Tampa, FL - It's one of the classic debates in baseball scouting: stats and high school performance vs. tools. The subject probably requires an entire book devoted to it. Marc Monroe would likely be first in line to buy it.
Monroe has done very well in the summer baseball scene over the years. A long-time member of the All-American Prospects, Monroe was surrounded by top tier talent that was committing to big time D1s and signing Major League contracts. Monroe waited for his opportunity to come along as he kept plugging away on the mound. "Being surrounded by top draft picks like Yordy [Cabrera] and Nick [Castellanos] just made me motivated to try and get to their level," Monroe said. "I would watch schools and scouts send people to our games specifically to watch those guys, and I wanted to keep working hard so I could get to that level one day."
The Braden River lefty is now graduated from high school as of June of 2010, and playing on the Prospect Wire 18U team as he tunes up for Indian River College. Monroe has easily had the stats and performances to go to a bigger D1, but his fluctuation in velocity has had schools waver with it. Monroe concluded his senior season as the workhorse for Braden River, throwing 50+ innings, striking out 50+ batters, and walking just 18. He closed the season with an ERA around 2.00. Most recently, Monroe threw a 6 inning gem in the Florida Bombers FAU Showdown to spearhead another victory for his team.
He's had schools of all shapes and sizes approach him: UNC, UF, FSU, UCF, and JuCos in Florida. But fluctuation on the radar gun has had some big schools hesitant to sign him. At PW events Monroe has been anywhere from 80-82mph, and as high as 85-87mph. For now, Monroe continues to work hard and has his sights set on Indian River. But after Indian River is anyone's guess. "I'm not going to be picky about where I play after Indian River. I would like to play for a good D-1 school, doesn't really matter where. I just want to play and contribute," he added.
Monroe's pitchability, work ethic, and ability to win on the mound should make him successful at Indian River. Look for Monroe to be a hot JuCo transfer after his freshman or sophomore seasons. Until then, you can catch Marc in action with the PW 18U Team and continue to follow him at Indian River next spring.
Comments (1)It was nice to sit and talk with him tonight. Seems to be very grounded. Refreshing to hear him talk about wanting to work harder and not just because he was out to prove people wrong. In saying he saw how hard they worked, and it showed him how hard he needed to work, to me, he just seems to get it.
Started in 2004, Prospect Wire has become one of the fastest growing organizers of elite level high school baseball events across the country. As a result, Prospect Wire's player database has grown to over 25,000 current prospects, making it one of the largest scouting services for high school baseball in America.
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