Bleeding Yankee Blue: THOSE WHO CAN, DO. BUT THOSE WHO CAN'T....

Thursday, October 20, 2016

THOSE WHO CAN, DO. BUT THOSE WHO CAN'T....

try to scout?

Keyword here is try.

I read an article yesterday that really got me laughing. I have a lot of appreciation for baseball scouts. There are some great ones out there that have an eye for discovering talent. Heck, that's my dream job. However, one scout made a very critical critique and didn't bother to explain his thought process. It sounded amateur to me. So this makes me wonder is this like the old cliche of "those who can, do. Those who can't, teach?" Hmmmm...

Since being traded to the Yankees Dillon Tate has been under a microscope. We have a lot of faith in him even if some others don't. We have been plugging him a lot recently, in fact read DILLON TATE WILL BE SOMETHING SPECIAL. Can the Yankees turn this kid into a starter or is he better suited as a relief pitcher? It's the answer that everyone wants RIGHT NOW, but he's 22 and still learning. He's also adjusting to a new team. It's too early to give him a title yet however, one scout seems to have a crystal ball with all of the answers and knows Tate does not have what it takes to be a starter. He doesn't want to explain himself and just wants us to take him for his word. Funny, right?

(Photo by: Bill Mitchell)
I'm still laughing but it is true! Tate was a number four draft pick in 2015 and this "mysterious" scout called him a "nice kid" with a strong work ethic and great arm but he "can't pitch." This scout supposedly has deep knowledge of the Yankees farm system but has no supporting argument for any of these blunt statements. All he will say is "I can't get into too much of why I know this, but if Tate doesn't change his pre-game and if he doesn't change how he goes about his work, he'll never succeed...period." You can read the rest of his opinions HERE. Please, teach us all and share your knowledge.

So okay Mr. Mysterious Scout....we are just supposed to take you for your word here? Tate is a prospect in low A Charleston for a reason. The Yankees know that he has some issues to iron out. He's young and he has raw talent. He also just switched teams and the Yankees have him in Arizona training down in the Arizona Fall League. He has areas to work on. Good thing for him he has time on his side and he's not too old where he won't change his ways. In fact, Tate himself acknowledged himself what he needs to do "I've been throwing fastball, slider and changeup. The one thing I've noticed is that just in terms of how I'm going to get my outs, I realized I need to use all my pitches to get my outs and make it a little bit easier to keep batters honest. That's all part of the learning process for me." You can read more of what Tate had to say in Baseball America's write up HERE.

So Mr. Mysterious Scout...about that nice kid with the good work ethic that you said can't pitch it sure sounds like Tate has the right idea here. He has more reasoning on why he WILL be successful compared to your reasoning on why he WON'T be successful. He has the drive and the building blocks to be that successful pitcher. I hope he proves you wrong. Maybe next time you decide to scout a player you actually put together a structured critique with some knowledge behind it otherwise people like me will point and laugh at you. Yes, I am still laughing.