Friday recap: Kirby hot in cold
No.
2 Virginia, 9, at East Carolina, 2 (Game 1)
No.
2 Virginia, 4, at East Carolina, 4 (Game 2)
Virginia
righthander, Connor Jones is the furthest thing from a secret in the
scouting world. A highly touted prospect coming out of high school,
Jones has long looked like a future first round draft choice in the
making. On Saturday afternoon in game one of Virginia’s
doubleheader against East Carolina, the 6-foot-3 righty appeared to
take an enormous step toward fulfilling that promise.
Jones
did not look the part of a pitcher who made only one start last
spring in his Saturday afternoon outing. Instead, he looked very much
the part of a blossoming superstar at the college level. On another
chilly afternoon in Greenville, Jones came out of the gate pumping
92-95 mph fastballs in the first inning. But, even more noticeable
than the velocity is the heavy, late diving action Jones generates on
his fastball. It’s a pitch that, as he continues to refine his
command, he will be able to dominate lineups on by throwing a vast
percentage of the time.
Not
in a traditional sense, but by having a deceptively easy arm circle,
Jones seems to be a difficult pitcher for batters to pick up. ECU
hitters were consistently beat or frozen by his fastball on Saturday.
His fastball not only generated swings and misses, but routinely weak
swings and groundball contact.
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