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College  | Story | 2/17/2018

Baum, Tar Heels even series

Mike Rooney
Vincent Cervino
Photo: UNC Athletic Communications



Opening day heat from McClanahan | Perfect Game College Player Database

During the season Perfect Game scouts will be traveling to some of the top series to watch the very best players in college baseball. Those observations, captured with both written notes and video, will be shared in the College Player Database as linked above, notes that can also be accessed on the players' individual PG profile pages. Throughout the season select reports will be shared in feature format to promote the players, the teams and college baseball as a whole.


Tyler Baum, RHP, North Carolina

Former PG All-American Tyler Baum got the nod in the second game of the season for the Tar Heels against South Florida and showed off his electric arm in the process. Baum is listed at 6-foot tall, but that might be a bit of a generous estimate. Despite his smaller stature Baum does a good job at gathering his momentum forward down the mound and utilizing all of his weight through release. 

Baum's arm action is a bit long and wrapped some, but there is a loose, whip-like element to the arm stroke with tremendous arm speed to whip through the arm circle. There is some inconsistency to the arm path, however, and while the arm speed is often enough to make up for it, that can lead to Baum losing his arm slot and/or have some issues with timing. 

Regardless of those perceived deficiencies, Baum's stuff is absolutely electric. The fastball worked in the 90-94 mph range and touched 95 and 96 once each. He held that velocity pretty well bumping multiple 94's in his final inning on the mound, as he made it to the sixth inning. The two-seam fastball got pretty solid run to the arm side while the four seam was relatively straight. The fastball totaled nine swings and misses on the day, including a number of swings up and out of the zone. 

The breaking ball has been Baum's bread-and-butter pitch since high school and it was no different on Saturday night. The pitch has tremendous power and bite to it, showing plus throughout the game in the 80-84 mph range with significant bite and was at its best when buried in the dirt, but it could also be thrown for strikes. Baum totaled nine swings and misses on the curveball and struck out 10 batters over 5 2/3 innings to pick up the win, showing just how filthy his stuff in his 2018 season debut. 


Taylor Sugg, RHP, North Carolina



North Carolina beat down the South Florida Bulls pretty significantly on Saturday night and this allowed a number of arms to get looks, including draft prospect Taylor Sugg. The righthander is listed at 6-foot-1, 175-pounds with a very lean and projectable frame and an effort level indicative of future velocity gains. 

The arm action was full and clean through the takeback and Sugg's extended, lower three-quarters arm slot gave his fastball good sinking and running action, especially when located to the arm side. Sugg worked a quick inning at 90-92 mph while touching 93 mph early. He did allow a home run, but overall showed off a strong two-pitch mix in the process. The breaking ball was a quality pitch for Sugg as it showed consistent 10-to-5 shape and was able to be located for strikes. The breaker worked best when working away from same-handed hitters. The lower half featured a crossfire landing foot, and could be an issue in the future in terms of repeatability and deception.


Joe Lancellotti, RHP, North Carolina



Lancellotti was a highly-touted prospect coming out of high school, ranked No. 81 for the high school class of 2017, and showed off his filthy stuff during a one-inning stint against South Florida in the second game of the series. The righthander checks in at a very physical 5-foot-11, 205-pounds and features a high effort delivery. In this game he pitched one inning out of the bullpen, striking out one of the five batters he faced while using just 12 pitches.

The arm path is abbreviated yet extremely quick and moves through the arm circle well and on time. The fastball worked in the 92-94 mph range, albeit with limited life, and he threw strikes with the pitch. Lancellotti did let up a home run (and hit a batter), but was able to work the fastball to both sides of the plate. He also showed a very impressive hard slider in the 84-85 mph range with 9-to-4 shape and tight bite. There is obviously potential for starting, but with the effort level and nastiness of the stuff Lancellotti profiles well as a late-inning reliever near the back end of the bullpen.


Trevor Gay, RHP, North Carolina

Working a clean and quick inning for the Tar Heels in their second game against South Florida was Trevor Gay, who showed off a primarily two-pitch mix en route to some success. Gay escaped a jam for North Carolina by striking out two in a row and didn't show that many pitches in total. He uses little lower half and would fit the description of a funky righty in terms of delivery and stuff. The arm path is very short as he throws from more of a sidearm slot that is closer to the right hip. Gay worked his fastball in the 87-90 mph range and the slider was a significant weapon. The pitch showed solid average potential and worked very well against hitters of the same handedness. The break wasn't significant, however the late bite and break is what made the pitch very deceptive working in the 80-82 mph range with 9-to-4 shape. Gay struck out two batters in his short time on the mound.


In addition to scouting notes from the North Carolina/South Florida series, Mike Rooney is on hand in Arizona, taking in the TCU/Grand Canyon in addition to Oregon State. Be sure to stay tuned in the coming days for more reports being added to the College Player Database.


Luke Heimlich, LHP, Oregon State

On Friday Luke Heimlich the senior pitcher looked much like the one who dominated college baseball as a junior.  His fastball sat 92-94 mph for two innings against New Mexico and touched 95 mph.  For the next three innings, his fastball worked in the 90-92 mph range but it did tick down significantly in his sixth inning of work.  He still has excellent feel for an 80 mph curveball that flashes above average and he used that pitch significantly more often than his changeup.

Heimlich features an athletic delivery and he is a strike thrower.  His control was solid but his command was spotty.  That said, he does locate to his glove side and pitches in fearlessly.  The biggest concern in this outing was that he did not maintain his stuff deep into the game, although this was of course his first outing of the year.

As has been well documented, Heimlich plead guilty to one count of felony molestation in 2012 and the scouting community appears uncertain on how to deal with that fact.  This outing confirmed that Heimlich remains a talented and competent pitcher based not only on the results but by the amount of interest he received.


Jake Wong, RHP, Grand Canyon

Wong jumped into spotlight when he beat Oklahoma State on Opening Day in 2017 and he entrenched himself as the Friday starter for the ‘Lopes.  His profile had been unusual for an ace as he had been the proverbial one trick pony. That pitch was an elite fastball but he wasn’t able to back that up with any secondary offering worth mentioning.  As scouting reports caught up to him, his last three starts of his sophomore season went poorly and his ERA ballooned to 4.00.  

Wong went to the Cape Cod League and fared well over 20 1/3 innings so the scouting community showed up en masse to see his 2018 Opening Night start versus No. 3 ranked TCU. Most importantly, this crowd wanted answers to two questions: had Wong found a legitimate pitch to back up his plus fastball and how would he fare versus the Frogs’ First Team All American, Luken Baker?

There is a lot to like about Jake Wong. He is an athletic and sturdy 6-foot-2, 210-pounds. His mechanics are low maintenance and his easy arm produces big velocity with minimal effort. He sat 93-96 mph in this outing and pitched in with reckless abandon. His primary out pitch is a purposeful fastball up in the zone and he struck out nine TCU hitters in six inning of work. Wong’s fastball is more than just a big velocity number though, as it also has great life. 

As for the secondary stuff, Wong spent the offseason trading in his slider for a good old-fashioned curveball.  This pitch showed average early but got better as the game went on. As a matter of fact, Wong froze Baker on a plus curveball to collect a huge punchout in the fourth inning. 

There were an estimated 60-plus scouts in the stands for this game and this was a pressure-filled, one-run game for six innings. So Wong, and his new found breaking ball, passed a big test with flying colors. Finally, here is the best attribute about Jake Wong: in the biggest spots of the game, he attacked with his fastball.  It is a big-time pitch, he knows it and he trusts it.


Nick Lodolo, LHP, Texas Christian

This 6-foot-6 lefthander is most famous for being the 41st pick overall in the 2016 MLB Draft, making him the highest unsigned draft pick in that class after being a member of the PG All-American Classic the previous summer. Not surprisingly, Lodolo more than held his own in his freshman season, making 15 starts with a 4.35 ERA and logging 78 2/3 innings. More impressively, he finished the year with 72 strikeouts against 28 walks and the Horned Frogs were 13-2 in his starts. Yet there are high expectations for Lodolo and the upside here is top of the first round.  Fall reports were that Lodolo had taken his game to another level, with a sharper breaking ball being the most significant improvement.  

In this outing against Grand Canyon, albeit Lodolo’s first of the 2018 season, he did not live up to the aforementioned hype. His fastball sat at 91-93 mph and many of the six hits he yielded were hit shockingly hard. His curveball worked in the 73-75 mph range and he also showed a 77 mph slider. Neither pitch showed much sharpness and the two pitches just felt like one below average slurve. While Lodolo confirmed his reputation as a good strike thrower (one walk in 5 1/3 innings pitched), it is definitely more control than command.

Lodolo shows flashes of a being a monster someday soon.  He mostly stays on top of his fastball, creating significant tilt to that pitch. And when he dots his fastball inside to righthanded hitters, it is a vicious and borderline unfair pitch. The main critique in this outing would be that Lodolo lacked explosiveness. There is clearly another gear in there and we yearn to see it, and the talent is unquestionable. All that said, his Horned Frogs are now 14-2 in games that he starts and that is the most important thing at this point.
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