Thanks for creating this site as I can never get enough about the Braves. This lost international prospect review prompts me to ask what did our scouts miss in Kevin Maitan? Did he bulk up or did his skills erode while he wasn't playing? I basically went to Danville to see him in 2017 and he didn't look like anything special. He didn't stand out among the players. I moved to sit near a guy with a radar gun whom I thought might be a scout, asked him about Maitan's looking very ordinary, and he responded pretty much with "he's 17 years old." I understand your comment about the crapshoot nature of the international draft, but can't imagine scouts being so far off on a consensus #1. What am I missing? Ben
Thanks for reading! Pretty much everyone missed on Maitan. He was always going to be a corner guy, but the consensus #1 talk came from his advanced feel to hit. Scouts thought he was going to be a monster on-base/power guy. After signing, he gained weight and his hit tool eroded. He struggled to adapt and didn't work to make up for it. It was unfortunate.
I appreciate the detailed response. I've seen a number of touted Brave prospects fail, but I can't think of anyone who had Maitan's hype and failed. Frankly I have to go back to Joe Torre to find a Brave who everybody was so high on with such little experience.
Thanks for creating this site as I can never get enough about the Braves. This lost international prospect review prompts me to ask what did our scouts miss in Kevin Maitan? Did he bulk up or did his skills erode while he wasn't playing? I basically went to Danville to see him in 2017 and he didn't look like anything special. He didn't stand out among the players. I moved to sit near a guy with a radar gun whom I thought might be a scout, asked him about Maitan's looking very ordinary, and he responded pretty much with "he's 17 years old." I understand your comment about the crapshoot nature of the international draft, but can't imagine scouts being so far off on a consensus #1. What am I missing? Ben
Thanks for reading! Pretty much everyone missed on Maitan. He was always going to be a corner guy, but the consensus #1 talk came from his advanced feel to hit. Scouts thought he was going to be a monster on-base/power guy. After signing, he gained weight and his hit tool eroded. He struggled to adapt and didn't work to make up for it. It was unfortunate.
I appreciate the detailed response. I've seen a number of touted Brave prospects fail, but I can't think of anyone who had Maitan's hype and failed. Frankly I have to go back to Joe Torre to find a Brave who everybody was so high on with such little experience.