Jose Fermin - Scouting Report


Rank History
Year Team Position Team Rank OFP
2021 CLE 2B 33 40

Grades Update: Nov 2020
OFP Role Hit Power Field Arm Run
40 40 45 30 50 50 60

Nov 2020 Report

Evaluator: Justin Lada

Age: 22 yr
Height: 5-11
Weight: 160 lbs
Hits/Throws: R/R
Acquired: 2015 IFA
RuleV: Eligible

Physical Description: Undersized middle infielder build. Slender legs and compact frame. Athletic but overall undersized with little room for projection. Should maintain athleticism needed to play up the middle with current build.

Hit: Open stance with horizontal barrel. Active hands in pre-load. Strides closed with moderate weight transfer. Gets front food down quick. Short to the ball with good bat control and compact swing. Able to pull hands in on inside pitchers and use quick wrists and bat speed to get around on most offerings. Patient approach. Shows good understanding of the strike zone and which pitches he can put into play effectively, rather than offering at everything because he has good bat control. Ability to make consistent contact with mature approach offer ability to put the ball in play, through he won't carry high exit velo's and will need to rely on a high BABIP to carry the tool. High grade velocity may be difficult for him given present strength. Grade: 45

Power: Lacks the frame and present strength for anything more than below-average power. Flat swing geared more for line drives. Has shown better contact authority to his pull side since opening his stance. Has average bat speed but no loft in swing. Gap/line drive pop at best. Grade: 30

Field: Fundamentally sound defender. Moves well laterally. Gets solid reads from both second base and shortstop. Good hands and can turn the double play for both sides of the keystone. Better range at second base than shortstop. Very steady defender. Grade: 50

Arm: Accurate arm. Able to throw from multiple angles accurately. Shows good internal clock. Average carry. Loses some arm strength going to left. Best suited for second base but average arm strength for a shortstop. Grade: 50

Run: Agile and gets out of the box quickly. I had him clocked consistently home-to-1st between 4.05-4.10, but I don't get the impression that he's typically a burner as that time would suggest. He doesn't really glide but gets down the line very efficiently. Uses good instincts on the bases and gets good jumps on steals. Fluid runner. Grade: 60

Overall: Fermin can spray the ball to all fields. He has a very contact-oriented swing and has the mature approach and spin recognition that should carry his hit tool as he begins to face more advanced pitching. He sees the ball well and has good hand/eye coordination and bad control. Very little power projection without more of a swing change to create more loft. Has the speed to make an impact on the bases. He's a better defender at second base and would be more of a fill-in at shortstop and probably lacks the arm to play third. He's a very fundamentally strong, and mature player in many facets of the game. Bi-lingual, smart, and well-liked teammate. Definitely a baseball rat and there's a chance he gets more out of his skill set thanks to the ability to make consistent contact and draw walks. There are some fringy similarities to Fermin's game to Jose Ramirez when he exploded at Lake County. Ramirez was a year younger in his stop there and showed more power. It's more likely that Fermin has a chance to have the role that everyone thought Ramirez would have long term in the majors, that being a utility infielder.

OFP: 40
Role: 40 - Below-Average Player: Bench / Platoon / Utility
Risk: Moderate