Daily
Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2
The
very first time Perfect Game saw Nick
O’Day
(2018, Coatesville, Pa.) was two falls ago when he appeared in the
inaugural WWBA Freshman World Championship as a rising eighth grader
with the Tri-State Arsenal. Since the fall of 2013 O’Day has
understandably developed physically and with the strength gains his
stuff has continued to take jumps as well.
Currently
ranked No. 21 in the class of 2018, O’Day shows interesting two-way
potential moving forward and put his talent on display on both sides
of the ball on Sunday. O’Day started the game for Phenom Signature
and came out firing with his fastball, sitting in the 88-90 mph range
early, bumping a 91 in the second inning. Showing a steady tempo in
his delivery with balance throughout, O’Day pitched off his
fastball early and was able to do so successfully by generating
downhill plane to either side while missing bats. The righthanded
O’Day is able to generate that type of high level velocity thanks
to his strongly built, broad shouldered 5-foot-11 frame and short but
quick arm action coming through the back.
Though
he would have been able to work through the lineup while exclusively
throwing his fastball, O’Day mixed in both a curveball and slider
during live at-bats and flashed a changeup in between innings.
Flashing a slider at 75 mph, O’Day threw his curveball most
frequently at 70-71 mph and showed a strong feel for the offering.
His curveball showed 12-to-6 shape with solid depth and froze a
batter with a 71 mph offering.
O’Day
also showed loose hands with the bat and just as much strength in the
batter’s box as on the mound as he turned on a pitch and put it
over the left field fence for a loud three-run home run.
You
aren’t going to miss 6-foot-6 lefthander Jake
Sweeney
(2018, Hobart, Ind.) as he takes the mound as his stature and
physicality immediately stand out at first look. He then takes the
mound and instantly shows how much of an uncomfortable at-bat he is
to go up against as he works from an extended lower three-quarters
arm slot while running his fastball up to 86 mph.
Occasionally
raising his slot up to a more tractional three-quarters, Sweeney is
able to generate late sinking life on his fastball that sat in the
81-85 mph range throughout his four innings, creating angle with some
downward plane. He stays short through his takeaway and is able to
produce his fastball velocity with relative ease as the ball comes
out cleanly from his hand. One thing that stood out about Sweeney on
the bump was as he faced a strong lefthanded hitting lineup he showed
no problem locating his fastball to his glove side and did so on a
regular basis. With his size, velocity and arm slot it would make for
a difficult at-bat two weeks ago at the 17u, let alone the 15u.
Sweeney also showed a feel for both a slider and changeup, two
offerings that will continue to develop nicely into the future. His
changeup worked in the 74-77 mph and showed some tumble and fading
life to his arm side and flashed a slider at 71 mph, featuring some
sweeping life down in the zone.
Jacob
Riordan
(2018, Lilburn, Ga.) looks to be the latest in a line of high end
talents to come from Coach Chan Brown and Parkview High School.
Though Riordan just completed his freshman year of high school he’s
already competed in 11 Perfect Game events and is presently ranked as
the No. 51 prospect in the 2018 class.
The
physicality is easy to project on Riordan as he stands 6-foot-2,
190-pounds but it’s the arm action and overall stuff that may
project the best. Showing a very loose and whippy arm action at
release with extension out front, Riordan peaked at 88 mph with his
fastball, touching both 87 and 88 mph once early on. He sat
comfortably in the 83-86 mph range throughout and all the while
remained under control with a lower effort release. Riordan begins
his delivery with a high leg lift up past his belt line while staying
tall on his back leg before driving to the plate while remaining on
top of the ball. Continuously getting on top of the ball helped
Riordan generate some late running life to his fastball and
consistently lived down in the zone with the pitch.
He
also showed some hand speed as his slider peaked at 75 mph, another
indicator that more velocity may be on the way. Riordan worked
consistently in the mid-70s with the pitch showing short 10-to-4
shape and flashed a changeup early in the game at 81 mph.
Righthander
Rhett Fetner
(2017, Handley, Ala.) relieved Riordan and threw the next couple of
innings after his start was washed away by Mother Nature after just
two pitches the other night. Just as he did the other night, Fetner
came out showing some solid velocity on his fastball and like Riordan
did it with relative ease.
Listed
at 6-foot-3, 190-pounds, Fetner lived in the 84-87 mph range, peaking
at 88 mph, while showing a loose arm with solid downhill plane. With
a slight hip turn at the top of his delivery Fetner then drives
towards the plate, and while showing a lower effort release is able
to generate nice running life on his fastball, particularly in the
low end of his velocity band. He does a nice job of staying short
through the back, something that helped him fill up the strike zone
on a regular basis. To help keep hitters honest and off balance the
uncommitted Fetner showed a sharp, late breaking curveball in the
mid-70s, a pitch that comes out of the same tunnel as his fastball.
The
abilities and exploits of Kumar
Rocker
(2018, Watkinsville, Ga.) are well known on the mound and even though
he didn’t pitch today he still made noise for Team Elite Prime. In
the first game of a doubleheader Rocker hit two no-doubt home runs
before wrapping up the game with a hard line drive double. Similar to
the way he pitches, Rocker shows a lot of balance and easy strength
in his swing which was further evidenced by the line drive single to
the opposite field that he collected in the second game.
It
was a quick look as Game On Stealth called to Chase
Patrick
(2017, Ellaville, Ga.) in the seventh inning to lock down their 6-3
victory and he did just that. Patrick came in out of the bullpen with
a full on attack mode mentality and challenged hitters instantly with
his fastball that sat at 87-89 mph with every pitch he threw. Working
from an up-tempo delivery, Patrick showed off his athleticism as he
was able to repeat his delivery well and work on top of the ball,
generating downhill plane while working to either side of the plate.
He only showed two curveballs but the first one he snapped off
(recorded in the video) drew some “oohs” from the fans behind
home plate as it showed late biting 11-to-5 life and just narrowly
missed the outer half black.
Another
young, uncommitted right-handed pitcher, Ethan
Smith
(2018, Mount Juliet, Tenn.) threw three impressive innings for the
Knights Baseball National 15u Team Sunday afternoon. Listed at
6-foot-2, 175-pounds, Smith looks the part with his long limbs and
broad shoulders and it’s easy to envision him adding strength to
his frame over the next 2-3 years.
Smith
works from an up-tempo and rather quick delivery as he gets tall on
his back leg, and then just as he breaks his hands there’s a slight
pause before driving to the plate, adding some deception while
throwing off hitters' timing. The arm action is short but very quick
coming through and shows some whippiness to it allowing Smith to live
in the 82-85 mph range despite not fully incorporating his lower
half. The ball leaves Smith’s hand cleanly, showing running life at
times and cutting life at others, but he consistently filled up the
strike zone and allowed just a single base hit while walking none and
punching out two.
Working
from a high three-quarters arm slot, Smith showed some advanced
pitchability for an arm his age as he possesses a strong feel for
both a slider and a curveball and wasn’t afraid to throw them in
any count. For instance most pitchers would go fastball on a 3-2
count whereas Smith showed he could not only throw a curveball in the
count but execute the pitch as he got the hitter out front and rolled
it over to the left side. His curve featured 11-to-5 life at 71-73
mph with some depth coming out of the same slot, as did his slider.
Currently uncommitted, Smith threw his slider in the 75-78 mph range
and was able to generate some sharp and late bite to it down in the
zone giving him a strong three-pitch mix with the ability to throw
each for strikes.
– Jheremy
Brown
In
a surprise to exactly no one, 2017 outfielder Malik Spratling
was once again a star of the action on Sunday from the 2015 15u WWBA
National Championship. This time showing off his present game and
upside as purely a positional prospect, Spratling made a play that is
hardly ever seen at the major league level, let alone in high school.
Playing center field, Spratling chased down an extra-base hit that
ended up in the right-center field gap, about 10 feet from the wall.
With a runner trying to score from first, Spratling got there
quickly, picked the ball up, turned, and threw. There was no crow
hop, no exaggerated gathering of his body/arm and overall not much
effort at all. He did exactly what was described: He picked the ball
up, turned around, and threw it towards home. Only, his throw was to
the catcher in the air on a line, from the base of the wall in
right-center, and nabbed the runner trying to score easily.
It’s
not often you see seasoned college coaches drop their jaws, stare in
amazement and openly giggle at something they see on a baseball
field. That happened on Sunday evening. Malik Spratling made that
happen, and it was absolutely special. He’s a plus runner with the
defensive chops to play center field with a cannon for an arm, a very
good hitter with feel for the barrel and some power to go along with
it, and to wrap things up, as has been discussed before, he has
legitimate Division I potential on the mound as well. He’s a
special player, one we’ve truly enjoyed watching this week.
2018
righthander Hunter Goodwin (Sylvester, Ga.) was impressive on
the mound for the Game On Stealth squad as well. At 6-foot-3,
180-pounds, Goodwin is well built already but has the kind of
broad-shouldered frame that is easily projectable to add some more
size to it with physical development. Touching 87 early in his start
with good arm-side run, Goodwin worked in the 82-85 range for most of
his outing on Sunday night, showing (at times) explosive arm-side
life on his fastball, but rawness in his command. Goodwin’s
delivery is well-paced and can be balanced, but he struggles to
rotate his front hip fully in his delivery, landing with his front
foot pointing towards the third base dugout (an incomplete rotation),
which in turn doesn't allow him to get all the way through his
delivery and makes him off balance. At this point, because the hips
and rest of his body aren’t getting through his delivery, his arm
cannot catch up either, which causes him to miss high to the arm side
often. Regardless, any mechanical issues Goodwin has are minor and
can be easily corrected, but his arm strength and raw feel for
pitching are both very advanced. He also shows excellent feel for
12-to-6, hard-biting curveball in the low-70s, with excellent depth
and tight spin that flashes the potential to be a bat-misser moving
forward.
2019
righthander Dylan Delucia (Port Orange, Fla.) started
on the mound for FTB Mizuno on Sunday morning, and the first thing
that strikes you is that he’s certainly bigger than his listed size
(5-foot-5, 120-pounds). What strikes you next is that Delucia can
flat out pitch, and for someone of his age, that in it of itself is
very impressive. Touching as high as 83 mph, Delucia maintained his
fastball velocity in the 79-82 range for the entirety of his
five-inning, 80-pitch outing—something 14-16 year old prospects
don't often do. He threw 55 of those 80 pitches for strikes, again,
something 14-16 year old prospects just don't often do. His quick arm
and repeatable delivery just pounded the fastball to the glove side,
away from righthanded hitters, getting called strikes and whiffs
consistently on the exact same pitch, seemingly all Sunday morning.
He allowed only one hit and one walk while striking out five, picking
up the victory and putting his name on the (very) early 2019 radar.
2018
switch-hitting third baseman Dylan Buck (Bradenton, Fla.) had
a very good day as well on Sunday, showing off impressive strength
from his highly projectable 6-foot, 155-pound body. He drove a double
deep over the left fielders’ head, showing off that impressive
strength as well as the natural loft and hand speed in his swing that
we look for in future power hitters, something he could very easily
become once he continues to add strength and physically develop into
his frame.
2018
righthander Gavin Bloodworth threw early Sunday morning for
Team Demarini GA Black 15u, and the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Bloodworth
was impressive in his outing. His large frame is filled out well
already, although there is some projection remaining. He throws from
an over-the-top arm slot with an overall clean arm action, generating
solid arm speed into good downhill plane to the plate. His fastball
touched 84 but worked mostly in the 78-82 range with very good
natural heaviness and arm-side life, keeping the ball off the barrel
of the opposing hitters bats with consistency. He showed the ability
to elevate the fastball up around the letters and get swings and
misses as well. Having been up to 88 on his fastball as recently as a
few weeks ago, Bloodworth possesses the type of arm strength and
potentially premium velocity that makes him a well sought after
prospect, but being able to pitch well and be effective without his
best heat makes him an even more impressive prospect. He flashed very
good feel for an 11-to-5 curveball with power depth and sharp, tight
break. It’s a weapon pitch that Bloodworth showed the ability to
command as well, throwing the pitch both for strikes within the zone
as well as burying it down and out of the zone for potential swings
and misses over the top of it.
– Brian
Sakowski