I went to Chatham on Sunday to watch Y-D at Chatham, and I can finally close the books on Y-D after catching the last of its pitchers I hadn't yet seen, lefthander Mario Hollands from UC Santa Barbara.
I promised in my last post to make a more concerted effort to catch unseen starting pitchers these last couple weeks, and Sunday was a good start.
Chatham's left-handed starter Tyler Lyons, the Yankees' 10th-round pick last month, was the more impressive of the two pitchers, but Y-D came from behind to win 6-4.
Hollands' trademark is his unconventional delivery, which looks like a toned-down version of Dontrelle Willis', but it could be holding him back . He has a high leg kick and spins part of the way around, and keeps his bare hand separate from his glove the whole time. Hollands' stuff is just average and he is not particularly effective. Hollands has a good pitcher's body at 6'5" 220, but his jerky motion and slinging arm action limit how hard he can throw. Perhaps if a team took the time to reinvent his mechanics he could be improved. Hollands' fastball sat in the 87-89 mph range and had some tail in on left-handed hitters. His best pitch was probably his 72 mph curveball with late, sweeping break. His slider needs work, as it looks like he holds onto the ball too long when he throws it and he often throws it in the dirt. He also threw an 84 mph changeup that wasn't really deceptive. Hollands is an athletic kid, and it wold be interesting to see what might happen if a professional team took the time to work with him.
Lyons was a lot more conventional, and while he stuff was not overpowering he had four pretty good pitches and was effective. Lyons is average height for a pitcher with an athletic build at 6'2" 205. He has a smooth motion and has good arm action but does throw with a little effort. His fastball sat in the 87-89 mph range and once touched 90. His two-seamer had good tailing action in on left-handed hitters and his four-seamer moved a little bit the other way. He threw a very good 75-76 mph curveball with sweeping break which he could throw for strikes, and also threw a good 78-79 mph slider with late break. The two breaking pitches had a similar trajectory but the curveball had more depth to it. Lyons also threw a deceptive 79-80 mph changeup with some downward movement. The Yankees have several guys under control up here, and Lyons is one of their better ones.
Y-D right-handed reliever Chase Dempsay from the University of Houston impressed even though his fastball only topped out at 86 mph. He entered the game with the bases loaded and nobody out in the bottom of the six inning and didn't allow any runs to score. Dempsey is above-average height with an athletic build and slightly thin frame at 6'3" 200. He throws with effort and drops down to throw sidearm. Again his fastball is lacking in velocity but it has tremendous movement, with late sinking action and some tail in on right-handed hitters. He also showed a decent 76 mph slider and a 76-79 mph changeup with some downward movement. It seems like his fastball is either going to have the velocity or the movement, but not both, and that could hold him back going forward.
Y-D catcher Ben McMahan from the University of Florida looked good Sunday. He has quick hands and a smooth right-handed stroke that allows him to drive the ball. He's athletic behind the plate and also has a decent arm. He is one of the better catchers in a league with only a few good ones.
Otherwise it wasn't a great game for position players. There were only a few solidly hit balls and a lot of sloppy defense. Plus, I ran out of pages in my second scorebook of the season so until I get a new one Monday it was a little more difficult to keep track of hitters.
I plan to be at Harwich at Falmouth on Monday.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Bourne 8 Wareham 0: Right-handed starter Seth Maness from East Carolina pitched a one-hit shutout for Bourne, striking out 11. Designated hitter Rob Segedin from Tulane went 3-for-3 and second baseman Pierre LePage from UConn went 2-for-4 for Bourne.
Brewster 4 Hyannis 3, Hyannis 3 Brewster 2: Right-handed starter Kyle Blair from the University of San Diego didn't allow a hit and struck out five in four innings pitched for Brewster. First baseman Ryan Cuneo from the University of Delaware homered for Hyannis and designated hitter Tant Shepherd from the University of Texas homered for Brewster. In the second game, third baseman Harold Martinez from the University of Miami homered for Brewster. Rightfielder Jackie Bradley, Jr. from the University of South Carolina went 2-for-3 in both games for Hyannis.
Falmouth 4 Cotuit 3: Centerfielder Todd Cunningham from Jacksonville State went 2-for-5 for Falmouth and third baseman Zack Cox from the University of Arkansas went 2-for-4 for Cotuit.
Orleans 3 Harwich 1: Orleans right-handed starter Jorge Reyes from Oregon State, the Padres' 17th-round pick last month, pitched eight shutout innings, allowing one hit and striking out nine. First baseman Riccio Torrez from Arizona State went 2-for-2 with a home run for Orleans.
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Showing posts with label Ben McMahan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ben McMahan. Show all posts
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
July 25 for July 24 Update
I went to Yarmouth-Dennis on Friday, but the scheduled pitching matchup had changed and once again I ended up seeing only pitchers I have already seen and written about. With less than two weeks left in the season, and still between 20 and 30 pitchers left unseen, I am making it a point to avoid situations like these from now on.
The postponements and inconsistent accuracy of the Cape League's "Pitchers: Next 3 Days" page are making things difficult, but I am going to try to overcome these obstacles.
As for Friday, Y-D won 6-3 and is starting to distance itself from the pack in the Eastern Division.
Righthander Michael Goodnight from the University of Houston started for Y-D and put together an average performance. Goodnight's main issue is his front side flies open too early and it leads to struggles with his command. Goodnight has good size and a projectable frame at 6'4" 215. His fastball sat in the 91-93 mph range, and he showed an inconsistent 75 mph curveball. When he threw the pitch well it had sharp downward break, but he sometimes didn't finish it and it would hang up in the zone. Goodnight also threw an average changeup with some tail down and in.
Chatham's starter was Patrick Johnson from the University of North Carolina, who is really just held back by his size. Johnson is 5'10" 170 and he throws with big effort. Johnson's fastball sits in the 87-89 mph range and he will occasionally touch 90. His best pitch is a hard 78-82 mph slider with tight break that he can throw for a strike. He also has a pretty deceptive 80 mph changeup with downward movement and an average 72-75 mph curveball. The problem with Johnson is he is pretty much showing you all that he will be, and that is not going to be good enough against professional hitters.
A reliever of interest was Y-D righthander Tyler Burgoon from the University of Michigan, who has put up tremendous numbers as Y-D's closer since I last saw him during the first week of the season. Burgoon hasn't allowed an earned run all season, and he entered Friday's game having given up just four hits in 17.1 innings pitched and striking out 27. He's doing it with only two pitches and a fastball that tops out at 91 mph. Burgoon is undersized at 5'10" 165 and he throws with big effort. His fastball sat in the 89-91 mph range and had good tailing action in on right-handed hitters. He threw a very good 81-82 mph slider with sharp two-plane break. It is pretty clear it is that slider that gets him a lot of his strikeouts. You can't argue with his results, but he is still not a top-level prospect because of his size and average velocity that is clearly maxed out.
Among hitters, three of Y-D's better players put good swings on balls during the game Friday. First baseman Mickey Wiswall turned on a high and inside fastball and hit a line drive home run that left the park in a hurry. He showed really quick hands and a compact swing. Rightfielder Austin Wates from Virginia Tech drove an outside fastball off the top of the rightfield fence, and catcher Ben McMahan from the University of Florida also did nicely taking a outside fastball the opposite way for a double.
I am taking my second non-rain-related day off of the summer on Saturday to attend a function back home in Connecticut. I will return to the Cape on Sunday intent on seeing as many of the elusive unseen pitchers as I can over the last week-and-a-half of the regular season.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Harwich 3 Cotuit 2: Both second baseman Phil Gosselin and rightfielder Dan Grovatt, each from the University of Virginia, went 2-for-4 for Harwich.
Falmouth 3 Hyannis 2: Shortstop B.A. Vollmuth from Southern Mississippi hit a home run for Falmouth. Second baseman Nick Crawford from UAB and centerfielder Trent Whitehead from East Carolina each had three hits for Hyannis.
Wareham 2 Orleans 1: Rightfielder George Springer from UConn, first baseman Jordan Swaggerty from Arizona State and catcher Chris Hannick from Cal State Northridge each had two hits for Wareham.
The Brewster at Bourne doubleheader was rained out.
QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? E-Mail me at Schimmeldbk@gmail.com
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The postponements and inconsistent accuracy of the Cape League's "Pitchers: Next 3 Days" page are making things difficult, but I am going to try to overcome these obstacles.
As for Friday, Y-D won 6-3 and is starting to distance itself from the pack in the Eastern Division.
Righthander Michael Goodnight from the University of Houston started for Y-D and put together an average performance. Goodnight's main issue is his front side flies open too early and it leads to struggles with his command. Goodnight has good size and a projectable frame at 6'4" 215. His fastball sat in the 91-93 mph range, and he showed an inconsistent 75 mph curveball. When he threw the pitch well it had sharp downward break, but he sometimes didn't finish it and it would hang up in the zone. Goodnight also threw an average changeup with some tail down and in.
Chatham's starter was Patrick Johnson from the University of North Carolina, who is really just held back by his size. Johnson is 5'10" 170 and he throws with big effort. Johnson's fastball sits in the 87-89 mph range and he will occasionally touch 90. His best pitch is a hard 78-82 mph slider with tight break that he can throw for a strike. He also has a pretty deceptive 80 mph changeup with downward movement and an average 72-75 mph curveball. The problem with Johnson is he is pretty much showing you all that he will be, and that is not going to be good enough against professional hitters.
A reliever of interest was Y-D righthander Tyler Burgoon from the University of Michigan, who has put up tremendous numbers as Y-D's closer since I last saw him during the first week of the season. Burgoon hasn't allowed an earned run all season, and he entered Friday's game having given up just four hits in 17.1 innings pitched and striking out 27. He's doing it with only two pitches and a fastball that tops out at 91 mph. Burgoon is undersized at 5'10" 165 and he throws with big effort. His fastball sat in the 89-91 mph range and had good tailing action in on right-handed hitters. He threw a very good 81-82 mph slider with sharp two-plane break. It is pretty clear it is that slider that gets him a lot of his strikeouts. You can't argue with his results, but he is still not a top-level prospect because of his size and average velocity that is clearly maxed out.
Among hitters, three of Y-D's better players put good swings on balls during the game Friday. First baseman Mickey Wiswall turned on a high and inside fastball and hit a line drive home run that left the park in a hurry. He showed really quick hands and a compact swing. Rightfielder Austin Wates from Virginia Tech drove an outside fastball off the top of the rightfield fence, and catcher Ben McMahan from the University of Florida also did nicely taking a outside fastball the opposite way for a double.
I am taking my second non-rain-related day off of the summer on Saturday to attend a function back home in Connecticut. I will return to the Cape on Sunday intent on seeing as many of the elusive unseen pitchers as I can over the last week-and-a-half of the regular season.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Harwich 3 Cotuit 2: Both second baseman Phil Gosselin and rightfielder Dan Grovatt, each from the University of Virginia, went 2-for-4 for Harwich.
Falmouth 3 Hyannis 2: Shortstop B.A. Vollmuth from Southern Mississippi hit a home run for Falmouth. Second baseman Nick Crawford from UAB and centerfielder Trent Whitehead from East Carolina each had three hits for Hyannis.
Wareham 2 Orleans 1: Rightfielder George Springer from UConn, first baseman Jordan Swaggerty from Arizona State and catcher Chris Hannick from Cal State Northridge each had two hits for Wareham.
The Brewster at Bourne doubleheader was rained out.
QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? E-Mail me at Schimmeldbk@gmail.com
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Monday, June 15, 2009
June 16 for June 15 Update
I went to Yarmouth-Dennis on Monday night to see Y-D face Chatham. It was another cold evening, and one man with a southern accent said "It's colder than a dead bird up here."
Chatham won 3-2 in front of three major league scouts in a game that barely got the full nine innings in before it got dark.
Chatham right-handed starter Kaleb Fleck was an interesting story to watch. Fleck goes to University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, and his collegiate season ended on April 26. He was visibly nervous on the mound and had some trouble finding consistency in his mechanics, throwing across his body and struggling with his release point. But Fleck's fastball sat mostly in the 90-91 range and occasionally touched 92. He showed occasional glimpses of a very good 80-82 mph slider, but he didn't always throw it the way he wanted to. Fleck also showed an 82 mph changeup. He ended up pitching five shutout innings, allowing just one hit.
An American League scout made an interesting observation about Chatham right-handed reliever Taylor Hill from Vanderbilt. "His mechanics remind me of Pedro Martinez," the scout said. "His performance does not." Hill had good size at 6'4", 220, but there was a lot of effort in his delivery and he kind of slinged the ball when he threw it. His fastball sat in the 90-91 mph range and he threw a decent 79-81 mph slider with sweeping movement.
The Anglers brought in righthander Russell Brewer, also from Vanderbilt, to pick up the save in the ninth. I really liked Brewer a lot when he closed games for Hyannis last summer, and he was exactly how I remembered him. His stuff is not that good, but he has excellent command and just consistently gets the job done. He's a little undersized at 6'0" 190, and his fastball tops out at 89 mph, but he hits his spots with it and makes hitters beat him. Brewer also throws a 75-76 mph slider that doesn't have very tight break but gets outs.
Y-D right-handed starter Scott Lyman from UC-Davis threw a great changeup, but he struggled with his control and didn't make it out of the fourth inning. Lyman is 6'3" with an athletic build, and he spins part of the way around in his motion a la Kevin Brown. He releases from almost straight over the top and there is effort in his delivery. Lyman's fastball sat mostly in the 90-91 range and once touched 92. He threw an 81 mph curveball with sweeping break and his best pitch was the 77-79 mph changeup that was really deceptive when he finished and a lot of hitters swung at and missed. But Lyman walked five and hit a batter and finished his day throwing some more in the bullpen.
Y-D right-handed reliever Matt Little from the University of Kentucky wasn't bad, but he was a max effort guy who had some balance issues as he fell way off toward third base upon his release. Little's two-seam fastball sat in the 87-89 mph range with some run in on right-handed hitters, and he occasionally dialed his four-seamer up to 91 or 92. He also threw a 77 mph slider with big frisbee-like movement that he could get hitters to chase out of the zone. He didn't always throw the slider well, though.
Among the hitters, Y-D shortstop Josh Rutledge from Alabama stood out during BP when he hit a few balls into the trees with his smooth right-handed swing. He also went 2-for-4 in the game, driving the ball to right field twice.
Y-D catcher Ben McMahan from Florida hit the ball hard a couple times in the game as well.
For Chatham, DH Nick Schwaner from the University of New Orleans impressed during batting practice. He keeps his hands in tight to the point where he is almost jamming himself, but he has quick hands and whips the bat through the zone to generate some pop. He went 2-for-4 in the game.
Left fielder Whit Merrifield from South Carolina, who played for Y-D last summer, scored the winning run for Chatham.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Falmouth 4 Orleans 0: Tom Collier from San Jacinto struck out nine in six shutout innings for Falmouth
Brewster 2 Harwich 0: Mark Gormley from Brown pitched six shutout innings of relief, allowing one hit and striking out six to pick up the win for Brewster.
Bourne 2 Cotuit 2 in 10 innings: Bourne starter Stephen Porlier from Oklahoma allowed one run on two hits in six innings, and Cotuit starter Jake Buchanan from N.C. State allowed just two unearned runs in six innings on the mound.
Wareham 4 Hyannis 2: Wareham starter Blake Monar from Indiana allowed two unearned runs in his five innings pitched.
Chatham won 3-2 in front of three major league scouts in a game that barely got the full nine innings in before it got dark.
Chatham right-handed starter Kaleb Fleck was an interesting story to watch. Fleck goes to University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, and his collegiate season ended on April 26. He was visibly nervous on the mound and had some trouble finding consistency in his mechanics, throwing across his body and struggling with his release point. But Fleck's fastball sat mostly in the 90-91 range and occasionally touched 92. He showed occasional glimpses of a very good 80-82 mph slider, but he didn't always throw it the way he wanted to. Fleck also showed an 82 mph changeup. He ended up pitching five shutout innings, allowing just one hit.
An American League scout made an interesting observation about Chatham right-handed reliever Taylor Hill from Vanderbilt. "His mechanics remind me of Pedro Martinez," the scout said. "His performance does not." Hill had good size at 6'4", 220, but there was a lot of effort in his delivery and he kind of slinged the ball when he threw it. His fastball sat in the 90-91 mph range and he threw a decent 79-81 mph slider with sweeping movement.
The Anglers brought in righthander Russell Brewer, also from Vanderbilt, to pick up the save in the ninth. I really liked Brewer a lot when he closed games for Hyannis last summer, and he was exactly how I remembered him. His stuff is not that good, but he has excellent command and just consistently gets the job done. He's a little undersized at 6'0" 190, and his fastball tops out at 89 mph, but he hits his spots with it and makes hitters beat him. Brewer also throws a 75-76 mph slider that doesn't have very tight break but gets outs.
Y-D right-handed starter Scott Lyman from UC-Davis threw a great changeup, but he struggled with his control and didn't make it out of the fourth inning. Lyman is 6'3" with an athletic build, and he spins part of the way around in his motion a la Kevin Brown. He releases from almost straight over the top and there is effort in his delivery. Lyman's fastball sat mostly in the 90-91 range and once touched 92. He threw an 81 mph curveball with sweeping break and his best pitch was the 77-79 mph changeup that was really deceptive when he finished and a lot of hitters swung at and missed. But Lyman walked five and hit a batter and finished his day throwing some more in the bullpen.
Y-D right-handed reliever Matt Little from the University of Kentucky wasn't bad, but he was a max effort guy who had some balance issues as he fell way off toward third base upon his release. Little's two-seam fastball sat in the 87-89 mph range with some run in on right-handed hitters, and he occasionally dialed his four-seamer up to 91 or 92. He also threw a 77 mph slider with big frisbee-like movement that he could get hitters to chase out of the zone. He didn't always throw the slider well, though.
Among the hitters, Y-D shortstop Josh Rutledge from Alabama stood out during BP when he hit a few balls into the trees with his smooth right-handed swing. He also went 2-for-4 in the game, driving the ball to right field twice.
Y-D catcher Ben McMahan from Florida hit the ball hard a couple times in the game as well.
For Chatham, DH Nick Schwaner from the University of New Orleans impressed during batting practice. He keeps his hands in tight to the point where he is almost jamming himself, but he has quick hands and whips the bat through the zone to generate some pop. He went 2-for-4 in the game.
Left fielder Whit Merrifield from South Carolina, who played for Y-D last summer, scored the winning run for Chatham.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Falmouth 4 Orleans 0: Tom Collier from San Jacinto struck out nine in six shutout innings for Falmouth
Brewster 2 Harwich 0: Mark Gormley from Brown pitched six shutout innings of relief, allowing one hit and striking out six to pick up the win for Brewster.
Bourne 2 Cotuit 2 in 10 innings: Bourne starter Stephen Porlier from Oklahoma allowed one run on two hits in six innings, and Cotuit starter Jake Buchanan from N.C. State allowed just two unearned runs in six innings on the mound.
Wareham 4 Hyannis 2: Wareham starter Blake Monar from Indiana allowed two unearned runs in his five innings pitched.
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