National college notes: Feb. 24

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Draft Watch

Here is how the players currently ranked among the top 50 of Perfect Game's top 250 draft-eligible prospects have fared so far this season.

Hitters

Texas Christian 3, Arizona State 2 (Sunday)

Working mostly out of the TCU bullpen last spring, junior lefthander Alex Young made a smooth transition into a starting role last summer on the Cape and hasn’t looked back. After turning in the staff’s best performance last weekend, Young again took the ball deep into the game, working five innings while surrendering only four base hits.

Young stands with a projectable and very well-proportioned 6-foot-2 frame with broad shoulders and long, loose limbs. On the mound he works from an up-tempo delivery with a slight hip turn at the top, creating plenty of momentum as he drives to the plate. With a quick and extended three-quarters arm action, Young showed a full arsenal of pitches, all of which he shows both command and feel for, evidenced by allowing only one walk as compared to his five strikeouts.

Throughout his outing Young worked in the 88-90 mph range very comfortably, peaking at 91 during his outing. The lefty commanded the arm side well with his fastball, showing intent as he worked away from hitters, but also did a nice job of commanding the glove side whenever he wanted to get in on the hands. He creates big angle at release, and with his slot, Young is able to create late run to his arm side, especially when down in the zone.

What sets Young apart though is the feel he displays for three distinct off-speed pitches. If you aren’t watching closely you may interpret his curveball as a slider, or his slider as a curveball, thinking he has just one breaking ball with an inconsistent release. He does in fact throw both and each shows their own shape though thrown in similar velocity ranges.

Young did a nice job of mixing both pitches, throwing either for strikes regardless of the count. His curveball shows 1-to-7 shape with hard break and sharp depth in the 80-83 mph range. The slider, which leaves his hand from the same slot as his curveball and fastball, worked in the in 81-84 mph range with late sweeping life and sharp 2-to-8 shape. To round it out, Young flashed a mid-80s changeup with some fade to his arm side, frequently mixing it in to keep hitters off balance.