By Nathan Rode
National Supervisor

JUPITER, FL—Thursday marked the start of the World Wood Bat Championship, a final look of sorts for scouts and college recruiters before the so-called offseason. The day started with some consolation games and batting practices before actual pool play kicked off in the afternoon. As usual the marquee games were in the evening as hundreds of scouts packed in behind the backstops of four fields to see several top arms. One of those games was an intense matchup between the Mets Scout Team/Scorpions and Upstate Mavericks. The Scorpions rolled out three arms that are high follows for the draft, starting with RHP Tyler Baum (West Orange HS, FL).

Baum’s 6-foot-2 listing might be a tick generous, but it’s a good frame and he’s by no means undersized. He pitches with regular effort and has a sound delivery. He came out of the gate hot, sitting 89-92 mph and touching 93 with good finishing life through the zone. He struck out the side in the first and got two more around a groundout in the second. Though it was inconsistent, Baum showed the ability to flash a sharp curveball with depth and 12/6 shape at 73-76. He also mixed in a changeup at 78. Things fell apart for him the third as his command wavered and he allowed a run on two hits and two walks. He was pulled with two outs in the third, having thrown 29 of 50 pitches for strikes. He finished with seven strikeouts.