Alex Eisenberg on Cubs Prospects, Part 1
For those who are unfamiliar with Alex Eisenberg's work, he is the brains behind Baseball Intellect, a scouting website where he does some terrific breakdowns of mechanics of players' swings and deliveries. A great example of his work, just posted earlier today, looks at the evolution of Brewer shortstop
J.J. Hardy's swing and tries to determine if he'll be able to bounce back next season.
Recently Alex took some time to chat with me about his observations on Cubs prospects.
WB: Can
you give a brief description of the kind of work you do at your website?AE: It's a scouting service that uses both scouting
and sabermetric analysis to evaluate a player's true skill. I'm very
big on the use of video and allowing readers to actually see the
prospect I'm evaluating. I want to make sure they visually see the
concepts I lay out in the scouting report as well.
There is a definite emphasis on baseball mechanics,
which is something very few sites have. I think a quick browsing of my
archives should definitely give you a feel for the type of content I
produce.
And just a brief background about myself, I have a
B.S. in Kinesiology and I've supplemented that with biomechanical
research and how it relates to mechanics. I've had a number of people
that have influenced my own philosophy on baseball mechanics...people
such as Carlos Gomez, Paul Nyman, Jeff Albert, and Tom House for
example, but I don't like to box myself into one particular philosophy.
WB: I
see you just did some scouting of Hak-Ju Lee. How do you see him as a
prospect? He's pretty young, so project him a little bit. Do you see
any power at all in his swing? Will he be able to continue to hit for
high averages?
AE: There is a little pop in Lee's swing. I've seen him take balls and
drive them though he doesn't do it often enough. I do expect him to
fill out his frame as well, but he doesn't have a frame that is going
to put on a ton of muscle. Overall, I expect him to have gap power
with the capability to hit between 8 - 12 homeruns a year.
But when you look at his power projection, you have to
look at his approach. He doesn't have the approach of a power hitter.
He likes to slap at the ball, hit it on the ground, and take advantage
of his speed and that's not conducive for power. I'd like to see him
lift the ball a bit more. Instead of ground balls, I'd like to see
line drives and I think he has the swing to make that happen.
I do expect him to continue to hit for average.
He's got plus speed, he makes hard contact, he's able to consistently
put the bat head on the ball because he has great hand-eye coordination
and he also has wonderful bat control. If he see's a hole down the
third base line, he'll figure out a way to take advantage of that hole
in the defense.
I'm still getting a feel for his plate discipline
and pitch recognition. He'll chase his share of pitches, but he has
flashes of good patience and discipline.
WB: His double play partner, Logan Watkins, has also hit for some good
averages with nice discipline. He's an athletic kid, how do you see him
developing?AE: He's on the smallish side, but his bat is quick and his
swing is short and made for contact. His discipline is solid and like
Lee, he possesses good bat control. He does make hard contact, but it
hasn't translated to much power yet. I think he has a chance to
develop at least some power because his swing isn't one of those handsy
swings. In addition, like Lee, I'd like to see him lift the ball more.
I see him more as a utility fielder down the line.
WB: Starlin Castro made a huge rise through the system this year and has
moved up prospect lists by hitting for average and showing improving
strike zone recognition. Does he have the ceiling of an MLB all-star?AE: Yeah, I'd say he has All Star potential. I'm a big fan of Starlin
Castro...I haven't seen him much, but I'm encouraged on the reports
I've read on him. I was particularly impressed with his ability to
adjust to higher levels of competition. You don't have to be
that good offensively to be an all-star level.
I can't say what kind of power he'll develop
because I haven't seen his swing from the right angle, but he's
generally seen as having the potential to develop better than gap power.
Check back soon for Part 2, where we talk about Josh Vitters, Andrew Cashner, and some sleepers in the system, plus Alex's take on the #1 Cub prospect. And don't forget to check out
Baseball Intellect for more great prospect analysis pieces, including the newly launched Premium Intellect.
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