Prep Baseball Report

Norcal ProCase Spotlight: RHP/3B Tucker Bougie


Blaine Clemmens
Northern CA Director of Scouting



LINCOLN, CA. - Bougie, presently ranked #60 in California (15th among RHP), is a bundle of numerous talents. Go see him on a day when he's playing 3B in a HS game, hitting 4th, and you see what would draw a scout to him as a hitter. Show up to that game later when he's now on the mound and you see the repertoire and stuff that suggests MLB starting pitcher. Watch that whole game and see him do both (that was my last look and experience with him before the stop of the spring season) and you get to compare Bougie the hitter to Bougie the pitcher. More on that in the summary at the end of this piece.

THE PITCHING REPORT:

Body: 6-foot-3, 200-pounds. Large frame LHH/RHP's generally get attention from the pro game.

Delivery: Nothing complicated, small step, hip turn, knee lift about to the waist, hands working in rhythm w/feet. Strong over the rubber, gets separated on time. Powerful stride that opens slightly at foot strike. High-3/4 slot, loose easy and strong arm, finishes w/extension through deceleration. Very repeatable.

FB: Sat 87-90 mph - 2183 avg spin rate - 13.2 avg IVB - 7.4 avg horizontal movement (HM) - Nothing really jumps off the page with his fastball metrics. Seeing how the ball comes out, how easy his effort level is, how the ball plays through the zone, all is better digested with the eyes vs simply looking at the metrics. Look at the high end (max) of the metrics and we start to see where his ceiling can go... 2265 spin, 15.9 IVB, 10.7 HM. I think its a fair projection to put a future 50 grade on his FB and if a scout really likes him, 55. The challenge is that he's not handled a full HS season load as a starting pitcher to see how his stuff holds up in the 4th/5th innings, etc. 

SL: 76-78 mph - 2398 avg spin rate (2481 max) - -8.6 HM (that is the break to his glove side) - As per TrackMan data from the 2019 season, average MLB slider spin rate was 2414, so he's already right there and occasionally above. He throws it with feel, it's got some depth but there can be more depth developed. His extension of the slider was 4.32 vs 5.37 on the FB, meaning, not as close to the plate. However, his slider can be graded as a future plus pitch, which in turn, helps his FB play up.

CHG: 78-81 mph - 1378 spin rate - 2.5 HM - 5.16 extension - 11.2 IVB - The significant decrease in spin on his CHG vs the FB is significant. Its an indication of the type of late fade in the zone that can get swings and misses and/or soft contact. The lower the spin on the CHG, the more fade/drop of the pitch, i.e. the 'heavier' that pitch is. His usage of this pitch isn't likely to be high in HS as he can dominate HS hitters with his FB and SL. But its very useful to know that he has this pitch and has feel of it and will use it on occasion.

Pitching Summary: He punched out 3 of the 4 batters he faced and finished the hitters using each of his three pitches. That obviously speaks to his pitchability and usability of his repertoire. The slider K was looking, the change-up K was swinging and the fastball K was swinging on a heater up in the zone. He has a full repertoire, he's a strike thrower, he's got the body type and delivery that should hold up. Again, the only questions really can be, can he pitch deep into games and hold his stuff and what's the ceiling on the fastball. Both are questions that likely get answered in college.


Hit: LH - What I've seen in games is a RBI-getter, a hitter with feel for how he's being pitched, a timing oriented hitter with a good process, a good situational hitter. All of those are obviously valuable traits. What I'd not really felt or seen in games was the type of damage potential hitter that his size and LHH profile bring to mind. Now having Blast info, what my eyes saw sync up with the numbers. It's his hand speed that I always felt was somewhat lacking and why I felt that timing had to be on point for him (needed for every hitter, no doubt, but more so for hitters with lesser hand speed). His avg hand speed was 19.08 (desired range for pro level is 23-29). He DOES accelerate the bat into the zone well, reflected by 15.79 (g) rotational acceleration (high of 18), and on plane efficiency of 86%, a very high number. So ya, the hand speed isn't great... but he's got other talents to overcome that.

Power: 101 EV (avg 89 mph) in the BP round using wood and that's a good number. Fly ball % was 41.2%, line drive% 17.6%. Max bat speed got up to 70.9, which is a good number, right in the ideal range for MLB according to Blast (66-78) though the average was on the low end (66.83). To be able to generate his power, it's the rotational acceleration, combined with his strength, being consistently on plane, and sequencing at impact. That's a lot to coordinate and make work to produce usable power. He's got it in there, clearly, but will it be usable vs major D1 pitching and beyond? We will have the answer in a few years.

Field: He's shown the arm strength to play 3rd base but the first step, lateral range, and agility are attributes that don't play as well for him at 3rd base as they would at 1st base. That assessment comes from a couple of viewings of him in HS games at 3rd base. Sure, he looks fully capable of making the plays in his range/area and teams both in college and pro ball are clearly good at positioning their defenders. However, projecting him as a position player in college, 1st base sure looks a lot more likely.

Arm: 3B mph - 87 - Clearly a strength of his and the arm strength will continue to improve. This is not an issue for him as a potential 3rd baseman and would be a plus tool as a 1st baseman.

Run: 7.09 - This number stood out as quite good given that he's 6-foot-3, 200-pounds. Some MLB teams have made 7.00 in the 60 an average time and 4.3 down the line as a LHH as average. Bougie isn't likely to improve that number much as he ages, gets bigger, but he's not a hindrance in regard to foot speed.

Overall Summary: The breakdowns above pretty much lay out what this summary is. COULD he develop into an offensive player beyond HS and the college level? Yes. Given the defensive profile very well could be at 1st base, then the hit/power grades have to be quite high, as that position is first and foremost about producing runs. He has tools to drive in runs, he has an approach that appears to be sound and understands who he is as a hitter, those are great attributes. The likelihood of Bougie being an offensive player vs being a pitcher, beyond the college level, seems higher on the pitching side, from this perspective.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

There will be additional events in Northern CA scheduled for October 10 & 11, stay tuned!

SHOWCASE STATE DATE LOCATION
SoCal Uncommitted Senior Games CA 09/13 Amerige Park
Norcal Uncommitted Senior Games CA 09/26 Islanders Field
SoCal Underclass I.D. Camp CA 10/10 Great Park
SoCal Upperclass I.D. Camp CA 10/10 Great Park
SoCal Underclass I.D. Camp II CA 10/11 Great Park
SoCal Upperclass I.D. Camp II CA 10/11 Great Park


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