Another year older, another year wiser. With each new Major League Baseball Entry Draft comes a new wave of talent to the prospect forefront. While scouts and fans alike have no problems picking favorites with regards to the amateurs making their way onto the radar, an untapped realm of prospect assessment is left untapped. In this new series, the amateur talents of those from different draft classes will be compared with and evaluated against one another in the Project Prospect Time Machine.
Pass Two: Clayton Kershaw meets Madison Bumgarner
In both the 2006 and 2007 draft classes, the talent evaluation world was able to draw an unchallenged consensus with regards to which prospect earned the title of "The Best High School Lefty:" Clayton Kershaw and Madison Bumgarner, respectively.
Now is the time to pin Kershaw and Bumgarner against one another.
With the No. 7 overall selection in the 2006 Draft, the Los Angeles Dodgers pounced on Kershaw, 19, a true Texas (Highland Park H.S.) flamethrower. No player was burning up the draft boards faster than the 6-foot-4, 210-pounder come draft day, and just one year later, it’s pretty easy to see why no one was putting Kershaw’s flame out.
It’s easy to be left in awe of the Kershaw's mid to high 90’s fastball, but another true plus pitch is left in the dark, as Kershaw’s curveball can be just as dominating as his fastball. With both of his pitches coming out of an identical arm slot, professional hitters will be shaking their heads all the way back to the dugout like Kershaw’s former high school foes did before them.
Fast-forward to 2007 and it appears that the teenage sensation is well on his way to a very promising big league career.
The San Francisco Giants organization gave Madison Bumgarner, 18, a home to round out the top 10 overall selections just a couple of weeks ago. A product of South Caldwell (Hudson, N.C.) H.S., Bumgarner left scouts salivating due to his physical prowess.
A 6-foot-5, 220-pounder, Bumgarner holds the blazing, mid 90’s fastball that simply cannot be taught. Much like his counterpart, Bumgarner carries a breaking ball with a good deal of potential. Bumgarner’s slider, while best described as erratic for the time being, shows the sharp, late-breaking action of a Major League out pitch.
And that’s where the confrontation ends.
While the Giants are left to fine tune their future, high-performance vessel, the Dodgers need to apply just a bit of polish.
As Madison Bumgarner refines his delivery and slider, as well as needing to fix up his nonexistent changeup, Clayton Kershaw is left to repeat his current means of success. The development of Kershaw’s arm slot has created an uncanny approach, resulting in a great deal of command and consistency.
High school pitchers who join the pro ranks with the polished finish of a Clayton Kershaw are not something to get used to. This isn’t to say that Bumgarner will not develop in the same mold, rather that Kershaw is the cast by which the mold was created.
Have a duo that you would like to see pass through the Project Prospect Time Machine? Adam Loberstein can be reached at adamloberstein@gmail.com.