Scouting Notes: April 6th, 2013. Dayton Dragons @ West Michigan Whitecaps

RHP Hudson Randall

-"Crafty righthander", if such a thing exists. Won't overpower you, but shows feel and command of all of his pitches.

-We saw a 4 seam fastball, a 2 seam fastball, a cut fastball, a curve, a slider, and a change: All with varying levels of effectiveness

-He rarely threw his 4 seamer, but when he did it was in the 89-90 range without much movement. His 2 seamer was in the 86-87 range with some nice sink and arm side run, but I would stop short of calling it a "sinker". In the same vein, he also showed a cut fastball in the 87-88 range that had solid cut, but I would stop short of calling it a true "cutter". He was able to command all 3 of the fastballs, not at a plus level, but he used both sides of the plate and stayed down in the zone. All 3 pitches elicited weak contact.

-I liked the curve better than the slider, at least on this particular day. It got some real nice depth, but it wasn't really a "sharp" breaker. Curve was in the 75-77 range, and he showed the ability to throw it both for strikes and as a chase pitch down and out of the zone.

-Slider was in the 80-81 range for most of the outing, and while I wasn't overly enamored with the pitch, it showed as an average offering. It's more horizontal than vertical, so it's more effective when he runs it away from right-handed hitters. It got hit a couple times when he left it over the plate, but also got a few swings and misses.

-I liked the change up. Sat in the 76-78 range, and mimics the fastball well. Thrown from the same arm slot and with the same arm speed with good run, albeit without much sink. Solid pitch.

-No real deception in his delivery, but it's smooth and easily repeatable. Showed really nice control, and has a plus command profile. The cold wasn't helping his command, but he was still above-average with it.

OF Jake Stewart

-Jordan and I noticed a small hitch in his load. He has a little hand drift on his load, where his hands go down-up-back rather than just one motion. This can lead to being late on fastballs and/or having a long swing. Still looks the part of a plus athlete. Above-average speed down the line. Still like him.

2B Devon Travis

-Just keeps impressing me. Can't rave enough about his hands in the field. He's slow. Had him at 4.50 down the line, which is damned slow. Quick feet than help in have solid-average range in the field. Plenty of arm for the position. Really like the way he controls the bat. Susceptible to good breaking balls down in the zone at this point, but you're not going to beat him with a fastball and he's not going to expand the zone. Really like him

CF Austin Schotts

-The results hadn't really showed in the box scores yet, but I love his approach at the plate. Still 19 years old and batting leadoff in the Midwest League, which is impressive. Not intimidated in the box, at all. Struggles to recognize breaking balls, but as Jordan said on the podcast "HE'S 19!!!!!" Good bat to ball skills. His walking up song is "Shots!", so 80 grades for that.

RHP Chad Smith

-Was very interested to see him. Taken in the 2011 draft even after Tommy John surgery, had a solid bounceback year in 2012. Showed a middle reliever/7th inning upside.

-Has effort in delivery, and throws from a low 3/4 arm slot. Fastball sat 91-93 with tons of movement. Really bores in on right handed hitters. I have no problem thinking that he'll add some velo as it warms up as well.

-Jordan made the comment "He looks like a ROOGY", which is, of course, the opposite of a LOOGY. He does look like he'll be way more effective vs. right handers than lefties, but he could still get some lefties out if he can live on the outer third with the fastball.

-Slider sat at 84-85 with nice horizontal movement. Had some depth, but wasn't a true "2 plane" slider. Good pitch, but he left it up a lot in this game.

-He was 1.30-1.40 to the plate, which is a solid time.

LF Danry Vasquez

-Day off on Saturday after scuffling in the first 2 games...came back with a 3 hit game.

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