Jose Fernandez and his 'no fear approach' have made this 2011 pre-Draft scouting report a reality
Before he was lighting up the radar gun and blowing away hitters with the Marlins, Jose Fernandez was a high school pitcher with a promising ceiling.
In fact, some of the attributes he's shown on the mound both before and after his Tommy John surgery were identifiable back when he was a 19-year-old wunderkind from Alonso High School in Tampa, Fla.
Before the 2011 Draft, the Major League Scouting Bureau issued this report on Fernandez's abilities. A few of the scouts' notes regarding the hard-throwing right-hander were particularly spot-on.
Specifically, the use of phrases such as "excellent mound presence" and "Mound savvy. Pitchability evident," which are definitely assets he possesses to this day.
In fact, the best summation of Fernandez as a pitcher today (and then, apparently) was his designation that he "Exudes confidence" and has a "No fear approach." Confidence on the mound breeds moments such as this, after all:
Miami clearly appreciated the potential of young Fernandez, taking him with the 14th pick in the 2011 Draft. The decision paid dividends right away in 2013, as he coasted to the N.L. Rookie of the Year Award, an All-Star selection and a third place finish in the Cy Young vote. He went 12-6, while racking up 187 strikeouts and posting a 2.19 ERA in 28 starts.
Fernandez's career trajectory has been so explosive for the Marlins, he's even managed to do better than some had initially expected. Notice the tag of "Quality mid-rotation starter" at the end of the summary:
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Safe to say he's already gone above and beyond those preliminary expectations, right?
And he's probably not going to stop anytime soon. Fully recovered from the surgery that shortened his 2014 and 2015 campaigns, Fernandez appears to be right back on track this season. In his first 12 starts, he's 9-2 with a 2.29 ERA, having already collected 110 strikeouts in 74 innings of work.
The 2016 MLB Draft will take place from Thursday through Saturday, beginning with the Draft preview show on MLB Network and MLB.com on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET. Live Draft coverage from MLB Network's Studio 42 begins at 7 p.m., with the top 77 picks being streamed on MLB.com and broadcast on MLB Network. MLB.com's exclusive coverage of Day 2 begins with a live Draft show at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, with exclusive coverage of Day 3 beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
