An Interview With Padres Prospect Will Scott

Will Scott is not a household name amongst Padres prospects, but he is a intriguing prospect nonetheless. Scott, a 32nd round pick out Walters State Community College, in Morristown, Tennessee, is primed to breakout in 2013. Scott, a pitcher, has only been pitching since his senior year of high school. Before that, Scott was an outfielder, but was converted due to his raw abilities. Scott was gracious enough to give us a few minutes of his time and I came away highly impressed. Scott is a smart. gracious kid and he is a player that Padres fans should be aware of.

Scott has the distinction of being drafted three times. He was drafted in the 32nd round by Atlanta in 2008, by Colorado in the 26th round in 2009 and finally by San Diego in 2010, again in the 32nd round.

“I chose to sign with San Diego, because I did not want to go through the whole draft process. I figured if I went back to school, my stock would improve and I would be drafted higher. The Padres were great — they stayed in constant contact and I talked to scouts every other day. The Padres have a great organization and I felt comfortable then.”

Scott used the motivation of falling in the draft and tried to use that as motivation for the start of his professional career. Scott made his organizational debut in 2010, pitching in three games for Peoria.

“Dropping in the draft was definitely a motivating factor. A lot of people called me a “secret prospect” and I felt like I had a lot to prove. I thought I pitched well in 2010, then I felt really good and had a good season in 2011 with Eugene.”

Scott did indeed have a good year in Eugene in 2011. He went 2-2, with a 3.17 ERA in 19 games(5 starts). He seemed primed to climb up the organizational depth chart and rise in the ranks. However, Scott repeated the level and pitched in 2012 for the Emeralds.

“It was definitely a little rough. I started to feel like I would never get out of Eugene. I started out the year feeling pretty good, then went through a rough stretch where my head was not really in the game. By the end of the year, things started falling into place for me.”

Scott turned things around after a rough start and won the Northwest Pitcher of the Week award in August. In that stretch he turned his best outing of the year, when he pitched six shutout innings against the Everett Aquasox. The award comes with an interesting story.

“I didn’t even know I had won the award until a few weeks after I won it. There was no announcement, Pat Murphy(former Emeralds manager, now Tucson Padres manager) told me casually one day. It was a big accomplishment for me, especially since I did not feel like my mind and body was always there.”

Scott helped the Emeralds have the best record in the Northwest League, but since they did not win either half of the season, they missed the playoffs. However, Scott approached this situation with an impressive amount of maturity.

“Bottom line: we did not win when we had to. We played well for the most part, but I would not really say that we were the best team in the league at any point on the season. The team had their chances and we could not come up with the big win.”

As the 2013 season approaches, Scott is keeping busy, assuring that 2013 will be his year to break out in the Padres system.

“I am working really hard this offseason. I have been pulling sleds and doing a lot of running. I am strengthening my core to make sure that I can build my endurance up and finish games. Nellie Cruz(Emerald’s pitching coach Nelson Cruz) told me that I really need to work, since the organization may need to make a decision about me. I want to do everything I can to show them what I can do.

While I have followed Scott’s career through my work as the co-editor for the site, I was curious to get to know more about the skills that Scott possessed. I asked Scott what he thought his greatest assets were.

“I am a reliable guy. I throw strikes and I am working on getting stronger. My fastball can hit 95 MPH, but I usually sit around 86-91 MPH. I always feel like I give the team a good chance to win.

Scott takes pride on being serious on the mound, but loves to have a good time. Scott is a name that all Padres fans should keep an eye on next season. While your add it, follow my man on Twitter: @WillScott_43.

Scott