3/26/2016 6:10:00 AM
Perfect Game All-Amercian right hander Ryan Zeferjahn just finished up his basketball season two weeks ago and averaged almost 16 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists per game en route to being named second team All-State in one of the biggest school classifications in the state. The 6-foot-4, 190-pound senior had a game high of 41 points for the 15-7 Seaman High School Vikings.
From the look of his performance yesterday during Seaman's first baseball game of the year, Zeferjahn is already in mid-season baseball form.
A commit to nearby University of Kansas, about a 30-minute run east down I-70, Zeferjahn threw a complete game two-hit shutout, not walking a hitter and striking out 11. Lest one worry about high pitch counts in the first game of the season, Zeferjahn, who was on an 85-pitch limit, exceeded that by only one pitch in using 86.
Zeferjahn's raw stuff was consistent with what he showed at multiple events last summer. He topped out at 94 mph early and probably averaged 91 mph over the course of the outing. He was hitting 92's and 93's as late as the fifth inning and had the scouts talking about how well he was maintaining his velocity. Zeferjahn could have probably powered his fastball downhill to the bottom of the zone more often but he got big running action frequently even when he was in the middle of the plate.
He worked primarily with his fastball in the early innings but started to work his slider in more frequently, especially in strike out counts, as the game progressed. When Zeferjahn stays on top of the pitch its a quality offering in the 80-83 mph range with tight spin and occasional big two-plane depth. He has a tendency to drop his arm slot on the pitch and get under it at 76-78 mph at times. I was told that he does this intentionally to give the hitters a different look but he will need to get rid of this at the next level.
Zeferjahn tried a few changeups in the fifth inning and this is still a pitch in its infancy that will need to be worked on further.
There were times last summer, especially early in outings when he was still over excited, where Zeferjahn would rush his mechanics and get out of sync. There was no evidence of that at all this outing and he was in complete control and maintaining his pace and mechanics from the first pitch.
All in all it was an outstanding outing and very promising for Zeferjahn's spring and 2016 draft potential. He is currently 33rd in the Perfect Game 2016 class rankings and likely seen by the scouting community as a solid second round selection. With a whole spring ahead of him, that could certainly keep moving up as he gets further off the basketball court.
Note: Scouts evaluating Zeferjahn this spring will appreciate that he has a very interesting catcher in 2018 Jackson Cobb. Cobb is a very athletic 6-foot-3, 195-pound left handed hitter who also stars with Zeferjahn on the basketball court. He handled Zeferjahn's low 90's heat easily and did a very good job of blocking low sliders, even when there was no runners on base. Cobb also hits third in the Seaman line up and showed a nice swing with some present bat speed.