College of the Sequoias: Sagun Gainey Scouting Report, April 2017

Visalia, California —— At the top of this post, watch one of our Sagun Gainey scouting report video clips, focusing on freshman right-handed pitcher Sagun Gainey. The pitcher is an MLB Draft prospect and a member of the College of the Sequoias baseball team. This video, and our other Sagun Gainey video below, were taken from one of his starts in March, 2017 against Central Valley Conference opponent Taft College on the road at Taft.

Entering play on Saturday, Gainey is hitting .282/.313/.372 with a home run, 11 RBI, and 15 runs scored across 78 at-bats this spring for the College of the Sequoias. On the mound, also entering Saturday, Gainey is 4-4 with three saves in 15 games (10 starts) for the Giants, with 40 strikeouts against 69 hits and just 12 walks in 63.0 innings pitched.

Sagun Gainey scouting report notes

A two-way star out of tiny Tehachapi High School in Tehachapi, California, Gainey was thought to have a legitimate shot at being selected by a Major League organization in the 2016 MLB Draft after his senior year. That never materialized, and so Gainey made his way to the College of the Sequoias, a two-year school in Visalia, for his freshman year of school. Here, as noted immediately above this paragraph, he’s made an immediate impact as both a pitcher and a position player for the Giants’ baseball team, and it’s setting Gainey up once again to potentially be a prospect for this summer’s MLB Draft.

Gainey is good enough at the plate for the JuCo level—a well-balanced hitter that keeps his bat in the hitting zone for quite a while and can get the barrel on the ball with good bat speed. In the field, he’s fine at shortstop right now, too, although should he ever play at a four-year school he might likely move to the outfield with ease. The projection here, though, is Gainey’s work on the mound, because it’s his future as a pitcher that’s getting him the long, lasting looks ahead of this summer’s MLB Draft.

Gainey sits in the mid-80s, and can run his fastball up a little bit higher at times, but it’s his ability to throw everything down in the zone with advanced command and good life that really sets him apart. He’s a sinker/slider type arm with sinking and diving action on every one of his pitches (two-seam, four-seam, slider, and changeup). He can command all his pitches to each side of the plate, as evidenced this spring by his 40:12 K:BB ratio over 63 innings of work for the College of the Sequoias. A survivor of Tommy John surgery—he underwent the procedure in high school two years ago—Gainey has recovered well and shows good arm strength, good mechanics, clean arm action, and a free and easy delivery from the windup and the stretch. He repeats his delivery well and has a notably calm, cool demeanor on the mound despite his relative age and lack of high-level experience.

It remains up in the air if he’ll be drafted this June, but pro scouts ought to be giving Gainey quite a bit of consideration ahead of the MLB Draft. Whenever his name is called by a big league team, Gainey will be well-served to be placed in the rotation of a rookie ball team where he can get innings under his belt and iron out his game as he adjust to the professional level. Regardless, if things continue down this path for the right-handed pitcher, Sagun Gainey is going to have a chance to play baseball for years to come between his inevitable four-year college options and the minor league baseball world that will follow.

To visit Sagun Gainey’s player page, please click here.

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Sagun Gainey scouting report: 140 characters or less

A two-way star making a big impact at the College of the Sequoias, Sagun Gainey’s pro ball future will come as a sinker/slider type pitcher.

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Sagun Gainey Baseball Video

Below, find our Sagun Gainey video, both of him as a pitcher and a hitter during that March 9 game against Taft College:

Sagun Gainey Baseball GIFs

And just like our Sagun Gainey baseball video, here are a few shareable GIFs broken out of the two-way player for the College of the Sequoias:

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In this College of the Sequoias / Sagun Gainey baseball scouting report:

College of the Sequoias | Taft College | Sagun Gainey

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