CAPE COD BLOG
DAY TWO
EDITOR’S NOTE: PG Crosschecker’s Allan Simpson is spending five days in the Cape Cod League and will check in daily with some of his observations. Among other things he’ll see is Thursday night’s Cape League all-star game at Boston’s Fenway Park.
In a season that has been marked by rainouts and re-scheduled games, it was almost fitting that the Cape Cod League’s first all-star game at Fenway Park in 22 years was impacted by rain.
Upwards of 14,000 fans were on hand Thursday night to take in the league’s showcase event, and though the Western Division triumphed in a 3-0 win over the East, the contest was played in a steady drizzle before finally being stopped after 4-1/2 innings—just long enough to make it an official game.
Though most scouts and coaches are generally in agreement that the talent in the Cape Cod League this summer is not as strong as in past seasons, some of the league’s marquee prospects still managed to stand out Thursday night—even if the glimpses were brief.
Cotuit third baseman Zach Cox (Arkansas), who went 2-for-2 and drove in two runs, was selected the most outstanding player for the winning West team, while Yarmouth-Dennis lefthander Chris Sale (Florida Gulf Coast) earned the equivalent honor for the East, despite throwing just six pitches.
The selections seemed entirely appropriate as Cox and Sale are considered to have the best chance of being drafted in the first round in 2010 of all the players selected to participate in this year’s all-star game.
As the second hitter in the order for the West, Cox tripled off the base of the center-field fence at Fenway in the first inning to drive in the first run of the game, then scored himself on a fielder’s choice to give his team a quick 2-0 lead. An inning later, the lefthanded-hitting Cox lined a single to the opposite field to drive in the third and final West run.
The 6-foot-5 Sale retired the West in order in the third inning, throwing five of his six pitches for strikes. He struck out one. Though he was unable to showcase his full array of pitches in his short stint, his best fastball was clocked at 95 mph.
The performance of the two players, however brief, was very much in keeping with their performance to date in the Cape League. Through his first 16 games for Cotuit after arriving late to the league because of Arkansas’ participation in the College World Series, Cox is hitting .364. Sale has been the league’s dominant pitcher for the league’s best team, going 4-2, 1.34 with seven walks and 47 strikeouts in 47 innings. He tops the league in wins and strikeouts.
Sale wasn’t the only arm that stood out Thursday night. Five West pitchers combined on a one-hitter, striking out five, with Wareham pitchers Brandon Workman (Texas), Jack Armstrong (Vanderbilt) and Eric Pfisterer (Duke) working the first three frames. Armstrong, son of ex-big leaguer Jack Armstrong, flashed the best velocity on the night with a fastball that peaked at 97 mph. Workman topped at 94.
In many ways, the all-star game was a microcosm of the Cape’s regular season—right down to the rain that played havoc with the contest. Dominant pitching was in evidence, much as it has been throughout the 2009 Cape season. And Cox was the one position player who stood out Thursday, which is pretty much in keeping with the opinion of scouts who have followed the Cape this season. In most camps, he is the league’s best position prospect.
Cox, who is draft-eligible in 2010 as a sophomore, rallied from a slow start this spring at Arkansas to hit .266 with 13 home runs, though he struck out 65 times. He also worked in 14 games as a pitcher (5-1, 4.82), all in relief, but it’s readily evident that his future is as an everyday player and he has not pitched this summer.
While many scouts agree that Cox is a future first-rounder, the main question he’ll have to answer over the next 11 months is whether he’ll be ready to come out after his sophomore year, or may be better suited to wait until his junior year in 2011.
“That could be a dilemma for him,” said Cotuit coach Mike Roberts, who managed the West team in the all-star game. “He’s the kind of kid who wants to be the very best he can be, and he comes out every day asking how he can get better. He wants to be drafted when he’s at the top of his game, and he might not be ready a year from now. Ideally, he might be better served to go out as a junior.
“It’s pretty apparent that he’s got superior hitting tools, but the main thing he’s got to do over the next year is learn to turn on balls more consistently. He’s got good balance at the plate and very strong hands, but most of his hits go to the middle of the field or the opposite way. He’s got to make a more determined point to look for pitches he can pull to maximize his power potential.”
Cox has yet to homer this summer on the Cape and, appropriately, both of his hits in the all-star game weren’t to the pull side and came on the first pitch of each at-bat. But he still managed to square up both balls; his ringing triple was hit to dead center and his single was lashed sharply to the opposite field.
“I just wanted to come in and be aggressive,” Cox explained. “Most of the pitchers were trying to get ahead early since they were only throwing one inning each.”
Cox would have been an early-round pick in the 2007 draft out of a Kentucky high school had he been more agreeable to signing at the time, but believed he wasn’t ready for pro ball at the time and slipped to the 20th round. He has shown signs of all five tools this summer in the Cape, even raw power, but that tool has been most evident during batting practice. His secret will be to transfer it to game conditions.
The real power hitters in the Cape were on display in the six-man Home Run Derby which preceded the all-star game. Despite Fenway’s inviting Green Monster, home runs were relatively hard to come by in the drizzly, windy conditions, and Mississippi State first baseman Connor Powers—appropriately named—won the contest with three homers in the preliminary round and two more in the final.
We’ll take a closer look at some of the contestants later on.