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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Showing posts with label Jesse Hahn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesse Hahn. Show all posts
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
June 27 for June 26 Update
I headed up to Chatham on Friday night to see the first-place Anglers take on Bourne. Chatham had to have played its worst game of the season, as it got shut out, had just four hits, and made four errors. Bourne won 4-0.
Chatham right-handed starter Kaleb Fleck from the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown started out strong but got progressively worse in each inning he pitched. Fleck had scouts buzzing in the first inning, but he started to lose his command and eventually left in the fifth inning down 1-0 after giving up a solo home run and loading the bases with nobody out. Fleck is average height for a pitcher and a little thin at 6'2 190, but he has an easy motion and throws with loose arm action. All of Fleck's pitches have good movement to the point where they appear to flutter into the zone. His fastball sat in the 90-92 mph range and had some tailing action in on right-handed hitters. He threw a decent 79-83 mph slider with frisbee-like movement, and threw an 82-84 mph changeup that also tailed in on righties.
Fleck was relieved by righthander Jesse Hahn from Virginia Tech, who probably had the best power arm I've seen so far. Hahn came in with the bases loaded and nobody out and escaped the jam without allowing a run. Hahn is tall with a thin, athletic build at 6'5" 195, and has a smooth motion and good arm action. He has a powerful leg kick, and gets good drive from his lower half. He throws downhill. In his first inning of work Hahn's fastball sat in the 94-95 mph range, and twice hit 96 on a few of the scouts' guns. His heater sat more in the 92-93 range in his second inning out of the pen, but it was still impressive. Hahn also showed a good 75-77 mph curveball with 3/8 break and an 82 mph changeup with downward motion. If he can throw his fastball with more consistency he could be a very good prospect as a reliever.
Bourne right-handed starter Turner Phelps from James Madison pitched well, throwing six shutout innings and allowing just two hits. At 6'3" 205 Phelps has a big frame but still has room to fill out. He tends to short arm the ball a little bit and he falls off toward first base when he throws. Phelps' fastball sat in just the 85-87 mph range, but he threw a good 73 mph curveball and a good 77 mph changeup. His secondary stuff was good enough for one American League scout to say "If his velo goes up I'd give him a look." Phelps threw a lot of strikes and mixed his pitches well. He also benefitted from a big, erratic strike zone.
Among the positon players, Bourne second baseman Pierre LePage from UConn stands out as a guy who really knows how to play. LePage gets everything out of his 5'8" 165-pound body, hustling on every single play. He made a couple of smart plays in the field, and covered a lot of ground on a ground ball to his left. He probably doesn't handle the bat well enough to be a legitimate prospect, but he is somebody that is certainly fun to watch.
On the other hand, leftfielder Jeff Schaus really struggled last night for Chatham. The athletic prospect was hitting .391 coming into the game, but he took two terrible swings in strikeouts in each of his first two at-bats, and looked ridiculous on a misplayed fly ball that allowed two runs to score. He did get a single in the ninth inning to finish 1-for-4, and I'll chalk the performance up to a bad day, but it was really striking to see Schaus struggle like that.
AROUND THE LEAGUE:
Harwich 3 Hyannis 0: right-handed starter Rob Gariano from Fairfield threw 5.1 shutout innings for Harwich, allowing four hits and striking out 11 in a game called in the sixth inning because of rain. Shortstop Chris Wade from the University of Kentucky and Florida's 11th-round draft pick and catcher Marcus Nidiffer from the University of Kentucky each had two hits for Harwich.
Y-D 3 Orleans 1: Rightfielder Jonathan Jones from Long Beach State went 3-for-5 and second baseman Blake Kelso from the University of Houston went 2-for-5 for Y-D. Right-handed reliever Tyler Burgoon from the University of Michigan pitched three hitless innings in relief for Y-D, striking out seven. Centerfielder Gary Brown from Cal St. Fullerton had the only two hits of the game for Orleans.
Brewster at Falmouth and Cotuit at Wareham were rained out.
Chatham right-handed starter Kaleb Fleck from the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown started out strong but got progressively worse in each inning he pitched. Fleck had scouts buzzing in the first inning, but he started to lose his command and eventually left in the fifth inning down 1-0 after giving up a solo home run and loading the bases with nobody out. Fleck is average height for a pitcher and a little thin at 6'2 190, but he has an easy motion and throws with loose arm action. All of Fleck's pitches have good movement to the point where they appear to flutter into the zone. His fastball sat in the 90-92 mph range and had some tailing action in on right-handed hitters. He threw a decent 79-83 mph slider with frisbee-like movement, and threw an 82-84 mph changeup that also tailed in on righties.
Fleck was relieved by righthander Jesse Hahn from Virginia Tech, who probably had the best power arm I've seen so far. Hahn came in with the bases loaded and nobody out and escaped the jam without allowing a run. Hahn is tall with a thin, athletic build at 6'5" 195, and has a smooth motion and good arm action. He has a powerful leg kick, and gets good drive from his lower half. He throws downhill. In his first inning of work Hahn's fastball sat in the 94-95 mph range, and twice hit 96 on a few of the scouts' guns. His heater sat more in the 92-93 range in his second inning out of the pen, but it was still impressive. Hahn also showed a good 75-77 mph curveball with 3/8 break and an 82 mph changeup with downward motion. If he can throw his fastball with more consistency he could be a very good prospect as a reliever.
Bourne right-handed starter Turner Phelps from James Madison pitched well, throwing six shutout innings and allowing just two hits. At 6'3" 205 Phelps has a big frame but still has room to fill out. He tends to short arm the ball a little bit and he falls off toward first base when he throws. Phelps' fastball sat in just the 85-87 mph range, but he threw a good 73 mph curveball and a good 77 mph changeup. His secondary stuff was good enough for one American League scout to say "If his velo goes up I'd give him a look." Phelps threw a lot of strikes and mixed his pitches well. He also benefitted from a big, erratic strike zone.
Among the positon players, Bourne second baseman Pierre LePage from UConn stands out as a guy who really knows how to play. LePage gets everything out of his 5'8" 165-pound body, hustling on every single play. He made a couple of smart plays in the field, and covered a lot of ground on a ground ball to his left. He probably doesn't handle the bat well enough to be a legitimate prospect, but he is somebody that is certainly fun to watch.
On the other hand, leftfielder Jeff Schaus really struggled last night for Chatham. The athletic prospect was hitting .391 coming into the game, but he took two terrible swings in strikeouts in each of his first two at-bats, and looked ridiculous on a misplayed fly ball that allowed two runs to score. He did get a single in the ninth inning to finish 1-for-4, and I'll chalk the performance up to a bad day, but it was really striking to see Schaus struggle like that.
AROUND THE LEAGUE:
Harwich 3 Hyannis 0: right-handed starter Rob Gariano from Fairfield threw 5.1 shutout innings for Harwich, allowing four hits and striking out 11 in a game called in the sixth inning because of rain. Shortstop Chris Wade from the University of Kentucky and Florida's 11th-round draft pick and catcher Marcus Nidiffer from the University of Kentucky each had two hits for Harwich.
Y-D 3 Orleans 1: Rightfielder Jonathan Jones from Long Beach State went 3-for-5 and second baseman Blake Kelso from the University of Houston went 2-for-5 for Y-D. Right-handed reliever Tyler Burgoon from the University of Michigan pitched three hitless innings in relief for Y-D, striking out seven. Centerfielder Gary Brown from Cal St. Fullerton had the only two hits of the game for Orleans.
Brewster at Falmouth and Cotuit at Wareham were rained out.
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