Self scouting report: Marlins' Tristan Pompey

Tristan Pompey is looking for a chance to prove himself.

After an injury-plagued first couple of professional seasons, the Marlins prospect is hoping that if there is a 2020 Minor League season it will be one in which he can remain on the field and offer some insight into what the future might hold.

Last year, the 22-year-old outfielder spent the majority of the first half of the season on the sidelines because of a broken toe, and missed time on the field with Miami while he represented Canada and won a silver medal with the national team at the Pan Am Games in Peru.

After getting into only 43 games in ’19 and hitting .194/.295/.271 with seven doubles, two triples, four stolen bases and 13 RBIs for the Class A Advanced Jupiter Hammerheads, Pompey is hoping that whenever he gets on the field next will be a chance for the 6-foot-4, 200-pound switch-hitter to showcase the tools that made him a third-round pick of the Marlins in the 2018 Draft after a successful three years at Kentucky in the Southeastern Conference.

Evaluating himself using a Major League Scouting Bureau report and the 20-to-80 scouting scale, basing his grades on the standards set by the Bureau, Pompey noted an opportunity to improve in all areas, and an understanding of where he can make improvements.

“He’s a kid to watch."

When baseball resumes, a lot of eyes will be on Mississauga's own Tristan Pompey, a #Marlins prospect with something to prove after a couple of injury-riddled seasons.

Here's where @lavsav_ sees his own future potential: pic.twitter.com/4f4mEAGByp

— Alexis Brudnicki (@baseballexis) April 20, 2020

Top tools
The native of Mississauga, Ont., gave himself the highest future grades in both his baseball instincts and baserunning ability, noting a chance for both to be at least above average and potentially well above average.

“I’ve always had a pretty good baseball IQ, and people have told me that I’m pretty smart with my awareness of the game, so that’s where the baseball instincts come in,” Pompey said during the offseason at Baseball Canada’s annual banquet and fundraiser. “And then that ties into baserunning because with baserunning you’ve got to understand your surroundings, you’ve got to know where people are playing, how many outs there are, all that stuff. The two play hand in hand with each other.”

Room to improve
Pompey jumped every tool a half grade from where he believes he is at presently to where he sees himself getting to in the future, though he thinks that by the time he can establish himself as a successful player, his biggest strides will have come in his power numbers.

“I will be able to increase my power more, just because I’ll fill out and get bigger,” he said. “Then it will turn into a better frame, and I can get to being like 6’4”, 225, so then my power will definitely go up, which I am excited for.”

Scouting the scout
Though he offered insight into his own game and grades, the young outfielder doesn’t have a wealth of experience with scouting reports or the grading scale.

“Not much at all,” Pompey said. “I know of it. I know what it is and the scale and stuff, but that’s pretty much as far as I go into it.”

What the scouts say
“He’s a kid to watch,” one National League evaluator said. “He’s tall and lanky with room to grow, and has a plus arm as a right fielder. He shows a chance to hit and have power, and he figures to do well defensively in the outfield. He obviously didn’t have a very good year, but he was coming back from an injury, so this is a very key year for him to step up. He needs to do well, be healthy, and get to Double-A at some point.”

What’s missing
“You just have to see players play,” Pompey said of what the scouting report doesn’t say about him. “I feel like that’s a starting point. It’s just different for someone looking at a report like this versus when you go out there and actually get to see how he’s playing and what he’s doing. That goes into it a lot. It’s not just about the stats on paper, but what he’s doing when you go watch him, what kind of player he is, what kind of energy he brings to the team and to himself. There’s a lot of stuff that goes into it.”