Making your best pitch: MLB scouts offer insight on how local ballplayers can get noticed

As the locally built Lincoln Potters drove through their abbreviated summer season with limited spectators in attendance, there were a handful in the McBean Stadium seats who could play pivotal roles in their futures. They're the guys with the notebooks and radar guns, usually behind home plate. Several Major League Baseball scouts annually include the Potters with many other collegiate wood bat summer league teams as part of their daily duties of reporting to their big-league clubs. "Lincoln does a great job," said Mike Sansoe, who's scouted players from the Oregon-California border to Fresno and into Western Nevada for the Pittsburgh Pirates organization since 2011. "They have a great facility, a good atmosphere on a normal year with the crowd. They have a GM and an organization that cares about their players, and that landscape is really appealing for a kid that needs to get ready for pro ball." A former farmhand in the San Diego Padres organization, Sansoe knows the importance of being scouted as a player, especially for the current summer leaguers playing in a COVID-shortened season. Despite the Potters' abrupt decision Thursday to terminate the remainder of their 2020 season due to a positive COVID-19 test within the organization, Lincoln had a roster filled with Division I talent and big-league potential that kept scouts busy. "If there's one thing this spring taught us, it's that things can get closed down in a hurry," Sansoe said. "You want to be able to see everything you can see, anybody who can become a prospect. If you don't write reports, you may miss an opportunity for a prospect." Evaluating and writing reports on potential draft prospects is a scout's life. Presenting those reports to franchise brass and swaying them to make an investment on a player is what earns scouts their paychecks. Sure, there are swings and misses, but much like in the batter's box, you can make a long career failing seven times out of 10. "It's not an exact science," said Baltimore Orioles West Coast Supervisor Dave Blume, who recalls signing Jeff Kent for $15,000 after the 20th round of the 1989 draft as a scout for the Toronto Blue Jays. It's easy for scouts to apply the "eye test" when a player walks onto a field with a big-league physique. Potters players who fit that mold included Roseville native Daniel Susac, a 19-year-old, 6-foot-3, 210-pound switch-hitting catcher; Nathan Martorella (6-1, 215), a left-handed hitting first baseman from Cal with a loud bat; Angel Cespedes (6-6, 210), a tall Dominican right-hander with great velocity; and Kris Bow (6-3, 220), a righty from Las Vegas with the ability to change speeds. "My wife can sit in the seats and pick out the guys that look the part," said Buddy Gouldsmith, a scout for the Kansas City Royals who grew up playing locally at Mira Loma High School, American River College and Sacramento State. "That's where it starts – their body and their actions. But when you see a guy who looks that part and then goes out and plays the part. That's ultimately how it rolls out." But young players don't always have to have a brawny build to get noticed. "There's not necessarily a body type we're looking for," said Bella Vista grad and New York Yankees scout Tyler Robertson, who pitched for two years with the Minnesota Twins and now lives in Rocklin. "You have guys in the majors ranging from Jose Altuve (5-6, 165) to Aaron Judge (6-7, 280)." Body language speaks volumes. For every note jotted on in-game pitching velocity and swing characteristics, there are extra notes involving pregame routines and mentalities during batting practice, bullpen sessions and infield-outfield. "You look at a guy and say, 'How does he carry himself? What kind of teammate is he? Is he someone the rest of the team gravitates toward?' " said Robertson. "Different scouts have different tactics, but you can tell a lot by watching players when they don't know people are looking." For players whose seasons were cut short by the coronavirus pandemic last spring, many use social media to promote their individual workouts and grab college coaches' and scouts' attention. "We do put some stock into that," said Robertson. "It's a good way to find players. If a video shows up and jumps out as something impressive, that's just a name you add to the list and see if you can get out and see him, even if it's working out at a private facility." However, players should heed warnings of general social media use. Steer clear of posting inappropriate content or inflated metrics to make yourself stand out more. "It has to be vetted and people need to be smart about it," he said. "People will try to deceive you. Everybody says they can throw 95, but you get there and only two of them actually do." In a normal year, McBean would likely be packed with recruiting collegiate coaches, but since COVID-19 still prominently looms, the NCAA extended its Division I recruiting dead period through Aug. 31. College coaches can still recruit via phone, text, email or social media but cannot scout or meet with a recruit face to face. On July 15, an extension was granted for the NCAA's Division II quiet period through Aug. 31. The difference is in a quiet period, college coaches may have face-to-face contact with college-bound student-athletes or their parents only during an on-campus visit to that school. Major League Baseball also significantly reduced its Amateur Draft from its traditional 40 rounds to five this past June. Some Potters players who may have had a chance at being drafted this year will now spend the next few years trying to raise their draft stock in college. "It's hard to tell kids that want to go play that they have to be patient," Robertson said. "But anybody that's playing right now is at a huge advantage. There's no replacing going out and competing. It doesn't matter if it's against Pac-12 or junior college guys. It's a great time to work on things."