Yesterday Baseball American released updated scouting reports for all the 2014 College World Series teams based on their 20-80 scale, where:
Scouts grade prospects on how their tools compare with those of an average major leaguer, but for our Top 25′s purposes, we rate talent relative to an average NCAA tournament team. In addition to grading our top 25 teams on typical tools like hitting for average, hitting for power, speed and defense, we have divided the fifth tool (arm) into two categories: starting pitching and bullpen. We're also giving teams a grade for Experience/Intangibles-think of it as a team's "makeup", if you like. For each category, a grade of 50 is average, comparable to a typical NCAA tournament contender; 60 is above-average; 70 is well-above-average; 40 is below-average; and 30 is well-below-average. Twenty and 80 are the extreme limits in each direction. Finally, each team is given an Overall Future Potential (OFP) grade. In this case, the OFP represents our assessment of a team's overall strength and its chance to win the College World Series.
Here's how the teams stack up (opening round matchups are paired together, category leaders in bold):
UC Irvine | Texas | Louisville | Vanderbilt | Texas Tech | TCU | Virginia | Ole Miss | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Record | 40-23 | 43-19 | 50-15 | 46-19 | 45-19 | 47-16 | 49-14 | 46-19 |
Preseason Ranking | NR | 18 | 20 | 10 | NR | 19 | 1 | NR |
Final Ranking | NR | 21 | 13 | 20 | NR | 9 | 8 | 12 |
Hitting | 45 | 45 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 50 | 65 | 65 |
Power | 35 | 35 | 50 | 50 | 55 | 35 | 60 | 65 |
Speed | 35 | 55 | 70 | 70 | 30 | 50 | 60 | 65 |
Defense | 60 | 60 | 60 | 65 | 70 | 70 | 70 | 60 |
Starting Pitching | 55 | 65 | 55 | 70 | 50 | 70 | 70 | 55 |
Bullpen | 50 | 70 | 70 | 65 | 55 | 70 | 65 | 65 |
Experience / Intangibles | 65 | 60 | 70 | 60 | 55 | 65 | 65 | 60 |
BA OFP | 55 | 60 | 65 | 65 | 55 | 65 | 70 | 65 |
Interested in commentary on these rankings and how they may have changed from preseason scouting grades, I encourage you to go read the full article over at Baseball America.