Scouting the Charleston Riverdogs

By On April 13, 2012 · 5 Comments · In Prospects

I have written extensively on the talented group of prospects that are currently on the roster of the Yankees’ low-A club, the Charleston Riverdogs. On a daily basis, the Riverdogs feature legitimate prospects at pretty much every position, including slugging catcher Gary Sanchez, athletic outfielder Mason Williams, power-hitting 3rd baseman Dante Bichette Jr, and fireballing righty Jose Campos. Consequently, they have become a very big draw for scouts and people who cover the minor leagues, who get the chance to see a plethora of prospects in action on a given day.

Last night, Mike Newman of Fangraphs was in attendance, and wrote up his impressions in a post today. The entire article is worth reading, but I’ll summarize some of Newman’s impressions here. In a few ways, Newman’s timing was not especially fortunate. Gary Sanchez had a day off, and Newman also missed Bryan Mitchell and Jose Campos, who both were dominant in their most recent outings.  However, there was plenty of prospecty goodness on display last night, as the Riverdogs beat up on a rehabbing Tim Hudson and the Rome Braves.  I asked Newman if there was a team in the minors with more legitimate prospects than the Riverdogs, and he could not think of one.

Dante Bichette, who had 3 hits on the evening, impressed Newman with his approach at the plate and ability to hit to all fields.  Mason Williams drew raves for his speed and raw tools, though Newman didn’t see a lot of lift in his swing, and worried about his propensity to swing and miss.  Angelo Gumbs impressed with what Newman said was “some of the best bat speed I’ve ever seen from a prospect” and better-than-expected defense, but also an over-aggressive approach that led to several big whiffs.  Tyler Austin, who hit 2 homers on the day, impressed with his power, though Newman acknowledged that they were hit off of mistake pitches.

Cito Culver was less impressive, as the switch-hitting shortstop drew some concerns about his awkward left-handed swing, and also about whether his physique would allow him to last as a shortstop long-term.  Neither of these are particularly new criticisms, but one would hope that Cito was working hard to fix his swing.  However, based on his early struggles (and Newman’s assessment), it would seem that he still has plenty of work to do.

The Riverdogs will continue to be an exciting team to follow throughout the minor league season, and I’m hoping to read more scouting reports over the course of the season, to track improvements and changes.  This is definitely an intriguing group of prospects, and they have the potential to become the next wave of homegrown impact players that could propel the Yankees to another dynasty.

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5 Responses to Scouting the Charleston Riverdogs

  1. T.O. Chris says:
    April 13, 2012 at 8:41 pm

    If he’s that akward from the left side it may make more sense to just go right handed full time, it’d be an adjustment at first, but a stronger batting stance 100% of the time should eventually be better than a weaker one for the majority of your ABs.

    Reply
    • Eric Schultz says:
      April 14, 2012 at 12:27 am

      I guess the organization think it is early enough in Cito’s career to still fix the lefty swing, but the early results aren’t promising. I see no reason to let him finish the season switch-hitting, but if it is really holding him back, then it may be worth stopping.

      Reply
      • T.O. Chris says:
        April 14, 2012 at 1:53 am

        Wasn’t E. Nunez a switch hitter at one point in the minors? They obviously got to a point where they saw him as better off going at it from the right side only, so I guess if it becomes neccesary with Cito they’ve been down a very similar road before and should be able to spot it early enough to transition him.

        Reply
  2. bpdelia says:
    April 14, 2012 at 1:11 am

    I like newman but this is why sinhle game scouting write ups should not be punlished. Those were williams first two ks on the year. Tony gwynn cam strike out twice against aaa guys. Everyone has bad nights. Its imoossible to tease out good hiiting f room bad pitching in one game. I would prefer write ups not be published until the scout has seen at least 3 games. I mean how can you have any opinion on a guy. He gets a bad jump and takes an awkward angle. Maybe that is the one time this month he will do it. You just happenrd to be there. Especially at fg where sample size is so important it seems absurd to me.

    Reply
    • Mike Newman says:
      April 20, 2012 at 6:08 pm

      bpdelia,

      I appreciate the comments, but to say somebody should not publish something until three looks is simply not possible and I’d ask that you actually consider the time and financial investment you are demanding – especially if you are not actually supporting prospect writers like myself through subs to sites.

      For me to travel to see a guy three times in Rome (the closest park to me) requires a combined total of 7.5 hours drive time, 9 hours at the park (without batting practice) and more than 300 miles of driving. This does not include the two hour average it takes me to transfer, convert, edit, stabilize and publish every video. In essence, you are saying, “unless Mike Newman spends close to 20 hours at the park and drops $40 in gas plus other expenses, I don’t care what he has to say.” Ask yourself, “is that reasonable?”

      My post at Fangraphs was not a scouting report on Mason Williams. It was a blurb style post with comments on seven different prospects from a scouting perspective after watching a game. it’s the same type of information I’d send or receive from a contact about players.

      If you would like to really be smart about it, take my comments and combine those with the comments from other prospect sources you trust. Be like an actual organization and consider the opinions of a variety of sources to create a well informed opinion. It’s ALWAYS the way I’ve suggested prospect fans view my writing and I am EXTREMELY straightforward about my modest scouting budget and limited resources. Three single looks is the same thing as one person seeing three games. In actuality, I’d actually prefer the former.

      Reply

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