July 19 for July 18 Update

I went to Y-D on Saturday to watch Y-D play Chatham. On paper, the pitching matchup should have been a good one, but Y-D right-handed starter John Leonard from Boston College and Chatham right-handed starter Matt Harvey from UNC didn't have their best stuff and Y-D won 9-4.


Leonard is an All-Star with good numbers who I had heard good things about, but by the last inning of his outing Saturday a few scouts were muttering about how they hoped Chatham would get a couple more hits so Y-D would take Leonard out and put in a pitcher they had more interest in seeing. Leonard is average height with a solid build at 6'1" 200. He throws easy with good arm action and he generally has good balance on the mound. Leonard's fastball sat in the 88-90 mph range with some tailing action in on right-handed hitters. He threw a good 73 mph curveball with sweeping movement and an average 78-79 mph slider with tighter break. Leonard also threw a 78 mph changeup that was good when he kept it down in the strike zone. All-in-all Leonard was a decent pitcher and he probably just had a bad day and got hit a little on Saturday. See how he does the rest of the season and next spring.


Harvey is a really interesting case to me. He was one of the nation's best pitching prospects out of high school in 2007, dropped to the third round of the draft because he had signability issues, didn't sign, and then watched as his stock has dropped dramatically over the past two years. His mechanics are really out of whack right now, but he still has the potential to be really good and a team might take a chance on him with a high draft pick next June anyway. One scout said he should have signed in '07, and another agreed and said it must "leave a mark" every time Harvey watches fellow '07 high school phenom Rick Porcello pitch for the Detroit Tigers. Harvey is big with a solid build at 6'5" 225. He has poor arm action and a strange hitch in his delivery toward the top of his motion. He falls off toward third base and sometimes throws severely across his body. All of these things affect his command and velocity. I saw Harvey throw 94-95 for Chatham last summer, but his fastball sat in the 86-89 mph range on Saturday. He has a really good 73-75 mph overhand curveball with big break, but he tends to leave it up in the zone. He also throws a good 77-79 mph changeup with good downward movement when he throws it well. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Harvey next year, but ultimately he could have saved himself a lot of stress by taking what would have been big money in 2007.


Right-handed reliever Taylor Hill from Vanderbilt looked really good for Chatham. Hill is tall with a solid, athletic build at 6'4" 225. He has raw mechanics in which he wastes some movement and he throws with some effort, but his stuff is really good. Hill's fastball sat in the 89-92 mph range with late sinking movement. He threw a very good 80-82 mph slider with late frisbee-like movement that was his most effective, impressive pitch. He also threw a very good 78-79 mph changeup with downward movement and some tail in. All of his pitches have late life. Hill is one of the better relievers in the league.


Three East Division All-Stars stood out among the position players. Y-D first baseman Mickey Wiswall from Boston College had three singles, and each went to a different part of the outfield. Wiswall swings hard but he is always in control and he really handles the bat well. He has also greatly improved at first base since the beginning of the summer when he made the switch from his usual college position at third. He made a couple of good scoops on throws in the dirt Saturday.


I wrote the other day Y-D infielder Tyler Hanover from LSU could have been replaced in the All-Star Game, but he really impressed me Saturday. He's really undersized at 5'7" 165, but he has such a nice swing he was able to drive a grand slam out of the park off Harvey. He's really just a solid all-around player, but it's possible his size will be too much to overcome as a professional.


Chatham catcher Mike Murray from Wake Forest also had a good game. He has a really quick bat, and he got around on a high fastball for a home run early in the game. He also moves really well behind home plate and has a good stocky catcher's build at 6'0" 205. Murray is really slow running to first base. Catcher is a weak position this year on the Cape, with late-arrivals Cameron Rupp from Texas and Cotuit and Micah Gibbs from LSU and Y-D the best prospects. But Murray is a solid all-around player.


AROUND THE LEAGUE

Orleans 11 Bourne 1: Shortstop Devin Lohman went 4-for-5 with a home run and rightfielder Jeremy Gould from Duke also homered for Orleans. Centerfielder Scott Woodward went 3-for-3 for Bourne.

Cotuit 4 Harwich 1: Centerfielder Zach Cone from the University of Georgia, designated hitter Zack Cox from the University of Arkansas and rightfielder Kevin Keyes from the University of Texas each had two hits for Cotuit.

Wareham 6 Falmouth 2: Centerfielder Ryan LaMarre from the University of Michigan went 3-for-5 for Wareham. First baseman Brett Eibner from the University of Arkansas homered for Wareham and first baseman Hunter Morris from Auburn homered for Falmouth.

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June 30 for June 29 Update

I went to Brewster on Monday evening, and before I talk about some of the players I saw in Brewster's 9-8 win over Chatham I would like to congratulate myself on winning a 50/50 raffle prize the first time I decided to buy some raffle tickets. If any of my readers--I was going to say female readers but I don't know if there are any--is interested in joining me for a complimentary 1-hour Hyannisport Harbor Cruise for two, courtesy of the Brewster Whitecaps, applications are being accepted through the e-mail address listed at the bottom of this post.

Anyway, Brewster and Chatham combined for 17 runs and 29 hits in what was really the first slugfust I saw all summer. They were only able to play eight innings at Stony Brook Elementary before it got dark.

Breaking from tradition, we'll talk about a few hitters first.

Brewster third baseman Jedd Gyorko from West Virginia has now played very well in three consecutive games after arriving at the Cape earlier this week, and after watching two of those three appearances he is arguably the best hitter I've seen. Gyorko went 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBI on Monday, and he absolutely crushed the three-run homer to left-centerfield in a pitchers' park in the first inning. Gyorko is undersized for a corner infielder at 5'10"180, and he was a shortstop for his college club, but Gyorko is solidly built and he definitely has some pop in his bat. He has good balance at the plate, and he is able to take a good, hard swing without trying to do too much. He did a nice job going with an outside pitch to drive a single to right field later in the game.

An interesting observation about Gyorko, however, that I am not quite sure what to make of. Late in the game Brewster catcher Zach Jones got spiked in the hand during a play at the plate. Jones was clearly in pain, and the entire Brewster infield gathered around him near the pitcher's mound while the trainer came out to look at him. While the trainer tested to see if Jones had broken any fingers, Gyorko stood by himself at his position, not caring to join the meeting. He also was the only infielder not to participate in a conference at the mound earlier in the game. Maybe this isn't a big deal, but it was just kind of weird and he looked standoffish.

Brewster first baseman Lyle Allen from the University of Georgia also had a big day at the plate, reaching base five times after going 2-for-2 with three walks. Allen smacked a deep home run to right field, showing a slightly long swing but one that is smooth and makes good contact when he connects. Allen was hitting .100 coming into the game, struggling to adjust to the wood bat as guys with long swings tend to do, but if he shortens up he can do some damage.

The best hitter for Chatham was first baseman Dean Green from Oklahoma State who went 2-for-4 with a double. Green has good size and a powerful build at 6'4 220, and still has more room to fill out. During batting practice, one scout took out a camcorder to record only Green's swings and nobody else's, and Green did not disappoint, driving the ball with authority with his left-handed stroke.

On the mound, the most interesting appearance was the debut performance of Chatham right-handed reliever Matt Harvey from UNC, whose stock has really plummeted among scouts after he was one of the top high school prospects in the 2007 draft. It's easy to see that Harvey is really struggling with his mechanics, and it's making his once-great stuff erratic and inconsistent. He throws with weird arm action as he has developed a serious hitch in which he almost completely stops his arm on the way back before whipping it forward. "That's severe," one National League scout who followed Harvey in high school said. "He never used to have that." Harvey also has balance issues and falls off toward first base. Harvey touched 94 mph with his fastball, but he sat around 91 mph and threw a couple of fastballs at 88 mph. Last summer he was consistenly throwing 94-96. His 75-77 mph hammer curveball is still excellent when he can control it. Harvey allowed one hit and two walks in 1/3 of an inning, and he ended up taking the loss for Chatham.

Chatham right-handed starter Shawn Tolleson from Baylor also struggled, allowing five runs in the first inning before he was removed after three. Tolleson is average height for a pitcher with a solid build at 6'2" 215. He also has balance issues, and he looks like he is about to tip over on his face when he throws. Tolleson's fastball sat in the 88-90 mph range, and he threw a decent 78-81 mph slider with tight break that he mostly struggled to control. He also showed an 82 mph changeup. Tolleson wasn't as bad as his 6-run, 8-hit performance, and he got beat by a few bloopers, but hitters didn't seem to have much trouble figuring him out.

Righthander Kyle Blair from the University of San Diego started for Brewster and looked decent in his five innings of work. Blair has good size for a pitcher at 6'3" 200 and a big frame. He tends to open up his front side too early and his arm trails behind, leading him to often throw pitches farther outside than he would like. Blair's fastball sat in the 90-92 mph range and had good tailing action in on right-handed hitters. He threw a good 76-78 mph breaking ball with tight break that really falls off the table late. Blair also showed an 81 mph changeup with good tailing action. All in all he was pretty good, and he is considered a prospect.

Finally, right-handed reliever Steven Maxwell from TCU showed a good arm out of the bullpen for Brewster. Maxwell is average size at 6'1" 190, but he threw a 91 mph fastball with good tailing action that really bore in on right-handed hitters. He also showed a good 79 mph curveball with tight break that he could throw for strikes. Maxwell struggled with his control, but he was the best of the parade of relievers Brewster trotted out on Monday.

AROUND THE LEAGUE:

Bourne 2 Cotuit 1: Bourne -handed starter Bryan Morgado from the University of Tennessee pitched five shutout innings, allowing just one hit. He struck out 13 of the 17 batters he faced. Right-handed starter Jake Buchanan from N.C. State pitched six shutout innings for Cotuit, allowing six hits and striking out five.

Falmouth 4 Orleans 2: Falmouth centerfielder Todd Cunningham from Jacksonville State went 3-for-3 with a home run for Falmouth. Leftfielder Brian Fletcher from Auburn went 2-for-4, and highly-touted first baseman Hunter Morris from Auburn went 1-for-4 in his season debut for Falmouth.

Harwich 1 Y-D 0 in 13 innings: Harwich right-handed starter Mike Gipson from Florida Atlantic allowed just two hits over seven shutout innings and Y-D right-handed starter Greg Peavey from Oregon State University and Houston's 32nd round pick allowed five hits over eight shutout innings. Rightfielder Dan Grovatt from the University of Virginia, designated hitter Phil Gosselin from the University of Virginia, and leftfielder Keenan Wiley from the University of Kentucky each had two hits for Harwich.

Wareham 6 Hyannis 1: Rightfielder Brett Eibner from the University of Arkansas went 2-for-2 with a home run and three RBIs, and first baseman Zach Wilson from Arizona State also homered for Wareham. Catcher Dan Burkhart from Ohio State went 2-for-4 for Hyannis.

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