Derek “Bubba” Starling Scouting Report

Bubba Starling has been drafted by the Kansas City Royals and is expected to agree to terms prior to the August 15 deadline.

This is Part 6 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.

Bubba Starling is the real wild card in this draft because of what he can become and what he could command to bring him into a baseball organization. He is a tick above the next player in this class on overall athletic talent, and it is his athleticism displayed that’s making scouts say what they could do with better coaching and professional surroundings. He is also one of the riskiest players despite tremendous tools, because he has little refined baseball skills. Still, it’s the tools that make him an intriguing prospect and most likely the first high school position player to come off the board.

School: Gardner Edgerton H.S (Kansas)
Position: CF
Throws: Right
Bats: Right
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 210
Body: Wide, with solid athletic frame. Maintains strong, wiry upper body with slender leg development. In the hips, rear, and upper thigh area alone I can see 15-20 pounds of growth and possibly more.

Swing/Offense

Starling will have to be completely tutored with proper professional coaching to tap his vast potential in the box. He does possess quick hands, strength in the wrists, tremendous bat speed, and excellent hand/eye coordination. These are the strong points that make scouts feel he can become a slightly above-average hitter for contact and power.

So what makes him labeled as a “raw” hitter?

His weight transfer is not inline with his upper body at this point. He tends to get out in front of pitches and all of his weight is on his left foot well before his hands get through the zone. He loads a bit too much with his hands and it forces him to drop the barrel very early in the swing, elongating the swing in the zone. He tends to separate his arms from the body a bit too much and will have to tighten up in the future. Overall, he requires a lot of attention to detail and coaching to compact his swing and tap the vast potential.

Defense

He looks the part in center, but you have to stress fundamentals from day one. He must work on his footwork and overall game out in center field. He picks up the ball well, but he will use wasted steps and his plus speed to track down balls in the outfield.

He tends to shorten the feet while throwing and it leads to slight imbalanced actions, and overall more arm action to produce above average carry. He shows enough promise at this time to be a highly productive centerfielder with range, speed, and arm strength to match the best at the position. Seeing his frame and overall strength, he could gain more than enough weight that his range could be impacted. With his arm strength as a plus at this stage, he could easily transition to right field if necessary.

Speed

At this point in time, Starling is a gazelle in the outfield. You have to remember that he is an option quarterback and he can clearly get down to first base. The area code games had clocked him with the fastest times in almost every speed related measures.

He makes things look effortless because of the speed and it improves his overall defense at this time. How well it translates at the highest level is up to him at this point. He will have to learn the ropes of how to work the base paths in his favor because his feel for the game is not as high as players fully dedicated to baseball or those in hotbed areas such as Oklahoma, So. California, So. Florida, or Texas.

It could be possible that he will lose speed as he matures because it is highly un-likely that he can maintain it with a 230 pound body.

Intangibles

Starling’s intangibles are off the chart. You clearly have a blank canvas when you select him, and an oozing toolsy player that will take to coaching, but lacks a solid foundation of baseball skills. The sky is the limit because it’s his choice what and how much he can absorb and what coaching can bring to him.

This is also his enemy because you are basing him simply on almost 100% tools alone. He comes from an area that is not known to produce baseball players and rarely plays talent that would classify as prospect quality, which is something that should make people pause.

Starling has an unlimited ceiling, but how many guys based on athletics alone command the signing bonus in the middle seven figures? I have way too many question marks with him, and any team drafting Bubba will have to show extreme patience and in this day and age patience is not in many people’s vocabulary when the fiscal compensation demands instant results. He has a chance to be a Josh Hamilton or Ken Griffey Jr., but it will take a lot of work and effort to turn the tool set into skills that could make him a feared hitter in the majors.

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This is Part 6 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.