Tyler Saladino Scouting Report (2010)
The best position player on a prospect barren team, Chicago White Sox farmhand Tyler Saladino is a quality shortstop in a league which fielded a scarce few during the 2010 season. The 7th rounder in this year's draft handled himself better than most college picks thrust into full season competition by posting a .309/.397/.442 line in just under 200 plate appearances.
Physical Projection: Listed at 5'11", 180 lbs., Saladino looked closer to 200 pounds as his build is compact and muscular. With thick quadriceps, and some growth through the forearms and shoulders, Saladino is fully developed and may need to slide to second base at some point. As an athlete, Saladino is fluid, plays fundamentally well, but has no standout tool leaving him a player who can chip in in a variety of ways, but is unlikely to excel in a single area.
Offense: With a quiet load, and strong, athletic stance, Saladino makes an excellent first impression at the plate. When swinging the bat well, Saladino keeps his hands inside the ball allowing him to scorch line drives to left field. On occasion however, his load will become long forcing his pull arm to extend to a locked position. While it didn't happen often, Saladino had great difficulty adjusting to pitches above the letters when it did.
In game action, Saladino did not show much aptitude for taking pitches the other way, but consistently made solid contact and showed the potential for gap power. His quick wrists and level swing plane are tailor-made for doubles into the left-center field gap. I have some concern with his pitch recognition as he seemed to struggle picking up decent offspeed pitches and sat "dead red" for most of the series. This led to his swinging and missing more than a hitter with his approach probably should which explains his K% of more than 22%.<
Defense: Throughout the series, Saladino made all of the routine plays and showed a solid average throwing arm which may have been a tick above. With Saladino's thick trunk, I wonder about his range and how well he moves laterally. Slide him over to second base and his tools would play very well as an everyday player at higher levels. At shortstop, I envision Saladino playing the position in a pinch in more of a utility capacity.
Speed: On the 20/80 scale, Saladino is a 50-runner now and may slow down with age. While he will never be mistaken for a stolen base threat, he has enough speed to score from second or more from first-t0-third on a single. With Saladino being a fundamentally sound player, his speed should play up due to his making good turns and cuts on the basepaths.
As a seventh round pick, the White Sox found themselves a steal in Saladino. While he lacks the projection of younger, more "toolsy" talents, few prospects can boast an average skill set across the board and Saladino can. Add to this his professionalism and polish and Saladino projects as a high floor, moderate ceiling talent who is a good bet to land on many White Sox top-10 lists this offseason. After sneaking a peak at Red Sox first rounder Kolbrin Vitek in the South Atlantic League playoffs, I might even prefer Saladino due to his all-around game whereas Vitek is an all bat, no glove guy.
Physical Projection: Listed at 5'11", 180 lbs., Saladino looked closer to 200 pounds as his build is compact and muscular. With thick quadriceps, and some growth through the forearms and shoulders, Saladino is fully developed and may need to slide to second base at some point. As an athlete, Saladino is fluid, plays fundamentally well, but has no standout tool leaving him a player who can chip in in a variety of ways, but is unlikely to excel in a single area.
Offense: With a quiet load, and strong, athletic stance, Saladino makes an excellent first impression at the plate. When swinging the bat well, Saladino keeps his hands inside the ball allowing him to scorch line drives to left field. On occasion however, his load will become long forcing his pull arm to extend to a locked position. While it didn't happen often, Saladino had great difficulty adjusting to pitches above the letters when it did.
In game action, Saladino did not show much aptitude for taking pitches the other way, but consistently made solid contact and showed the potential for gap power. His quick wrists and level swing plane are tailor-made for doubles into the left-center field gap. I have some concern with his pitch recognition as he seemed to struggle picking up decent offspeed pitches and sat "dead red" for most of the series. This led to his swinging and missing more than a hitter with his approach probably should which explains his K% of more than 22%.<
Defense: Throughout the series, Saladino made all of the routine plays and showed a solid average throwing arm which may have been a tick above. With Saladino's thick trunk, I wonder about his range and how well he moves laterally. Slide him over to second base and his tools would play very well as an everyday player at higher levels. At shortstop, I envision Saladino playing the position in a pinch in more of a utility capacity.
Speed: On the 20/80 scale, Saladino is a 50-runner now and may slow down with age. While he will never be mistaken for a stolen base threat, he has enough speed to score from second or more from first-t0-third on a single. With Saladino being a fundamentally sound player, his speed should play up due to his making good turns and cuts on the basepaths.
As a seventh round pick, the White Sox found themselves a steal in Saladino. While he lacks the projection of younger, more "toolsy" talents, few prospects can boast an average skill set across the board and Saladino can. Add to this his professionalism and polish and Saladino projects as a high floor, moderate ceiling talent who is a good bet to land on many White Sox top-10 lists this offseason. After sneaking a peak at Red Sox first rounder Kolbrin Vitek in the South Atlantic League playoffs, I might even prefer Saladino due to his all-around game whereas Vitek is an all bat, no glove guy.
