Like the majority of the SP community, I have zero scouting experience. I am a baseball fan with a particular interest in watching Red Sox minor leaguers work their way through the system. I happen to live in Charlotte and get to several AAA games a year. Typically when I get to a game I end up watching it as a fan even if the PawSox are in town and went to the game with every intention of "scouting" certain players that I have some specific interest in watching.
Perhaps there are others like me who might be interested in having some of the experienced members of the SP scouting staff discuss in some detail how they go about evaluating individual players. I understand the broad strokes and feel a bit smarter about watching pitchers than I do hitters (can a pitcher locate, does he repeat his delivery, can he slow the game down, is his velocity still good in later innings). But the finer details escape me.
When I look at a hitter, I can't seem to ever draw a broad conclusion based upon the three or four at bats I watch. Again, I am good with the broad stokes (can he work the count, can he go the oposite way). But am I supposed to be looking at his swing plane? I look at a fly ball and think, "oh, he got under that a little". Part of my problem is likely that I am often sitting near a dugout and not behind the plate (often there with one of my little league age sons who want autographs) where I know the best view is for scouting. So I find myself watching the pitcher and the hitter and this leads to me "watching the game" and not focusing on an individual player's skills. Do you guys just watch either the pitcher or the hitter on a given pitch or at bat? If Jose Iglesias is batting, do you pay any attention to the delivery of the pitcher, or do you just watch him in the box? Obviously you want to know what kind of pitch is being thrown, I get that.
When you go to a game, do you take a look at everyone playing or do you go to the game with an idea that you are there to focus on three or four players?
Rereading this, perhaps I am making it more complex than it is, and it may boil down to the fact that I am just awful at evaluating players. Anyway, the short question is do you guys watch the games, or just watch the players in the games? If you think the community might be interestd in hearing some nuts and bolts of how you scout a game, feel free to elaborate on how you accomplish that. If the scouting staff or mods consider this to be absolutely an absolutely moronic topic, my ego can handle that too.
Perhaps there are others like me who might be interested in having some of the experienced members of the SP scouting staff discuss in some detail how they go about evaluating individual players. I understand the broad strokes and feel a bit smarter about watching pitchers than I do hitters (can a pitcher locate, does he repeat his delivery, can he slow the game down, is his velocity still good in later innings). But the finer details escape me.
When I look at a hitter, I can't seem to ever draw a broad conclusion based upon the three or four at bats I watch. Again, I am good with the broad stokes (can he work the count, can he go the oposite way). But am I supposed to be looking at his swing plane? I look at a fly ball and think, "oh, he got under that a little". Part of my problem is likely that I am often sitting near a dugout and not behind the plate (often there with one of my little league age sons who want autographs) where I know the best view is for scouting. So I find myself watching the pitcher and the hitter and this leads to me "watching the game" and not focusing on an individual player's skills. Do you guys just watch either the pitcher or the hitter on a given pitch or at bat? If Jose Iglesias is batting, do you pay any attention to the delivery of the pitcher, or do you just watch him in the box? Obviously you want to know what kind of pitch is being thrown, I get that.
When you go to a game, do you take a look at everyone playing or do you go to the game with an idea that you are there to focus on three or four players?
Rereading this, perhaps I am making it more complex than it is, and it may boil down to the fact that I am just awful at evaluating players. Anyway, the short question is do you guys watch the games, or just watch the players in the games? If you think the community might be interestd in hearing some nuts and bolts of how you scout a game, feel free to elaborate on how you accomplish that. If the scouting staff or mods consider this to be absolutely an absolutely moronic topic, my ego can handle that too.
