Has Hobgood retired?

[DrungoHazewood]

Do you know this for fact, or are you joking? How can a guy not be a hitting prospect with those numbers. We just drafted Ryan Ripken, whose numbers are half of what his were in high school.

Because high school hitting numbers have a level of uncertainty of like 50%? Probably 90% of the pitchers he faced will never throw a professional pitch, and he probably saw a fair share of guys throwing 72 mph with no offspeed or breaking stuff.

[Araqnid]

Because high school hitting numbers have a level of uncertainty of like 50%? Probably 90% of the pitchers he faced will never throw a professional pitch, and he probably saw a fair share of guys throwing 72 mph with no offspeed or breaking stuff.

This.

It's one thing for a pitcher - you can see how fast his pitches are, how much movement he can get on them, maybe he's differentiated those pitches. But its hard to judge hitting. You can have a vague idea of the swing, how well they react to some pitches etc., but at that level, I think it depends a lot more on how good the pitcher is.

[Tony-OH]

From what I heard, Hobgood's swing would make Rick Elder's look quick and compact so no, he's not a hitting prospect. As for High School stats, they really don't mean much unless they are not good. 99% of the kids playing high school ball will never play professionally especially in a place like Maryland where the talent is just not that good overall. Also, hitting .450 in a Southern California league is going to be a lot more impressive then in Anne Arundel County, MD where most pitchers throw in the low to mid 70s with loopy curveballs.

If I'm looking at High School hitters I'm looking for bat speed, pitch recognition, power, speed, and body type. I then look at them defensively and judge foot speed/quickness, arm strength, ability to field, and game awareness/leadership. Next I'm going to go out and look at their fathers and try and get an idea on how the kid is going to fill out. After all that I'm going to look at their stats and the main thing I want to see is a lack of strikeouts and a high average. I'd like to see some walks as well but I realize some of the best hitters may not walk a ton in high school because they get over anxious because their team's are expecting them to carry them every game.

At the end of the day though, judging high school hitters is hard until you see them against professional level pitching. This is why guys like Brenden Webb can look so good in BP and against high school pitching yet strike out once every three at bats as a pro. Guys like Webb have a lot of tools and it's easy to see how a scout thought there was potential there, but when he's up against professional pitching the holes in his swing become magnified.

My rule of thumb for any amateur player is if he strikes out a lot against amateur pitching, he's going to struggle against professional pitching regardless of the tools.

[MauerWithPower]

[ATTACH]997[/ATTACH]

I'd say he's up to big things per facebook..

[ScottieBaseball]

Per his twitter, he's going to start throwing again in August.

He's already reached Billy Rowell status in my mind. Let him try his hand at hitting.

Except Matt's a nice kid.

[Icterus galbula]

[ATTACH]997[/ATTACH]

I'd say he's up to big things per facebook..

Your link isn't working for me. Whats he up to?