Sammy Infante - Scouting Report

Rank History

Year	Team	Position	Team Rank	OFP
2021	WAS	SS	12	45

Grades Update: Jan 2021

OFP	Role	Hit	Power	Field	Arm	Run
45	40	40	45	55	50	50

---

Jan 2021 Report

Evaluator: Matt Pullman

Age: 20 yr
Height: 6-1
Weight: 185 lbs
Hits/Throws: R/R
Acquired: 2020 Round 2
RuleV: 2024

Physical Description: Athletic, projectable build. Not overly lean, nor stocky, just a very good body at his age. There's a chance he will fill out and physically require a move off shortstop, but at present there are no concerns about his build.

Hit: Visually-appealing swing with some loft. Hands start fairly high, up at the ear, and he can get caught up with some bat wrap. May require mechanical tweaks to keep up with premium velo. Shows a moderate-high legkick in BP, but utilizes mostly a toe-tap against live pitching. Feet start slightly open and finish slightly open, even on outside pitches he takes the opposite way. Flashes a two-strike approach and the willingness to foul off marginal pitches. Shows elementary pitch recognition skills, but is not consistent. Grade: 40

Power: Above-average bat speed; shows loud plus raw in BP. Power plays down in games due to tracking issues and overall hit tool deficiencies. Has the right combination of athleticism and projectability to eventually play plus with hit tool refinement. Grade: 45

Field: Plus athlete with infield actions, clean enough to stick at short with the right development. Soft hands which work well together. Shows solid footwork, rounding balls well and showing the timing to create hops for himself. Not a standout, concrete shortstop, especially considering he lacks elite quickness and could slow down further with physical maturation. Overall, good enough actions to likely stick on the infield. Athletic enough for a corner outfield role if necessary. Grade: 55

Arm: Has the arm strength to make it work on the left side of the infield. Looks comfortable making throws from various arm slots. Grade: 50

Run: Not the most efficient runner, but athletic enough that there could be untapped speed. Not a burner, but won't clog the bases in his 20s, either. Grade: 50

Overall: A projectable athlete with solid across-the-board tools but without a standout tool or an overly-polished skillset. He stands a chance to stick at shortstop long-term, but the likelier scenario is a move to third or second, where the power will have to show up in games to be more than just a role player. Slightly older for his class, and in need of development in the most important areas of his game, it could take a while for his value to materialize at the big league level. There's a chance he winds up an above-average MLB regular, but for now the likelier outcome appears to be a fringe-average starter or utility man with some pop.

OFP: 45
Role: 40 - Below-Average Player: Bench / Utility
Risk: Moderate

---

Taylor Jones - Scouting Report

Rank History

Year	Team	Position	Team Rank	OFP
2021	HOU	1B/3B/OF	19	40

Grades Update: Jan 2021

OFP	Role	Hit	Power	Field	Arm	Run
40	40	45	55	40	60	30

---

Jan 2021 Report

Evaluator: Matt Pullman

Age: 27 yr
Height: 6-7
Weight: 230 lbs
Hits/Throws: R/R
Acquired: 2016 Draft, Round 19
RuleV: On 40-Man Roster

Physical Description: He has a rare build for the baseball field. Standing 6-foot-7 with a high waist and a strong lower half highlighted by thick thighs. His upper body is fairly lean, without noticeable definition in his arms and room to add bulk in his torso. He possesses the frame of Aaron Judge without the supreme strength.

Hit: It's a fairly unorthodox pre-pitch setup -- he coils his shoulders, with his right arm tucked slightly behind his back, potentially as a mechanism for staying closed. He starts with his bat nearly parallel to the ground, and his bat path follows a similarly-flat trajectory. He's gone through a pretty drastic swing change as a pro, originally starting with his bat nearly vertical and a much steeper bat path. The new swing portends itself to more line drives, while potentially limiting the ability to tap into his raw power as frequently. Based on the performance, this tradeoff has been welcomed. His strikeout rates have been nearly unchanged, remaining at approximately league-average (impressive given his long levers), but his quality of contact has improved if we use BABIP as a proxy (especially considering the context of improved defense in the upper minors). Two of his three best stints as a pro have come in the upper levels, showing a positive trajectory for his hit tool in particular. He has a fairly patient approach as well, drawing walks at an above-average clip despite working with a much larger strike zone than the average hitter. Grade: 45

Power: As previously mentioned, he can pass for Aaron Judge if you're watching him from the outfield bleachers. He does not appear to possess the same prolific power Judge does, however. His 2020 MLB cup of coffee was not nearly enough of a sample to get a true look at his power, however in his 14 batted ball events, Jones posted a max exit velocity of 105.8 and an average of 91.9. These numbers lend some credence to his above-average, but not eye-popping, average flyball distances over his last two minor league campaigns. Jones will hit some home runs, but he has not given us reason to believe his mammoth frame will result in gaudy power numbers. Grade: 55

Field: He spent time at four positions in 2019, with the bulk coming at first base. The Astros experimented with him at third base as well, and Jones responded with just one error across 122 innings. It's unlikely he can handle the hot corner full-time at the highest level, but the added versatility should lend itself to more opportunities to establish his role on the big league roster. He also played 30 games in the outfield, where his below-average range limits his value. He's a first baseman, but he isn't just a first baseman. Grade: 40

Arm: Originally a two-way player at Gonzaga, he threw nearly 90 innings across his freshman and sophomore seasons. While the results were mixed, it's safe to say he has plus arm strength and an idea of where it's going. His arm won't be the limiting factor when his eventual defensive home is decided, allowing him to play third base or a corner outfield spot if his remaining defensive skills are up to par. Grade: 60

Run: His brief cup of coffee allowed us to see some objective data regarding his skillset. His sprint speed came in at 29th percentile across MLB last year, and at 27 years old, it's unlikely he will see much of an improvement in this area. Grade: 30

Overall: He will have to hit in order to carve out a big league role. He provides little to no value on the basepaths and, despite the ability to play four positions in some capacity, his defensive value is limited as well. There's a chance his bat is good enough to be an everyday first baseman, but without another gear of development, it seems unlikely as he enters his age-27 season. His most likely role is a bench-bat first baseman who can handle the other three corners in a reserve role.

OFP: 40
Role: 40 - Below-Average Player: Bench / Utility
Risk: Moderate

---

Bryan Abreu - Scouting Report

Rank History

Year	Team	Position	Team Rank	OFP
2021	HOU	RHP	4	50

Grades Update: Jan 2021

OFP	Role	FB	CB	SL	CH	Cont/Cmd
50	50	60	60	70	30	30/30

---

Jan 2021 Report

Evaluator: Matt Pullman

Age: 24 yr
Height: 6-1
Weight: 225 lbs
Hits/Throws: R/R
Acquired: 2013 IFA
RuleV: On 40-Man Roster

Physical Description: He's pretty close to physically maxed, with a fairly thick torso and a strong lower half from the thighs down to the calves. Despite strength throughout, he isn't excessively bulky, and retains a relatively athletic build. There's no reason to believe his build precludes him from handling a starter's workload.

Delivery & Mechanics: He pitches exclusively out of the stretch, even as a starter in the minors. He employs a high-effort delivery ending with him falling off the mound towards first base. He is prone to flying open, with his mechanics falling out of sync, resulting in a difficulty to consistently throw strikes. He throws mostly from a high-three-quarters slot, occasionally dipping down to three-quarters or even lower on his slider.

Fastball: 92-97. Savant has classified two separate pitches, a two-seam with more pronounced armside run and a four-seam which plays more vertical. Both pitches operate within the same velocity band, so it's possible he actually throws one fastball with some variation. If he could control his fastball consistently, it would play up closer to a 70 and would also likely enable him to succeed as a starter. Without being able to consistently control or command his fastball, he will be relegated to the bullpen long-term. Grade: 60

Curveball: 81-85 with very high spin. It's slower and produces more break than his slider, but is equally as effective when thrown in the right situation. He throws it from approximately the same slot as the rest of his offerings, and it actually produces more horizontal break than his slider. Thrown about 20 percent of the time, it is a nice change of pace compared to his power fastball and slider. Like the rest of his offerings, he struggles to throw it for a strike consistently and misses his spot regularly. It's a good enough pitch on a 'stuff' basis to overcome these faults and still generate swings and misses, even when left in the heart of the zone. Grade: 60

Slider: 83-87 with very high spin. Morphs between a wipeout slider with pronounced horizontal break and a gyro-spin slider generating more vertical drop and an 11-5 trajectory. It remains to be seen if he can consciously shape the pitch, or if it is random variation. It's his primary pitch and he's willing to throw it early and often. In his short big league stints, he has thrown it 44 percent of the time, more than both of his fastballs combined. It generates whiffs at a high rate and is typically what he goes to when he needs a strikeout. If he truly can shape it at will, this pitch will play closer to an 80, as it's essentially two separate plus-plus pitches and he throws it for a strike as reliably as anything in his arsenal. As with any slider, it becomes a liability when left up in the zone as it flattens out. Grade: 70

Changeup: 89-92 with similar shape to his fastball but more drop due to the lower velocity and significantly lower spin. Thrown less than two percent of the time, Abreu seems to lack confidence in it. If he can develop his cambio to being even league average, it would elevate the rest of his arsenal by half a grade or more, and potentially allow him to throw a higher volume of innings even with his poor control. Grade: 30

Control and Command: Due to mechanical inconsistencies, Abreu struggles mightily with both. He can be seemingly in a groove and then miss his spot, and the zone entirely, by several feet. His minor league walk rates have ranged from poor to horrendous. He issued free passes at a 14 percent clip across 76 innings, mostly as a starter, at Double-A Corpus Christi in 2019. He frequently misses his spot by a foot or more with all of his pitches. He seems to fall back on his slider when he needs to throw a strike, which could lead to him becoming predictable at the highest level. Control: 30 | Command: 30

Overall: He has high-octane, nasty stuff. His repertoire includes three plus offerings which all generate swings and misses. It's hard to see him succeeding in a starting role without significant development of his command. With that said, he has the type of stuff that would make him a frontline starter in the event he ever came close to league-average command. Given the feasibility of such improvements, as well as his limited workloads throughout the minors, he's almost certainly a reliever moving forward. But he should excel in a high-leverage role and is capable of going multiple innings. His stuff will allow him to compete for the closer's role as soon as 2021. With some improved mechanical consistency, Abreu could develop into an elite bullpen piece.

OFP: 50
Role: 50 - Average High-Leverage Reliever
Risk: Moderate

---