Tim Beckham

SCOUTING REPORT (3/1): Beckham has been a well-known prospect at World Wood
Bat Association events playing for the Atlanta Blue Jays, but his stock
soared last summer as scouts saw his high-level athletic ability in
showcases. Specifically, they saw (a.) that Beckham’s a 6.33 runner, (b.) he
can play shortstop at the upper levels, and (c.) he’s as good a hitting
prospect as he is an athlete. Beckham starred in football (quarterback/wide
receiver) and basketball (point guard) as a freshman and sophomore at Griffin
High but gave up both sports to concentrate on his baseball future. He hit
.512-6-39 with 20 stolen bases as a junior and .498-6-22 with 18 stolen bases
as a sophomore. Beckham will likely be compared to B.J. Upton, the No. 2
overall pick in the 2002 draft, as an athlete/shortstop but his bat is
farther along than Upton’s at the same point of development, which is why
Beckham is mentioned in some discussions as a potential No.1/No. 1 pick in
June. He has quick hands with strength in a short stroke. He also has smooth
actions with quick feet at shortstop and his throws have carry and are
routinely on target. Beckham is no relation to University of Georgia
shortstop Gordon Beckham, another potential first-round pick in 2008. He was
a 2007 Aflac All-American.—DAVID RAWNSLEY
UPDATE (5/1): Beckham’s elevated draft stock has survived all challenges
this spring and he remains on the short list for any team at the top of the
draft. There is increasing speculation two weeks before the draft that he
could be the No.1 overall pick to the Tampa Bay Rays, and almost certainly won
’t get past the fifth overall pick. Beckham’s athleticism, while not quite
measuring up to Justin Upton levels, is still supremely good and he has
received recognition for his makeup and approach to the game all spring, even
under all the intense pressure. Beckham’s stats through 24 games are what you
’d expect from a top player, .500-5-31 with 22 walks and 16 stolen bases.—
DR

Kyle Lobstein

SCOUTING REPORT (3/1): Lobstein hadn’t pitched extensively in front of large
groups of national scouts prior to this season and could soar up prospect
lists when teams bear down on him this spring. The scouts who did see him
last summer and fall regarded him as the nation’s best high school
lefthander entering the 2008 season. He already has an excellent feel for
pitching, with an ability to pound the strike zone, hit spots and move the
ball in and out almost at will. As a high school junior, he went 7-2, 0.78
with 71 strikeouts in 46 innings. A solid two-way player, he also hit
.576-5-38 as a first baseman. Lobstein is a very athletic, 6-foot-3,
180-pound southpaw with an extremely smooth and effortless delivery. He
pitches in the upper 80s now but can touch 91-92 and there is plenty more
there as he gets stronger. Lobstein also throws a curveball and changeup, and
has plus command potential with all three pitches. If he comes out of the
gate in the spring throwing in the low 90s, scouting directors and
crosscheckers will be flocking to Flagstaff.—DAVID RAWNSLEY
UPDATE (5/1): Lobstein’s stuff did not blossom this spring, as predicted,
and as a result he did not mow down hitters consistently in one of Arizona’s
lower high school classifications like he did a year ago. He went 6-2, 1.32
this spring with 11 walks and 75 strikeouts in 42 innings. Poor spring
weather and a late start coming out from basketball were partly to blame for
Lobstein’s slow start, but he rarely touched even 90—and was consistently
2-5 mph short of the velocity scouts have seen from him in the past. His
curveball showed a tight rotation and he had good feel for his changeup.
Scouts say his stuff and command are still there—it just didn’t happen for
him this spring. He didn’t come close to pitching to the level that
lefthander Brian Matusz (a top prospect in this year’s draft from the
University of San Diego) did when he was an Arizona high school senior three
years ago. Lobstein is still expected to be an early-round pick because of
the way he performed in 2007, but it may take a team with extra picks in the
early rounds to take feel comfortable taking a run at him.—ALLAN SIMPSON

Jake Jefferies

SCOUTING REPORT: Jefferies’ claim to fame might be that he is one of the
hardest players in college baseball to strike out. After fanning only 13
times in 52 games as a sophomore, he had only nine K’s in 221 at-bats with a
week remaining in the regular season. He has excellent plate coverage,
unusually acute eyesight and rarely swings and misses. Jefferies isn’t just
about making contact as he can put a charge in a ball and has solid
doubles/gap power. He has a lot of room in his large, athletic frame to get
bigger and stronger and eventually hit for more consistent power. He’s
always been a good hitter and was batting .389-4-53 for an emerging UC Davis
program. Jefferies is also a solid defensive catcher with pro-level arm
strength and very sound blocking and receiving skills. With an improved
transfer, he threw out runners at a much faster clip this season—and he
climbed draft boards as he did. In fact, Jefferies’ stock rose as quickly as
any college player in the country and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him
picked in the first 2-4 rounds.—DAVID RAWNSLEY/ALLAN SIMPSON

Ty Morrison

SCOUTING REPORT: As the new kid on the block this spring, Morrison stuck out
like a sore thumb—particularly with Oregon’s high school crop being one of
the weakest in years. His combination of a lefthanded bat, speed (6.6 seconds
in the 60) and center-field skills drew comparisons at a similar stage of
development to Boston Red Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury, an Oregon high
school product drafted in the first round three years ago out of Oregon
State. The difference, though, according to scouts is that Morrison has a
better arm than Ellsbury. There were concerns with Morrison’s bat early in
the season, especially after he failed to hit even .300 as a high school
junior, but he showed significant improvement over the course of the spring
and his interest from scouts kept pace—to a point that he became the
clear-cut top prospect in Oregon this season. Scouts are still not sold on
his true hitting ability as he batted just .382-1-12 (along with 17 stolen
bases) for Tigard High against below-average Oregon high school pitching. But
he has good hitting mechanics and should take off as he gets stronger—though
there is a lot of projection involved with his bat. Morrison arrived on the
Oregon baseball scene in a round-about way after spending his junior season
at a Chesapeake, Va., high school, only to move with his family to Hawaii
during the summer and on to Oregon in time for the 2008 season. He was a key
piece of the University of Oregon’s first recruiting class.—ALLAN SIMPSON

Mike Sheridan

SCOUTING REPORT: Sheridan gained notice as a sophomore in 2007 for his
exceptional plate discipline as he ranked No. 1 among the toughest players in
NCAA Division I to strike out. He fanned just five times in 229 at-bats—once
every 41.8 times up—while hitting .340-4-39 overall. His strikeouts more
than doubled to 11 this season, but that was an acceptable tradeoff as
Sheridan became a vastly superior all-around hitter. He batted .423 on the
season with team highs of 15 home runs and 72 RBIs. He’s more of
gap/line-drive hitter than a true home run hitter, and doesn’t project a lot
of power with wood, but he made more strides as a prospect this season than
any Virginia college player. He is considered adequate around the first-base
bag.—ALLAN SIMPSON

Shane Dyer

SCOUTING REPORT (3/1): Dyer was a 24th-round pick of his home-state Colorado
Rockies in 2006, but chose to spend his freshman year at New Mexico and his
sophomore season in Arizona. He’ll move on to Nebraska as a junior if the
draft doesn’t work out for him again in June. Scouts are impressed with Dyer
’s quick, compact arm action and three-pitch mix that includes an 88-91 mph
fastball, knuckle-curve and changeup. His knuckler has sharp depth with late
bite and is his out pitch. He struggles, at times, repeating his delivery and
his command is sporadic. After going 2-2, 4.28 in 30 innings as a freshman at
New Mexico, he elected to transfer to South Mountain when there was a
coaching change at New Mexico. He had been recruited by South Mountain out of
high school.—ALLAN SIMPSON
UPDATE (5/15): Dyer appeared to blossom this spring, going 6-2, 2.03 record
with 73 strikeouts in his first 58 innings against wood-bat competition, but
he hit a wall late in the season and finished at 6-5, 3.05 with 91 strikeouts
in 74 innings. Dyer has a solid fastball, but tended to rely on his
knuckle-curve too much, though the pitch may have been the best breaking ball
in the Arizona junco ranks. His commitment to Nebraska clouds his signability.
—AS

Anthony Scelfo

SCOUTING REPORT: Scouts will first have to figure out the football equation
with Scelfo before determining his draft status, as he was Tulane’s starting
quarterback the last nine games of the 2007 season and threw for 1,396 yards
and six touchdowns. Football is in the family blood, as his father, Frank, is
the offensive coordinator at Louisiana Tech and Scelfo was recruited to
Tulane by his uncle, Chris, Tulane’s head coach from 1999-2006. But Scelfo
has shown his desire for baseball by playing the last two summers in the
Clark Griffith League instead of preparing for the football season. There
also is the reality of his being a 5-foot-10 quarterback. Scelfo played some
shortstop this spring, in addition to the outfield and hit .322-11-46 with 53
walks, but projects in the outfield professionally. He has some juice in his
bat, plus speed and can play all three outfield positions.—DAVID RAWNSLEY