Here are some notes on Cal State Fullerton, a ranked NCAA team, from when I saw them play against TCU (on television)
Thomas Eshelman is a freshman right-handed pitcher that is already pitching on Friday nights. He has a pretty normal looking delivery, normal release point and arm action, but the leg kick and motion seems a little binary and is not really as fluid as you would like it to be.
He doesn't throw real hard currently, at about 87 MPH, but locates both high and low (more so low), with occasional sink. At 6-3 190, he could a little bit of weight and perhaps some velocity as well.
Eshelman has a good looking change that ;ooks just like the fastball, then drops off the table at the last second. It is obviously not as good looking when he left it up, which he did, though at his age, that isn't a big deal. The vertical drop isn't massive, but it is solid and sudden.
The curveball breaks glove side, with not big time vertical break. All of his pitches seems to break glove side, throwing more on that side, away from righties, into lefties.
He already has 3 pitches that he can throw often, but the velocity does hold him back. He got a lot of swings and misses against what is supposed to be a good college team, that is at least older than him on average. He is advanced and able to throw strikes with all his pitches, which is going to be key for him as a prospect, especially if he doesn't add velocity.
Richy Pedroza is a very small senior lead-off hitter. It looks like he has good speed, which makes sense considering he is batting lead-off and his size precludes him from having power. He did have a good approach last year, walking more than he struck out. As a shortstop, he seems to move well and have good range along with at least a decent arm.
Carlos Lopez is another senior with sort of a slappy swing. The lefty isn't that small, but he leans into the ball, giving him no chance to hit for any real power. Despite walking more than he struck out last year, he was really aggressive in approach, taking some bad swings.
Matt Chapman is a big looking guy, listed at 6-1 195. The sophomore was batting in the third hole. He didn't seem to have what you would call great bat speed, but it is alright, and his bat covers the zone well (it is an uppercut swing though) and it is a very controlled swing. About an average runner, he seemed solid at 3rd base, but not plus. As a Freshman, he got a lot of playing time, but was pretty boring as far as a stat line goes, not showing any stolen base abilities or much power, or a lot of walks. At the same time, he sort of held his own.
J.D. Davis has some early season power numbers, but didn't hit for much power last year. He was picked in the 5th round by the Rays in 2011 out of high school. A tall guy, the sophomore has a huge swing, but it comes with pretty slow bat speed. I don't think he is a 5th rounder now, but he isn't eligible for the draft again until 2014.
Michael Lorenzen is the big prospect on the team and is a likely 1st rounder. He has good size, listed at 6-3 200. At the plate, he has a very uncontrolled swing, but there is obviously some pop there. I got him at about 4.15 to first, from the right side which is very nice speed. He also made a very good play in center, showing off his range and athleticism. I've seen him a few times over the past year or so, and while this isn't the consensus opinion, I think I like him on the mound as a relief pitcher better than as a hitter/fielder. Obviously he has the arm/speed/positional value, but the plate discipline is pretty bad. Statistically, his 2012 K/BB of 42/14 is pretty untenable for a big time prospect at the college level. You see the tools there, but there is just a lot of reasons to believe that he is just going to have too many problems actually hitting. While an excellent centerfielder with plus speed can make it to the Majors without being much of a hitter, it isn't necessarily top prospect worthy. He certainly has a higher ceiling in the outfield, but if it makes any sense to say so, he probably has a lower floor out of the pen. He seems too "raw" at the plate for a college position player to be drafted in the first round, at least in my opinion.
Chad Wallach is another big guy (a 6-3 220 catcher). He showed some plate discipline and an ability to cover the plate. However, his swing is pretty big and the uppercut nature makes him susceptible to pop ups. A 43rd rounder out of high school, he was a disaster at the plate last year.
Greg Velazquez has a swing is similar to Lorenzen's as far as wide reaching and somewhat out of control. However, his bat speed isn't as good looking as Lorenzen's. In fact, his is a little longer. He did show some power though, but it seems to be all pull variety. He was awful at the plate last season, but it was in just 62 at-bats.
2nd baseman Mitch Oloff seems to be roughly an average runner, maybe a little better. He didn't play a lot last year, he has some plate discipline issues, with a not very controlled uppercut swing that causes him to chase and struggle with low pitches.
Austin Diemer was a 26th round pick out of high school, but rarely played in 2012. He clearly has an other way approach with well above average speed.
Koby Gauna is a sophomore with a fairly normal delivery, in which he stands up sort of straight during with a slight hesitation. He split between starter and reliever last year. At 6-2 as a right-hander, so probably a reliever if he is a prospect. However, since he was only throwing 86 MPH, he probably isn't one.
He also throws a change that breaks arm side. His fastball also seems to have some arm side break as well like a 2 seamer.
Willie Kuhl is a sophomore RHP pitcher with a fairly normal delivery. He is curveball heavy, has some horizontal movement and big vertical break, but it is not sharp break. It is a mediocre pitch at best, just because it is so slow looking, clockedat 72 MPH. His fastball/sinker didn't seem to have much command, but he also showed what looked like a separate change at 82 MPH.
Tyler Peitzmeier is a sophomore lefty with decent size. There is not much movement in delivery,but he temporarily hides ball behind his body. He doesn't really take a great stride.
No comments:
Post a Comment