August 2 for August 1 Update

I went to Harwich on Saturday to catch the first game of a doubleheader between Harwich and Falmouth.

The last time I was at Harwich there were about 25 Major League scouts in attendance. On Saturday there were zero. Harwich won 4-2.

Righthander Matt Price from Virginia Tech started for Harwich. I had seen Price throw out of the bullpen earlier in the summer, and I think he is better-suited for a bullpen role. Price really only had two consistently reliable pitches, and he tired considerably after just a few innings. Price is average height for a pitcher and thin at 6'2" 165. He has some unnecessary movement in his motion but throws with loose arm action. He tends to throw his slider from a lower arm slot. Price's fastball has sat in the low 90's and it has a lot of tail in on right-handed hitters. His slider looked a lot better than I remembered it, with sharp two-plane break when he threw it well. It got a lot of swings and misses. Price's changeup was just occasionally deceptive and he didn't have much feel for the curveball he showed once in awhile. Overall, Price is a kid with a good arm who needs some refining.

Harwich right-handed reliever Les Williams from Northeastern had a good appearance. Williams was brought in to face Falmouth slugger Hunter Morris from Auburn with the bases loaded and two out in a one-run game. Williams went right after Morris, getting him to pop out weakly on a good slider in on his hands. Williams is average height with a solid build at 6'2" 220. He throws with effort and slings it. Williams' slider has good run, and as he did against Morris, he throws it right at hitters. Williams also floats a decent changeup with downward movement.

Morris hit another home run, his seventh of the summer, in an earlier at-bat against Price. After watching him two games in a row, it is unclear why anybody would ever throw Morris a fastball. He often takes bad swings at good breaking pitches, but he has continually proven he can hit a good fastball. After hitting a 400 plus-foot bomb Friday night, Morris hit one about 380 on Saturday on a heater Price left over the middle of the plate. Morris may have the best raw power in the Cape League, but he needs to learn how to hit a slider.

Harwich first baseman Connor Powers from Mississippi State has a similar problem. The Dodgers' 11th-round pick in June after has very good raw power, but he hasn't shown he can consistently hit a breaking ball.

I plan to be at Orleans at Cotuit on Sunday.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Cotuit 6 Bourne 2: Right-handed starter Justin Grimm allowed one earned run on six hits and struck out 10 in 7.1 innings pitched for Cotuit. Second baseman Rico Noel from Coastal Carolina went 3-for-4 for Cotuit.

Chatham 3 Brewster 0: Chatham right-handed starter Patrick Johnson from UNC pitched six shutout innings, allowing three hits and striking out seven. Desginated hitter Mike Murray from Wake Forest went 2-for-2 for Chatham.

Orleans 2 Wareham 2, Orleans 6 Wareham 5: In the first game, Wareham right-handed starter Cole Green from the University of Texas struck out 10 in seven innings pitched, allowing two runs on eight hits. Left fielder Connor Rowe from the University of Texas homered for Wareham. Shortstop Devin Lohman from Long Beach State went 3-for-4 for Orleans. In the second game, designated hitter Steve Selsky from the University of Arizona went 2-for-2 with a home run, and right fielder Jeremy Gould from Duke went 3-for-3 for Orleans. Second baseman Jake Lemmerman from Duke went 2-for-3 with a home run for Wareham.

Hyannis 6 Y-D 4: First baseman Ryan Cuneo from the University of Delaware hit a grand slam and third baseman Dustin Harrington from East Carolina went 4-for-5 for Hyannis. Left fielder Caleb Ramsey from the University of Houston and right fielder Jonathan Jones from Long Beach State each had two hits for Y-D.

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