LATEST PG SHOWCASE REPORT
2003 National Showcase
Garabedian had to leave the Perfect Game National in Lincoln early due to some bicep pain in his right arm, but he’s a player who we’ve seen very frequently over the past few years and have a good handle on. Garabedian’s best tool is his bat. He is extra strong in his arms and upper body and uses this strength to generate above average bat speed with wood. Garabedian doesn’t feel for the ball either at the plate, he takes a full hack with good extension out front. He hit a bolt off the wall the first day in Lincoln off an 89 mph fastball and hit a number of other rockets in BP. That’s consistent with performance just about every time we’ve seen him. Comparing Garabedian with a young Javy Lopez offensively would not be too far off base. Our concern with Garabedian at present is that he doesn’t get too strong and too restricted in his upper body to the point where he gets stiff, loses arm strength, loses quickness and starts suffering injuries. He’s always been a mature, thick chested young man and he’ll have to battle this the rest of his career. When he’s healthy, Garabedian has 55-60 arm strength on the Major League scale and is aggressive and quick behind the plate defensively. He could go pretty high in next June's draft. If not, look for him to end up at a national power college program. Alex is a good student.