To complement our top 30 prospects list Dick Scott answered questions for Batters Box, as he does each year at this time. Here is a link to last year's interview.
BB: Let's start with one of the newest players in the organization, Zach Stewart. Can you give me a scouting report on him?
DS: We picked up a good arm, his fastball is 93-94 mph with some nice sink and run on it, kind of a boring fastball, he's got a good frame, I like his stuff. His slider is a little inconsistent right now, he has the makings of a good change-up, he's possibly going to be a starter for us next year.
BB: I see he walks too many hitters, is that back to the inconsistent off-speed pitches?
DS: Yes, he needs the innings, he needs time on the mound because it is hard to come in at the end of the game and work on your change-up or slider. So we will see how he is in spring training. He has thrown about 110 innings this year so we are thinking we could bump him to 130 or 140 next year.
BB: Henderson Alvarez finished his season early was he shut down?
DS: Yes he was, he reached all the innings he needed this year. We try and keep an eye on the guys innings and limit the increase to around 20% roughly.
BB: What was the biggest improvement you saw in him this season?
DS: His command. He has good stuff, his fastball has a lot of life to it, it moves, and he has a plus change-up and his breaking stuff got better this year as well but it was really command of those pitches. He started thinking about how to become a pitcher as opposed to standing out there and throwing hard. He had a really good year.
BB: Another guy who had a good year is Moises Sierra, what did you see in him this year?
DS: He just got off to a good start and hit all year long. He got his batting average to .336 but I think he got tired at the end of the year, you know the Florida State League just wears guys out, it's so hot and humid all day long and they have day games. It's a tough league, it's a pitchers league and he did well in the last two weeks when we sent him up to AA to get a taste of that level. He did OK, I saw some of his at-bats and they got better, he wasn't overmatched. I saw him hit a game winning grand slam while I was there, and he's just 20 years old.
BB: Andrew Liebel has been looked at as a back of the rotation starter but he improved as the year went on, what did you see in him?
DS: A couple of those guys in Dunedin got off to slow starts number wise, for him it was a lack of command early, he was walking a lot of guys, he wasn't efficient with his pitches. His stuff is not over-powering, he has to command his stuff, he has to spot his fastball, he has to pitch behind a little bit. But he really got his confidence going later, you look at his stuff and it's OK, it doesn't wow you, he just has a really good knack for pitching and know what pitch to throw when. We will see, he might have to repeat at Dunedin but he is a guy we have interest in.
BB: Halfway though the year you said to me that Bobby Bell was a starter for the near future, is it still for the near future?
DS: It might be longer now. He had to have one of the best change-ups in the Florida State League this year and surprisingly his curveball was very good. We rarely saw it when he came in at the end of the game (as a reliever) it was fastball, change-up, fastball, change-up and all of a sudden he dropped a couple of curveballs in and we were like wow that's pretty good. So we will continue that next year with him, get him in the starting rotation, see how that works, because as we said it doesn't hurt those guys to get those innings now and if we put them back in the bullpen later there is no harm, they will be better for it one way or the other.
BB: Does he have a shot at starting next year in AA?
DS: I think he does at some point, maybe not right away but at some point he will get there.
BB: Chuck Huggins improved a lot this year, he hides the ball well although he is not overpowering.
DS: He has deception, early in the year he had trouble throwing strikes, he didn't have efficient outings, he would throw 4 innings and 95 pitches. He would have 8 strikeouts and 4 walks. We impressed upon him the need to be more efficient, he would get ahead of guys 0-2 and then the next thing you know the count is 3-2. You can only talk so much to those guys but they have to go through it themselves and then they know what we are talking about and why. And then the light went on and he said wow I am getting these guys out with three pitches and now I am working into the seventh inning. He is a left handed guy with a good curveball and a good change-up, his fastball is average but it's all going to be about his command.
BB: He is a bit of a Jesse Carlson type.
DS: Yes, he does have deception and he's about the same size too.
BB: Tyler Pastornicky made great progress this year. I know when he was drafted some people weren't sure if he would stick at shortstop but he seems to have proven them wrong.
DS: He has done a good job there, all we are going to do is keep running him out there at short to find out. He is so much better this season than last, he is all of 19 and we threw him into the fire in the Midwest League this year and he hit well and stole 55 bases. He made plays at shortstop that we didn't think he was going to make, he had a great year. We sent him to the FSL for a few weeks and he hit there. He is going to be a good offensive player, he is not a big physical guy, he puts the bat on the ball when it is in the strike zone.
BB: One of the biggest surprises this year was Darin Mastroianni, what happened with him?
DS: He is the hardest worker we have, or at least top three. The big thing he had when he came into the organization was his speed. We have guys who can run but we don't have anyone who gets up running as quickly as he does. He is explosive, he came in as a second baseman and he wasn't very good over there at second. We were looking at him saying he fights everything on the ground, he has trouble turning double plays. He is the type of guy that goes 100 mph everything he does and that doesn't always work well when you're in the infield so we decided to move him to the outfield, let him use his legs. He plays centre field and has done a good job there, he has an adequate throwing arm. When he steals bases he puts a lot of pressure on the defense. I don't know what he is going to be down the road but I will tell you this he will work as hard as anyone to get there and I wouldn't bet against him.
BB: He could be a Reed Johnson type
DS: He is probably not as physically talented as Reed but he is a good player.
BB: Eric Thames, is he going to be a chronic injury guy?
DS: I don't know. I wish I could tell you but I hope not because when he is playing he can hit. But he had setbacks this year and last year. But when he was healthy he made the all-star team, he hit, I mean he really got that team (Dunedin) going when he was playing with them. We missed his bat when he was out of there.
BB: Brad Mills, was it a rib problem, is he better now?
DS: It was his inter-costal muscle, he was throwing the last three weeks of the season in Vegas but we never got him in a game. He is going to go home and rest and be ready for spring training.
BB: Carlos Perez had a very good first season in North America.
DS: Yes he did a good job. He was our MVP down there. When latin kids come over for their first year you don't really know what to expect. Like our high school kids when they come in they are wide-eyed, they are anxious and nervous. But he did a very good job catching, pitchers like to throw to him, he throws well and he hit nearly .300 the whole year.
BB: Do you think he could handle Lansing next year?
DS: We might find out. We have a lot of young catchers down there, we have some guys we need to make decisions on.
BB: Gustavo Pierre, how was his first North American season?
DS: Good, you know he had Tommy John surgery last year and he hasn't shown any ill effects from that. He is going to be a big physical guy, he is 6'3", very lean, got the long arms and long legs, but I think he is going to develop some strength hitting. He made some adjustments at the plate this year but it is one of those too early to tell, tool wise you like him.
BB: Will he stick at shortstop?
DS: Oh yeah.
BB: Could he go to Lansing next season?
DS: He will probably go to extended spring training
BB: Was there anyone else in the GCL that caught your eye this year?
DS: Garis Pena, shortstop, did a nice job. We have a pitcher, Pina, who got hurt a little at the end of the year. He is a lefthander with a good live fastball.
BB: You have a bit of a logjam at shortstop next season, Jackson will need to repeat Dunedin, Pastornicky has earned a spot in Dunedin, Ryan Goins is behind them in Lansing, what do you do?
DS: Sometimes the best guy is going to play and I think competition is a beautiful thing so we will see how guys respond to that. No promises or anything, let's go play and see who wins the position.
BB: The Jays picked a lot of high school hitters in 2007 and 2008 and while the farm system has been strong in developing pitchers and college hitters, other than Pastornicky the high school hitters have not progressed, do you need to re-evaluate what you do?
DS: No, Travis Snider is here although he is an exception. We took him as a high school hitter and he is here in the big leagues and I think that worked out OK for us. There are some guys who are going to take a little longer and we are OK with that. We don't have to have them here right now and in fairness to them it is probably a four of five year process. They will go through their peaks and valleys, all those guys we put in the FSL this year we pushed them, a lot of them were 19/20 playing there and we will put most of them there again next year probably.
BB: If they don't hit for a couple of years then you worry about them
DS: Eventually you will but they will be fine. We could have sent them back to the Midwest League and they probably would all have hit .270.
BB: You made some changes in hitting coaches after the season. Was that a philosophical thing or was it three individual decisions?
DS: A little bit of both and time to move on with some of those positions, get some new people in, and that's all I really have to say on that.
Batters Box thanks Dick Scott for answering our questions.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20091001114829647