Scouting Report: Shooter Hunt

by Frankie Piliere

We’re going to keep mixing in the tradition first hand traditional scouting reports (the type of basic straightforward scouting report a team would use for evaluation) with the mechanical analysis. But, remember this: if you see a traditional report on a player, a mechanical analysis will be coming down the line. I just think the two should be separated.

Anyway, I got a chance to evaluate Tulane righty, Shooter Hunt for a handful of games in Cape Cod over the summer. He’s really put together a monster spring, so considering the electric stuff I saw from him up there, he’s looking more and more like a very early first round pick come June. I hope you enjoy the evaluation and are catching a little MLB draft fever at the same time. The Shooter Hunt breakdown is after the jump…

Shooter Hunt, RHP , Falmouth Commodores (Tulane)

Pitch – Present Grade/Future Grade

Fastball – 65/70

Curveball – 65/65

Changeup – 45/50

Command – 45/50

Some ‘07 Cape video as a reference:

Physical Description – Tall, wiry, proportioned body with decent projection. Looks thinner than his listed weight. Thin legs, long lower half with room to grow. Looks very, very young. Very strong, and a complete, all-around athlete. Looks like Jensen Lewis.

Fastball – True power arm, fastball sits at 92-94, touches 96. Attacks hitters with heat and loves to work inside. Knocks hitters down to setup the outer half. Command of the fastball comes and goes, very, very inconsistent. The command is a major concern. Fastball moves late and hard in on righties, breaks a lot of bats. Enough movement to cause his control problems. Electric fastball.

Curveball – Hammer curveball at 78-82 MPH, seems to spot this pitch better than any other. Doesn’t throw many bad ones and works it on both sides of the plate. Plus pitch. Breaks late and just drops off the table. 12-6 break with tight, hard spin. Great feel for this pitch and throws it with conviction. Big swing and miss pitch, just needs to stay ahead in the count to use it. Still some issues with his command of this pitch.

Changeup – Power changeup, throws at 84-87 MPH. Very straight with very little movement or action. True straight changeup, and is surprisingly very effective with hitters sitting on his heat. Definitely his third pitch and doesn’t use much. When he uses it he shows a decent feel, its a fringy pitch but a good change of pace.

Mechanics – High leg kick, throws right over the top. A little big herky jerky and can get out of sync in a hurry. Smooth, very quick arm action but will need to tighten up the rest of his mechanics. Has trouble repeating his delivery, perhaps should trying simplifying his delivery. Too many moving parts. Shoulders flies open occassionally. Delivery is very similar to Mark Melancon.

Notes – Power pitcher but struggles with command in spurts. Sometimes spots his pitches as well as anyone but can fall out of his groove incredibly quickly. Lots of walks, lots of strikeouts. When on, he’s got frontline potential. Plus makeup, plays to win, great competitive attitude. Must learn to pitch, not throw. Huge upside.

Adjusted Overall Future Potential: 60

Present Group: P, Future Group: A-

Projected Role: #2 starter

Draft Projection: Picks 10-20

Overall Comparison: Homer Bailey (with rougher mechanics)

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