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March 11, 2013 Top ToolsArm StrengthInfield Top Infield Arm in the Minor Leagues: Junior Lake (Chicago Cubs) There are open questions about Lake’s ability to play shortstop and hit at the major-league level, but there are no questions about his arm. He has the ability to unleash lasers with tremendous velocity and good accuracy from anywhere on the infield, and possesses the athleticism and utility to flash similar strength while on the run. Lake’s arm is a legit 80-grade cannon and is quite easily the best among prospects currently in the minor leagues. As an elite tool, Lake’s arm strength would be a weapon at any position on the diamond, including on the mound, where some scouts believe he may end up long term. Other Players Considered: Kaleb Cowart (Los Angeles Angels), Joey Gallo (Texas Rangers), Dixon Machado (Detroit Tigers) Both Cowart and Machado have premium arms that earn consistent 70 grades and the occasional 75 or 80 from the left side of the infield. I (Mark Anderson) have gone on record multiple times as believing that Machado does in fact possess an elite-level arm. Gallo represents a lesson in tool utility: Although he shows raw arm strength in the 70-80 range, his footwork and lack of accuracy force the tool down the scale and out of true consideration. Top Major-League Arm: Brendan Ryan (Seattle Mariners)
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I find this type of article a great counter balance to the metric based foundation of BP. It's a great way to learn some advanced points of the "tools" by using minor and major leaguers as case studies.
I've been looking forward to the "tool series" -- thanks, Jason!
More broadly, and to build on David Schwalb's point, I was just thinking this weekend that fielding represented a potential "growth area" for BP. Especially given how much the various fielding metrics disagree with each other, and given how much individual players' FRAA can vary from year to year, I would love to see more stuff on how to evaluate fielding from a scouting point of view. (To take an example from this year's annual, what does it mean when we read that Alcides Escobar needs to work on his "footwork"? What might we look for in a shortstop who is excellent or needs work in this area?) This is exactly the kind of thing I had in mind -- what to look for when you watch a guy throw.
It would also be cool to see analysis of the mechanics of fielding in the mold of Doug Thorburn's analyses of pitching mechanics. I love Thorburn's use of GIFs to help elucidate the component motions of a pitcher's delivery.
Thanks for the tip of the cap, bobbygrace!
I think that video is much more informative for pitchers, especially when judging mechanics, than it is for any other tool or skill. Video is extremely limited for defensive evaluation, given the wide swatch of important information occurring all over the field yet the narrow view of the camera lens. The angles used for most TV feeds are terribly inefficient for evaluating hitting skills, and I completely agree with Mark regarding the importance of live-scouting these skills.
Pitching is unique - there are minimal outside variables to interfere with the pitcher doing his job (whereas batters are at the mercy of the quality of pitches thrown). The pitching delivery is also rooted in repetition, and so the ability to replay a pitch, to compare multiple deliveries simultaneously, or to press the "pause" button mid-delivery using video are advantageous (my brain has not yet mastered those skills).
Live scouting provides a clearer picture of the various skills on the diamond, and I would not have been able to develop an eye for pitching without first having live-scouted thousands of pitchers. But I also think that pitching is uniquely suited for video analysis, while the game feeds that are currently available are insufficient for evaluating most other skills on the diamond.