C/LF/DH Coley Crank
Height: 6'0" - Weight: 220lb
Level: DI Sophomore
School: Michigan
Draft Eligibility: 2011 (DI Jr.)
Previous Draft: 2008, rd. 47, Oakland
Scouting Video
Posts regarding Coley Crank
Scouted:
June 17, 2010 - Heroes of the Diamond at Bucs (live)
July 17, 2010 - Oilers at Bucs (live)
August 1, 2010 - Pilots at Bucs (live and video)
Description: Coley Crank has a big, stocky, football-player build. Thick and muscular from head to toe. Crank's load and swing goes through three distinct points. He starts in a wider, balanced stance. Loading up, he takes a step back into a narrow, upright stance, and then strides back into the wide set-up as he unleashes his swing.
Strengths: Power is Crank's number one asset. He has a lot of pop in his bat. He has great raw physical strength in that stocky body, and his swing looks mechanically sound. Despite his striding swing, he's able to keep his head on the ball -- even on the low-and-away pitches -- so he can utilize that momentum to generate power. He puts good wood on the ball with a nice level swing. Shows good patience at the plate for a slugger; he's definitely willing to take some pitches and work the count. Not afraid to take a walk. In the outfield, Crank has displayed some flashy defense. He's willing and able to grind out a big play when necessary.
Weaknesses: Behind the plate, Crank's catch-and-release time to second base is below average by major league standards. My stopwatch has him averaging about a 2.15 second throw to the bag with a fastest time of 2.09 seconds. In the outfield, his routes and movements lack the grace of a seasoned fielder. With the bat in hand, Crank could work on his pitch selection. He's patient at the plate but perhaps a little too patient; he'll often strike out looking or get called for a check-swing strike.
Assessment: I think Crank has a future in pro baseball, but is far from a polished product. His bat is definitely his strength with a lot of raw power, and I think his pitch selection will work out. I've read older scouting reports on Crank that have said that plate patience is a weakness for him; to me -- as noted above -- it seemed like he was hesitant to swing at borderline pitches. It's also worth noting that he led the Bucs in both strikeouts and walks. My guess here is that he's been working on his patience at the plate and "feeling out" the strike zone, which is a good sign. His bat will only improve. The big question mark, to me, is where he'll end up on defense. He will need to find a full-time position and master it. Whether it's behind the plate or in the outfield remains to be seen. He looks more comfortable behind the plate but may have more potential in the outfield, so it's hard to say where he'll stick. All things considered, though, I'd be surprised if Crank doesn't go pro. He might not get picked as a junior but if not he'll go in 2012 for sure.
Coley definitely has some power. I'm not sure whether that will be enough to compensate for the defensive weaknesses and the strike outs. When he gets good wood on the ball, he's capable of driving the ball pretty good. Hope he comes back for at least 1 more summer in AK.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment and analysis. I think that the strikeouts will come around as he adjusts to next-level pitching. Like I said, he definitely didn't look as free-swinging this year as in the past, so he may just need some time to get a look at pro-quality pitches.
ReplyDeleteYou're right about the defensive weakness, though. I get the hunch that he's kind of hit a plateau at catcher and he'll get diminishing returns as he puts more effort into developing there. That's why I entertained the idea of him making the full-time move to LF as a pro...but that's a whole new question mark, isn't it?
Coley Crank is horrible defensively and even worse offensively. Yeah sure hes going to run into one here and there but he has slow bat speed and can NOT handle off speed at all. Coley will TRY to pull everything and will not go opposite field!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments...I don't agree 100% with your take on Coley but I'm always looking for more opinions.
ReplyDeleteI think that "run into one" might be a good way to put it because right now his pitch selection and/or feel for the zone doesn't look good. However, I think that the fact that he's taking some pitches is an improvement over just swinging at anything, so I'm hoping that he's on the right track with that.
Anyway, thanks again for your input. You hit on some "holes" in my report, certain areas I didn't have a take on, so I'm always glad to get some other opinions and help round it out a bit.
Following Coley in the Big Ten in 2009/10 season has shown that His Batting skills are in the line of jjacks assessment. Coley led The University of Michigan in RBI and in HRs. I would agree Coley has things to learn as do most in there skills at this level.AS He was behind Chris Berset in the Catches Slot Coley didn't see a lot of Game time behind the plate.As DH He didn't miss a game. Berset was Drafted this Year.This year should show more on Coleys abilities This season.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the input Harold. I think you hit on something important here, that Crank is an underclassman buried in a DI program. Obviously he's gotten some extra work in through summer ball, but assuming he won't be a signed draft pick as a junior, the upshot is that he's got two years left to mature. That combined with the fact that a real pro scout thought he was worth a draft selection as a high schooler kind of lends itself as evidence, in my mind, that he has a lot of good tools but perhaps he just needs to develop the skill set more.
ReplyDeleteThe arguments the Anon above makes about his inability to handle breaking stuff, and his tendency to try and pull everything, I'm not going to dispute because I didn't pick up on those one way or another as I saw him. And like I said, I definitely value the input, especially in areas where I failed to get a good look at a player either positive or negative. But assuming that Anon makes an accurate assessment in those areas, and Coley gets some more appearances during the spring and keeps putting in the time during summer ball, I think those are skills that can be developed.
Thanks for the comments everyone and feel free to keep the conversation rolling.