2,075 MLB PLAYERS | 14,476 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
Create Account
Sign in Create Account
College  | Story  | 3/16/2017

College Spotlight: Week 4

Steve Fiorindo     
Photo: Steve Fiorindo
 


College Spotlight: Stanford/Rice | Perfect Game College Player Database

Every week during the 2017 college baseball season we will be pulling at least one report, and corresponding video when available, of a player entered into the College Player Database. This week we will share reports on players from TCU/UC Irvine, and Vanderbilt/Saint Mary's following their three-game series last weekend in Irvine, Calif., and Nashville, Tenn., respectively. All of the reports entered into the database can be found in one, easy-to-find place as linked above, and can also be accessed off of the individual PG player profile pages.

To access all of the reports you will need a College Baseball Ticket (CBT) subscription. To learn more about the CBT and to sign up today please visit this link.




Nick Lodolo, LHP, TCU

Listed at 6-foot-6, 185-pounds, Nick Lodolo has added considerable strength since high school. Physically he’s the dream, as he’s easy to project with both the body and the arm and he really isn’t far from reaching that projection. The stuff currently is already really good, with a low arm slot that gives a bit of a feel of Randy Johnson. His fastball topped out at 92-93 in his start against UC Irvine on Saturday, a 6-3 win by the Anteaters, with a spin rate slightly higher than Major League average.

Lodolo struggled with command in the first inning, giving up four runs, but he did a nice job settling down and pitched very well the rest of the game (five total innings). His breaking ball currently is a bit of a hybrid, as he tinkering with different grips in high school trying to throw more of a true curveball, a difficult task given his lower arm slot. The breaking ball sits more in the 75-79 mph range with more break than a traditional slider but is more lateral than a traditional curveball. With a spin rate up to 2500 RPM it’s tighter than both Major League average for either breaking pitch.

His changeup is firm, a clear third pitch thrown in the mid-80s that looks and acts more like a BP fastball right now, but he has the pitch and continues to work on it. As the pieces continue to evolve and come together he could be a premium pick for the 2019 MLB Draft and may hear his named called among the top 3-5 overall selections.

Other TCU players added to College Player Database:

• Luken Baker
• Brian Howard
• Evan Skoug




Louis Raymond, RHP, UC Irvine

Louis Raymond started opposite Brian Howard in UCI’s 11-2 win over TCU to open their three-game series in Southern California. A transfer from Cuesta College, he was named the Conference Pitcher of the Year in 2016 with 10 wins and a 1.57 ERA. He has a good frame at 6-foot-2, and had a great outing in this game, allowing just three hits in 6 2/3 innings. While he doesn’t have electric stuff he mixes pitches well and did a nice job keeping the TCU hitters off balance by changing speeds, inducing a lot of weak contact with plenty of ground balls. He uses a bit of an easy, short stride and gets over the front side well before driving his sinking fastballs with arm-side run to the bottom of the strike zone. His fastball was in the 88-90 mph range early on, dipping down some later in his outing, while mixing in a very good 77-80 mph changeup that showed both sink and fade. He also threw a 77 mph slider which was effective in keeping hitters off balance, but mostly went to his changeup as his primary secondary offering.

Other UC Irvine players added to College Player Database:

• Keston Hiura
• Cole Kreuter


Jeren Kendall, OF, Vanderbilt

Kendall is possibly the most well rounded, high upside offensive player in all of college baseball this year. After having a solid freshman year in 2015 he took his game to the next level during his sophomore year, batting .332 to go with nine home runs and 28 stolen bases. However, he is off to slow start to this season (by his lofty standards) batting .284 through the first 17 games of the season. Despite the slow start, Kendall showed in game three of Vanderbilt’s series against Saint Mary’s what kind of offense he will bring to the table once SEC play opens, as he made consistent hard line drive contact going 2-for-3 with two walks.

He compares favorably to Andrew McCutchen, and has similar perennial all-star upside. Like ‘Cutch, Kendall has a compact and tightly wound body that is tougher than leather wrapped around wrought iron. He also has plus speed, recording a 3.69-second home-to-first time on a drag bunt single as a lefthanded hitter. He routinely registers 4.05 times up the line on swings and the speed also plays well in center field as he has plus range taking advantage of his direct routes to the ball. Kendall also has an above average arm giving him true five-tool potential.

Kendall has an interesting athletic background having played hockey in high school, and without a doubt playing hockey helped develop his strong wrists. He has a short swing with plus bat speed with a narrow stance with a large stride towards home. He employs a good approach at the plate and is able to shorten up his swing with two strikes without sacrificing the quality of his at-bats. Assuming he finishes the season strong he would seem to be a lock to be selected among the top 5-10 overall picks come June and is a legitimate candidate to be taken first overall.
Other Vanderbilt players added to College Player Database:

• J.J. Bleday
• Ro Coleman
• Jason Delay
• Drake Fellows
• Julian Infante
• Alonzo Jones
• Connor Kaiser
• Patrick Raby
• Will Toffey


Zach Kirtley, 2B/3B, Saint Mary's

Kirtley is an attractive looking player that plays second and third base for Saint Mary’s. On defense, second base may be a better fit for him as he doesn’t have the cannon of an arm typically associated with the hot corner. He made a throwing error early in the second game of Saint Mary’s three-game series with Vanderbilt, but his defense improved throughout the series after that. While he doesn’t have plus hands, he made some nice plays including one on a scorched grounder hit right at him, in which he made a heady decision to throw home to get a runner trying to score, and another on a diving play up the line.

Offensively, Kirtley showed a slow bat early on in the series being late on 91-93 mph fastballs away. In the next at-bat, he got pitched to backwards with curves away causing him to chase a 91 mph fastball up and out of the zone. After that, his bat speed and approaches improved. He made hard contact in the third at-bat and laid off a 3-2 curve in the dirt for a walk in his fourth at-bat. In his final three at-bats, he hit a hard grounder to third, a smoked line drive to short and a hard single up the box. Zach has very good bat speed but he has a tendency at times to dip his back shoulder and to bail the front side when swinging out of his shoes.

Kirtley compares favorably to Logan Gray (13th round in 2016 out of Austin Peay) given their similar foot speed, defense and line drive hit tools.

Other Saint Mary's players added to College Player Database:

• Eddie Haus
PG Special Events
Travel, Lodging, Entertainment
PG Partners
Recommended
About Perfect Game :: Contact us :: Terms of Use :: Privacy Policy :: Testimonials :: Job Opportunities
Copyright 1994-2024 by Perfect Game. All rights reserved. No portion of this information may be reprinted or reproduced without the written consent of Perfect Game.