Eyeball Scout Takes A Wink At Jacob Wilson, Shea Langeliers, Brady Basso

Happy Saturday, peeps. The Eyeball Scout is always ready with some stat-deficient analysis of how things look to this passionate, if slightly blind, fan.

Jacob Wilson

The past couple days it has been fun to see Wilson’s much-ballyhooed glove show up. In his first few games off the IL Wilson surprised me by not getting to balls I thought were within his means, but something clicked (probably him relaxing) and you can now see the “gold glove caliber SS” scouts have long raved about.

The question has never been about Wilson’s defense — the question is whether he can hit enough given his propensity for low exit velocities and tendency to lack patience at the plate.

Here’s what the Eyeball Scout sees so far...

The “book” on Wilson appears to be pretty darn simple right now: throw tons of pitches in on the hands and jam him. Pitchers know that with his elite “bat to ball” skills and willingness to hit to all fields, any pitch Wilson can extend his arms on is a candidate to be poked, tapped, blooped or lined somewhere for a hit.

But can he handle pitches that are designed to “tie him up” inside? So far the answer is basically no. Wilson is consistently getting jammed by pitchers going in on his hands time and time again, resulting in pop ups, soft fly balls, and a lot of outs.

There are two solutions Wilson needs to explore. One is the art of tucking in the elbows/arms so as to be able to reach those pitches with the sweet spot. “Getting to” inside pitches is its own skill and right now it looks like one of the few Wilson has not mastered.

The other is pitch selection. Wilson should be extremely selective around pitches in, looking to drive mistakes that catch too much of the plate but committed to avoiding ones located to tie him up. He needs to recognize that at least right now the inside corner is not his friend while the outer third is gold.

But mostly he needs to figure out how to turn on, and punish, the very pitches that are consistently getting him out because he is getting pounded there relentlessly.

Shea Langeliers

Langeliers is a very confusing hitter, with his 25 HRs and impressive exit velocities combined with chasing dreadful pitches and then watching mashable strikes right down the middle — often even with 2 strikes.

Langeliers looks like the consummate “guess” hitter who, as a result, looks foolish if he’s guessing fastball and gets a chase slider or if he’s sitting soft and gets a fastball center cut. What’s troubling is that Shea appears to continue guessing even with 2 strikes — recently he has, on multiple occasions, watched a 3-2 fastball right down the middle.

To be fair to big league hitters there are sound reasons for guessing. Big league pitchers are so good with their stuff and command that hitters generally need to narrow the focus by trying to eliminate one side of the plate or the other, by anticipating one type of pitch even if at the expense of another.

So there is a constant tension between looking for a certain pitch, speed, or location and also being ready to just “react” trying to punish mistakes and put a good swing on strikes while laying off balls and especially ones designed to get you to chase.

What I would submit is that Langeliers has shifted way too far into the strategy of flat out guessing pitch type and/or location and needs to swing (literally) back more to the “see ball, hit ball” approach that has recently been Seth Brown’s salvation.

You just can’t be letting hittable pitches go by the way Langeliers has too often lately, especially with 2 strikes. It’s fine — and even highly advisable — to guess pitch/location in a hitter’s count (e.g., 2-0 or 3-1) or even first or second pitch. But at least with 2 strikes that approach needs to get refined. Believe it or not even in 2024 the “2 strike approach” is a thing. Or at least it darn well should be.

Brady Basso

Basso has now thrown 11.1 IP as a SP in the big leagues without allowing a run (8 hits, 2 BB, 8 K). Two caveats are that he has faced the Tigers and White Sox, neither an offensive juggernaut, and two starts the first time through the league prove little.

But still, Basso has impressed and the question is: why is he being successful? He is certainly not doing it with overpowering velocity with his fastball averaging 92.4 MPH. Basso’s big curve is his most special offering and he has variety with a cutter and changeup along with the ability to add and subtract on his fastball, which he throws anywhere from 91 MPH to 94 MPH.

But what I observe as an “X factor” is a pitcher who has exceptional “pitchability,” meaning that he seems to read hitter’s swings and understand how to place pitches to maximum effect — and then he has the command to execute his plan.

Whether it’s running a pitch up just above the batter’s hands and thus above his swing, or using “reverse psychology” to work one side of the plate when the hitter is Langeliersing and focusing exactly on the other side, Basso has a knack for throwing the pitch and /or location a hitter is least equipped to handle in that moment.

Perhaps as or more importantly, when deciding to come in on the hands, or above the top of the zone, or to bring the curve right to the knees or below the strike zone, Basso has so far been able to put pitches where he wants the lion’s share of the time.

The combination of “reading swings” and executing pitches goes a long way to offset a lack of pure stuff. Basso’s raw stuff is good enough to make him a candidate for the back of the rotation — it’s the “pitchability” that gives him a shot at overachieving and vying for more than a “#4 SP” role.

2 starts does not a career make and it’s not even clear yet that Basso will be successful in the big leagues in any capacity. But you have to like what you have seen so far, and the way he has gone after hitters, “carving them up” a la Kyle Hendricks (a career 96 game winner), has impressed me and made me want to see more.

Your thoughts on these 3? I don’t generally start drinking Ginn until around 4:10pm but I’ll see you then!