BP write up on Sano

[gunnarthor]

Baseball Prospectus | Prospects Will Break Your Heart: Scouting Notes: New Britain vs. Reading

 

Nice write up. Very exciting. Rest behind paywall.

 

Notes: I’ll be writing a full scouting report on Sano this week at BP, but I’ll drop a few notes here as a tease. First of all, Sano is one of the best players I’ve ever seen in person. I was able to watch numerous batting practices, pre-game fielding drills, and live game action, so the sample might be small but it offers ample sustenance. Sano is a legit five-tool talent, which goes against several reports that you might be reading online. He’s a gifted physical specimen, with mature size and strength, but the body isn’t as high maintenance as I expected and his overall athleticism was above average. On several occasions, Sano showed a burst of speed down the line and on the turn that resembled an NFL tight end, a graceful out route from a 6’4”, 250-lb. beast of a man. I clocked him at ~4.17 from home to first on a ball he rolled over to the left side, which is absolutely flying for a man of his measurements. The power is extreme and it made me question my religious beliefs, but the biggest discovery of the trip was Sano’s skill at the hot corner, a position that many (if not most) assumed would not be his home at the highest level. Sano is going to play third base in the majors, and he has a chance to be above average at some point in the future. He is still raw and error prone, as I saw him step back on a ball and let it chew him up. But the leather is better than people realize, and with more repetition, he will refine that tool to major-league quality. Sano is at his best coming in on the ball, as he has a feel for fielding and making a quick glove-to-hand transition. He can flash the leather to the backhand as well, showing off a few highlight reel plays that saw him react quickly to the arm side, backhand the ball from the ground, spring to his feet, and fire a 70-grade missile to the first baseman for the out. He has the chops. He just needs refinement. The hit tool is his biggest weakness and I doubt he hits for average at the highest level, but he has good bat control for his size and swing leverage, and he understands the difference between a ball and a strike. The end game for Sano is probably .265 with some on-base ability (fear/recognition), and power that could play to its potential, which means 35-plus bombs year after year. Given that fact that he will be a competent (if not better) third baseman, his profile could make him one of the most dangerous and valuable players in the game.

[TheLeviathan]

Awesome. Simply awesome.

[Lonestar]

What is the gist of what Parks said about Josmil Pinto?