(Joseph) Scott Bittle
The Yankees took Scott Bittle with their third pick in the draft today – the 75th overall section. Here’s what Baseball America had to say about him coming into the day:
Taken by the Yankees in the 48th round of last year’s draft, Bittle elected not to sign and transferred to Ole Miss this season from Northwest Texas CC. He was thrown into the closer’s role for the Rebels and has dominated SEC hitters all season, putting up Nintendo type numbers. He has tallied an almost 5 to 1 K/BB ratio, striking out close to two batters per inning pitched. Uncharacteristic for a closer, Bittle’s fastball is just an average pitch, with velocity between the 88-91 mph range. However, Bittle pitches mainly off his cut fastball—a devastating late breaking pitch in the mid-80s that has two-plane movement similar to a slider. Bittle is able to command this pitch down in the zone and creates a ton of swings and misses by starting it just above the knees and having it drop just below the strike-zone. He also effectively mixes in a changeup, freezing unsuspecting hitters. At 6-foot-1, 212 pounds, and without an above-average fastball, Bittle does not fit the typical closer’s profile in the major leagues. He will most likely be a long relief or setup man in the pros. Once signed, he should move quickly as his command and stuff are close to major league ready.
If it were me, with this pick, I would have taken Jordy Mercer or Roger Kieschnick. Or, if you had to take a pitcher, then go with Zach Stewart or Stephen Fife. I just don’t get what the Yankees were doing with this pick or the one before it. It’s like they’re trying to prove that they’re smarter than everyone else by picking guys ahead of where most people had them – in terms of an expected slot.
I would not be shocked to see none of the Yankees first three picks in this draft make it big in the majors. It’s not that they cannot do it – it’s just that it doesn’t look like they have a lot of things in their favor.
Are you nuts? This is a guy they already wanted, who can have an immediate impact, and has one of the best pitches in the draft. It’s got nothing to do with being “smarter” or anything, its that this is the guy they wanted. Period. This is a guy who is easily projectable as a setup guy, and the nothing that he doesn’t have anything in his favor is ridiculous. Read that BA report again and look at his #s, tell me where you see anything that says he won’t be anything but successful.
Its okay to take issue with the picks, but offering “your guys” based on what you have read and then trying to claim the Yanks are being cute is just silly.
Yeah, no offense… and I’m sure you’ll think I’m saying this because I don’t like you or something or to be a contrarian… but when it comes to the baseball draft, the fan knows little to nothing about these guys (especially the post-first-rounders) and their opinions are usually meaningless. I say that about you, me, and just about everyone else. The Yankees know more about these players than we ever could. If they drafted them, then they scouted them extensively. I’m betting you’ve never seen these kids play. There’s a lot more to drafting players than reading a few scouting reports.
Again — I say this for EVERYONE. Not just you. Arguing draft picks with a team — especially one who has found gems the last few years — is highly ridiculous.
Really — who knew who Ian Kennedy was? Who knew who Zach McAllister was? Hughes wasn’t even that well known.
This is one aspect of baseball where you really need to leave it to the experts.
~~~~Read that BA report again and look at his #s, tell me where you see anything that says he won’t be anything but successful.~~~~
“At 6-foot-1, 212 pounds, and without an above-average fastball, Bittle does not fit the typical closer’s profile in the major leagues. He will most likely be a long relief or setup man in the pros.”
You don’t draft middle relievers with your 3rd pick in the draft. Middle guys are like second baseman – they develop internally, being moved from other roles. I have nothing against the Yankees drafting this guy – but, not with the 3rd pick.
~~This is one aspect of baseball where you really need to leave it to the experts.~~
That’s fine. And, the “experts” at Baseball America had Brittle as the 97th best prospect in the draft – which means there were 22 guys better than him, in theory, for the 75th pick in the draft…where the Yankees took him.
“You don’t draft middle relievers with your 3rd pick in the draft. Middle guys are like second baseman – they develop internally, being moved from other roles. I have nothing against the Yankees drafting this guy – but, not with the 3rd pick.”
Says who? In a draft where you have already selected a guy who projects as a future #1 or closer but has a long road ahead, and coming after a draft where you picked similar players, a guy who can make an almost immediate impact exactly where the Yankees need that, is exactly who you DO draft. There were a lot of guys rated above Joba where he was drafted too, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have taken him there.
You are treating the 3rd round of baseball as if its the 1st, and yet, there were a whole bunch of relievers taken in the 1st round too…
Maybe YOU don’t take him there, but a guy with those #s, a major league ready plus plus pitch, and someone they already coveted, you don’t pass on…
Sure, the Yankees may have tried to look “smarter” than everyone else, but you CERTAINLY are trying to look smarter than them with your “alternatives…”
What I was politely trying to say was: how can you argue for or against players you have not seen, especially when the argument is against a group of people who have scouted said players for months and in some cases years?
Anyone notice his 16 K/9 this year? Never mind what protocol is on drafting middle relievers, the guy obviously has something working if he can strike out guys at such a ridiculous rate. From everything I read, he gets it done with a cutter and a changeup. That sounds like he’s the lovechild of Mo and Trevor Hoffman.
Finally, as Baileywalk said, since none of us have likely even seen him pitch, let’s let the scouts tell us what they think, rather than following protocol. Maybe they’re high on him for a good reason?
[...] Gerrit Cole. However, he agrees with me that Jeremy Bleich was an overdraft. The scout also concurs with my opinion that Scott Bittle was an odd pick at # 3 – considering how he [...]