Written by Spencer Schneier (@Baseball_Spencer)

Brice has an unnatural looking delivery, featuring a high leg-kick, and keeping his back stiff which causes him to have to throw across his body with some head-whip. Brice was never a full-time pitcher until entering the Marlins system, which is probably why his mechanics are still so raw. The leg-kick allows him to get a big stride and push off the mound, so he should be able to add some velocity as he fills out and cleans his mechanics up.

Brice has strong legs that he leverages to be able to sit 92-93, but because of his sloppy mechanics he struggles to maintain velocity. He has broad shoulders that he has yet to fill out, and when he does he should be a strong presence on the mound.

As I mentioned Brice really needs to work on his stamina. In the first inning he sat 92-93, but tired himself out and ended up sitting 88-89. He is still very raw on the mound, and his pitchability suffers more than anything because of it.

Brice’s fastball was hard to grade, as there were two versions of it that I saw: 1^st inning fastball, and everything after that. In the first his fastball was 92-93, with late life and some arm-side run. I would have graded it as a 55/60 pitch had he maintained that the whole game. After the first inning however, he didn’t throw one fastball I would grade as league average. The ball lost velocity, and lacked any kind of movement or life.  I think if he can clean up his mechanics and work on consistency that this pitch could be an above-average one, featuring good velocity and movement.

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Spencer Schneier, an Independent Scout, has compiled a full scouting report on Andrew Heaney, the Marlins’ first round pick from the 2012 Draft. Please thank Spencer for his outstanding work on this and be sure to follow him on Twitter @BaseballSpencer

On Saturday night in Greensboro I was fortunate enough to watch Andrew Heaney pitch for the Grasshoppers. In his second start in the Sally League, Heaney impressed me, as well as the other scouts I was sitting near.

General Pitching Tools

Two things that are not necessarily objective that stood out to me: Heaney had an excellent poker face on the mound, as it was near impossible to determine whether he was upset about something, happy about a pitch, or disappointed with an umpire’s call. He has plus mound presence and average feel for pitching, which should be plus as he progresses. The second thing that stood out was his work ethic. He clearly is a good, hard-working player as he was the first player on the field for either team, and was done stretching before the next guy made his way out. His make-up appears to be good as well, because his high school coach’s sister made the hour and a half drive from Raleigh to see him. She was happy to talk to anyone that would listen about how nice a kid Heaney is.

I liked Heaney’s mechanics for the most part, noting a high leg-kick, but that he whips his head a little bit at the end of his delivery. I thought that this may lead to some command problems.  I thought that his broad shoulders and skinny legs showed room for filling out, and that he could add some velocity if he does.

I thought that he did a good job holding runners and staying aware of them, despite the Greensboro pitching coach mentioning that as something he could improve on. The only other note that is not directly related to a pitch is that I thought his pitch sequencing was below average, but I also was not sure if he was trying to work on something in particular.

Notes:

The fastball was the worst pitch, which is not necessarily a bad thing. It sat 88-92, but what makes it so good is the movement. Best described as “a cutter and sinker had a baby,” it moves down and in on right handed batters. He struggled to spot it throughout the night, which I believe most mostly caused by the slight head-whip he has at the end of his delivery.

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