James Beard - Scouting Report

Rank History

Year	Team	Position	Team Rank	OFP
2021	CHW	OF	20	40

Grades Update: Dec 2020

OFP	Role	Hit	Power	Field	Arm	Run
40	40	30	30	50	40	80

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Dec 2020 Report

Evaluator: Matt Thompson

Age: 20 yr
Height: 5-10
Weight: 170 lbs
Hits/Throws: R/R
Acquired: 2019 Round 4
RuleV: 2023

Physical Description: Very small, skinny frame. Small forearms and waistline. Will be one of the smallest players on the diamond no matter when he plays.

Hit: Beard struggled to make contact during his pro debut, with a strikeout rate hovering near 40%. When he does make contact often it's on the ground (54% rate) and to his pull side (58%). For someone with true 80-grade speed I don't mind the extreme ground ball lean. He's not going to be a power hitter ever, but he's also not just a slap hitter, showing a good swing with above-average bat speed. Immature pitch recognition skills and aggressiveness lead to the strikeouts. For this profile to work he needs to make more contact. Grade: 30

Power: Power is surely not Beard's game. The extra base hits he does accumulate will be because of his legs. He has enough speed to turn well placed bloopers into doubles, and any gapper is a serious threat for three bags. Beard doesn't drive the ball and hits the ball on the ground at an extreme rate. There's enough raw power to hit 6-8 homers but the batted ball profile and aggressiveness won't allow him to get there. Grade: 30

Field: Doesn't get the best jumps and will take bad routes, but has the pure straight line speed to cover up his mistakes. Elite athlete, strong future centerfielder. Has the makings of a future plus defender but he's not there yet. Grade: 50

Arm: Below average arm, accurate but lacks carry. Grade: 40

Run: Game changing speed. Infielders perk up when he steps in the box and they know if there's a slight bobble he's getting on base. Puts a lot of pressure on the defense, pitchers and catchers can lose focus because they are worried about Beard when he reaches base. It's the kind of speed that lets him hang around and have a half decade career like Terrance Gore without ever touching a bat. There's still hope for his offensive game. Grade: 80

Overall: It's fun to see pure 80-grade tools. Beard has one. The rest of his game is very much a question, but he's going to keep getting opportunities because there are tangible baseball skills here. He is also an up the middle athlete which buys him more time. It'll be a long slow trip through the minors but Beard's upside is worth the wait.

OFP: 40
Role: 40 - Below-Average Player: Bench or Platoon
Risk: High

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Emilio Vargas - Scouting Report

Rank History

Year	Team	Position	Team Rank	OFP
2021	CHW	RHP	18	40

Grades Update: Dec 2020

OFP	Role	FB	SL	CH	Ctr/Cmd
40	40	50	50	50	50/40

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Dec 2020 Report

Evaluator: Matt Thompson

Age: 24 yr
Height: 6-3
Weight: 230 lbs
Hits/Throws: R/R
Acquired: 2013 IFA
RuleV: On 40-Man Roster

Physical Description: Strong, durable frame that lacks much future growth. Looks like an innings eating starter, missed some time with an arm injury but is back throwing now.

Delivery & Mechanics: Long, whip like arm action stands out from what is a pretty standard simple motion. 3/4 arm slot, and works very quickly. Will get down into his glutes before he releases the pitch.

Fastball: His fastball sits around 91-92, but it plays a few ticks higher because it lives primarily up in the zone. Gets good carry, and more swing and miss than typically one in that velocity band traditionally would. Grade: 50

Slider: Primary weapon against righties, throws it up over the plate and lets the sweeping horizontal movement take over. Will get some swing and misses, but generally more weak contact than anything else. Solid average pitch. Grade: 50

Changeup: It's actually a split change, and he will use it similarly to the slider, throw it for a strike and let the late movement drop it out of the zone. It has more vertical drop than horizontal run. Good change of pace pitch. Grade: 50

Control and Command: Vargas doesn't walk many guys but the stuff is very ordinary and will have to start living more on the edges, which he tries to do. When he misses it can catch too much of the plate which leads to trouble. Control: 50 | Command: 40

Overall: Vargas is an up and down type arm that is versatile enough to fill a variety of roles on a pitching staff. Arizona thought he was expendable and DFA'd him, but it was smart of the White Sox to get a big league ready arm for minimal investment. There are some health question marks we don't know about because of the shutdown, but this could be a big league reliever for the Sox in 2021.

OFP: 40
Role: 40 - Spot Starter or Long Reliever
Risk: Moderate

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Matthew Thompson - Scouting Report

Rank History

Year	Team	Position	Team Rank	OFP
2021	CHW	RHP	6	50

Grades Update: Dec 2020

OFP	Role	FB	CB	CH	Ctr/Cmd
50	50	60	55	45	45/40

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Dec 2020 Report

Evaluator: Mike Kinsela

Age: 20 yr
Height: 6-3
Weight: 195 lbs
Hits/Throws: R/R
Acquired: 2019 Round 2
RuleV: 2023

Physical Description: Long, lean, athletic build with frame to continue filling out-has the physical upside of a specimen.

Delivery & Mechanics: The arm speed and athleticism stand out with Thompson, and he'd earned some amateur comps to former 2nd rounder Alex Speas as a result of both. The arm speed is easily plus, maybe plus-plus. High 3/4 slot that works to leverage the ball down in the strike zone, verticality could allow for better projection up in the zone. Athletic and loose.

Fastball: Velocity has never been a problem, Thompson can reach the mid-90's consistently and generally has sat 91-94 mph in the past. The pitch is true but the high slot release gives him some fastball traits up in the zone, and he can blow the pitch by hitters at the letters in the mid-90's with ease. Grade: 60

Curveball: His best pitch as an amateur, a hard downer curveball thrown with 11/5 shape mostly in the low-80's. Is plus often, isn't plus consistently and can get slurvy at times. The pitch has made strides in terms of consistency and is now much better in that regard than his amateur days, but there are still strides to be made to get to consistently plus. Grade: 55

Changeup: Third pitch now, some evaluators have seen flashes of above-average on the pitch, still uses somewhat sparingly and is definitely developing feel. His athleticism and arm action portend to good changeup projection, still somewhat unsure projection. Grade: 45

Control and Command: Thompson's athleticism gives evaluators hope that better command is coming, but as such he's still prone to some wildness within the zone and overall zone loss at times, leading to many believing that he's destined for the bullpen. Control: 45 | Command: 40

Overall: Thompson's athleticism and arm talent are enticing, and he shows the makings of a true plus fastball/plus curveball profile. The story here is the same of many profiles, the third pitch projection and the command concerns lead to some bullpen worry, but it's still far too early to pigeonhole an athlete of this caliber that way. The upside here is likely that of a #3 starter or late-innings reliever, or more realistically a solid backend SP.

OFP: 50
Role: 50 - #4 or #5 SP
Risk: High

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