Players are often spoken about by comparing them to former or current Major Leaguers. This is especially true for many older scouts who have seen many players over the years and have a large mental database of players to reference.
Comparisons, or comps, are a helpful way of telling whoever you speak to or whoever reads your report what type of major league player you expect a prospect to be. Because we already know how a player turned out or is currently doing, it gives a clear idea of what to expect.
The scouting value in comps is that if we’re projecting a big-league talent, it’s important there’s precedent for that kind of prospect seeing success. This is important, and if a player has a skillset not seen in the big leagues, you have to use very good reasoning for why they will succeed where others have not.
Many players have profiles that are unique to them, and the ultimate question is whether their basket of tools will play at the big-league level, not how closely they mirror a successful big leaguer.
Because comps give a direct comparison, they can “anchor” a prospect to an established player. We want to think of prospects as their own players and to let them develop on their own. If we simply think of them as clones to another player, any differences or deficiencies may seem glaring for an otherwise good player.
Unless the similarities are just too difficult to ignore, it’s generally better to compare characteristics to big league players. Certain body types might project to look like different big leaguers.
A pitcher may have an eerily similar delivery to a big leaguer. Or a hitter may have a swing that mirrors a big leaguer. Scouts can get themselves in trouble by searching for the perfect overall player comp.
Freddie Freeman has had a remarkably similar skill set to Eddie Murray so far in his career. Chris Sale and Tanner Houck have very similar releases from the left and right side, respectively. Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger have very similar bodies and builds.
Summary
Player comps is one aspect of scouting that is going to take time to develop, as you see more prospects and are also able to break down more current big leaguers. But it’s a very good tool for providing mental images to your written reports.
Comments