Give a scout one player to watch and he/she may get bored. Give a scout 100 players to watch and a 2.5 hour time frame and you're not going to end up with detailed information on every player. So went my journey to Braves camp yesterday.
With Atlanta's minor leaguers heading off-site for physicals in the morning, I only had the afternoon to get my first look at them. And they didn't scrimmage, only did drills, threw bullpens and took batting practice. Rather than hurrying from field to field, I chose to focus in on a small group of players, including Edward Salcedo and Arodys Vizcaino (pictured to the right) and came away with the following notes:
Edward Salcedo, SS: Salcedo has very soft hands and is a smooth defender. But he's a below-average runner who probably won't have enough range to play shortstop as his body fills out. He could be an above-average defensive third baseman. I didn't get a great look at his arm; from what I saw it seemed about average.
Salcedo has absolutely ripped forearms for a teenager. He's taller but his build reminded me a bit of Stan Javier's. Salcedo showed solid bat speed, a good weight transfer and decent balance during batting practice. He was, however, very pull-happy, often making contact out in front of the plate rather than waiting for the ball to come to him. Most of the balls he hit in batting practice were grounders or fly balls. He did not hit many on a line.
Christian Bethancourt, C: With a arm that I may give a 70 and good athleticism for a catcher, Bethancourt is an intriguing defender. He has a chance to become an above-average defensive catcher. He looked to be a slightly-below-average runner, so if he can't stay behind the plate, third base may be the next best possibility.
I wasn't impressed with Bethancourt's swing. He looks like he's a lefty who's trying out switch-hitting for the first time. The Panama native was overmatched in batting practice, frequently off-balance and without much of a plan. He has a high leg kick and doesn't consistently leverage with his back leg -- sometimes it flies out from behind him. Maybe the situational hitting drills coaches have players focus on during batting practice overwhelm him.
Arodys Vizcaino, RHP: When the coaches started practice off with some demonstrations for all the players, Vizcaino stood a few yards behind the rest of the group, not particularly focused on the instruction that was being offered. But he is still a new member of the organization and he didn't seem all that comfortable with being a center of attention, which he's going to be
Vizcaino showed a live arm during his bullpen session. He has easy velocity and is a good athlete, showing advanced body control. His build is a lot studier than most pitchers his age. Vizcaino gets the ball into the drive line early and at first glance his arm action looks good to me. He rotates his front knee back toward the rubber as he brings it up, allowing him emphasize loading his shoulders. We tend to be more cautious with young pitchers than many people, but overall I really liked what I saw out of Vizcaino yesterday.
Julio Teheran, RHP: I took a series of photos of Teheran when the team was stretching and he was smiling and laughing in almost all of them. Either he and Bethancourt are best buds or Teheran is an just a fun-loving guy. In a camp with a strong core of high-upside international talents, Teheran seemed like the ring leader of a group of kids who handled themselves differently than the older kids in camp.
But what matters is that Teheran has an explosive arm and he's able to focus when he's on the mound. While he really reaches back during his windup, he takes a long enough stride to allow his arm to get up into the drive line well before foot plant. His athleticism is visible on the mound and he repeats his mechanics well.
Teheran has huge feet and may not be done growing. Though there's only so much information you can gather from a bullpen session -- especially from a side angle -- looking at Teheran's lean frame and the way his arm launches the ball toward the plate, I think a case could be made that he carries a decent amount more upside than Vizcaino.
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