July 10 for July 9 Update

I went to Brewster on Thursday for another unseasonably cool evening and watched Chatham beat Brewster 5-3. The loss snapped the Whitecaps' four-game winning streak which started immediately after manager Tom Myers threw first base in protest of an umpire's call earlier this week.

The story of this game from a scout's perspective was unquestionably Chatham's right-handed reliever Jesse Hahn from Virginia Tech. Hahn had scouts salivating and double checking each other's radar guns when his fastball sat between 96-98 mph. Hahn is tall with a solid, athletic build at 6'5" 195, and he gets a tremendously powerful drive from his lower body. He also throws a decent 75-76 mph curveball and an 83-84 mph change. Hahn subtly tips his pitches by opening up his front side a little too soon on his curveball and changeup, but his fastball is simply overpowering. If he can stay healthy Hahn could be a first round draft pick next June.

Chatham's right-handed starter Logan Verrett from Baylor wasn't bad either. He's average size for a pitcher at 6'2" 180, but he throws easily. He has slightly stiff arm action and he stands up straight in his delivery. Verrett's fastball sat mostly in the 90-93 mph range, and he worked mostly on the outer half of the plate. He threw a very good 82-84 mph slider with good late break that got some swings and misses. His 79 mph curveball was not quite as good, and he rarely threw his changeup. His fastball-slider combo got him through five innings during which he allowed just one hit and struck out eight.

For Brewster, left-handed starter Matt Lujan from the University of San Francisco was just so-so. Lujan was average height with a solid build at 6'1" 200. He threw with some effort and occasionally dropped his arm angle down and threw sidearm. His fastball sat in the 87-90 mph range and none of his secondary stuff was that good. He spun an 80-83 mph slider, through an occasional 81-84 mph changeup that wasn't especially deceptive and also showed a 74 mph curve. Lujan was respectable, and probably is worth a late-round pick next year.

Offensively, second baseman Jedd Gyorko from West Virginia continued to impress for Brewster. He crushed a no-doubt home run on a low-90s fastball, and he couldn't get around on it but he drove a Hahn high-90s heater for a deep fly ball to right field. Gyorko still doesn't have a true position, but he just might be the best hitter in the Cape League.

Another intriguing position player was designated hitter Ricky Oropesa from USC, who was playing in his third game of the summer for Chatham. Oropesa is a big guy at 6'3" 225, and he was hitting bombs during batting practice with his hard all-or-nothing swing. It's clear though that Oropesa struggles against breaking pitches, as pretty much all Brewster threw at him was junk and he looked uncomfortable.

I plan to hit Y-D at Bourne on Friday, hoping to catch Bourne left-handed starter Bryan Morgado from Tennessee, who was drafted in the third round last month by the White Sox.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Y-D 9 Cotuit 1: Left-handed starter Chris Sale from Florida Gulf Coast pitched six shutout innings for Y-D, allowing four hits and striking out eight. Right-handed starter Navery Moore from Vanderbilt did not record an out for Cotuit, walking three batters and hitting one with a pitch before he was taken out. Designated hitter Josh Rutledge from the University of Alabama had three hits for Y-D.

Falmouth 6 Wareham 2: Left-handed starter Taylor Wall from Rice pitched six shutout innings for Falmouth, allowing two hits and striking out six. Rightfielder Ryan Jones from Wichita State had three hits for Falmouth, and first baseman Hunter Morris from Auburn homered in the win.

Hyannis 5 Harwich 0: Right-handed starter Seth Rosin from the University of Minnesota pitched five shutout innings for Hyannis, allowing three hits and striking out six. Designated hitter Cody Hawn from Tennesse and rightfielder Jackie Bradley, Jr. from the University of South Carolina each had two hits for Hyannis.

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