CAPE COD BLOG
DAY FOUR
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 from the nation’s premier summer college league. Among other things he has seen was Thursday night’s Cape League all-star game at Boston’s Fenway Park.
With its use of wood bats, its demanding daily schedule and its superior level of competition, the Cape Cod League is an excellent proving ground for future professional players. It’s a league that often separates the men from the boys, and one where scouts can generally get a better read on a player’s true worth than any other testing ground.
There are occasions when form does not meet expectations, when a player’s performance belies his statistical profile, and two such cases of that dichotomy were on full display Saturday night when rivals Cotuit and Wareham squared off in a key Western Division doubleheader in Wareham.
Wareham won the opener 4-3 and the two teams battled to a 1-1, nine-inning, curfew-enforced draw in the nightcap (Wareham’s fifth tie game of the season, oddly), giving the division-leading Gatemen three of a possible four points as they widened their lead in the West standings to three points over Bourne and four over Cotuit.
Even though the Kettleers garnered just a single point in their battle for first place, it was a noteworthy night for two of their more maligned players, infielder Chris Bisson (Kentucky) and righthander Justin Grimm (Georgia). They were the two players who most captivated the attention of a handful of scouts who took in the doubleheader.
Bisson, who leads the league in errors, stole the show by swiping seven bases on the day to stretch his Cape League-leading total on the season to 31, while Grimm, who is winless on the season and shares the league lead with four losses, came up empty again despite pitching brilliantly in the second game to help secure his team a tie.
An unheralded French Canadian from Orleans, Ontario, Bisson stole just 16 bases in his first two college seasons at Kentucky, yet has become the unquestioned base-stealing scourge on the Cape this summer. He stole almost at will Saturday, and realistically could have had 10 bags on the day had he taken full advantage of every opportunity that came his way. Bisson passed on two obvious base-stealing chances which could have changed the fortunes of both games in Cotuit’s favor, but he was extremely effective as Cotuit’s leadoff hitter. He was on base every time up Saturday with the exception of his final at-bat, and had the green light from Kettleers coach Mike Roberts to run at will.
The 6-foot-4, 195-pound Grimm, meanwhile, pitched more to the level of his obvious ability for the first time this season in limiting Wareham to just one run in seven innings in the second game, but didn’t have a much-needed victory to show for his efforts. Despite possessing one of the premier arms in the league, Grimm is an uncharacteristic 0-4, 3.16 with 43 hits and 14 walks allowed in 37 innings—numbers hardly befitting a pitcher that is a projected first-round pick in the 2010 draft.
Grimm was shaky to start with, allowing six base runners in the first three innings as Wareham hitters had little trouble squaring up his 92-93 mph fastball. But he found a groove in his final four innings and not only held the Gatemen hitless, but was overpowering in the process. He held the velocity on his fastball throughout, and the Gatemen never touched his sharp 78-79 mph curve or 82-84 mph slider. He spotted all his pitches with precision, walking just one while striking out nine.
“This was by far the best he has thrown this summer,” said Roberts. “His pitch count through five innings in his previous outings was always pretty close to 100, but tonight he threw only 95 pitches in seven. It was the first time he actually got better as the game went on.
“There’s no question that he has excellent stuff, but hitters generally get a pretty good look at his pitches because he lacks deception. His changeup is the one pitch where he can create deception, but he didn’t use it as much tonight because his fastball was so good. It was also the first time he’s been able to throw breaking balls effectively to lefthanded hitters.”
Despite one of the quickest arms in the 2010 draft class, Grimm has failed to consistently measure up to expectations after bursting on the scene in 2007 as a Virginia high school senior. A 13th-round pick of the Boston Red Sox in that year’s draft, he was ineffective as a Georgia freshman and went a mediocre 4-4, 4.65 this spring as a sophomore for the Bulldogs, though struck out a team-high 72 in 78 innings.
Even discounting his excellent outing Saturday, Grimm has still come a long way in his development after missing his junior year of high school when he broke his pitching arm just above the elbow, and had a two-inch pin inserted to stabilize the bone. While he didn’t get a much-needed win Saturday, his impressive performance may have gone a long way towards enabling him to reach his obvious potential. He made a very favorable impression on the scouts who gathered to watch him.
The 5-foot-11, 185-pound Bisson (pronounced bis-SONE) doesn’t possess Grimm’s natural ability, but has opened a lot of eyes with his inspired play on the Cape this summer—perhaps no more so than Saturday. Though he is hitting just .236-0-13, he has been a catalyst atop the Cotuit lineup with his team-leading 20 walks and league-high 31 steals in 39 attempts.
“He’s still an athlete learning how to play baseball,” Roberts said, “but he gives you maximum effort on every play, every pitch and could end up being the most effective offensive player in the league by the end of the season.”
As one of a growing number of Canadians who has ended up in college at Kentucky, the lefthanded-hitting Bisson had a solid sophomore season for the Wildcats, leading the team in batting average (.360), runs (49), hits (80) and RBIs (52). But his total of 13 stolen bases wasn’t even the best on his team, and the running game is the one part of his offensive package that he has exploited most this summer.
The biggest challenge remaining for Bisson is finding a home defensively. He spent most of the 2009 college season at second base, but has been utilized most extensively at third base and shortstop this summer, and his total of 14 errors is easily the most in the league. His ability to shore up his defense over the next several months may play a pivotal role in his ability to solidify his position as an early-round pick in next year’s draft, possibly as early as the third round.
“He’s got a lot of natural talent,” Roberts said, “but his instincts are noticeably lacking in the way he handles a lot of plays in the infield—not surprising really, given his background. He just doesn’t get his feet set properly on a lot of plays and makes a lot of throws from unconventional arm angles, resulting in a lot of his errors.”
While Bisson would seem to profile best as a second baseman and started Game Two there before switching over to shortstop, he caught the attention of scouts on a play at short at a key juncture late in the game. He ranged far to his left to scoop up a hard-hit ground ball up the middle and turned it into an out—albeit with a throw that was several feet off target.
Though Cotuit failed to score a win in either game of a key doubleheader Saturday, it was clearly a night of redemption for two of its most-maligned players—both leading the Cape league in undesirable categories. In their own way, Grimm and Bisson were the big individual winners on a night when perception did not match reality.