It's easy to get overshadowed when you play high school baseball in Southern California. Year after year, dozens of extremely talented prepsters from California get drafted in the early rounds of the 2014 MLB Draft. You can add Brian Schales to that list.
A relative unknown, Schales has done nothing but produce. He started all 4 years as the shortstop at Edison High School in Huntington Beach, CA and recently capped off his high school career by winning the Sunset League MVP.
Schales (6'1", 180 pounds) is an athletic infielder with average defensive skills on the left side of the infield. There aren't a lot of readily available scouting reports on his ability to stick in the middle of the infield, but the real value lies in his bat. Schales was invited to the US National Team Development Program where he showed a quick and easy stroke with easy gap power against some of the top high school competition in the country.
Schales is committed to play shortstop at Long Beach State University, a renowned baseball program. Head Coach of LBSU, Troy Buckley had this to say about Schales:
Brian profiles out to be a middle order bat with a very repeatable swing with solid bat speed. He also has a solid glove and arm tool on the defensive side of the ball as an infielder. Brian has exciting projection of strength and he has been exposed to solid competition both during high school and in summer/fall which will aid in his jump to our program.
Schales figures to be a tough sign but the Marlins drafted him with the 107th pick, which is seemingly much sooner than most would've drafted him. Time will tell if this was a cost-saving reach or Schales talent truly flew under the radar.