Every Thursday leading up to the 2015 MLB Draft Perfect Game will provide detailed scouting reports, and video (when available) on 8-12 of the top players eligible. The first report each week will be available for free, the rest can be viewed with a PG Insider subscription. To learn more about Perfect Game's subscription packages and to sign up today please visit this link.
Prospects covered this week:Luken Baker, Trenton Clark, Tristin English, Riley Ferrell, Carson Fulmer, Eric Jenkins, Brett Lilek, Demi Orimoloye, Dansby Swanson, Dillon Tate.
Luken Baker – RHP/1B
Height/Weight: 6-4/250
Bats/Throws: R/R
Birthdate: March 10, 1997
High School: Oak Ridge
Hometown: Spring, Texas
Travel Team: Twelve Baseball
Commitment: Texas Christian
Projected Draft Round: 2
The first thing any that anyone thinks when they see Luken Baker for the first time is "That is one big young man." A scout remarked last summer, "He could easily be the type physically you'd see as a top football recruit if his parents had pushed him to football. Imagine him 6-4/280 as a high school junior with some extra weight lifting. He would just hurt people on the football field."
What that first impression belies is that Baker might be the best two-way talent in the 2015 class. His hitting resume surpasses his pitching resume at this point actually. He hit .473 as a high school freshman, then won the junior version of the MLB Home Run Derby, topping fellow PG All-American Josh Naylor in the finals. Baker also was the second leading hitter on the USA National 18u team, posting a .500-3-15 line in 11 games.
Although there are scouts who favor Baker as a hitter moving forward, the majority feel that his highest ceiling is on the mound. As with his mechanics hitting, Baker's mechanics on the mound are very simple and repeatable. He has a long and loose arm action that does show the ball some and lacks ideal deception but he comes straight at hitters with a consistent low-90s fastball that will frequently reach 95 mph when he wants it. When Baker is down in the zone his fastball is heavy and difficult to square up but it tends to be hittable when left up, something that will likely be a constant checkpoint in his development in the future. Baker's slider is a low- to mid-80s power offering that shows quality and depth at times.
There always seems to be a extra temptation for two-way talents to go to college just so they can do both skills for a couple more years; Florida's A.J. Puk comes immediately to mind. Baker is a very good student with a TCU ride in hand, so that will be an interesting story line to follow as June draws closer.
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