re: LSU Baseball 2021 (and beyond) Recruiting Thread - OLD THREAD

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I'll see what I can do. I'm not great on the scouting aspect of things. But I will try to link and quote scouting breakdowns of players from various sources. Are you looking for something on every recruit or just a handful of them?

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As many as possible. It doesn't have to be an exact science. Just looking for a general idea/opinion

Will Safford - INF
University Lab (Baton Rouge, LA)
5'8" 165
Bats: Left, Throws: Right

Perfect Game | Prep Baseball Report

Safford plays primarily shortstop for his high school and summer teams. He was a multi-year starter at shortstop for his high school team, which featured several D1 recruits over the past few years. He was also a starting defensive back for his perennial state championship contender HS football team where he was surrounded by several D1 football recruits.

Based on the scouting reports available from Perfect Game and Prep Baseball Report, Safford appears to have the ability to play shortstop at the collegiate level based on his athleticism and above average arm strength. He has soft hands and quick actions defensively and positions himself well to make plays.

Offensively, it looks like he has a mature, line drive approach and a good feel for the strike zone. His frame has room to fill out, so power may be there later.

Here is Perfect Game's assessment from July 19, 2019:

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Will Safford (2020, Baton Rouge, La.) displayed his great athleticism making tough plays going to his left and right look easy. Going deep in the whole he showed off his arm strength throwing a strike across the diamond, and his quick release as he went up the middle to make a play while throwing on the run. The Louisiana State commit displayed a quick, compact stroke with the ability to get the bat head out front with some pull-side pop. He starts with balanced stance and high hands as he does a good job of allowing his quick hands to work to the inside part of the ball creating a true ball flight on his line drive approach. His lean frame leaves him with room continue to add strength as he grows moving forward while maintaining his fast-twitch athleticism.

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Here is what Prep Baseball Report says about him:

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Louisiana State recruit. Currently ranked No. 12 in Louisiana’s 2020 class. Plays with an extremely high-motor, and loads of energy. Athletic defender with quick, fluid footwork, consistently taking quality angles and attacking the baseball with his feet. Shows soft hands, quality actions, and clean, quick transfers. Short arm action into high-3/4 release, showing solid arm strength with carry and accuracy on throws across the diamond. Left-handed hitter that hits from athletic, balanced setup with simple load, and short stride. Top-of-the-order type bat with line-drive type approach, showing quality bat speed, and a level, on-plane path. Top-of-the-order type that consistently works counts, and shows a mature understanding of the strike zone. High-level baserunner despite the lack of pure run tool, shows exceptional feel for base-stealing, with quick first step, and a high baseball-IQ.

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Safford will be a draft eligible sophomore at LSU. He is currently scheduled to play for the Danville Dans this summer in the Prospect League. Sending him to that league is an indicator that the coaching staff wants him to be able to contribute early. I'm particularly excited about the mention of the high baseball IQ and the ability to steal bases even without elite speed. He looks like the type of baseball player that is fun to watch due to high effort and bringing a football mentality to baseball.

If I were trying to put his tools into a 20/80 scale where 40 would be average for a college player and each grade above or below that is one standard deviation above or below average, I'd say:

Hit: 40
Power: 30
Arm: 50
Run: 40
Defense: 50

Overall (not an average of the 5 tools): 45

These are guesses based on two scouting reports and attempting to be scaled to abilities relative to college players. Please bear that in mind. I also invite anyone that has seen any of these players in person to offer their thoughts, or anyone that reads the materials I link or quote to offer their opinions. And if you can find additional information, that's always welcome.

Project, do you ever update measurables on page one? If so, I know Connor Simon is up to about 6’1 and 180lbs. HIs perfect game measurables are 6’0 175lbs but that was last year.

MLB draft is 5 rounds and undrafted players can sign for a max of 20k. Do you think this is good or bad for the odds of getting Hs kids on campus? I can see a scenario where teams load up on Hs players in all 5 rounds depending on the way they structure the money

Where does mlb see ty Floyd at?
Pitcher or shortstop/position player?

Pitcher. I think I still having showing as a two way player on the list, I need to change that. He’s a pitcher all the way right now.

Zero

I haven't seen anything that indicates we're going after him. He is from the same HS as Nolan Cain, and I believe he played summer ball with the Louisiana Knights, so we would have connections to him if we wanted to pursue him.

Mississippi State just picked up a grad transfer from Jacksonville that will probably now be their 2B with Land leaving (or Land was pushed out to bring in the grad transfer).

So far there are close to 40 SEC players transferring out, with 4 players transferring in from other D1 schools.

Arkansas has Lael Lockhart from Houston coming in (we briefly pursued, but he made his decision pretty quickly) and a guy from Northern Colorado. Tennessee picked up a catcher from East Tennessee State. And Mississippi State with the guy from Jacksonville.

ETA: On the surface, it seems weird to push out a rising sophomore for a one year rental like Mississippi State is doing. But as I think about it more, if they feel like a guy in the incoming class or in the 2021 class is as good or better than Land, the reallocation of scholarship money to a one year rental makes it available sooner and can help smooth out recruiting for the next couple years when rosters are going to be loaded.

Do you think Cole Henry returns next year?

So next year's rotation will feature Hill, Labas, Marceaux in some order? Or do we keep Hill in a closing spot and see if another pitcher develops into a legitimate starter?