2003 World Series: The Tools

By Josh Boyd
October 18, 2003

Above-average tools play in the major leagues. As one of the greatest general managers in the history of baseball, Pat Gillick, often says, "Average tools make average players make average teams."

Plus tools have been on display throughout this magical postseason. Whether it's Derek Jeter's 80 bat, Juan Pierre's 80 speed, Jason Giambi's 80 power, Ivan Rodriguez' 70 defense and 80 arm, these tools have had an impact in the first two rounds of the playoffs and will continue to stand out in the World Series.

We've asked our network of major league scouts to help break down the tools for all of the key players on the Marlins and Yankees.

Each player has been given present grades on the 20-80 scale (80 outstanding, 50 major league average and 20 is poor):

CATCHER

IVAN RODRIGUEZ
Hitting: 70     Power: 55     Fielding: 70     Throwing: 80     Running: 40
SCOUTING REPORT: Short, quick stroke with power from right-center to left-center . . . Drives balls to right field . . . Rejuvenated his career during second half and postseason, emerged as inspirational team leader . . . Still one of top defensive catchers in game . . . Arm might not be as good as once was, but quick release and accuracy make it a deterrent . . . Excellent at blocking balls.

JORGE POSADA
Hitting: 60     Power: 70     Fielding: 50     Throwing: 50     Running: 25
SCOUTING REPORT: Potent switch-hitting catcher with power . . . Professional hitter with disciplined approach, consistent quality plate appearances . . . Augments solid average defense because of his ability to run a pitching staff . . . Arm is a little short, but has good accuracy . . . Inconsistent receiver . . . Fair at blocking balls . . . Well-above average power from both sides of the plate . . . "The most underrated hitter on their squad."

FIRST BASEMEN

DERREK LEE
Hitting 55     Power 70     Fielding 70     Throwing 50     Running 45
SCOUTING REPORT: Developed into a Gold Glove first baseman . . . Tremendous athlete with enough versatility to play third or outfield in a pinch . . . Outstanding raw power . . . Works the count, but has holes in his long swing . . . Quick, strong hands . . . Mashes against lefties . . . Streaky, hot/cold, great mistake power . . . Has to get his arms away from his body to be effective . . . Can get pull-happy . . . Better runner underway, but takes a little time to get going; he can go first to third, and home to second.

NICK JOHNSON
Hitting 65     Power 55     Fielding 55     Throwing 50     Running 30
SCOUTING REPORT: Very selective hitter . . . Growing into power, "very easily could give him future 70 power" . . . Can get tied up inside and often struggles to catch up to good fastballs, chases up in the zone . . . "Mark Grace-type guy now" . . . Range is limited, but has good, sure hands.

SECOND BASEMEN

LUIS CASTILLO
Hitting 75     Power 25     Fielding 70     Throwing 60     Running 80
SCOUTING REPORT: Has perfected slash-and-run style approach with top-of-the-scale speed . . . May have the best range up the middle of any second baseman in the game . . . Has arm strength to make play running away from first base . . . Also he and Soriano "might have the best arm strength" for second basemen in baseball . . . Outstanding bunter puts pressure on defense.

ALFONSO SORIANO
Hitting 65     Power 70     Fielding 45     Throwing 65     Running 70
SCOUTING REPORT: Tremendous hand and bat speed . . . Vulnerable to breaking balls down and away; he will chase and has poor plate discipline . . . Not sure-handed, but has well above-average range to make spectacular play . . . Just fair hands, struggles with routine plays and routine 4-6 feeds on the double play.

THIRD BASEMEN

MIKE LOWELL
Hitting 60     Power 65     Fielding 50     Throwing 50     Running 30
SCOUTING REPORT: Makes excellent adjustments at the plate from pitch to pitch . . . Quick hands to catch up with the best fastball . . . Coming into his own after breaking his left hand in August . . . Power to all fields.

AARON BOONE
Hitting 50     Power 55     Fielding 55     Throwing 55     Running 50
SCOUTING REPORT: Average to solid tools across the board . . . Hasn't adjusted well to New York and the American League . . . Chasing out of the zone . . . Good athlete, versatile . . . Overrated defensively . . . Uses whole field, needs to stay line drive and gap to gap.

SHORTSTOPS

ALEX GONZALEZ
Hitting 40     Power 55     Fielding 70     Throwing 60     Running 45
SCOUTING REPORT: Hot/cold hitter with inside pull power . . . Undisciplined, "chases too many out of the strike zone" . . . Quick feet, plus range, Gold Glove defense . . . Excellent on the DP turn and feed . . . Makes highlight reel plays

DEREK JETER
Hitting 80     Power 55     Fielding 70     Throwing 65     Running 70
SCOUTING REPORT: Off the chart instincts and championship-caliber makeup . . . Clutch hitter because has a consistent approach resulting in quality at-bats . . . Has huge hole down and in . . . Inside-outs ball to right field, also has the quickness to get the barrel on fastball in . . . Has plus range in the hole and has all but patented the jump-throw play . . . Some knocks on him defensively, but "I'll give him some extra credit for being so steady, he's not going to beat himself" . . . Still gets down the line as well as any, occasional 80, and has tremendous instincts for taking the extra base. "He cuts the bases in half."

LEFT FIELDERS

JEFF CONINE
Hitting 60     Power 60     Fielding 50     Throwing 50     Running 40
SCOUTING REPORT: Surprising athlete, plays "occasional 80 defense" in left field . . . Can play third . . . Professional, disciplined approach at the plate thanks to his ability to recognize pitches early . . . Sprays hits to all fields . . . Tremendous makeup.

HIDEKI MATSUI
Hitting 55     Power 50     Fielding 50     Throwing 50     Running 50
SCOUTING REPORT: Hard worker, hustles . . . Gets good jumps and makes good reads in the outfield: "Not pretty, but seemed to make the plays" . . . Has average arm strength, though it doesn't always play up . . . Makes accurate throws and hits the cutoff man . . . Solid fundamentally . . . Gets out of the box well, 4.14 seconds.

CENTER FIELDERS

JUAN PIERRE
Hitting 70     Power 20     Fielding 55     Throwing 30     Running 80
SCOUTING REPORT: Tremendous bat-handling skills, one of the toughest hitters to strike out . . . Can slap ball by third baseman to opposite field . . . Outstanding bunter with blinding speed . . . Dangerous basestealer, good jumps . . . Often misplays balls in center, but speed can make up for his bad reads . . . Top-of-the-scale work ethic, desire and makeup

BERNIE WILLIAMS
Hitting 60     Power 60     Fielding 55     Throwing 30     Running 50
SCOUTING REPORT: Dangerous switch-hitter with more power from the right side . . . Patient, works count . . . Doesn't run as well as he used to, thanks to knee injuries, ranges from 40-55 . . . Still fine in center field "because of his instincts and reads and angles," but not near past form . . . Arm is poor; opposing runners take extra base at will . . . Gliding runner, not a basestealing threat.

RIGHT FIELDERS

MIGUEL CABRERA
Hitting 60     Power 65     Fielding 60     Throwing 70     Running 40
SCOUTING REPORT: "Going to be an 80 hitter, and have a chance to have two 80s real quick" . . . Unfazed by playoff atmosphere . . . Plus bat speed . . . Shows outstanding plate coverage, stays back on offspeed and punishes fastballs . . . Versatile, can play third base and left field.

KARIM GARCIA
Hitting 50     Power 55     Fielding 50     Throwing 55     Running 35
SCOUTING REPORT: Dead pull hitter . . . Overly aggressive at times . . . Has some raw arm strength, but erratic . . . Raw pop doesn't translate into game power . . . Platooner, can't hit lefties.

DESIGNATED HITTER

JUAN ENCARNACION
Hitting 50     Power 65     Fielding 65     Throwing 70     Running 50
SCOUTING REPORT: Plus raw power . . . Guess hitter . . . Good breaking ball hitter . . . Good athlete with powerful throwing arm and above-average range.

JASON GIAMBI
Hitting 70     Power 80     Fielding 40     Throwing 20     Running 20
SCOUTING REPORT: Has been off-balance during postseason, may have corrected in final two games against Boston . . . Light-tower power, can hit fastball, offspeed out . . . Has competitive at-bats and has a discerning eye, though susceptible to good fastballs up and in . . . Liability in the field.

GAME 1 STARTERS

BRAD PENNY
Fastball 70     Curveball 50     Changeup 50     Control 60
SCOUTING REPORT: Sheer power . . . Full-effort delivery, tops out at 99 mph, pitches at 95-97 . . . Inconsistent secondary stuff: curveball and changeup can go from above-average to below-average from start to start . . . Fastball can straighten out . . . Competitive, sometimes to a fault.

DAVID WELLS
Fastball 50     Curveball 70     Changeup 55     Control 80
SCOUTING REPORT: Big-game pitcher . . . Commands fastball at 86-91 mph . . . "If Zito's curveball is an 80, then Wells' is a 70" . . . At times he gets a little too much of the plate with his curveball when it sweeps instead of drops out of sight . . . Deceptive.

GAME 2 STARTERS

DONTRELLE WILLIS
Fastball 60     Slider 60     Changeup 50     Control 50
SCOUTING REPORT: Touches 93 mph with lively fastball . . . Creates deception with exaggerated leg kick and hip turn . . . Above-average sink and run movement . . . Command is average, but it "comes and goes" . . . Emotional . . . Inexperienced . . . Athletic.

MIKE MUSSINA
Fastball 50     Curveball 65     Splitter 55     Control 75
SCOUTING REPORT: Diverse arsenal keeps hitters guessing . . . "Which pitch? He's got about 10 of them" . . . Knuckle-curveball features sharp downward movement, strikeout pitch . . . Fastball velocity is solid average, but "add in his placement, command and life with the other stuff and it plays up" . . . Added effective splitter with downer bite and tumble this year . . . Provides hitter with different looks and angles--drops down Laredo style, mixes in a slider, and uses a sinker against lefties from a high angle.

GAME 3 STARTERS

JOSH BECKETT
Fastball 80     Curveball 70     Changeup 70     Control 55
SCOUTING REPORT: Three-pitch power arsenal . . . Starting to trust his changeup, which has developed into his second-best pitch, an 86-88 mph pitch with above-average movement . . . Touches 99-100, sits 93-97 with life . . . Outthinks himself at times . . . Competitive.

ANDY PETTITTE
Fastball 55     Cutter 70     Curveball 60     Changeup 50     Control 65
SCOUTING REPORT: 85-87 mph cutter is bread and butter pitch, a "70 or 80 pitch, runs under righthanded hitters hands and it's impossible to hit" . . . Throws 88-92 four-seamer to induce groundballs and jam jobs . . . Tops out at 94, best velocity of his career . . . Doesn’t use circle-changeup often . . . Lefthanders are more effective against him than righties . . . "May try to make the perfect pitch to often, wants to make it a slider to go down (against lefties)"

GAME 4 STARTERS

MARK REDMAN
Fastball 30     Curveball 45     Changeup 65     Control 60
SCOUTING REPORT: Fastball plays as about a 40 pitch, "and he's got to be fine with it, he can't afford mistakes" . . . Sets fastball up with above-average changeup; "When he does that, his fastball looks like its 96-97" . . . Fastball velocity: 84-86 . . . Bad arm action adds to deception . . . Lives on the outside of the plate . . . Occasional average curveball.

ROGER CLEMENS
Fastball 70     Splitter 70     Slider 60     Control 65
SCOUTING REPORT: "He's still the Rocket" . . . Pitches at 92-94, and can rely on split when fastball velocity isn't there . . . Split plays up as an 80 when he has 95 mph heat . . . Locates fastball, rides four-seamer up in the zone, both sides of the plate . . . "Can own the inner half of the plate and run it away" . . . Breaking ball is mainly a show-me pitch, but can be an effective weapon when he needs it.

MARLINS BULLPEN

SETUP

BRADEN LOOPER
Fastball 70     Slider 50     Control 50
SCOUTING REPORT: Electric arm with lively mid-90s fastball . . . Hittable . . . Works behind in count.

CARL PAVANO
Fastball 60     Slider 55     Changeup 50      Control 65
SCOUTING REPORT: Not overpowering with 89-92 mph fastball, touches 94 mph . . . Basically a two-pitch guy with plus command . . . Pitches off the fastball to set up his slider and throws his changeup to keep lefties at bay . . . His keys are location and working the four quadrants.

CHAD FOX
Fastball 65     Slider 65     Control 50
SCOUTING REPORT: Pumps 93-96 mph heat with marginal command . . . Relies on 84-87 mph slider with good, late tilt . . . Effective against both lefties and righties.

CLOSER

UGUETH URBINA
Fastball 60     Slider 60     Changeup 60     Control 50
SCOUTING REPORT: Resilient, durable arm . . . Throws from different angles . . . Max-effort delivery with emotional, closer-type makeup . . . Dangerous closer with three weapons . . . Slider features occasional split action.

YANKEES BULLPEN

SETUP

JOSE CONTRERAS
Fastball 75     Slider 60     Splitter 70     Control 50
SCOUTING REPORT: At his best when he commands his 96 mph fastball to set up his devastating split-finger . . . Split can be unhittable, runs away from lefties . . . Doesn't use hard slider enough . . . Still inconsistent; command wavers from inning to inning . . . Easy gas, effortless delivery.

JEFF NELSON
Fastball 55     Slider 65     Control 40
SCOUTING REPORT: Gives a deceptive look to righties from a cross-body, low-three quarters release . . . Hits 91-92 with good movement, but fair command . . . One-plane frisbee slider breaks across plate after starting behind righthanders back . . . Often relies on slider.

CLOSER

MARIANO RIVERA
Cutter 80     Control 70
SCOUTING REPORT: Throws one pitch, a 94-96 mph cutter with late, short break . . . 80 life on cut-fastball . . . Hitters can't center the ball, producing a lot of broken bats . . . Resilient arm for two-inning saves . . . "With that (cutter) I don’t even know if he needs command, he just throws it to the middle of the plate and it moves to the black" . . . Aggressive on inner half . . . Can ride four-seamer up in zone by best fastball hitters.