Showing posts with label Brandon Workman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brandon Workman. Show all posts

Friday, July 24, 2009

July 24 for July 23 Update

I went to Boston on Thursday for the Cape League All-Star Game. It was a really cool experience to have free rein over any section in Fenway Park, and the players were obviously having a blast taking BP, shagging balls and then playing a game in a Major League ballpark.

The persisting rain cut everything short and gave the West a 3-0, 5-inning win, but it didn't really put a damper on the experience while it lasted.

I still advocate keeping the All-Star Game on the Cape because it makes it easier for the diehard fans and volunteers to attend, but it was a lot of fun and would be a good idea to hold the festivities at Fenway once every few years. The announced crowd of 14,317 was bigger than I anticipated.

A lot of guys seemed to be overswinging during batting practice, but a few players stood out for taking solid rounds of BP. Chatham's Mike Murray from Wake Forest kept hitting solid line drives from his wide-base stance. Cotuit's Cameron Rupp from the University of Texas crushed a couple balls out of the stadium. Rupp also has the best arm among catchers. Orleans' Gary Brown from Cal State Fullerton, Y-D's Mickey Wiswall from Boston College and Falmouth's B.A. Vollmuth from Southern Mississippi hit well too.

I decided to make a random list of guys who hit at least one ball over the Green Monster seats during batting practice. They were Brown, Harwich's Connor Powers from Mississippi State, Orleans' Alex Hassan from Duke, Brewster's Harold Martinez from the University of Miami, Y-D's Micah Gibbs from LSU, Brewster's Jedd Gyorko from West Virginia and Rupp.

I didn't pay much attention to the Home Run Derby because I was actually talking to my former employer Peter Gammons during most of it (always good to name drop). It was almost an uncomfortable situation for the league when the first couple of guys struggled to find their home run swings. Congratulations to Powers, who beat Rupp in the finals.

Because each pitcher only threw one inning, I spent the game focusly mostly on them. Like many scouts I went to a section farther from the plate so I could sit under cover during the game, and I had to rely on the stadium radar gun for pitchers' velocities. As far as I can tell it was accurate compared to velocities I had seen from most guys earlier in the summer, considering each guy could let loose for his short appearance.

Wareham righthander Brandon Workman from the University of Texas looked like an All-Star starter in his inning of work. His fastball sat in the 94-95 mph range, and his 77-78 mph hammer curveball looked tremendous even from a more distant vantage point. Barring injury I would be very surprised if he didn't go in the first round of next June's draft.

Orleans lefthander Rob Rasmussmen from UCLA impressed me in my first live look of him since last summer. He is the only All-Star who appeared yesterday who I hadn't seen yet, and I had been meaning to catch him since one American League front office guy said earlier this summer that Rasmussen is a "Randy Wolf clone." Rasmussen is undersized at 5'11" 160, but he has tight mechanics and good arm action and throws with some effort but not extreme effort. His fastball sat in the 92-93 mph range and touched 94. His 81-82 mph curveball was a good pitch with tight break and it complemented his 85-87 mph slider well. He also threw a good 83 mph changeup with good tailing action down and in on left-handed hitters. He is another guy who should go in the first few rounds next year.

Wareham righthander Jack Armstrong from Vanderbilt put up the best velocity numbers of the day, as his fastball sat in the 95-96 mph range and he did a great job pounding it in on hitters' hands. His 83 mph changeup is a good pitch he is able to throw for strikes. He only threw one 78 mph slider with hard run, and he threw two curveballs, one at 80 mph and the other at 81. The one curveball he threw well had really impressive downward break.

Brewster righthander Kyle Blair from the University of San Diego struggled with his control. He was throwing across his body which really hurt his command. Blair's fastball sat around 92 mph, his 78 mph slider had good, hard run, his 79-81 mph changeup tailed in on right-handed hitters and he threw a decent 77 mph curve with steep break.

Wareham lefthander Eric Pfisterer from Duke still strikes me as more of a good college pitcher but he pitched effectively in his inning of work. His fastball sat in the 86-88 mph range and once touched 90. He threw a 78 mph curveball with sweeping 3/8 break and an average 81 mph slider with harder break. His best pitch is a deceptive 78-79 mph changeup with good downward movement.

Y-D lefthander Chris Sale from Florida Gulf Coast was the East Division MVP, but his inning was so quick we didn't get to see much from him. His goofy, deceptive motion is probably still his best asset, as the tall and very thin Sale flies at the hitter with all arms and legs. Sale's fastball sat in the 93-94 mph range and he also showed a good 80 mph slider. He is another guy scouts are talking about as a potential high pick next year.

Hyannis righthander Dallas Gallant from Sam Houston State pitched a quick fourth inning. His fastball sat around 93 mph and had good tailing action in on right-handed hitters. He showed a 79-80 mph curveball with sweeping break and a really good, hard 85 mph slider.

Orleans lefthander Elliot Glynn from UConn was probably the pitcher who impressed me the least, even though he didn't allow a run in his inning. He slings his pitches and has slight balance issues. His fastball sat around 87 mph and he threw an average slider that would run out of the strike zone.

Finally, Bourne righthander Stephen Harrold from UNC Wilmington came in and struggled with his control before a double play bailed him out to preserve the win. His fastball sat in the 90-92 mph range and had some tail in on right-handed hitters. His 80-82 mph slider had sharp break and he also showed an 80-81 mph curveball.

To me, Workman was the most impressive pitcher, followed by Armstrong, Rasmussen and Sale in that order.

It is also worth mentioning Cotuit third baseman Zack Cox looked great in his two at-bats which earned him the West Division MVP award. He crushed a triple off the centerfield fence against Rasmussen. It hit right near the garage door and must have travelled about 400 feet. He then went with an outside pitch for a single to left in his second at-bat. I like Cox's aggressive approach at the plate and he often swings at the first good pitch he sees and hits it well. It has been a struggle for me for the past couple of weeks now whether to make him or Gibbs my No. 1 position player prospect.

I will most likely be at Chatham at Y-D on Friday.

QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? E-Mail me at schimmeldbk@gmail.com

Want to be alerted every time I update this blog? Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Greg_Schimmel

Thursday, July 16, 2009

July 16 for July 15 Update

I went to Harwich on Wednesday evening for a doubleheader between Harwich and Wareham. There were at least 20 Major League scouts in attendance, and because there is not much room behind home plate at Harwich for scouts to sit, I overheard some interesting conversation by the end of the second seventh-inning game.

A few of the topics of discussion as Wareham's slow-working right-handed starter Brett Eibner from Arkansas checked the runner a few more times were hunting accidents, Dunkin' Donuts and Bailey's Irish Cream.

The Major League Scout 50-yard dash to the parking lot as soon as the last pitch was thrown was also a sight to behold. Wareham won the first game 5-1 and the second game 2-1.

The first game was a great pitcher's duel by Wareham right-handed starter Brandon Workman from the Univeristy of Texas and left-handed starter Aaron Meade from Missouri State.

The Phillies drafted Workman out of high school in the third round of the 2007 draft, and if they had been able to sign him and he consistently threw like he did Wednesday he would have been nice trade bait for the Phils to obtain Roy Halladay. He allowed one run and scattered six hits in eight innings pitched and struck out nine. Workman has great size at 6'5" 225 and simply has the best curveball in the Cape League. Workman has a slightly awkward motion in which he leans forward and then throws with some effort, but he has really good command of both his fastball and his curveball. Workman's fastball sat in the 91-93 mph range and his 74-76 mph curveball had tremendous 12/6 break. He only threw his 84 changeup once or twice the entire game, but his best two pitches were enough. Workman is definitely a potential first round pick next June.

Meade also looked very good in Game 1, allowing one run on five hits in seven innings pitched and striking out nine. Meade is above-average height with a thin, athletic build at 6'3" 185. He throws easily with good arm action, though he doesn't always follow through and he can tend to allow his pitches to drift up in the strike zone. Meade's fastball sat in the 88-90 mph range with good arm-side run. He threw an average, running 80 mph slider, and his best pitch was his 77-78 mph changeup. He tipped the changeup a little bit by slowing his body down as he threw it, but it was still a really good pitch and got him a lot of his strikeouts.

Eibner started Game 2 for Wareham and pitched a seven-inning complete game, allowing one run on four hits and striking out eight. Eibner is above-average height with a thin, athletic build at 6'3" 205. He throws easy with pretty good arm action, though his motion is a little loose and he struggled at times with his control. Eibner's fastball sat in the 92-95 mph range early in the game, but was down to the 89-90 mph range by the end of the game, an alarming sign for scouts. All of Eibner's secondary pitches were decent but not outstanding. He threw a hard 85-87 mph slider with tight break, an 80 mph curveball he didn't throw very often and an 81 mph changeup with good downward movement.

An interesting position player to watch was Harwich outfielder Leon Landry from LSU, one of the last late-arriving College World Series position players I hadn't yet seen. Landry is a great athlete with very good speed and a quick bat that suits him well for a role as a leadoff hitter. He is also a good defensive outfielder who does a good job going back on fly balls. One Major League scout said Landry is a fringe Major League prospect.

Wareham designated hitter/outfielder Alex Dickerson from the University of Indiana finally hit his first home run of the season Wednesday. He put a really smooth swing on a good fastball and drove it out of the park. Dickerson's raw power has impressed me every time I have watched Wareham take batting practice, but he gets off balance a lot of the time in the games and hasn't been able to put it together when it counts. Dickerson was just a freshman this spring, so he has time to figure it out. The ability is definitely there.

Cape League All-Stars will be selected Thursday. I will be at Brewster at Hyannis.

AROUND THE LEAGUE:

Hyannis 6 Bourne 0: Right-handed starter Seth Rosin from the University of Minnesota pitched five shutout innings, allowing five hits and striking out five, and third baseman Dustin Harrington for East Carolina went 3-for-5 for Hyannis.

Orleans 3 Brewster 3, 12 innings: Third baseman Jedd Gyorko from West Virginia University went 3-for-6 for Brewster. Centerfielder Gary Brown from Cal State Fullerton went 2-for-5 with a home run and a triple for Orleans.

Chatham 6 Falmouth 4: First baseman Dean Green from Oklahoma State went 2-for-3 with a grand slam for Chatham. Third baseman Matt Skole from Georgia Tech homered for Falmouth.

Cotuit 3 Y-D 0: Cotuit right-handed starter Ricky Bowen from Mississippi State, the Reds' 43rd-roun pick last month, allowed two hits over five shutout innings. Left fielder Cory Vaughn from San Diego State went 2-for-2 for Cotuit and third baseman Tyler Hanover from LSU went 2-for-4 for Y-D.

QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? E-Mail me at schimmeldbk@gmail.com

Want to be alerted every time I update this blog? Follow me on twitter at http://twitter.com/Greg_Schimmel

Sunday, July 12, 2009

July 13 for July 12 Update

I went to Yarmouth-Dennis on Sunday and saw Y-D tie Wareham 2-2. The umpires called the game because of darkness after the tenth inning even though the field managers of each team wanted to play the eleventh.

Wareham left-handed starter Blake Monar from Indiana University pitched 7.1 strong innings, and the soon-to-be draft-eligible sophomore could go fairly high in next year's draft. Monar is average height for a pitcher with an athletic build at 6'2" 198. He throws easily and with good arm action, though he does fall off the mound toward third base. Monar's fastball sits in the 84-86 mph range but has good tailing action and he is able to spot it on both sides of the plate. His best pitch is a 73-74 mph curveball that is really a great pitch when he throws it well. Monar was leaving it up early in his start Sunday but once he settled in his hook got him a lot of outs. He also threw a good hard slider with two-plane break and began to work in a decent changeup later in his outing. Despite his limited velocity, Monar looked very impressive.

Right-handed reliever Brandon Workman from the University of Texas made his summer debut for Wareham on Sunday, blowing a save opportunity by allowing a game-tying solo home run to Y-D designated hitter Mickey Wiswall from Boston College in the bottom of the ninth. Workman is big with a solid build at 6'5" 225, though he does throw with effort and has a slightly awkward motion as he leans forward when he throws. Workman was one of my top-rated Cape League starters when he pitched for the Gateman last year, but his velocity was down Sunday from what I remembered. I expected to see Workman put up mid-90s numbers, but instead his fastball sat in the 89-91 mph range. Workman's curveball was still outstanding, though, and it quite possibly could be the best on the Cape this year. He throws it about 72-75 mph and it just has tremendous late, over-the-top break. Y-D hitters' only chance against Workman was against his fastball, and fortunately for them he threw one over the plate to Wiswall.

Y-D right-handed starter Greg Peavey from Oregon State, Houston's 32nd round pick last month, had a really good slider working Sunday, and looked as good as I've seen him in a few appearances this year and last. Peavey's fastball sat in the 88-91 range with really good tailing action and some sink. His 81-84 mph slider was really devastating at times, and he was able to throw it for a strike as well as get hitters to chase it out of the zone.

Right-handed reliever Drew Hayes from Vanderbilt, Seattle's 22nd-round pick, wasn't bad for Y-D either. He is average height with a stocky build at 6'1" 205, and he throws with effort. He also has a hitch in his delivery. Hayes' fastball sat in the 91-92 mph range with glove-side run, but his command of it was spotty at best. He showed a decent 78-81 mph slider, and an occasional changeup with good downward movement.

Right-handed reliever Chase Dempsay from the University of Houston provided a different look, as he threw side arm with stiff arm action and really just slung the ball toward the plate. Dempsay was a little thin and he threw with big effort. His fastball only sat mostly in the 84-85 mph range, but with the low arm slot it got on right-handed hitters quickly and was effectively faster than it really was. Dempsay also threw a decent 76 mph slider and a good 79 mph changeup.

The aforementioned Wiswall finished 3-for-4 for Y-D and had a few really good at-bats. He did a great job going with Workman's outside fastball for the game-tying opposite field home run, and he also showed good pitch recognition in an earlier at-bat when he stayed back on a curveball and drove a single to right. Wiswall looked uncomfortable taking ground balls at third base during infield practice even though that was his primary position for BC in the spring, but he might be too small at 6'1" 205 to remain at first base much beyond this summer. First baseman Brian Hernandez from UC-Irvine, Cleveland's 39th round pick, looked very comfortable in the field tonight, and made a few good plays on throws in the dirt.

I will be at Hyannis at Chatham on Monday.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Cotuit 8 Chatham 2: Left-handed starter Chad Bell from Walters State Community College, the Rangers' 14th-round pick last month, pitched a no-hitter for Cotuit, allowing two unearned runs in the ninth inning and striking out eight. Designated hitter Kevin Keyes from the University of Texas and first baseman Brandon May from the University of Alabama, the Cubs' 36th-round pick, each homered for Cotuit.

Brewster 10 Bourne 2: Centerfielder Jarrett Parker from the University of Virginia went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs for Brewster. Designated hitter Harold Martinez from Miami and catcher Dan Butler from the University of Arizona also homered for the Whitecaps. Right-handed starter Kyle Blair from the University of San Diego pitched a complete game.

Orleans 9 Falmouth 2: First baseman Riccio Torrez from Arizona State hit a home run for Orleans, and third baseman Michael Olt from UConn went 2-for-4. Shortstop B.A. Vollmuth from Southern Mississippi went 2-for-4 for Falmouth.

Harwich 6 Hyannis 5, 15 innings: Leftfielder Trent Mummey from Auburn went 4-for-5, second baseman Phil Gosselin from the University of Virginia went 3-for-7 and centerfielder Leon Landry from LSU went 3-for-8 for Harwich. Centerfielder Johnny Ruettiger went 4-for-7 and second baseman Nick Crawford from UAB, shortstop Ryan Graepel from UNC and designated hitter Dan Burkhart from the Ohio State University each had three hits for Hyannis.

QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? E-Mail me at schimmeldbk@gmail.com

Want to be alerted every time I update this blog? Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Greg_Schimmel