Anthony Rendon Scouting Report

Anthony Rendon has been drafted by the Washington Nationals and is expected to sign.

This is Part 1 in a series previewing 12 potential players for the Orioles’ #4 overall selection in the 2011 draft. The full series:

1. Anthony Rendon, 3B, Rice
2. Gerrit Cole, RHP, UCLA
3. Danny Hultzen, LHP, Virginia
4. Sonny Gray, RHP, Vanderbilt
5. Jed Bradley, LHP, Georgie Tech
6. Bubba Starling, OF, Gardner-Edgerton HS, Kan.
7. Francisco Lindor, SS, Montverde Academy HS, Fla.
8. Trevor Bauer, RHP, UCLA
9. Dylan Bundy, RHP, Owasso HS, Okl.
10. George Springer, OF, Connecticut
11. Taylor Guerrieri, RHP, Spring Valley HS, S. Car.
12. Archie Bradley, RHP, Broken Arrow HS, Okl.

In 2010, Rendon would have been the first choice for many teams and could have made Mike Rizzo sleepless between selecting him over Bryce Harper.  This is a report based off his 2t010 season and is what most scouts should use if they feel the ankle and shoulder are non-issues long term.  I think he has rushed coming back from his ankle injury in the USA trails in order to keep him sitting atop many of the draft boards.  I do not see why he will not revert to the form from last year and thus why I am basing my report on last season.

Swing

Two words, “Picture Perfect”.

Rendon brings extremely quick hands through the zone, while having his hip and trunk rotation in almost perfect synchronization.  This is something that you rarely see from any high school or college player as he simply never misses a beat.  He is always square at contact and this gives him the ability to control the bat head through the zone.  There is absolutely no wasted motion, other than the ever so small timing twitch to get into his setup as he will pull his hands and elbow back in order to trigger his swing.  I would not want to fix this at all unless it starts to over exaggerate in the future.

Overall, Rendon is a hitter with quick hands and tremendous lag between the upper and lower body.

His lower body is noisy as he starts the swing, but he shows solid separation as the stride length falls in line with hands and torso that it is not a concern.  He gets a tremendous amount of weight transfer by getting his hips out quickly, generating a lot of torque in the swing.  His planting leg is slightly bent and this is what you always want to see out of a hitter.

Overall, you see a hitter with quick hands and tremendous lag between the upper and lower body.  Every point falls in line with everything else in the sequence and he produces a rhythmic swing that is a joy to watch.  Rendon’s keen eye for strike zone helps get the most out of his swing, and makes him a potential deadly hitter in any lineup.

If I rate a guy to have a picture perfect swing, he will almost have plus contact.  He has the combination of hand speed and the swing allows him room to sit a split second on pitches.  He does a tremendous job getting the bat head quickly through the zone and his coverage is outstanding.  He shows the ability to hit anything thrown at him and he does an excellent job of shortening the swing simply to get the ball on the barrel.

In time, he has the makeup to be a 30+ home run hitter.  He does everything to the “T” and once he builds strength, as he matures, the gap power should convert to home run power.  I have no fear to think that he is a solid three-hole or four-hole hitter in any lineup.

Speed

Rendon  is not going to be a burner, but he will not be a station to station statue either.  He has shown some speed over the years to steal at the college level with some success.  Combine the speed with natural instincts and you have a player good enough to hit doubles in the gaps and make it home from balls hit in the gap while at second.  What more could you ask for in corner position prospect?  He shows the knack for baseball and running fluid on the base paths, but not enough to be a dangerous weapon.

Defense

He displays a very strong and accurate arm well enough to play at third base.  I feel it is not a focus because his bat skills are what set him apart from other prospects; his arm is highly underrated.  His reaction and first step is as good as you can get from amateur players, but it will improve over time with additional instruction and complete focus.  I wish he had a bit more range because I think he could play shortstop with his reaction, but the increase in size would move him to third rather quickly in the professional ranks, making it a moot point.  He moves laterally to both sides rather well and can get the ball out quickly.  He fields with a solid charge and should have no problems covering the position.  He shows the above average arm clearly while throwing on the run.  Some feel that he may move to first or in the outfield, but he should be able to man the hot corner.

Intangibles

There are those players that look like athletes playing baseball and others that tend to look guys who invented the game.  You just watch him over a few games and he looks like he was born to play baseball.  He simply has the foundation to be another great hitting machine.  I do not see many guys in the amateur ranks take so much beating and still produce under the microscope.  He has been called this and been called that by every single baseball follower for three years.  He simply looks to be a gamer and enjoys playing baseball.  I do not know for sure, but it would not surprise me to hear that he is a gym rat.

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This is Part 1 in a series previewing 12 potential players for the Orioles’ #4 overall selection in the 2011 draft. The full series:

1. Anthony Rendon, 3B, Rice
2. Gerrit Cole, RHP, UCLA
3. Danny Hultzen, LHP, Virginia
4. Sonny Gray, RHP, Vanderbilt
5. Jed Bradley, LHP, Georgie Tech
6. Bubba Starling, OF, Gardner-Edgerton HS, Kan.
7. Francisco Lindor, SS, Montverde Academy HS, Fla.
8. Trevor Bauer, RHP, UCLA
9. Dylan Bundy, RHP, Owasso HS, Okl.
10. George Springer, OF, Connecticut
11. Taylor Guerrieri, RHP, Spring Valley HS, S. Car.
12. Archie Bradley, RHP, Broken Arrow HS, Okl.