect with bat speed and power potential. He strikes out quite a bit and doesn't control the zone consistently, but he has matured into a real threat and has everyday player potential hitting in the middle of the order."

Phillies Triple-A 3B Maikel Franco: "Defensively, he's very good in his immediate zone. His hands are soft and he has no trouble with hard-hit balls. But the side-to-side range is always going to be limited, and he's a half-step slow to make all the plays a good third baseman should make."

Reds Double-A RHP Michael Lorenzen: "Lorenzen immediately jumps to the top prospect in the Reds system for me. The stuff was unreal, and I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone improve so much in one offseason. His 50 command will be his weakness, but he has really improved since last year. Elite athlete, too. Saw him hit one off the top of the wall and bunt for a hit. Didn't think he had a chance to stick in the rotation, but now I’m convinced."

Athletics High-A SS Daniel Robertson: "One of the more intriguing guys in the Cal League this year with his combo of hitting ability and defensive comfort. There is some baseball acumen to this player, and he is mature beyond his years with how to play the game. He isn't the sexiest tool package, but this guy is a real player who can play a long time."

Astros High-A 3B Rio Ruiz: "Looks like a real hitter in the making. He still has some things to work on and gets too big at times, but he has natural rhythm and timing to hit. Interesting package."

High School

Xavier HS (IA) RHP Mitch Keller
"For me he's been the best high school arm in the midwest this spring. The fastball and curve are both there and everything's easy."

Thank you for reading

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sam19041
5/30
Always like this feature, but it was surprisingly light this time. One major leaguer? More, please!
middagh
5/30
Agree with Sharky. One of my favorite things about the BP website. Give us more quotes re major league players and post the stuff more often. LM
joechris96
5/30
The weeks leading up to the draft are difficult because scouts (even on the pro side) and front office folks are focused on one main objective. We'll do our best to get more quotes, but these aren't things we can force either.
bobbygrace
5/30
That's a remarkable statement on Michael Lorenzen, especially given Robert Stephenson's continued success at the same level. What's the BP staff's take on Lorenzen and the improvement of his stock? Are you willing to go as far as this scout goes and push him up to #1 in the system?
Muboshgu
5/30
I was thinking the same thing, ranking Lorenzen ahead of Stephenson seems a bit much to me.
bigchiefbc
5/30
I'm just a nobody, but I've watched a few starts of each on milb.tv. I'd still put Stephenson ahead, but it's closed a LOT since the beginning of the year. Lorenzen has looked fantastic. Very happy to own both in my dynasty league.
ronito
5/31
And, of course, Lorenzen had his worst start of the season tonight.
MaineSkin
5/30
Samardzja has never had over a 3.50 xFIP as a ML SP. The grip on his cutter is natural. Yeah, I'll say he is not an arm you can find every offseason and be called the asshole.
bulls2327
5/30
hear hear!
hotstatrat
6/01
It is interesting that a scout sees him that way. Personally, I'd trust his actual MLB strikeout rate of the his last four seasons (8.9) over one scout saying his arm isn't so special.

Although, Samardziga's K rate and velocity are down this year, his GB% is up and his HR/9 and BB% have improved, too. Perhaps, what that scout is trying to point out is that this year Samardziga is relying more on his guile relative to his pitch action - or, perhaps, it is just the scout's way of saying he is not really a 1.68 ERA pitcher.
reznick
6/01
I'd like to know whether the scout works for a team that's trying to lower the price for Samardzija.