It seems like the most fertile grounds for growing pro prospects in baseball are the coasts and the south, but Kris Kwak is one of those guys who shows you why regions like the upper midwest shouldn’t be overlooked. That’s where you’re going to find some hidden gems.

I saw two versions of Jake Long in 2012 — one in June and one in July. In the first outing he got the start and struggled (and that was about his only bad outing of the year); in the second, he came on in relief and cruised. I like to see a guy in different settings, and I like to see a guy struggle. That may sound weird…

A while back, I did a list of some of the fastest home-to-first runners in the 2012 Alaska Baseball League. I also clocked catcher pop times; that is, the time it takes a catcher to make his throw to second base against a stealing runner. The watch starts when the ball hits the catcher’s mitt [...]

Tanner Mendonca caught my eye late in the season. I filmed this video in late July last year and I was very impressed with what I saw. As you can see, Mendonca has a good repertoire of pitches. His four-seamer reaches a respectable 90-92 mph and he has a gnarly curveball in his arsenal…

Tanner Rust is a two-year Alaska Baseball League player, coming up with the Oilers in 2011 before making the move to the Bucs with GM Shawn Maltby for 2012. Rust has served primarily as a catcher in his ABL tenure but has played around the field as well. In 2011 he went to the NBC World Series with the Oilers, where he had a homer and 5 RBIs in 7 games. Check out his scouting video below:

There’s a lot of voodoo involved in player-watching but timing runners with a stopwatch is one of the few pursuits I’ve found which gives you hard data. That’s why I’ve had a stopwatch with me every time I’ve gone to a game from day one at this blog. 2012 was no exception and I got [...]

Swick, the infielder out of Southern California, is a guy I really like. He’s a junior headed into the 2013 MLB Draft and I am very confident he’ll get drafted. He had four tools that I thought were above the curve. He made solid contact for average, showed some pop in his bat, and he could run and throw well. Perfect Game ranked him #17 on their 2012 Alaska top prospects list and for good reason.

Jake Alvarez came up to Alaska with the Oilers in 2012 and struggled a bit at the plate before going home with an injury. While his stat sheet up here isn’t pretty, I think he’s a player to keep an eye on for two reasons. First, because he’s signed to come back up with the Oilers in 2013, so for those of you fans who didn’t pick him up on your radar last year…

I really wanted to highlight Cullen’s speed in this video, because I think that he has excellent footspeed which might have gone unnoticed by folks who just look at the SB column of the stat sheet. I split and counted the frames in this video to get as accurate time to 1B as my video camera’s framerate would allow (it agreed with my stopwatch, just so you know).

Today I’d like to share a video I’ve put a lot of time into, featuring a Chinooks pitcher out of Westmont College: Ryan Sullivan. I chose Sullivan to be my “guinea pig” for rolling out a new pitcher scouting video format I’ve been working on for about three years now, so let me know what you think! Anyway, as you can hopefully see from this video, Sullivan works with a fastball and a good curve. He has good control of both pitches.

Blake Miller came up with the Goldpanners in 2012 and took the league by storm. Upon completion of the season, the Western Oregon junior logged a .365 batting average — good for second best in the ABL, second only to Clint Freeman. Breaking down the video below, his swing looks a little long to me, but he keeps his hands back and stays down on the ball well.

Stephen Wadsworth split time behind the plate in 2012 with second-year ABL player Tanner Rust. The right-handed batter has completed his junior year at Holy Cross, a Division I institution in the Patriot League. Upon completion of the 2013 collegiate season the catcher will be eligible for the MLB draft, next spring.

While the rest of his Razorbacks teammates are in Omaha contesting for the College World Series, Spoon — who has redshirted his Freshman season of collegiate baseball — took a flight in the other direction and hit the field in Alaska. On the early ABL season, Spoon has started every game for the Pilots.

1B Trey Martin 2011 AIA Fire Height: 6’4″ – Weight: 220lb Bats: Right – Throws: Right School: Wheaton College Draft: 2012 (Junior), 2013 (Senior) All Posts Regarding Trey Martin

2011 Anchorage Bucs’ Boomer Collins is a redshirt junior at Dallas Baptist. During that season he spent time at the top of the Bucs lineup, making consistent contact and using his heads-up baserunning approach to put himself in scoring position. The hard-hitting right-handed outfielder will be available for the 2012 MLB draft.