I went to Bourne on Friday evening mainly to catch Bourne left-handed starter Bryan Morgado from the University of Tennessee, the Chicago White Sox' third-round pick in last month's draft.
Morgado was decent, and certainly showed in Bourne's 7-5 win over Y-D that he knows how to pitch. But, quite frankly, his stuff was a little disappointing compared to what I expected out of such a high pick.
Morgado is above-average height with a thin, athletic build at 6'3" 205. He looks very mechanical when he pitches and has a very slow and deliberate motion. He was painfully slow to the plate with runners on base, and Y-D stole off of him five times, including four steals by second baseman Blake Kelso from the University of Houston alone. Morgado's fastball sat in the 88-90 mph range with good tailing action and occasionally touched 91. He had pretty good command of it and was able to work both sides of the plate. Morgado also spun a 77 mph slider and showed an average changeup. He mixed his pitches well and did a decent job keeping hitters guessing, but none of his pitches really dazzled.
Y-D right-handed starter Michael Goodnight from the University of Houston was also not as good as his 1.06 ERA entering Friday advertised. Goodnight has good size at 6'4" 220 with a projectable frame. He opens up his front side a little early and his arm lags behind, and he also tends to fall off the mound toward first. Goodnight's fastball sat in the 90-93 mph range but his command was spotty. He threw a 74-75 mph curveball with sweeping break and a decent 80 mph changeup. Goodnight had easily his worst appearance of the summer Friday and couldn't make it out of the third inning. To be fair, both starters were getting squeezed by a small strike zone.
Y-D right-handed reliever Austin Ross from LSU was pretty effective in 3.2 innings of relief. Ross is above-average height with a thin, athletic build at 6'3" 190. He has slightly stiff mechanics, and looks a little awkward when he throws. Ross' fastball sat in the 89-91 mph range and he threw a very good 78-81 mph curveball with overhand break. He also showed a less-effective hard slider and an occasional changeup.
Undersized, max-effort right-handed reliever Seth Simmons from East Carolina, who I have already written about, showed a nasty slider for Y-D.
I was excited to get my first look at Y-D catcher Micah Gibbs from LSU, who as a switch-hitter at a premium position is one of the top Major League prospects on the Cape this summer. Gibbs has struggled at the plate so far, and is now just 2-for-17 in his first five games since arriving from the College World Series. But Gibbs has a really smooth stroke from the left side of the plate, and he is able to drive the ball with little effort. He also has really good balance at the plate, though he did look less comfortable from the right side of the plate. Gibbs also moves very well behind the plate and has a very strong arm. He is definitely a possible first-round pick next June.
I had heard good things about Bourne centerfielder Scott Woodward from Coastal Carolina, but he was hitting .130 entering Friday. Woodward walked twice Friday and has now walked 18 times this season in 66 plates appearances. Despite his heinous average, his on-base percentage is actually decent, and he has the speed to make things happen on the bases. Woodward has a compact stroke and he drove an outside fastball the opposite way for a triple Friday night. He's also a solid defensive centerfielder with a strong arm.
Bourne leftfielder Nick Schwaner from the University of New Orleans, San Francisco's 42nd round pick, crushed a no-doubt home run, and rightfielder Rob Segedin from Tulane impressed scouts with his smooth stroke even though he went 0-for-4. Bourne first baseman Kyle Roller, Oakland's 47th round pick showed some opposite field power with two doubles to leftfield and undersized, all-heart second baseman Pierre LePage made several extremely athletic plays in the infield. It's unfortunate LePage doesn't have more in his bat because he's the type of player who sparks a ballclub.
I will be at Bourne at Cotuit on Saturday.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Chatham 6 Brewster 4: Leftfielder Jeff Schaus from Clemson and designated hitter Joey Terdoslavich from Long Beach State each had two hits for Chatham. Third baseman Jedd Gyorko from West Virginia and second baseman Colin Walsh from Stanford each had two hits from Brewster.
Hyannis 6 Cotuit 3: Third baseman Zack Cox from Arkansas went 4-for-5 for Cotuit. First baseman Ryan Cuneo from Delaware went 3-for-4 for Hyannis.
Orleans 5 Harwich 2: Centerfielder Alex Hassan from Duke, Boston's 20th-round pick as a pitcher, and first baseman Jaren Matthews from Rutgers each had two hits for Orleans.
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
Showing posts with label Nick Schwaner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nick Schwaner. Show all posts
Friday, July 10, 2009
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)