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College  | Story  | 4/28/2018

College Notebook: April 27

Vincent Cervino     
Photo: Carlos Morales/VMI



Weekend Preview | 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.
 

Josh Winder, RHP, VMI



VMI traveled to Mercer this weekend for a pivotal SoCon series matchup and the Friday night game had big MLB Draft implications as the Keydets sent out ace Josh Winder to face off against Mercer Friday starter Austin Cox. At 6-foot-5, 210-pounds, Winder certainly looks like a big leaguer out on the mound with a very strong prototypical pitcher's frame that filled out nicely from his 185-pound listing in high school. 

The righthander fits the profile of a well-built starting pitching prospect, with a simple and repeatable low effort delivery with a clean arm stroke that allows him to be consistent both with his timing and command. Winder was remarkably adept at commanding the strike zone to either side and being extraordinarily efficient, the results coupled with the mechanics profile well for above-average command at the next level. 

Winder primarily utilized a combination of fastball and cutter/slider to keep the Bears at bay as he cruised to a complete game on only 112 pitches with ten punchouts. The fastball was a very strong pitch as his over the top arm slot and height gave the pitch natural plane with average-to-above sink to both sides of the plate. Winder flashed a 90 mph bullet but was mostly 91-93 mph with the pitch and held that velocity throughout the entire game as he was still pumping in 92 mph bolts late in the game. 

The secondary pitch varied it's shape between a cutter and slider, depending on what Winder wanted to do with the pitch and how hard it was thrown. The hybrid pitch lived in the 86-89 mph range all evening and when it was harder the pitch broke later, with biting horizontal movement that allowed him to get righthanded hitters to roll over on ground balls and even swing through a couple. It flashed some two-plane depth but it worked better for him when he ran it ever so slightly off the plate. Winder's success with the pitch should also be credited to his ability to command the fastball and tunnel it effectively, aiding in the deception. 

Winder flashed a couple of breaking balls in the 81-83 mph range that were mostly short breaking, different-look type of pitches. He rattled off a few with some depth but he didn't show the pitch often, just as he didn't with the changeup which was only thrown once by this scout's look at 85 mph and up and out of the strike zone. 

Winder's stuff was pretty strong all the way around during his effort on the mound, and he got the majority of his swing-and-miss on the fastball as he could just power it by some of the Mercer hitters. Winder's ability to command the strike zone coupled with his low-effort, polished delivery are all positive starter traits that project well to the next level. The lack of a clear third pitch might just be a byproduct of game circumstances, but all things considered Winder seems to be a safe bet to be drafted around toward the tail end of the top ten rounds in June. 
Austin Cox, LHP, Mercer



Lefthanded starter Austin Cox has generated a fair amount of buzz this spring as he has been an impact arm for the Bears since he set foot on campus, and his junior draft year is upon him. Cox was dealt the loss during this look, but showed off pretty impressive raw stuff which could culminate in Cox being a top-five round selection during this June's draft. 

The Friday night ace has a fairly well-built frame for that of a starting pitching prospect at 6-foot-3, 205-pounds with requisite size and strength throughout the lower half to take his stuff deep into games. The arm stroke is a bit funky but it's loose and fast, as the projection has played well thus far, his best velocity in high school was 90 mph, and it's not hard to imagine that he could end up throwing harder as he develops in pro ball. 

The fastball is what jumps out about the arsenal right away as it is pretty explosive. The pitch showed well early on as he worked 90-93 mph while touching one 94 and one 95 through the first three frames. The release point gives the fastball angle and life, especially when working to the glove side and in on righthanded hitters. The velocity waned a bit for Cox as he went on and sat mostly 87-91 mph in the later innings. 

Cox's curveball was the best secondary offering he displayed on Friday night as it showed above average early with late break to it and induced a fair amount of swings-and-misses, up to double digits by the end of his performance. The hook was 77-80 mph and he commanded the pitch well, slowing it up for strikes and tighten it up for sharper break on two-strike counts. His feel for the pitch was impressive, he was able to shift between 12-to-6 and 1-to-7 shape at will, and it's not hard to project plus in the future. 

The arsenal featured a bevy of secondary offerings with noted changeups, cutters, and slider/tweener hybrid pitches. The changeup was effectively a show-me pitch against righthanded hitters at 84-86 mph, however Cox just didn't land the pitch consistently enough to keep hitters off balance with it. The cutter showed some short break and he could manipulate it like a slider at times, but the breaking ball was a strange offering. He would occasionally drop to pure sidearm and turn in a frisbee breaking ball at 81-82 mph and it really didn't do much besides give the opposing hitters a different look at the delivery. 

With regards to the overall delivery, there was a fair amount of deception and moving parts to his motion. Cox does an exaggerated hand rise over his head before settling and immediately starting his windup, which is a quick-paced delivery as he slings the arm across some. The funkiness aids in the deception, but that also makes the arm stroke inconsistent at times, especially when looking at the release point. With some effort and strike-throwing concerns, he walked five with a hit-by-pitch and has 33 walks in 63 2/3 innings, Cox has some reliever risk to be sure, however the potential two plus pitches at the next level could be tough for some teams to pass up on and seems to be a sure bet to be selected early should he be signable.
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