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College  | Story  | 3/6/2023

College Reports: March 5

Vincent Cervino     
Photo: Jac Caglianone (Florida Athletics)
Players Featured: Jac Caglianone (Florida), Brandon Neely (Florida), Alejandro Rosario (Miami), Matthew Hoskins (Georgia), Jackson Finley (Georgia Tech), Ben King (Georgia Tech), Terry Busse (Georgia Tech)


Jac Caglianone, LHP, Florida
 There is no one in the country hotter than Jac Caglianone at this very moment, and that could apply to his work both on the mound and at the plate. The two-way player has sensationalized the nation as he currently leads the country in home runs (10) and is a dominant Sunday starter for Florida who runs his fastball up to 97 mph from the left side. At 6-foot-5, 245-pounds, Caglianone is a mammoth of a human being with 70-grade physicality that could slip on a pro uniform right now and head over to the Grapefruit League. He’s not a burner by any means, speed is the lone part of the game of baseball that he doesn’t excel at, but he isn’t a bad athlete either, working fluidly on the mound and showing good movement patterns elsewhere.



Caglianone got the start on Sunday and was dominant, earning the win and closing out the series victory over state rival Miami. The southpaw touched as high as 97 mph with the fastball, still living in the 94-95 mph range late into the 5th and 6th innings and the fastball has some explosive riding life. The velocity is enough to overpower hitters, but his deception adds to that as well. It’s an extreme front side that allows him to create a ton of angle to go along with an extreme crossfired landing front leg. With this many moving parts the delivery can come out of sync every so often but Caglianone did a good job managing strikes, only walking one despite coming undone at a couple of points.

The slider was really effective, dropping it in on the front hip of left-handed hitters at will and showing the ability to place it on the back foot of right-handed hitters for whiff. The pitch worked in the 80-83 mph range with sharp bite and good horizontal action. It has every making of a future plus offering for Caglianone while he also showed comfort with a similar velocity-banded changeup to right-handed hitters. The command will be something to monitor moving forward but Caglianone was able to show different looks and strategies at hitters as he limited a very good Miami offense and was able to turn them over three times to try new things. There’s also not a lot of mileage on his arm as he was a two-way player in high school and missed half of his senior year and freshman year (on the mound) at Florida recovering from injury so the ceiling here is immense.

Offensively, he’s about the equivalent of a rocket launcher on a baseball field. Caglianone hits majestic, towering shots with exit velocities peaking at around 118 mph which is Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton territory. Caglianone also swings with such violence that he’s looks like he’s actively trying to harm the baseball which is to say that his approach is aggressive. He'll swing-and-miss some too, he's not immune to R-R changeups but didn't really have to face left-handers this weekend either. The swing isn’t overly long and he does a nice job at controlling his extra long levers. There’s natural separation and a ton of obvious leverage that allows him to put his full force behind the baseball and really drive it with lift and carry. Caglianone had two hits on Friday night and on Saturday clobbered two home runs: one on a hanging changeup that he hooked around the foul pole and another that he put off the batter’s eye (104.5/425). The BP is even wilder as it’s legitimate 80 grade raw power, putting balls way out to areas other guys couldn’t even throw a ball.  

You’re ultimately talking about a unicorn of a prospect as he’s drawing comps to MLB MVP Shohei Ohtani, MLB’s example of a dominant two-way player. He’s the Golden Spikes front runner right now, the 1:1 favorite to go in July of 2024 (he’s just 20 years old), and there’s no one on Planet Earth who has more upside on a baseball field than Cags. -Vinnie Cervino

Brandon Neely, RHP, Florida
Neely had success in 2022 as a true freshman thrust into the starting rotation but has been relegated to back end bullpen duty to start the season thanks to new additions Hurston Waldrep and a healthy Jac Caglianone along with the surprising return of Brandon Sproat. He looked like his typical self in relief on Sunday, with a quick 1-2-3 inning in the 7th before the wheels started to fall off in the 8th. Neely was 89-92 mph with the fastball, getting good sinking life on the pitch and getting on top of it nicely to create some downhill plane. Neely’s best pitch is his slider at 83-85 mph with hard bite and the ability to land it for strikes and bury it. He also showed a high spin curveball or slurve with bigger shape in the 76-78 mph range. The two breaking balls are very good and give him legitimate out pitches but he needs to be precise with his command of the heater as it’s not overwhelming velocity. Neely will have a big role to play with the only Gators unit that’s struggling, the bullpen, but adjusting to life in the ‘pen versus as a starter could take him a bit to get used to. That said he’s a good athlete with feel to spin and can eat up multiple innings at a time at his peak. -Vinnie Cervino


Alejandro Rosario, RHP, Miami
Rosario did not have a good outing on Sunday in the rubber match against Florida, facing similar issues that have plagued him during his career at Miami. It’s a live arm with explosive arm speed but the Gators were prepared and were aggressive early. Rosario lived in the 94-97 mph range with the fastball. The heater showed arm side life to it but was vulnerable in the middle of the plate where Rosario was most often with it. The breaking ball is solid with high spin and slurvy bite in the low-80s while he also showed an 88-90 mph cutter to go along with an 87-88 mph changeup. Rosario turned over some good changeups, getting a couple whiffs on the pitch to go against left-handed hitters. The fastball quality is the concern here but there’s obvious upside given his youth, arm speed, and already throwing upper-90s. He’s an intriguing project and one to consider for teams heading into July. -Vinnie Cervino


Matthew Hoskins, RHP, Georgia
Hoskins was a popular name back in his prep days and looks like a freshman that could take on a big role for this UGA staff. He was the first arm in relief and was outstanding, tossing two scoreless innings on five K’s. He ran it up to 95 with big, heavy life out of the hand. The delivery has been cleaned up and he’s looking more mobile. He mixed it up well, consistently landing two sharp breakers and a changeup. Flipped in a curveball at 81 mph and also threw a harder slider for strikes. He also showed one changeup at 82 mph with good fading action. Hoskins commanded the zone very nicely and slowed things down for UGA despite the loss. Apart of a talented freshman pitching class, he looks like a guy that could emerge as a go-to arm out of the bullpen for Coach Stricklin.  -Brendan Kelley


Jackson Finley, RHP, Georgia Tech
Jackson Finley was called upon to anchor the Jackets in avoiding the sweep and he did just that. The strong 6-foot-4 222 pound sophomore tossed four innings allowing just one run on two hits, walked two, and punched out four. Finley came out firing and worked with good tempo setting the tone early. He worked in the 93-95 range and held that through all four innings. The heater was a really good pitch for him, it come out really heavy with late running action and he’s comfortable using it in on righties. He mixed in a sweepy slurve and a nasty late diving changeup, both in the low-80s. Being a true two-way, Finley is a really interesting piece to this Jackets team and looks to be a vital part of their success.  -Brendan Kelley


Ben King, RHP, Georgia Tech
King got the win today and did a really nice job to hold off the UGA bats. Coming in relief of Finley, he threw three scoreless innings and took complete control. King’s slider is his bread and butter and was the serious go-to. In the low-80s, it’s coming from a deceptive release with gyro spin and consistently missed bats. When he buries it, it’s really tough to square up with hard downward bite. King’s performance was just what the Jackets needed in order to maintain the lead and ultimately get the ball to their closer.  -Brendan Kelley


Terry Busse, RHP, Georgia Tech
Busse closed out the win for the Jackets and did so in dominant fashion. Regarded as one of the ACC’s top bullpen arms, he certainly looked the part and had the meat of the UGA order dismantled. He worked 93-94 with the heater in the 2000 - 2100 rpm range with bore up and sink down. His low-80s slider is the real difference maker with 2600+ spin and huge sweep to it. It’s coming from a really tough slot and he can front door it for strikes and break it off the plate for whiffs. Either way it’s got lots of horizontal movement and plays off his running heater so well making for a deadly two-pitch mix. Busse is off to a great start posting an ERA of .000 while punching out 16 in eight innings. -Brendan Kelley
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