Keeping So Cal distractions at bay (Kevin Gowdy feature)


Florida lefty stays calm, cool

FORT MYERS, Fla. – After completing two strong innings of work at the Perfect Game National Showcase at JetBlue Park early Thursday morning, 2016 Florida left-hander Cole Ragans took a seat in the bowels of the stadium and talked to a couple of PG media personnel about the experience.

It was a fine outing, one that played out in front of more than 100 scouts and college coaches/recruiters, and a PG scout blog entry noted that Ragans had his fastball sitting at 90-91 mph while peaking at 92. He had registered 93 mph at past PG events but everything that went down Thursday was pretty much in line with what scouts have come to expect from Ragans over the past two or three years.

What was most impressive when Ragans sat down after his outing was his demeanor. He was calm and cool – very much businesslike – and each one of those adjectives are written with nothing but positive connotations. Here is a young man very comfortable in his skin who on Thursday felt right at home with many of the other top class of 2016 pitchers in the land.

“I get a little nervous before I go out but once I go out there I calm down,” he said. “It’s just fun playing with some of the best talent from around the country. I go out and give it all I have every time, and if I don’t do my best than I know there’s still some work to do. As long as I’m not giving up runs and I’m getting people out, I’m satisfied.”

Ragans is an impressive 6-foot-4, 190-pound southpaw who PG ranks as the nation’s No. 9 overall prospect in the high school graduating class of 2016 and the No. 3 left-handed pitching prospect in the land. When narrowed down to talent-rich Florida, he is recognized as the state’s No. 3 overall prospect and the No. 1 left-handed pitching prospect.

For the past three years, Ragans has been associated with two of the most outstanding baseball programs in Florida, if not the country. He will be a senior in the fall at North Florida Christian School, a K-12 school in Tallahassee that is about a 20-minute drive from Ragans’ home in Crawfordville, Fla. He is also part of the elite Orlando Scorpions travel ball organization during the summer and fall.

The North Florida Christian Eagles finished as runner-up at the FHSAA Class 3A state tournament in May and finished 21-10 overall; Ragans was 7-2 with a 0.89 ERA and struck out 94 batters in 62 2/3 innings. He’s played in nine PG tournaments with the Orlando Scorpions 2016’s since 2013 and has been a part of several Scorpions’ PG tournament championship teams.

Ragans is very careful with his arm health, especially after throwing more innings during this past high school season than he had expected to. He has already sat down and planned out his summer, choosing to take almost two weeks off between each of his tournament outings.

He has gotten plenty of help along the way from the coaching staffs at North Florida Christian and the Orlando Scorpions. Those coaches are Mike Posey and Zac Cole with North Florida Christian, and Matt Gerber, Jerry Kennedy and Jesse Marlo with the Scorpions.

“They’ve really pushed me to be better every time I go out to play and they’ve helped me come a long ways,” Ragans said. “Four years ago I was throwing like 75 (mph) and they’ve helped me get to where I am today.”

In addition to his PG tournament play with the Scorpions, Ragans was at last year’s PG Junior National Showcase held right here at JetBlue Park and earned inclusion on the event’s elite Top Prospect List. It may very well have served as his coming out party and jettisoned him up the class of 2016 rankings.

By attending such a small high school, Ragans has used his quiet and confident approach to try to help as many people (re: kids) as possible. He sometimes walks the same halls as kindergartners and first-graders right along with his own classmates.

“I like helping people out and making them feel comfortable,” he said. “With the younger kids at my school, I’ll just go through the hallways and give them a high-five, letting them know that they’re noticed.”

Considering the proximity his hometown of Crawfordville and Florida State’s main campus in Tallahassee enjoys, it was a natural for Ragans to commit to the Seminoles program. He called it his “dream school” and noted that his entire family has been big FSU backers for as long as he can remember.

On Thursday, he enjoyed his moment in the hot sun at JetBlue Park but didn’t let the sun melt his brain. This is a young man who appears well-grounded while maintaining that calm, cool and businesslike demeanor.

“This is a big event, and I came here last year for the Junior National and just had a blast,” Ragans said. “I knew the National would be even more fun getting to play with a ton of great, talented kids and pitch against some very good talent, and that just makes me better. I need to stay humble; I still have a lot of work to do. You can never work hard enough.



Taking it 10 yards at a time

There was a lot of buzz during the first two of three scheduled workout sessions at this year’s PG National Showcase about the PG scouting department’s ability to record an accurate time in regard to how long it takes a prospect to cover the first 10-yards of his 60-yard dash effort.

The 60-yard dash is a time-honored drill at baseball workouts, much like the 40-yard dash is recognized as the standard at football workouts. The 10-yeard breakout offers an entirely new dynamic.

“It’s definitely valuable as a scouting tool because it’s really a completely different piece of information,” PG Vice President of Player Personnel David Rawnsley said Thursday. “We’ve always timed the 60 in baseball – it goes back to Branch Rickey, I believe – and it’s a valuable tool to see how well people run. But so much of the game is done in shorter bursts, whether it’s stealing bases or whether it’s range, especially at an infield position.”

There were some interesting results just from the first workout session on Wednesday. Tampa, Fla., outfielder Nicholas Baldor ran a 6.99-second 60-yard dash – a fine effort but one that was almost six-tenths of a second slower than the fastest clocking of the day – but recorded the top 10-yard time in a mercury-quick 1.52 seconds. Similarly, Lexington, Ky., outfielder Jared Shelby ran a respectable 6.80 60 but skated over his first 10-yards in 1.58-seconds.

There were, of course, athletes that were quick at both 60 and 10 yards. Orlando, Fla., outfielder Chase Cheek ran a 6.40-second 60 and a 1.60-second 10, and Ruston, La., shortstop Zachary Watson clocked a 6.44-second 60 and a 1.54-second 10.

When Rawnsley sees those numbers, he considers how important a first-step is in certain baseball situations, like the one required on that first move when stealing a base or the first move a shortstop makes to his left when he’s trying to get to a ball up the middle. The 10-yard breakout turns that first-step into a number that is quantifiable.

“The 60 is not going to be obsolete; you’re still going to want to know how people run,” Rawnsley said. “A lot of baseball is done in open space – you see the outfielder run, you see the first-to-third – so there are a variety of ways (the 60 is relevant). But that 10 yards comes into play so often and I really think this is going to be a valuable tool. We’re all really excited about it and we hope the baseball community is going to be too.”

– Jeff Dahn



Live Streaming

For the fourth consecutive year the Perfect Game National Showcase is available for everyone to watch online. The live stream to all of the workouts, batting practice sessions and games can be accessed in real time here (archives of the events will be added at a later point in time):

https://iframe.dacast.com/b/53363/c/70773



PG National Scout Blogs

Read even more about the game-by-game highlights and the workout results from the 2015 Perfect Game National Showcase scout blogs:

https://www.perfectgame.org/blogs/View.aspx?blog=534



National Impressions

• A UCLA commit, Kevin Gowdy showed big downhill plane on his fastball consistently living at the knees with his fastball that peaked at 94 mph, showing a lot of 93's over his two innings of work. Continuously gaining strength on his long and projectable 6-foot-4 frame, Gowdy generates his velocity rather easily and without much effort, up from 90 mph when we last saw him at the WWBA World Championship. While he could probably work through a lineup on the strength of his command, life and velocity of his fastball, Gowdy showed a hard breaking ball in the low-80s that featured late life around from righthanded hitters. Showing more slider life with occasional depth giving more of a curveball feel, Gowdy was able to miss plenty of bats. Rounding out the arsenal was a solid 81-82 mph changeup, featuring late fade down in the zone, giving him three pitches that have potential to be well above average offerings.

• The top prospect in the 2016 class, righthander Riley Pint came out showing an easy and loose arm action, producing an easy fastball that peaked at 96 mph in both his innings, working comfortably in the 93-95 mph range both out of the windup and the stretch. When the Louisiana State commit located down in the zone he was able to generate late life to his arm side and did it with plenty of athleticism in his delivery. Though he flashed a single changeup at 84 mph with some fading life to his arm side, Pint also snapped off a couple of sharp curveballs in the 81-82 mph range.

• Brenden Heiss came out attacking with his fastball early and missed plenty of bats in the process. Working comfortably in the 91-94 mph range peaking at 95 with nice running life down to his glove side. Doing a nice job of working over his front side, Heiss lived low in the zone with his fastball with the ability to get to both sides of the plate. The amount of downhill plane Heiss was able to generate was as impressive as his the frequency of which he missed the bats with his fastball, fininshing his two innings with five strikeouts. Committed to the University of Arkansas, Heiss flashed a changeup at 84 mph and showed a feel for his 11-to-5 breaking that was up to 77 mph.

• A well known prospect on the national scene as he came into the National Showcase as the No. 9 player in the country, lefthander Cole Ragans (as featured above) worked two quick innings of his own. Throwing from a high three-quarters arm slot, Ragans worked steadily in the 88-91 mph range with a top velocity of 92 mph, showing downhill plane on his heater. Working to his arm side well, the Florida State commit held his velocity well out of the stretch while showing a nice feel for his low-70s curveball and turned over a nice changeup at 74 mph.

• Two more arms that showed quality fastballs were righthanders Alek Manoah, who is uncommitted, and Kevin Roliard, a University of Texas commit. Each arm peaked at 94 mph with their fastballs, sitting comfortably in the low-90s throughout their innings.

Manoah has a strong and broad 6-foot-6, 245-pound build, and with an extended arm action he was able to work down in the zone with nice running life on his arm side. The fastball is a quality pitch at present, especially when he gets on top of his fastball, and he also showed a sharp curveball in the mid-70s with nice depth. Roliard came out pumping fastballs early on, living in the 90-93 mph range and did so while showing hard, sinking life when he worked down in the zone. With a lean and very athletic frame, Roliard shows a quick arm coming through the back side and also flashed a nice breaking ball in the 78-80 mph range.

• After watching eight of the 12 teams take batting practice in the past two days, it has become clear that the Red team has some of the more impressive pure hitters on their roster.

Four members of the Red team – Seth Beer, Ben Rortvedt, Joe Rizzo, and Avery Tuck, who all happen to hit from the left side – had some of the best rounds of batting practice on Thursday.

• Beer (OF, Suwanne, Ga.) has a smooth swing and some of the best bat speed of the 2016 class. At 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, Beer uses a toe-tap timing mechanism and does a good job of staying balanced before uncoiling and unleashing the barrel on the ball. The Clemson commit hit a couple of home runs to the power alley in right-center field, and the ball really jumps and carries off his bat.

• Rortvedt (C/OF, New Glarus, Wis.) had a very good performance in the defensive portion of the workout, and he continued his strong showing with a well-rounded batting practice. A lefthanded hitter, the Arkansas commit showed a tremendous feel for the barrel and sprayed strong line drives all over the field. Rortvedt’s balanced, quick swing should translate very well to the next level, as catchers with such solid defensive and offensive tools are hard to come by.

• Joe Rizzo (3B, Oak Hill, Va.) is a Perfect Game veteran, having participated in last year’s Junior National Showcase and the Northeast Indoor Showcase in February. He’s performed very well in the past and he turned in yet another good performance Thursday afternoon. He displayed very good hands and solid strength in his 5-foot-11, 215-pound frame. While he continued to show off his advanced feel for the barrel and comfort in spraying hard line drives in the middle of the field, he also flashed some impressive power to his pull side, wearing out the right-center field gap.

• Avery Tuck (OF/RHP, San Diego, Calif.) is a top-notch athlete with very good two-way potential. He threw 93 mph from the outfield in the defensive workouts and it will be interesting to see how that arm strength and his overall athleticism translates to the mound. However, on Thursday afternoon it was his performance with the bat that really turned some heads. Yet another lefthanded hitter from the Red squad, Tuck – like Beer and Rizzo – wore out the right-center field gap. He has very good bat speed and displayed easy pull-side power, hitting a couple of home runs in the round. At 6-foot-5, 195-pounds, Tuck projects to add even more strength and muscle, as he could very well end up having some of the best raw power of the 2016 class.

• Trace Bucey (OF, Corpus Christ, Texas) is not a member of the Red team, but he also turned some heads as the lefthanded hitter hit a pull-side home run on his very first swing in his batting practice round. The Texas A&M commit is an excellent athlete and also ran a 6.63 60-yard dash, one of the better times of the National Showcase to this point.

– Jheremy Brown, Andrew Krause