Eric Longenhagen Prospects Chat
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Eric A Longenhagen
1:18
Good afternoon from a hotel room in the City of Brotherly Love! I feel a special sense of appreciation for being able to do this for a living, coming home to PA ten years after I was hired. I'm sure you guys know where to find the draft content. Remember I'll be chatting here tomorrow during the draft which, if you're new, is a buck wild time and you don't wanna miss it.
nebravesfan33
1:18
Have you heard anything on DSL Braves RH pitching prospect Martires Polanco? Struck out another 9 today - seems to be performing well and the Braves have done very little w/ Latin prospects over last decade. Thanks!
Eric A Longenhagen
1:20
Listed at 6ft 190, looks a little bigger than that, sitting 95-97 with bad shape, slider has been dominant. Nice prospect, little old for the DSL, belongs toward the bottom of their list because he's a DSL pitcher but still a good development for the org.
maxjusttyped
1:21
Do you think the White Sox are just posturing or could they really not know who they'll take at 1?
Eric A Longenhagen
1:23
I think some measure of it is posturing because, at the end of the day, you have to agree to a bonus with the guy and keeping all three of them alive helps you do that.
I don't think they scrambling to decide who they like best, even though it'd be natural if some of that group had slightly different notions about who they consider to be the best guy.
Ray Darwin
1:23
For this year's draft class, who can be the next Eric Hartman?
Eric A Longenhagen
1:27
Speedy contact guys who can add strength without sacrificing too much of the contact. If we're looking for direct comps then we don't really know, Hartman was a $300k bonus guy, the kind of HS player teams kinda hide out, who not everyone is necessarily on. The guys on The Board right now are all gonna get more than that or else not sign...
1:28
I like Andruw Giles, CJ Weinstein, maybe Jake Brenner as that type of guy
andecobi
1:28
What are some mechanical ways to steepen a swing? Thinking of like Vlad or Caminero. What about flatten?
Eric A Longenhagen
1:29
The way "attack angle" is most often changed is by altering where guys' hands load. Sometimes where they start and then where they load. Max Muncy and Chris Taylor changed by getting deeper into their lower bodies than they were before, that's another potential avenue. Different strokes for different folks, there's no universal way to do it when we're talking about hitting.
jgawel
1:30
When an org makes a change below the POBO/GM level (say, they get a new scouting director or player dev leads), how quick is industry buzz to pick up on any accompanying philosophical shifts in talent acquisition around draft time? Like, do sources still hold onto assumptions based off of recent info under different scouting/dev leadership?
Eric A Longenhagen
1:32
I think you need to see multiple drafts before you can draw any conclusions based on pattern recognition. There are definitely people around baseball who just know the person who was hired socially and understand their philosophies because of that. Sometimes the board falls in such a way that you have to go against what you'd normally wanna do. It's less often the top guys and more the mid-round picks that help you understand org priorities.
captainjameshook
1:32
Reggie Crawford is back hitting at least. Is the two way train back on the tracks?
Eric A Longenhagen
1:34
At this point the it's on Crawford to prove he's any sort of prospect by staying healthy and performing. He's 25 and has never exceeded 20 innings and he has like 20 total games as a hitter above the Complex level. He's not a prospect until he's crushing it.
crossedup
1:34
Any "Daylight Guys" for you and Brendan with the updated Draft Prospect Board?
Eric A Longenhagen
1:37
Less so than on the pro side, we had more of a divide and conquer approach to the bulk of this class because Brendan was a pro scout with Pittsburgh while all of last summer's activity was going on. This year's college ball he could get up to speed on, but the HS guys he didn't see from the jump like he'll be able to with next year's class. He's perhaps a little higher on some of the college pitchers than I am, but not by much.
josephd10
1:38
Jojo Parker has really come on lately. As a preseason pick to click, can we expect some board movement from him? Or is his performance just noise?
Eric A Longenhagen
1:38
I don't think it's "just noise" but I do think the 45 we have on him is still more correct than him being 30th overall or whatever.
The Great Brandino
1:40
Hello sir! What are your thoughts on Ethan Conrad?
Eric A Longenhagen
1:41
He's juuuust back from a back issue that kept him shelved for months and months. He played a couple games in AZ and now is at Myrtle Beach. I don't think he looks great but let's give him time to shake off the rust.
Luke
1:41
Thoughts on Cooper Flemming ? The main criticism I hear about him is he is stiff in his mechanics.
Eric A Longenhagen
1:42
I really like him but would say defense is his biggest issue. Here's a full report: Tampa Bay Rays Top 62 Prospects | FanGraphs Baseball
metsox1
1:43
JKG begs two questions of me.  Is hit tool undervalued by evaluator, because power afterall, is sexy.  And are we sure JKG was ever a 45 hit tool?  Sure there isnt power there, but if hit tool is bat to ball, he should be 60+ no?
Eric A Longenhagen
1:46
The contact rate and the way the hit tool plays are not necessarily the same thing. Guys make a certain rate of contact but their plate discipline and the quality of their contact impacts how I'd grade their "hit tool". Like Judge whiffs a ton, but hit .330 last year. I like JKG but the nature of his contact (so much oppo), the lack of power, how chase-y he is... these are things that have been part of his profile the entire time and I wouldn't let 9 games of big league performance change my opinion.
He's a nice utility guy imo
ImKeithHernandez
1:47
Is AJ Ewing going to be a superstar?
Eric A Longenhagen
1:47
He's definitely hitting for more power than I thought he would
war2d2
1:47
Eric! It’s a little disheartening to look at the Cubs’ system right now, though to be expected with challenge trades and promotions. Who in the lower end of the 35-45fv range do you think has potential to pop? Hartshorn has gotten a lot of ink with Cubs blogs but he seems like another Mervis to me.
Eric A Longenhagen
1:48
Hartshorn is arguably the most important guy to evaluate here this weekend. How do his physical tools compare to some of these other dudes?
higginsford
1:50
Ty Head is an intriguing draft prospect and the blurb is really selling me, but if his speed is so good, then why is his BABIP below 300 in both of his college seasons?
Eric A Longenhagen
1:52
Lotta lift but not a lot of strength. Averaged like 17 degrees of launch, hit a ton of fly balls. I'm super high on him in part because I think the strength will come. He's 6ft3, he's a soph, has the contact feel component, plays a premium position. Love him.
scottbot
1:52
Higher offensive ceiling / probability : Rainiel Rodriguez vs Alfredo Duno
Eric A Longenhagen
1:53
Duno has the bigger ceiling, Rainiel has the higher floor as he just has that knack for making sweet spot contact. Duno is the freakier athlete who might have a 30 homer season and play plus defense one year, and then strike out a ton and hit .190 the next.
Lark
1:53
If 2017 Eric see this year's draft class,how would  his evaluation have be different from that of 2026 Eric? High or low on certain players? Class as a whole?
Eric A Longenhagen
1:55
The data environment has changed so much since then. I was also more apt to believe the HS arms I saw pitch two innings in a showcase setting would look like that all year in pro ball. Kolby Allard looked like lefty Pedro Martinez for an inning at a time in HS, not the case across 140 frames.
oaktownblues
1:55
If Tyler Bell fell to the A's, is that a no-brainer pick for them? Or do you see them still choosing Hacopian (or someone else) in that scenario?
Eric A Longenhagen
1:57
I have the same grade on those guys so I don't think it's a no brainer. "College bat" is generally what I've heard but I don't know what they'd do if Lombard were suddenly sitting there, or something like that. There's going to be a weird thing that happens in front of them (there almost always is) and how that makes dominoes fall we just won't know until tomorrow.
pmaguran
1:58
Shameless Dynasty fantasy question. Give me a few outside top 100 pitching prospects who have ace upside if it all clicks.  Deeper cuts the better!
Eric A Longenhagen
1:59
Open up, here comes the airplane! The Board | FanGraphs Baseball
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