Scouting Reports - AJ Cole (2010 Draft Class)

Scouted:

Aflac All-American Game, August 16, 2009 (film)
Under Armour All-America Game, August 8, 2009 (in attendance)

Assorted, Spring 2009 (film)

Frame:

Big, lean build with long arms and legs. Plenty of room in shoulders through core/hips. Could add upwards of thirty pounds. Good athletic motions and body control. Excellent flexibility and reach.

Motion:

Cole has a nice, easy motion from short step-in to easy follow-through. He utilizes a high and tight leg kick, consistently balancing well over the rubber and getting the most out of the momentum he builds up to that point in his motion. He drives directly towards home and gets excellent extension through his release. Solid hip/shoulder separation and easy arm action through follow-through, with a soft and controlled step towards first base. Cole has a long arm action, but quick enough arm speed to keep a good tempo as he rotates through. He has started to clean-up the arm wrap in the back, but still regularly gets the ball out early and shows it to the hitter as he brings the ball up into throwing position. His motion is very easy and very repeatable, aided by his solid body control and flexibility. Great projection in frame and stuff.

Stuff:

Fastball - Cole was low-90s for me with his fastball, touching 94 mph up in the zone without losing life. Reports from the summer had him up as high as 96-98 mph, depending on the report. Whether or not he's consistently there now, he projects to mid- to upper-90s velocity as he fills-in. He commands the pitch well to both sides of the plate.

Curveball - Cole throws an upper-70s curve with tight spin and hard downer bite when he stays on top of the pitch. He hits the same arm slot with his curve and fastball, and throws the breaker with good arm speed. When on, he can hit his zones with the pitch. With more consistency, it should be a plus Major League offering.

Change-up - I haven't seen much of the change-up, but the basics are there for it to be an average or better pitch already. He flashes good arm speed but is inconsistent and doesn't yet throw the pitch with the same control as his curve and fastball. He's generally in the mid-70s with the offering.

Slider - I have seen reports of a slider and video from 2008 that shows a tight slider-like pitch, but haven't seen it in 2009.

Nick's Notes:

Cole is an excellent pitcher right now, but the bulk of my interest is in the projection that's still there in his stuff and in his frame. His motion and arm action are so easy that he is a good candidate to continue to improve both his control and his command, and it's easy to picture his fastball consistently in the 95-97 range and touching even higher when all is said and done. There isn't much to nitpick, but my guess is teams might vary in their valuation at least in part due to how much they like the potential in his curve. It gets excellent spin and hard bite, but the depth isn't there to make it the same monster offering you see with someone like Taillon. Still, it has the potential to be a plus pitch down the line based on the bite and control, which should be more than enough when added to a potential plus-plus fastball and a change-up that could be anywhere from average to plus. His repeatable mechanics, athletic actions and flexibility are all pluses that should aid him in making the small tweaks at the pro level that will move him from "potential" to "production".

Projected Position: Mid-rotation to Front-end Starter

Suggested Draft Slot: Top 10 Overall

Updates:

8/18/2009 - Cole threw a scoreless inning at the Aflac All-American Game, allowing one hit and striking out one. He flashed a change-up while throwing mostly fastballs and curves.

8/16/2009 - Cole was selected by PnR Scouting as the third best performer at the Under Armour All-America game, sitting low-90s with his fastball and mid-70s with his curve (article here; rankings here).

Video: