Paulo Orlando: TV Scouting

The only player in the Royals organization to play so far in the World Baseball Classic has been 27-year-old right-handed hitting Paulo Orlando. He has never been considered a legitimate prospect to make an impact in the majors. I decided to break down his game anyway to see what type of hitter he is.

To begin with, here are his minor league numbers:

He has displayed some speed and shown a little bit of power. That is about it. He did hit over .305 in 2010, but his AVG has not been spectacular.

Orlando led off for Brazil in the 3 games he played and went 2 for 12. First off, I only went back and watched his plate appearances so none of his defense will not be evaluated. Generally, I would describe him a weaker version of B.J. Upton. Fast, lack of plate discipline and tries to hit the long ball, but he has no real power.

He ended up hitting 6 fly balls (all outs) compared to 2 ground balls and a bunt (2 hits). His swing has a distinctive upper cut to it and was the cause for most of the fly balls. In his 2nd to last at bat, he looked to zone in and crush the ball all the way to the warning track for an out.

Also, he lacked plate discipline by chasing many pitches out of the zone. The chasing led to some to non-solid contact and easy outs. He struck out 3 times and didn't walk once.

Finally, he did display some decent speed with a 4.1 and 4.2 sec times to 1B. These speeds are comparable to Alcides Escobar. His speed was the only reason for his 2 hits in the games

In conclusion, I think he should rework his swing to try to be more of a line drive/ground ball hitter and put his speed to use. By getting rid of his upper cut swing, he will be less likely to hit those warning track fly balls.

Here is a breakout of each at bat and video of each batted ball.

Game 1 vs. Japan

1st plate appearance
B, take low and outside
s, take right down middle
GB Hit to 2B, Low and outside,
4.1sec to 1B

2nd plate appearance
FB out to CF, Inside

3rd plate appearance
Bunt hit to 3B, Outside

4th plate appearance
Ball, low and outside
FB out to RF, outside

Game 2 vs Cuba

1st plate appearance
Strike, take right down the middle
Stike - Check swing, outside curve
Ball, low and outside
Ball, outside
Foul tip strike, outside

2nd plate appearance
Ball, High little outside
Foul (RF), low and outside
Called strike, outside
Ball, low and outside
Swinging strike, low and way outside, breaking ball

3rd plate appearance
Ball, Way high
Ball, high
Ball, inside
Strike, take right down the middle
Strike, take, outside corner
Foul, low (ball 4)
FB out to CF

4th plate appearance
Called strike, right down middle
Foul, outside corner
Swinging strike, low (breaking ball)

Game 3 vs China

1st plate appearance
Called strike, outside corner
Foul ball, outside corner
FB out to CF, Low

2nd plate appearance
Called Strike, middle (curve)
Ball, outside
Foul, inside
Ball, low and inside
GB out to 3B, low
4.2 sec to 1B

3rd plate appearance
Called strike, middle (slow curve)
FB out to CF (warning track), middle (same as previous pitch)

4th plate appearance
(bases loaded)
Foul tip, middle of plate
Foul on 3B line, middle of plate.
Ball, outside
Foul, inside
FB to shallow RF, inside