Scott Pleis

William Scott Pleis

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 175 lb.

• High School Wentzville High School

• Born May 6, 1963 in Minneapolis, MN USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Scott Pleis played five seasons in the minors then became a scout. His father, Bill Pleis (Scott is technically William Pleis IV) pitched in the majors.

Scott Pleis was picked by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 4th round of the 1981 amateur draft, the 82nd overall selection, one choice after Dave Cochrane. Pleis was drafted as a catcher but immediately was moved to second base. He hit .310/.365/.405 for the '81 Medicine Hat Blue Jays while fielding .901 at his new position. He was close to the Pioneer League top 10 in average. In 1982, his defense improved significantly (.967 at 2B) but his hitting imploded (.198/.285/.259) for the Florence Blue Jays. He also pitched one shutout inning. His main role was to back up Bernie Tatis at second base.

Pleis joined the St. Louis Cardinals chain for his final three seasons. In 1983, he was with the Erie Cardinals (.321/.362/.388 in 60 G) and Macon Redbirds (.232/.330/.290 in 55 G). He allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings between the two stops, fanning eight. He was .003 shy of 10th in the New York-Penn League in batting average.

With no set position, he split 1984 between Erie (down to .241/.284/.315 in 44 contests) and the Springfield Cardinals (.239/.239/.261 in 27 games). On the mound, his record was 1-1, 5.40. With Springfield in '85, he ended his career by doubling in his only at-bat and pitching 5 games (5 R, 11 BB, 9 K in 8 1/3 IP).

For his pro career, he had posted a .267/.327/.335 batting line in 275 games with 97 runs and 89 RBI. He was 1-1 with a 3.80 ERA in 13 pitching appearances.

He then went into scouting. He was an area scout for the New York Yankees from 1995-2004, signing Tyler Clippard and John-Ford Griffin. From 2005-2007, he was east coast crosschecker for the Chicago Cubs. He then joined the Detroit Tigers as a national crosschecker. In August 2010, he was promoted to the role of Detroit Scouting Director. In this role, he was responsible for selecting Casey Mize and Spencer Torkelson with the first overall pick in the 2018 and 2020 amateur drafts, respectively.

Sources include 2011 Tigers Media Guide