Scouts will have to pick Cal Poly outfielder Grant Desme based on his current body of work, because his season is over.

Desme was hit by a pitch in Sunday’s series finale against UC Davis, though the umpire did not grant him first base, claiming the ball hit the bat. After a wild pitch advanced the runners, Desme was intentionally walked, and he stayed in the game two more innings before taking himself out. [...] Continue Reading »

Last week in Puerto Rico, a large, week-long series of workouts and games were held at a pre-draft bonanza that was attended by more than 60 scouts, including dozens of crosscheckers and a few scouting directors. [...] Continue Reading »

Max Scherzer’s first official start of the season was everything he and the Fort Worth Cats had hoped it would be. But at least one scout wasn’t as impressed.

Pitching for the independent American Association club, the righthander allowed only one hit while striking out eight in five innings. Scherzer was selected by the Diamondbacks with the 11th pick in last year’s draft, but he has yet to sign. He’ll re-enter next month’s draft if Arizona doesn’t sign him by May 31. [...] Continue Reading »

CHAPEL HILL–One of the many benefits of Baseball America’s home base being in the Triangle is having three Atlantic Coast Conference schools within 30 minutes of each other, and Georgia Tech pays a visit to North Carolina this weekend.

The series got off to a poor start for the Yellow Jackets when lefty David Duncan, a draft-eligible sophomore who entered Friday’s start red hot and drawing plenty of attention from scouts, was knocked around in a 10-3 loss in the opener.

But Sunday has been a different story, as Georgia Tech’s top two draft-eligible prospects have blistered the ball today. [...] Continue Reading »

Seton Hall Prep High (West Orange, N.J.) senior righty Rick Porcello threw a seven inning perfect game Saturday.

The consensus top prep pitcher in the country needed just 77 pitches, 60 of which were strikes, to shutout Newark (N.J.) Academy 2-0.

“Today, everything just came together and I was able to throw any of my pitches for strikes in any count and at any point in the game,” said Porcello from his home Saturday. “I would say today was my best performance up to this point.”

Porcello said his fastball, “hit 97 (mph) in the first inning and 95 in the seventh.”

Other than Georgia’s trio of Matt Wieters, Josh Smoker and Jason Heyward, the Deep South doesn’t have much to offer in the way of high-end talent for this year’s draft.

Alabama’s crop suffered a blow recently. Hunter Morris saw his 2007 season and high school career come to an end last week, not only because Grissom High in Huntsville, Ala., lost in the state quarterfinals, but he broke his fifth metacarpal while taking a swing. [...] Continue Reading »

As many junior college seasons were wrapping up across the country, players who were drafted last year and remained under control could begin negotiating with the teams that picked them.

We broke down the most notable draft-and-follow (DFE) prospects in our most recent Draft Dish and there are some interesting second-tier junior college players worth mentioning, as well. [...] Continue Reading »

High school hitters have garnered most of the attention in California this draft season, and the best high school pitchers in the state reside north of the L.A. area, where most of the top hitters are concentrated. Righty Kyle Blair, a University of San Diego signee, has established himself as the top pitcher in the state because of his combination of an above-average curveball, a fastball that sits in the average range and hits a tick or so above, and solid athleticism. [...] Continue Reading »

Chatsworth (Calif.) High shortstop Mike Moustakas entered the season with high hopes. Paired with his prep teammate, third baseman Matt Dominguez, the duo was among the best pairs of high school teammates on any field in the nation, but in the minds of most scouts, Moustakas was behind Dominguez and Cypress (Calif.) High’s Josh Vitters, as well as several others, in terms of draft position. In fact, some scouts considered him a lock to go to college due to his strong commitment to Southern California and the fact that Scott Boras will be his advisor.

With the way the draft goes, Moustakas may yet become a Trojan. Moustakas has shredded all preseason expectations for him, though, with a scintillating season that has made California history. Heather Gripp of the L.A. Daily News e-mails that Tuesday night, in the first inning of a Chatsworth victory against El Camino High, Moustakas hit his 20th homer of the season and the 48th of his career. That set a new California career prep record, and Moustakas is now one homer away from tying the single-season mark. He also tripled and walked twice Tuesday. [...] Continue Reading »

Mondays might as well be dubbed “Hunt and Peck Day” for scouts, because it’s the day usually spent by most of them in front of a computer catching up on writing reports from the weekend’s action. But if you’re in the Northeast, you had a great opportunity Monday to catch Matt Harvey, a righthander from Fitch HS in Groton, Conn. [...] Continue Reading »

In case you missed it, we have posted the story on BA’s main page that ESPN2 will televise the draft on June 7. Given that not too many years ago MLB didn’t even release the results of the draft until weeks after the fact, it’s a revolutionary step and one that’s long overdue. Kudos to all for getting it done.

If Max Scherzer’s biggest test was proving that his fastball is back, he passed his first test on Friday.

Scherzer sat at 93-94 mph, and one scout had him touching 98 mph in his abbreviated 3 1/3 inning outing during Friday’s nigh exhibition against Shreveport. He struck out the side in the second inning and struck out six overall while allowing one hit. [...] Continue Reading »

Former Missouri righthander Max Scherzer allowed one hit and struck out six in his professional debut Saturday night, pitching 3 2/3 innings of shutout ball for the Fort Worth Cats of the independent American Association. The Cats beat Shreveport 6-0 in the game. [...] Continue Reading »

Unsigned 2006 first-round pick Max Scherzer was supposed to make his pro debut with the independent Fort Worth Cats of the American Association tonight in an exhibition game at Baylor, but heavy rains in Waco have led to the game’s cancellation.

Scherzer’s first start now will be in an exhibition game in Fort Worth against the Shreveport Sports this Friday, May 4. Scherzer’s pitch count will be limited on Friday so that he can go again on May 7 in another exhibition and then resume the schedule that had already been set out for him–with his first regular season start coming in Fort Worth on May 12. [...] Continue Reading »