Scott Elbert

Scott Elbert was grew up in Missouri and graduated from Seneca High School in Seneca. Going into the 2004 draft he was one of the premium talents in the draft. He was the second rated prep pitcher and the #12 prospect overall, narrowing out Mark Rogers, Eric Hurley and Philip Hughes. He was a tremendous athletic talent. He had a fastball that sat 90-93 with sink and control. He also had a solid slider and a good change. His athletic ability on the football field gave him good projectability as a pitcher. He slipped to the 17th pick and Dodgers nabbed him.

Elbert signed rather quickly and made his professional debut as a 19 year old for Ogden in the Pioneer league. The results weren't great. He went 2-3 with a 5.26 ERA in 49.2 innings. He did strikeout 45 batters but he also issued 30 free passes. Baseball America named him the sixth best prospect in the league.They noted that he did not pitch with the same aggression that he used in high school. They also commended him for his easy cheese. His slider started to develop and showed an average changeup.

The Dodgers sent their young lefty to the South Atlantic League to start his first full season. It was a tremendous success as he posted a 2.66 ERA in 25 games and struck out 128 batters in 115 innings of work (10.02 K/9). His command was not great as he walked 57 batters. Still he showed alot of stuff on the mound for a 20 year old in the Sally. Baseball America recognized Elbert's talents and named him the best prospect in the league. He increased his commmand on his fastball that sat 88-93 with sink and depth. His curveball tightened into a power sweeping curve. His changeup is still average, but his curve developed into a true strikeout pitch. The command on his breaking pitches still needed work and could come up to hurt him in the upper levels. Baseball America also ranked Elbert as the number six prospect in the stacked Dodgers system, which would be top 2 or 3 in most. This was evident when he was ranked #55 in the BA Top 100 in February.

The Dodgers took the kid gloves off of Elbert in 2006. They started him out with Vero Beach in the Florida State League. Vero Beach is a hitter's haven and he showed no signs that it was bothering him as he posted a 2.37 ERA in 17 games with 97 Ks in 83.2 innings of owrk. He did walk 41 overall, but he's young and still has time to work on his command. They then promoted him to Jacksonville midway through the season and he posted a 3.61 ERA in 11 starts. His K rate was still high and his BB rate spiked a bit, but his HR rate went through the roof as he gave up more and more flyballs - so much for the sink on his pitches. His GB% in the Florida State League was a respectable 45.7% but that figure dropped to 29.5% in the Southern League. Among qualifiers, only Chris Young had a lower rate in the National League. This coupled with his walks should concern me, but Chavez Ravine should mask this deficiency. However if the Dodgers promote Elbert to Triple A Las Vegas before he gets this figure to respectability, Elbert's going to lit up like a pumpkin.

That said, Elbert is the top left-handed pitching prospect in the minor leagues. His upside is a number two starter, I am not sure if his command and flyball tendencies will allow him to be anymore. His stuff in the minors is only bettered by Donald Veal, Mark Pawelek, Clayton Kershaw and Juan Morales from the left-hand side. His fastball this season still has sat 90-93 touching 95 MPH and has been able to maintain his velocity deep into games. His slider has developed into a potential plus pitch, but his command with it needs a lot of work. He's a power pitching southpaw with a two good pitches, so he has some upside and he could be in the majors by July 2007. He's going to be in the top 25 of most prospect lists, I would assume.