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Film Study Friday Recap: February 11th

Written by: Trevor Hooth (@HoothTrevor)

Follow us on Twitter! @Prospects365

For those who have never heard of Film Study Friday, it takes place via my Twitter account (@HoothTrevor). On Thursday each week, I ask for submissions of minor leaguers to watch video on, then I watch video and share my thoughts on said player. 

This is the first week that Prospects 365 is hosting the recap so a big thank you goes out to Ray. Unfortunately this was a busy weekend so I didn’t get to nearly as many players as I wanted, but there’s always this week to right the ship. There were tons of names sent my way, which was just amazing. So let’s get to it!

Things kicked off this week with Canaan Smith, who—as it turns out—is not the same guy as the country singer. Smith was a fourth rounder for the Yankees back in 2017 and will turn 21 in April. Here’s what I found: 

The bat path had me lost for words really. It’s not bad, by any means, but it does appear a little different. After about the sixteenth time watching it in slow motion, the best word I have is ‘flat’. I don’t mean that with any negative connotation necessarily, but it’s fair to expect more line drives and gap-to-gap contact than fly balls and bombs.

Next on the docket is Jordan Groshans, whose description will be short and sweet. The tweet really says it all.

The thing with Groshans is he was hurt for a lot of 2019. A lot of people whose opinion I value think highly of him, so I am inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt for the moment. There are some things that didn’t look good, but they were in his lower half and that is where the injury happened. So, yes, I will circle back around to see a presumably healthy player before passing any opinions along.

Ivan Herrera is next, and I am happy someone floated his name for so many reasons. First, the tweet. 

I’ve never met a simple, quiet swing that I didn’t like. What excites me most about Herrera is his age. The Cardinals, per their M.O,. are pushing the young catcher aggressively and he’s responding. St. Louis is very good at developing catchers, so that is another point in his favor. As far as catchers go, he could be a pretty good one for both real life and fantasy purposes, it’s just a matter of timing and if there’s a job there for him at the big league level when the time comes. Soon, we’ll see how Double-A treats Herrera and that should be very interesting.

Other names to highlight:

Tarik Skubal

Skubal’s stock rose quickly and monumentally during the 2019 season. His pitches are all really awesome and he uses them well. It seems like the Tigers got a real steal with him. For fantasy purposes, buy a lot of shares if you can get them. This three-headed monster Detroit has budding in their rotation has me, an irresponsible Tigers fan, very excited.

It’s taken a minute to really figure out what makes Skubal so deceptive, but I finally found the right angle for his delivery. Look at his arm path and the plane the ball travels on. It’s spectacular. 

Micker Adolfo

I once asked my White Sox prospector people why Adolfo is still ranked higher on prospect lists. They all give me the injury-riddled career answer. So I looked at him with the expectation to be blown away. Honestly, I was. This dude looks huge, at least from what I saw. There is a lot to dream on with this guy, and his numbers seem to be on the rise as he stays healthy.

His hand-eye coordination looks good to me, but I’m not sure that will help him much. He gets the bat on the ball, but he also is a free swinger in every sense of the word. Getting bat to ball on pitches that are outside of the zone isn’t the best strategy for making solid contact. And that’s certainly a problem, because the progression of his power potential could be very fun to watch.

Matt Tabor

Strikes. That is a good way to describe what happens when Tabor pitches. He simply throws strikes. He can do that because his changeup plays very well off of his fastball. Other than that, he’s a pretty straight forward arm. I have no massive qualms his with delivery. He looks like a true solid performer that will sit in the middle-to-back of a rotation. To me, his changeup feel gives him a tangible floor. 

He certainly has the build to carry a starter’s workload, even though that was never really in question. Tabor also flashes a breaking ball that looks decent as well. I believe it’s a slider.

Questions

There were a couple of questions sent my way last week that piqued my interest. 

Aaron Bracho is a guy that does get a potential 60 grade on both his hit and power tool. Personally, I say yes on the power. He swings hard and that will generate some pop. Seriously, his swing looks almost violent, but in the most controlled way. He’s also a very disciplined hitter. 

In regard to the hit tool, I was ready to tell you it plays up because of his plate discipline. Then I decided to keep looking, which changed my mind. He’s got a really good ability to get the bat on the ball. So, yes, at minimum his hit tool is above average, if it isn’t a plus tool.

So statistically, Drew Rom had a really good 2019 season, and that’s because he’s a genuinely solid pitcher. He’s a teenage southpaw who can throw three different pitches well. If he keeps performing, he will climb up rankings. That said, it’ll be a limited climb. Rom profiles as a classic floor player. At the lower levels, he is creating whiffs with nice sequencing and the ability to locate, but that number should decline as he progresses because of his lower velocity. When I watch him, I see a really good floor as a high end five/low-end four type, but his ceiling is likely as a low-end three unless his velocity comes around.

For those who enjoy the art of pitching, Rom is a fun guy to watch. He’s up there for me as a guy to keep an eye on and even just watch when I’m bored.

Thank you all for your suggestions! Keep an eye out for this week’s #FilmStudyFriday!

Follow P365 site contributor Trevor Hooth on Twitter! @HoothTrevor

Follow us on Twitter! @Prospects365

Featured image courtesy of photographer Cliff Welch and MiLB.com

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