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Brendan Gawlowski Prospects Chat: 2/3/26
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Brendan Gawlowski
3:22
Top 10 guy who could make the 100 next year: Johnny King, Juan Sanchez
Honorable mention guy who could rocket up the main section: Jake Casey
flemmies
3:23
What's the single best tool you've ever scouted? Who had it?
Brendan Gawlowski
3:24
I've seen a handful of 80's. Braiden Ward's speed was goofy in college, he'd ground a single through the four-hole and it would just be a double. Druw Jones in center stands out as well.
Key Jangler
3:24
I know the switch-pitcher thing is fun and novel, but would there also be health benefits? Rather than 100 pitches on your right arm, maybe a 70/30 split between right and left?
Brendan Gawlowski
3:25
No idea. Has firing fewer bullets at max effort helped anyone stay healthy? Are there ways that the stress on his legs from maintaining both sides has a deleterious effect? And that's before considering whether it's really worth developing the lefty thing which has a pretty low ceiling imo.
Because, of course they got him
3:25
Thoiughts on what you saw from Roki Sasaki in 25?  How will the LAD utilize him this season?  And how do you think he should be utilized?
Brendan Gawlowski
3:26
Would give him another chance to start but think reliever is probably more likely at this point
Jonathan
3:27
If you didn't have sources from your time team-side, how would you go about acquiring private minor league data (video, metrics, anything that isn't freely-available)?
Brendan Gawlowski
3:28
Try to cultivate a source. I would not risk prison
Big
3:28
Do teams ever scout in a way that accounts for how long players' physical peak might be?
Brendan Gawlowski
3:28
Absolutely. Definitely want to have an idea if someone is an early mature guy, etc.
Jays
3:29
You aren’t the person for this question but Kiley McDaniel had Sam Shaw in the Blue Jays system as a top 200 prospect. Nobody I’ve seen has him in the top 20 in the Jays system. I’m curious if there’s an underlying thing there that McDaniel likes, is there some gaudy advanced number that you know of?
Brendan Gawlowski
3:30
I try not to comment on other people's stuff but I put a future plus hit on the guy and I can nod along if someone else sees the same and thinks "uh, why wouldn't you really want this?"
Jonathan
3:30
If you could force a lightbulb moment in Oneil Cruz's head, would he be more selective?  Or is it not that simple; does gaining that selectivity require skills he doesn't yet have and may never have?
Brendan Gawlowski
3:31
Not that simple. He WAS a lot more selective last year; it didn't really help because dialing it down in general also meant taking more pitches he could drive.
Jonathan
3:31
Re: pay-to-access minor league stuff, wouldn't Synergy be modestly helpful?  I think that's $6500/yr. :-(
Brendan Gawlowski
3:32
We have that. There are other programs available. I assumed he was talking about stuff supplementary to what you can pay for, which may have been silly of me.
Ice Cream Helmet
3:32
I think (at least back in the day) the minor league ball was a bit different than the majors ball. Mainly higher seams, but maybe some other differences. Is that still the case? How is that taken into account for modern pitch tracking data and 'stuff' metrics? Like, will a dude's 4S fastball just be expected to have less 'rise' in the majors?
Brendan Gawlowski
3:33
This is always a big conversation with pitchers coming from Asia. In my personal opinion, it's part of the equation and does not effect everybody identically... but it's not the kind of thing that scares me a whole lot.
Insert Witty Name Here
3:34
In Brendan Gawlowski’s best year, what were his scouting grades?
Brendan Gawlowski
3:34
Put it this way: in college I was an outfielder and on game days I was sitting in the stands with a clipboard charting our pitchers.
BK
3:35
love me some Juan Sanchez, King and Casey! Would guys like Blaine Bullard and Tim Piastenian fit that bill too?
Brendan Gawlowski
3:35
Yes
Farhandrew Zaidman
3:35
speaking of the ball - I’m seeing some college pitchers get like 24 IVB. Assuming it’s not a misread….why so different?
Brendan Gawlowski
3:36
Good question. Could be calibration, I've seen a backfield 25 IVB and there was no way...
Bob
3:37
More Mets question...a couple of years ago it was Jett Williams for CF...then Carson Benge, though now he may be a LF...and I see AJ Ewing is the next Met prospect slated for CF. Does Benge not have the right skill set to stay in CF or does Ewing just project to be a better CF so might as well move Benge to LF now.
Brendan Gawlowski
3:37
Mets fans are all over this chat, my word. I think Benge can play CF and that positional stuff tends to work itself out based on who can hit and who can't
Ryan
3:38
I was guardedly optimistic that Forrest Whitley had found himself in the best place to succeed in TB and might get another crack at MLB in 2026. Then he leaves for the NPB. Do you have any expectations for him there or when he might come back to the states?
Brendan Gawlowski
3:38
Another guy who will have paths forward until he hangs them up.
Making Made
3:39
Looking at international prospects like Jesus Made who dont sign for the top top bonus money - what is the one or two things you look for in DSL stats (or otherwise) that make you plant your flag on these 16, 17, 18 year old kids to be the next big thing?
Brendan Gawlowski
3:40
With the caveat that I put more value on the scouting side than the data at that level... Statistically, it's mostly the same things you want to see everywhere else. Lot of contact. Good power. Some feel for hitting it in the air.
The further away you are, the more you want to see tools. Skills can come later. If you don't have tools or a path to them... that's tough.
Auto ball/strike system
3:40
I would think each challenge would only add a few seconds to the game.
Brendan Gawlowski
3:41
Pretty much. There are games where they stack a little in a way that can get kind of tedious but for the most part it won't be cumbersome.
I found the games where teams got two challenges flowed better than ones where they got three
Mr Poutine
3:41
What's your best guess as to what happened with the Yankees/Rowland thing with cancelling all their commitments?
Brendan Gawlowski
3:42
Lot of questions about this, you should ask Eric, I've got nothing.
NFP
3:42
re: college IVB, iirc the seams are higher on the college ball
Auto ball/strike system
3:43
Why have a limit at all on the number of challenges?  This forces managers to use some kind of strategy where they have to let missed calls go if an umpire is having a bad day.
Brendan Gawlowski
3:44
So you don't challenge literally every single pitch
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