I went to Cotuit on Tuesday to catch Cotuit and Chatham in another matchup of pitchers I hadn't seen yet this summer.
Cotuit won 2-1 as Chatham continues to freefall and looks more and more likely to miss the playoffs after starting the season 9-1.
Right-handed starter Craig Fritsch from Baylor, the Tigers' 8th-round pick last month, started for Cotuit and looked a lot less impressive than he did when I saw him pitch for Y-D in 2008. Fritsch is tall with a thin, athletic build at 6'4" 180 but he stands too tall in his motion and doesn't get good drive from his lower body. He does have good arm action and throws fairly easily. Fritsch's fastball sat in the 90-91 mph range and occasionally touched 92. It had some tailing action in on right-handed hitters, but Fritsch had some trouble locating his fastball and tended to leave it up in the zone. Fritsch spun a 73-74 mph breaking ball that would hang some of the time and he also showed a 78-80 mph changeup. Fritsch really showed a lot more ability last summer.
Right-handed starter Mike Dennhardt from Boston College pitched for Chatham. Dennhardt's stuff isn't overpowering but he throws at least five different pitches and mixes them effectively. None of his pitches are better than league average but he throws strikes and pitches to contact to get outs. Dennhardt is average height with a solid build at 6'1" 205. His arm trails behind the rest of his body and he sort of flings the ball. Dennhardt's fastball sat in the 88-90 mph range and his two-seamer had good tailing action in on right-handed hitters. He also threw an effective 83-86 mph cutter. Dennhardt's 74-78 mph curveball had sharp break when he threw it well and he was able to throw it for strikes, and he is mixing in a 78-81 mph slider with horizontal run. Dennhardt also throws an average 81 mph changeup that tails in on right-handed hitters. The depth of Dennhardt's repertoire is his biggest asset.
Chatham right-handed reliever Taylor Hill from Vanderbilt, who has impressed me more than once this summer, looked great again Tuesday. His low 90s fastball has a lot of movement including some sinking action and his 80-83 mph slider was nasty. Hill can either get hitters to chase the late-breaking pitch with tight break out of the zone or sneak it in the back door. When Hill froze highly-touted Cotuit catcher Cameron Rupp from the University of Texas with a slider to strike him out, Rupp started walking back to the dugout almost simultaneously to when the pitch hit the catcher's glove.
Cotuit right-handed reliever Navery Moore from Vanderbilt had good outing, a rare occurrence for him this summer. One National League scout said Moore was "kind of a phenom" early in his high school career before he underwent Tommy John surgery. The scout said Moore's velocity went way down after the procedure and it affected his confidence which in turn affected his command. Moore has struggled with terrible control issues this summer after seeing limited action at Vanderbilt in the spring, but he threw strikes Tuesday. Moore is above-average height with a solid build at 6'3" 205. He has a jerky motion and throws with some effort. Moore's fastball sat in the 91-92 mph range, and he threw a 78 mph curveball with tight overhand break. He also threw a 77 mph changeup.
Cotuit right-handed reliever Ben Rowen from Virginia Tech was intriguing as well. Rowen is the only submarine-style pitcher I have seen on the Cape, and Cotuit uses him often to give hitters a different look. Rowen doesn't throw harder than the mid-80s, and his stuff which also includes a slider and a changep isn't that good, but everything he throws moves a lot and he baffles a lot of hitters at this level with his delivery.
Cotuit third baseman Zack Cox from the University of Arkansas had another big game. He hit three singles, one to leftfield, one up the middle and one to right and he hit each one on the first pitch of the at-bat. Some think Cox's lack of patience is a negative, but I love his aggressive style at the plate. He gets in the box and hits, and he almost always puts a good swing on the ball.
Cotuit centerfielder Jeff Rowland from Georgia Tech, the Indians' 21st-round pick, has struggled at the plate and he has a below-average arm, but he can cover a lot of ground in the outfield.
I will likely be at Falmouth at Orleans on Wednesday.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Brewster 4 Orleans 2: Third baseman Harold Martinez from the University of Miami hit a home run and second baseman Jedd Gyorko from West Virginia went 3-for-4 for Brewster.
Harwich 5 Bourne 1, Bourne 7 Harwich 2: In the first game, Harwich right-handed starter Mike Gipson from Florida Atlantic allowed one run on five hits and struck out six. Designated hitter Kyle Roller from East Carolina homered for Bourne. In the second game, second baseman Pierre LePage from UConn and designated hitter Nick Schwaner from the University of New Orleans, the Giants' 42nd-round pick, each went 2-for-3 for Bourne. Centerfielder Leon Landry from LSU went 2-for-3 for Harwich.
Y-D 8 Wareham 3: Centerfielder Jordan Casas from Long Beach State went 2-for-4 and leftfielder Austin Wates from Virginia Tech went 2-for-5 with four RBIs for Y-D. Designated hitter Zach Wilson from Arizona State went 2-for-4 for Wareham.
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 Taylor Hill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taylor Hill. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
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
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.
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
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)