Showing posts with label Kevin Munson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kevin Munson. Show all posts

Friday, July 17, 2009

July 18 for July 17 Update

I went to Bourne on Friday, mainly because most of the league's pitching matchups were between guys I have already seen, and I had heard a rumor Chatham's right-handed starter Matt Harvey from UNC was getting moved up a day to pitch. Unfortunately, he was not and I ended up seeing a game with seven pitchers I have already seen extensively.

Bourne scored nine runs in the sixth inning when 12 consecutive batters reached base and Bourne beat Chatham 10-1.

Bourne starter Bryan Morgado from the University of Tennessee, the White Sox' third-round pick who disappointed me the last time I saw him, had better stuff Friday but he struggled with his control. Morgado's fastball sat in the 90-92 mph range and a couple of times crept up to 94. This was an improvement from the 88-91 I saw a couple of weeks ago. One Major League scout said he saw Morgado touch 96 in a relief appearance earlier in his pitching career. Morgado's 78-80 mph slider was average and he threw a decent 78-81 mph changeup. Morgado walked six and hit a batter in five innings, but also struck out eight. He still knows how to pitch, and the increased velocity made him more impressive, but I'm still not sure he was worth a third-round pick.

Chatham's starter was righthander Patrick Johnson from UNC. Johnson is undersized at 5'10" 170 and throws with a lot of effort. Johnson's fastball sat in the 87-90 mph range and once touched 91. He threw both a 78-82 mph slider and a 72-75 mph curveball, and both were good but not great. He also threw an 80 mph changeup with good tailing action down-and-in. Johnson pitched effectively for five innings Friday and was out of the game before the nightmarish sixth. Johnson is really just a good college pitcher and is probably not a professional prospect.

I have already written a few times about Bourne right-handed reliever Kevin Munson from James Madison, but he looked good pitching a garbage inning at the end of the game Friday. His fastball reached 95 and his slider is still really good.

A position player who continues to impress me is Bourne third baseman Rob Segedin from Tulane. Segedin went just 1-for-5 Friday, but his one hit was a good piece of hitting when he a stroked a triple to right-center field. Segedin has a really smooth right-handed stroke and is one of the better right-handed hitting prospects in the league. He is also a solid third baseman and made a really good play and a strong throw on a sharp ground ball early in the game.

Bourne centerfielder Scott Woodward from Coastal Carolina ruffled some feathers when he stole second base toward the end of the sixth inning after Bourne had already scored a nine-run lead. Chatham manager John Schiffner yelled an expletive across the field to Bourne manager Harvey Shapiro, and Chatham threw at Bourne first baseman Stefen Romero from Oregon State in the next inning. I'm told Shapiro has yelled repeatedly at Woodward for running on his own. He does have very good speed.

AROUND THE LEAGUE:

Y-D 3 Brewster 1: Right-handed starter Michael Goodnight from the University of Houston pitched five shutout innings for Y-D. Third baseman Jedd Gyorko from West Virginia University homered for Brewster.

Falmouth 8 Cotuit 3: Centerfielder Todd Cunningham from Jacksonville State and 1B Hunter Morris from Auburn each had three hits for Falmouth. Leftfielder Cory Vaughn from San Diego State homered for Cotuit.

Wareham 7 Hyannis 3: Centerfielder Ryan LaMarre from the University of Michigan went 3-for-4 with four RBIs for Wareham. Designated hitter Eddie Rohan from Winthrop went 2-for-4 with two RBIs for Hyannis.

Orleans 10 Hyannis 2: Centerfielder Gary Brown from Cal State Fullerton had four 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

Thursday, July 9, 2009

July 9 for July 8 Update

I went to Bourne on Wednesday evening, and the weather randomly decided to be cold again even though it was July 8th. After all the rainouts we've had I would say "at least it wasn't raining," but it drizzled during part of the game too.

Bourne used five different pitchers in its 3-1 win over Falmouth, and all five are at least worth talking about.

Right-handed starter Seth Maness from East Carolina was probably the least impressive of the five, but was still decent. Maness has kind of a small frame at 6'0" 182, but he throws with good arm action. He tends to rush through his motion a little bit. Maness' fastball sat mostly in the 89-90 mph range, and he worked almost exclusively on the outer half of the plate. He also threw a decent 81 mph changeup with good movement. He showed both an 80 mph slider and a 75 mph curveball, but neither was better than a Cape League-average -pitch.

Right-handed reliever Alex Wimmers from Ohio State came in next, and he entered the game with a small amount of buzz among scouts as another Team USA Trials late-arriver. One American League scout said before the game he was glad he caught this game because he was told during batting practice that Wimmers would throw an inning. Wimmers has an athletic build at 6'2" 195. He is a quick worker who throws with some effort. Wimmers' fastball sat in the 90-92 mph range, and he threw a good 74-75 mph curveball with big downward break. He also showed a 77 mph changeup.

Right-handed reliever Justin Poovey from the University of Florida pitched the seventh inning. Poovey is another guy who has a bit of a small frame for a pitcher at 6'1" 190. He throws with some effort and tends to throw across his body. Poovey's fastball sat in the 90-92 mph range and he also showed an 83 mph slider.

Right-handed reliever Stephen Harrold from UNC Wilmington is usually Bourne's closer, but he pitched the eighth inning Wednesday. Harrold is also average size at 6'1" 200. He appears to stop himself as he delivers, and doesn't drive his body all the way threw the pitch. His 89-92 mph fastball is the only pitch I caught during his inning of work.

Finally, right-handed reliever Kevin Munson from James Madison pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for Bourne and picked up the save. I had seen Munson earlier in the year, but his stuff was a lot more memorable this time. Munson is also average size for a pitcher at 6'2" 200. He needs to tighten up his motion, and he throws with some effort, but he has two good pitches that really work for him in a bullpen role. Munson's fastball sat in the 93-94 mph range Wednesday and he spotted it well. He also threw an 80-83 mph slider with good run that he both throw for strikes and get hitters to chase out of the zone. His appearance was probably the most impressive of the seven pitchers who appeared in Wednesday's game.

One hitter worth discussing is Bourne third baseman Rob Segedin from Tulane, who recently joined the Braves after Team USA Trials. Segedin has lost some weight since last summer when he played for Falmouth, but he is still a solid 6'3" 225. He has a quick bat and a short stroke from the right side of the plate, and he hit the ball hard in all four of his at-bats Wednesday when he went 2-for-4.

Another position player of note Wednesday was Bourne rightfielder Ben Klafczynski from Kent State, who made perhaps the defensive play of the season when he leaped high over the short fence in right to rob a sure home run from Falmouth leftfielder Brian Fletcher from Auburn.

I will be at Chatham at Brewster on Thursday.

AROUND THE LEAGUE:

Harwich 5 Cotuit 2: Rightfielder Dan Grovatt from the University of Virginia and first baseman Connor Powers from Mississippi State, the Dodgers' 11th round pick, each had two hits for Harwich. Third baseman Zack Cox went 3-for-4 with two RBIs for Cotuit.

Hyannis 3 Orleans 0: Right-handed pitchers Austin Hudson from Central Florida, Seattle's 27th round pick, and Dallas Gallant from Sam Houston State combined on a five-hit shutout for Hyannis. Gallant struck out eight in his three innings of work.

Wareham 5 Chatham 1: Left-handed starter Eric Pfisterer from Duke allowed no earned runs in 6.2 innings pitched, and designated hitter Zach Wilson from Arizona State had two hits for Wareham.

Brewster 5-Y-D 1: Right-handed starter Sean Hoelscher from TCU pitched 6.1 shutout innings for Brewster, allowing four hits and striking out three. Centerfielder Jordan Casas from Long Beach State, third baseman Tyler Hanover from LSU and leftfielder Steve Chatwood from the University of San Diego each had two hits for Yarmouth-Dennis.

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, June 14, 2009

June 14 for June 13 Update

I spent Saturday evening in Bourne where Yarmouth-Dennis beat Bourne 3-2 after an eighth inning rally fueled by three walks and a hit by pitch.

Two major league scouts were in attendance, and I talked with Y-D pitcher Chris Sale who makes his third blog appearance of the week for discussing our shared model of BlackBerry with me.

Once again pitching ruled the day, and several arms brought something to the table.

Y-D right-handed starter Jared Ray from the University of Houston was the best of the day as he showed four quality pitches and was not afraid to throw any of them in any count. Ray's fastball sat in the low 90s, he threw a 73 mph curveball with big break, an 81-82 mph slider with tight movement and a good 79 mph changeup with nice tailing action. Ray's stuff was not overpowering but he really knew how to pitch.

The other Y-D pitcher who looked good was closer Tyler Burgoon of the University of Michigan. Burgoon is undersized at 5'10", 165, and his fastball sat mostly in the 88-90 range, but he had a very good slider that missed a lot of bats. Burgoon struck out five batters in his two innings of work Saturday.

For Bourne, left-handed starter Cameron Roth from UNC-Wilimington was pretty good. He has kind of a thin frame, but his fastball sat mostly in the 89-91 mph range and he really attacked the strike zone with it. Roth's secondary stuff was just average as he threw a 78 mph slider with tight break but not too much movement and an 81 mph changeup he tended to leave up in the zone. He also threw the occasional 81-82 mph cutter.

Bourne reliever Kevin Munson from James Madison touched 93 mph with his fastball, but he has a lot of effort in his delivery and began to struggle with his control. He threw an 81-83 mph slider that he tended to spin and leave up in the zone, but when he followed through it was a quality pitch.

Offensively, light-hitting temp Bourne shortstop Tom Zebroski from George Washington stepped in the bucket but hit a 301-foot home run to the opposite field that barely cleared the right field fence near the foul pole. Free-swinging Y-D first baseman Mickey Wiswall from Boston College stayed back well and drove a sharp single to center in the middle of the Red Sox' key rally. Wiswall has quick hands and a nice compact swing.

Y-D's monstruous (6'5", 225) designated hitter Chase Davidson from the University of Georgia showed the most pop during batting practice, but he doesn't really have a position and entered the game as a pinch hitter.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Chatham 4 Hyannis 1: Chatham second baseman Tom Belza from Oklahoma State went 3-for-3 with a home run as Chatham beat Hyannis. Third baseman Shane Kroker from Wake Forest went 2-for-3 for Hyannis.

Harwich 10 Falmouth 5: Harwich shortstop Chris Wade from the University of Kentucky went 3-for-5 and second baseman Connor Mach from the University of Missouri went deep for Falmouth.

Brewster 10 Orleans 8: Brewster centerfielder Bobby Coyle from Arizona and shortstop Tim Ferguson from Ole Miss each went three-for-five and Brewster scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning to beat Orleans. Third baseman Michael Olt from UConn went two-for-five with a home run and left fielder Kevin Muno from the University of San Diego went two-for-four for Orleans.

Wareham 5 Cotuit 3: Eric Pfisterer from Duke started and pitched five hitless innings with 10 strikeouts and just two walks for Wareham.

I'll be back in Bourne this evening for Wareham at Bourne, weather permitting.