The
PG National Showcase is an opportunity for high school players to
show their talents in front of hundreds of college and professional
scouts. On Saturday, LHP Robert Kaminsky (2013, St. Joseph Regional
HS, Englewood Cliffs, NJ) did that and then some.
Kaminksy
struck out the side in the first inning of Game 10 as he worked in
the 89-92 mph range, touching 94. And then—as if 94 mph from a
17-year-old left-hander wasn’t enough—he pounded the strike zone
with a high-70s hammer curveball. He also flashed a “nasty
change-up with run,” according to a PG scout.
That
curveball was really sharp and had a lot of depth to it,” said PG
Scouting Coordinator, Todd Gold. “But more impressive than that, he
commanded it well. It’s the best curveball I’ve seen here, and
it’s right up there with the best offerings we’ve seen from any
pitcher here.”
In
the second inning, with all eyes now on him, Kaminsky continued his
dominance, turning in what Gold said was “Probably the single-most
impressive performance we’ve seen on the mound here at the National
Showcase.”
Kaminsky’s
first victim of the second inning reached on a dropped third strike
after whiffing at a monster curve. He froze the next hitter on strike
three—another yacker—prompting one major league scout to say,
“This guy is out there with a dirty paintbrush.”
The
third batter was retired on—you guessed it—another curve.
Kaminsky punched out the final batter of the inning on a 91 mph
fastball.
All
told, he struck out each of the seven batters he faced, four in the
second inning alone, three of them on his curveball.
“This
is the kind of stage where players go from being good prospects to
very high level prospects,” Gold said. “And he just did that.”
“I
felt great,” Kaminsky said in the dugout after his dominating
performance. “Every kid (here) is going to a major D-I college.
It’s different than high school ball or any other experience. I’ve
been to a bunch of tournaments with Perfect Game, but this is my
first showcase. I was told I had to come here and I’m glad I did.
This is something else.”
Kaminsky
has impressed in previous PG tournaments, including the 2011 PG WWBA
World Championship and the 2011 16U and
17U PG BCS Finals. His top velocity in those events was 91 mph. Since
then, he’s worked hard to improve.
“I
fixed something in my mechanics,” he said. “Before, I was falling
forward. I finally firmed that up by working with my pitching coach.
Now, it works.”
Kaminsky’s
father played high school baseball and has been a big influence on
Robert’s progress. His uncle, the “pitching guru,” gives him
pointers as well.
“My
uncle has helped a lot,” he said. “Actually, he’s at home
watching (on the Perfect Game/eCoach Sports Network iHigh broadcast).
He loves Perfect Game stuff.”
Kaminsky
has yet to commit to a college, but it’s not because he doesn’t
have any offers. In fact, he has about 15 right now.
“I
kind of have it narrowed down, to the ACC or SEC,” he said. “But
everything is an option right now: Florida State, North Carolina,
Virginia and others.”
If
he keeps pitching like he did today on the big stage, he’ll get
several more offers.
“It’s
unbelievable,” Kaminsky said about playing in front of some 300
scouts. “It gets you hyped up. It’s easy to perform in these
situations because you don’t have to amp yourself up. It’s just
an awesome experience.”