Scouting Report: DJ Crumlich

SS DJ Crumlich
2010 Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks
Height: 6'1" - Weight: 185lb
Level: DI Sophomore
School: UC Irvine
Draft Eligibility: 2011 (DI Jr.)
Prev. Draft: N/A
Scouting Video
Posts regarding DJ Crumlich

When the All-ABL picks were announced shortly before the end of the season, I knew I had to get another look at Gold Glove winner DJ Crumlich of the Goldpanners. Fortunately I had several more chances to form an opinion on the talented UC Irvine shortstop, both live and on video, before the year wrapped up. I've been playing with his scouting report all off-season and, encouraged by his selection as a top-25 prospect in the ABL by Perfect Game, I'm now releasing my thoughts on Crumlich for all to see. Here's my take on the guy:
 
Description: Standing 6'1", Crumlich has a pretty average, athletic middle-infielder build. He stays loose at the plate, draws hands back as he loads up, and then drops them into the swing slot right before swinging with a small-to-moderate stepping stride.

2011 Draft Eligibles: Goldpanners of Fairbanks

Cabral, Meaux and Newman lead a class of likely Goldpanner draft picks.

Ryan Cabral could be a nice pick-up for a pro team
in the 2011 MLB draft.

The Goldpanners have an interesting list of draft eligible players this year. I think that 2010 was a stronger year in the top-prospect department than 2009; however, most of the more recent season's big name Goldpanners seem to be juniors. The result is a lot of players who will probably get drafted in 2011, and definitely beyond, but it's difficult for me to find an upper tier of players who I can predict will be drafted in, say, the first ten rounds or so in the upcoming spring. Regardless, I'll go out on a limb and suggest a few possibilities:

Ryan Cabral: Cabral is one guy who not only stood out to me, but as a senior won't be pushed down to the middle of the pack due to a lack of signability. Cabral moved from the pen to the starting rotation when he came up to Alaska and really took advantage of his lively fastball with pro-caliber velocity to pick apart the ABL's batters. He went 5-0 with a 2.47 ERA overall, and was the Panners' workhorse as he pitched consistently well over a team-best 54.2 IP. His efforts landed him a first-team All-ABL selection.

Jesse Meaux: Meaux was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 44th round as a junior last year. Obviously he made what should turn out to be a smart choice and went back to school instead of signing, as I imagine that re-entering the draft as a senior will only increase his draft stock. The rightie Meaux is a bit of a soft thrower, but he's got great control and does a good job of locating his pitches. His hard work paid off this last spring as he moved from the mid-week starter job into the weekend mix.

Scouting Video: DJ Crumlich

SS DJ Crumlich
2010 Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks
Height: 6'1" - Weight: 185lb
Level: DI Sophomore
School: UC Irvine
Draft Eligibility: 2011 (DI Jr.)
Prev. Draft: N/A
Posts regarding DJ Crumlich

Reflections: Goldpanners @ Miners, 7/30/2010

DJ Crumlich: his glove really is gold

Yesterday's doubleheader between the Goldpanners and the Miners at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer was a pivotal one. At stake in this four-game, back-to-back doubleheader series is first place in the Alaska Baseball League. It's come right down to the wire and this is it. The Panners and Miners split the twin-bill, which sets up a dramatic finish today. On the one hand, the Miners have to win both of these final games to clinch the championship, and the Goldpanners only have to force a split. On the other, the games will go down on the Miners' home turf. So the title really is up for grabs.

Before we get into the nuts and bolts, I'll share a little tale with you. I give the Goldpanners bullpen credit for being classy. After reading The Bullpen Gospels, I expect talk of boobies, lots of poop jokes, and all sorts of hijinx from bullpen crews. Imagine my surprise when I rounded the corner to walk down the left-field line when I overheard the pen having a civil and seemingly informed discussion comparing the religions of the world and sharing opinions on the afterlife. I was impressed, if not a little disappointed to miss my daily dose of boob jokes. So, kudos to the Goldpanners bullpen for being more mature than I.

Anyway, when I wasn't fielding trash-talk from Goldpanners who apparently thought I was a spy for the Miners, or trying to get my daughter to quit playing in the giant mud puddle near the Panners bullpen (unsuccessfully, I might add), I got some good notes on some players I need to round out my reports on. So on that note, I'd like to share some quick observations on strengths & weaknesses of some players.

Random player notes from the past few days

The Goldpanners' DJ Crumlich, out of UC
Irvine, made some heads-up team plays.

I'm taking a little bit of time away from the ballpark, what with the Anchorage area being nearly deserted all weekend and for the next couple days, but I've been listening to the audio feeds and watching me some PannerVision when I can. Most of it has come in bits and pieces, though, so I haven't really had enough good stuff to put together a whole reflections post on an entire game. So instead of struggling through that, here's some quick notes about what I've managed to catch from the games, Saturday through Monday...

DJ Crumlich looked pretty good for the Goldpanners. He displayed some good heads-up base running early on, faking the steal home to distract the pitcher while Sikorski swiped second. He also made a pretty solid leaping catch. Tack on a hit and a run and he had himself a pretty good game.

I think Liam Baron (Panners) is a pretty cool cat. In fact, I think I've called him that before. Something about his demeanor says "cool cat" to me, I guess. Anyway, he's got a unique style, throwing lots of curveballs. My first thought was, "how many curves is this guy going to throw?" But there's some subtle differences in his, though, as he throws variations of his breaking ball from different arm slots to keep the batter off guard, mixing fastballs in for good measure. Three strikeouts on 2.1 IP and no earned runs on the evening to pick up the win last night. Whatever he's doing, he's doing it pretty well. I'm curious as to whether that's a strategy that a player can take very far into the pro ranks, but until someone proves him wrong, what the heck.

We already learned about Eddie Orozco (Oilers) and his no-hitter, but getting down to some of the nuts and bolts, he's pretty effective with mixing his pitches. He's got a good feel for his curveball and last night he was using it effectively, combined with his fastball, to get ahead in the count. It seemed like his strategy was to get way ahead of the hitter and then try and get him to chase junk, and it worked pretty well, obviously.