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October 2, 2012

Fall Instructional League Report

Rays/Twins

by Chris Mellen

Fall Instructional League, or “Instructs,” is great for several things: doing follow-up scouting from the season, getting a first look at recently signed players, or getting a first glimpse at players coming over to the United States for the first time. The teams in Instructs are typically composed of  the younger prospects from the lower levels and rehabbing players from the upper minors. Teams go through workouts in the morning, then play games in the afternoon against the other teams in the area. So between the morning and the afternoon, you have plenty of chances to lay the eyes on the developing prospects.

Fort Myers has served as my home base for Instructs since I’ve been coming down, and it’s always a productive trip. This year, the Twins, Red Sox, Orioles, and Rays have been playing a rotation of games against each other; for the last six years, I was covering the Red Sox and no one else, so this year sees me expanding my scouting base considerably. It’s been challenging given the large volume of players to see and heightened sense of attention needed, but it’s been fun getting outside of my comfort zone. So these reports will be of selected players from each organization who have stood out for one reason or another. Today we’ll start with the Rays and Twins, with the Red Sox and Orioles to follow later.

Tampa Bay Rays

RHP Parker Markel: I saw Markel throw with Hudson Valley in 2011 and he stood out as having some potential.  He’s gone through some mechanical tweaks since then, as he’s now throwing from a mid-to-low three-quarter arm slot; he has a much easier time keeping his arm there than the previous higher three-quarter slot. The stuff’s been enhanced, especially the ease with which he throws the fastball and movement created.  Markel showed a heavy 93-96 mph heater in his outing, touching 95 and 96 with frequency. He breezed through the Red Sox lineup he faced by spotting it on both sides of the plate and pounding the lower tier of the zone.  His fastball’s a tough ball to elevate due to its downward movement. Markel also showed a tight 83-85 mph slider with late