battlekow

Update on 41st-round pick (and 2007 39th-round pick) Joe Scott: Cal State Fullerton baseball player works toward bachelor's degreeBy JERRY SOIFERThe Press-Enterprise Corona Centennial High graduate Joe Scott has never allowed his baseball ambition to obscure his vision of life after his playing days are done. He has compiled enough units at Cal State Fullerton to be a year away from graduating while being a member of the nationally ranked baseball team at Cal State Fullerton University. Scott has played twice in the College World Series. Scott, 21, is due to graduate in June with a bachelor's degree in kinesiolology. This summer he's soaking up all he can learn about the game and Alaska while playing shortstop for the Anchorage Glacier Pilots in a wood-bat league that is part of the National Baseball Congress. Pros swing wood bats at all levels. Scott has swung an aluminum bat in college, high school and young leagues. "It's kind of fun," Scott said. "It brings me back to how baseball is meant to be played, how they play in the major leagues. It's hard to hit with a wood bat. ... It feels like the major leagues. You're playing every day." Scott said he is striving to improve his hitting while staying steady in the field. Life isn't all baseball. He is staying with a host family, Arnie and Wendy McKinnon. They took him out fishing on Prince William Sound. He saw a glacier break apart during a flight in a private plane. "It's not what I expected," said Scott by phone. "When you hear of Alaska, you think of sled dogs and igloos." The team has supplied him with a courtesy car, which has forced him to learn how to use a stick shift. "The first couple of days I was stalling and screeching out," he said. Scott's biological clock has had to adjust to summer in Alaska. "The sun really doesn't go down until 12:30 a.m.," Scott said. "It comes back up at 3 a.m. It's never dark. Most of our games start at 7 p.m. We're playing in the sun the whole time." He hit .289, and had 11 RBI and 12 runs scored while playing for Cal State Fullerton last spring in a difficult season. Scott missed the start due to surgery. When he came back, freshman Christian Colon had taken the shortstop position where Scott started the previous season. He was moved to second base and started 22 of the Titans' final 43 games. The Titans finished with a 41-22 record. Scotts' girlfriend, Alicia Payne, said, "His fans were more frustrated than him about not playing. He was smart about playing his role and not pushing his coaches (to let him play). He was more patient than me and his mom." Scott has a backup plan about playing professional baseball. He will have a degree in case it doesn't last too long, Payne said. "He's very level-headed," said Payne, a fellow Corona High grad and Cal State Fullerton student. Scott was a late-round selection by the Milwaukee Brewers in the recent Major League draft. He turned the Brewers down in 2007 when they picked him. Scott said there's a chance he might sign a professional contract if he plays well this summer. http://www.pe.com/imagesdaily/2008/07-04/wspot04_400.jpgCorona resident Joe Scott, a Centennial High School graduate, runs the bases for the Cal State Fullerton baseball team.

I just talked to Cody Scarpetta, and he says that he'll see his first game action one week from now, next Friday, for the Baby Brewers. I'm excited to see what he can do.

Yeah, the TV guys were talking about that a couple days ago too; Parra's a few days over, service time-wise. It's purely based on days on the 25-man roster, so it doesn't really have anything to do with how good of a prospect he is. It's just a classification for awards purposes.

Ken Rosenthal says LaPorta is on the table, and he and Escobar might get packaged together:

http://www.morphthing.com/showimage/2/ebc1ea2db57cad7e8b1e2d5e78774134/0/6075619/blanks-jpg-and-brantley-jpg.jpeg

Yeah, he tops out around 95.

LaPorta got back on the board today with his first HR since June 14th.

Hitaniel Arias has missed two games in a row now.

Nelson gets picked for the Freely Available Talent All-Stars team getting put together by Marc Hulet at Baseball Analysts:

Tyson's start gets a mention in BA's Rookie League Daily Dish:

Gamel was the Southern League Prospect of the Day in BA's Daily Dish for the fourth consecutive day:

Nice game for Efrain Nieves: Four innings allowing only a leadoff triple in the 7th that scored on a WP. 4/0 K/BB.

Nelson has much better plate discpline and is left-handed, so I'll take him. Neither has a great chance, though. As for trade value, it depends on the team, I suppose. Some might be wary of Nelson's past stagnation and prefer the newer face riding on the coattails of Huntsville's fame, while others might prefer Nelson because, as I said, he's simply the better player.

Huntsville lost on a walk-off homer. Would be nice if either Sandoval or Aguilar could get it together.

Hey, Cain inaugurates the resumption (finally) of the suspended game with a three-run bomb. Awesome.

I'm not surprised that Brantley has a below-average arm, but I'm surprised that it would be noticeably worse than Gillespie's. I just thought that Gillespie had a really weak arm from what I'd read.

Brett Wallace, the Cards' 3B of the future, is making his pro debut tonight for Quad Cities.

...and the BC continued game still hasn't started, let alone the scheduled one.

For the third straight day, Gamel is the Southern League Prospect of the Day in BA's Daily Dish, sharing the honor with Alcides Escobar:

link Figured this would be helpful to some.

Brantley's arm is weaker than Gillespie's, but still around average? That means that Gillespie's arm is average or above, which I find hard to believe given his surgery and the fact that he's essentially limited to LF because of it.

Considering Jeffress' potential, I think he's having a better season than Garrison or Inman.

Is that counting the thumbs or not?

Maybe LaPorta was standing on an equatorial bulge.

Gamel makes the Daily Dish for the second straight day, and Escobar & Gillespie also get mentions: