The pitchers that attended the Northwoods League all-star game were a little more difficult to get a read on. The pre-game workout that I talked about last week was set up primarily for the positional prospects, as the only pitchers that took part of the bullpen sessions were the ones that attended the workout that were not selected to participate in the game itself.

With 12 pitchers in attendance for each team, and all 12 slated to see time in the game, the most any pitcher threw was one full inning. Several pitchers were scheduled to pitch only one out, with several others allowed to toss only two-thirds of an inning. One pitcher, Mankato left-handed Jimmy Reyes (Elon) needed only one pitch, a 88 mph fastball, to get the only out he was scheduled to record. That particular instance was somewhat disappointing, since Reyes was one of the pitchers I was more excited to see given the reports I had received on him prior to the day’s events.

That said, five pitchers from each squad caught my eye, and I’m going to profile those 10 pitchers here.

The South

With the Madison Mallards hosting the event, the South squad took the field first behind hometown Mallard Matt Jansen, a lefty from Purdue.

The book on Jansen going into the game was that he was a prototypical lefty, a guy that recorded outs more by changing speeds and hitting his spots than by blowing batters away. He quickly showed that there was more to his game before being labeled a finesse lefty.

Jansen, who has a very good fastball-curveball-changeup repertoire, threw mostly fastballs in his inning of work. His fastball peaked at 91, the last pitch he threw, a high fastball to North catcher Carlos Ramirez that resulted in a swinging strikeout. In fact, Jansen struck out the side to open the game, getting the home run derby champ, Michael Rockett, and the league leader in hits, Derek McCallum, swinging before Ramirez went down on strikes. He got all three on high fastballs, which sat in the 87-90 range.

Of course knowing that he’s working only one inning Jansen was able to reach back for a little more than he usually would. He normally works in the 85-88 range, and throws more offspeed pitches. Regardless, he pitched aggressively and showed that he does have a little extra in the tank that he’s able to reach back and get when he needs to.

Eau Claire’s Chris Odegaard (Minnesota State-Mankato) pitched the third inning for the South squad. He entered the game among the league leaders in ERA (1.42), strikeouts (50) and walks (26). I was a little concerned about the lofty walk total entering the game, but was somewhat encouraged by the fact that when he misses, he misses low, and he doesn’t give up many hits, meaning he’s less likely to succumb to the big inning.

As a right-handed pitcher, his fastball topped out at 90, pitching comfortably in the 88-90 range during his one inning of work while showing a very nice, well-rounded repertoire that includes what appeared to be both a curveball and a slider as well as a changeup. His curveball is a really nice pitch, a true and sharp downer that he snaps off consistently and effortlessly. He moved the ball well around the zone and showed no problems changing speeds.

Topping out at 90 mph down the road will be a concern as a right-handed pitcher, and Odegaard will need to throw more strikes more consistently, regardless of where he’s missing, if he’s going to enjoy continued success as a professional, but his stuff could easily translate to him having success right now if he were pitching at a rookie level or A-ball team.

La Crosse’s Chris Sale (Florida Gulf Coast) followed Odegaard working the fourth inning. Entering the game, Sale was second in the league in strikeouts with 55, and showed why he’s able to miss so many bats during the game.

A tall, long and loose lefty, Sale has a long arm action that creates a fair amount of deception. He pitches effectively wild, missing up a lot but having good enough stuff for a lefty that allows him to get away with it when he does. His first pitch was a 91 mph fastball, and he sat in the 88-91 range to go along with a decent 79-80 changeup and a sharp 79-81 slider.

He could stand to tighten up his mechanics a little bit, as his long-arm action could lead to some arm troubles down the road, and he also needs to be more consistent with his release point. However, he’s coming off of a very successful freshman season carrying that success over to this summer, and with his size and stuff as a tall, projectable left-handed pitcher, Sale is definitely a name to keep an eye on for the 2010 draft.

Gabriel Shaw (Louisville), another hometown representative from the Mallards, came in the fifth to follow Sale. Shaw had arguably the most electric arm of any pitcher in attendance, which prompted one scout affiliated with an American League team that was seated next to me to comment how he wished he would have been able to see more of Shaw, since he only faced two batters.

He has a very athletic, wiry strong frame and delivery, which reminded me of Jake Odorizzi (coincidentally, a once-Louisville recruit) when I saw him pitch at the PG Indoor last February. Shaw’s first pitch was a 91 mph fastball, a pitch that showed nice running life to it. He also mixed in a sharp 73-75 curveball and a 77 changeup. With his arm action and running life on his fastball, I would really be interested to see him throw a slider if that is part of his repertoire.

His athleticism allows him to throw effortlessly, he repeats his delivery well and there is no wasted movement. Coming off of his freshman year, in which he led the Cardinals in appearances, he like Sale is another arm to watch for 2010.

Battle Creek’s R.J. Hively (Cal State Fullerton) managed to pitch a full inning, thanks to a double play that he induced in the ninth inning, after recording the final out in the eighth for the South squad.

If Shaw had the most electric arm of those in attendance, Hively arguably had the most electric stuff. His fastball moved so much that it at first was hard to tell if it was a fastball or a slider or a cutter. Built strongly and compact, with a simple, compact, no-nonsense delivery, his bulldog frame and aggressive approach reminded me of a Northwoods alum, Thomas Eager, who pitched for the Eau Claire Express during the summer of 2006 and was drafted in the fifth round by the Cardinals in the 2007 draft.

My only complaint with Hively is that he needs to ditch his curveball, which isn’t very sharp, and focus on his slider. He is a prototypical sinker-slider pitcher when those two pitches are working for him, and he’s yet another pitcher to keep an eye on for the 2010 draft.

The North

The North squad also trotted a lefty to the mound to start the game in Mankato’s Brendan Lafferty (UCLA).

This is Lafferty’s second tour of duty in the Northwoods League, having pitched for the Alexandria Beetles during the summer of 2006. He earned the starting nod for the North by posting a 3-0 record, a 2.84 ERA and a 25 to 9 strikeout to walk ratio over 19 innings of work while limiting batters to a .182 batting average against.

Lafferty is a lot more projectable at the next level than his starting opponent, Matt Jansen is, with a tall and athletic frame and long, wiry strong limbs. He has a loose delivery, although there are some extra, moving parts to that delivery which probably could be tightened up to increase his overall effectiveness.

While his stuff was sharp in the starting role (87-91 fastball and a wicked 79-82 slider), he did give up a couple of runs in the first inning, and needed to use 20 pitches to get through the frame.

Lafferty had a very good spring for the Bruins, and has the size and stuff, especially for a lefty, that should draw quite a few looks from the scouting community in the spring, although there are a few parts in his game that he needs to refine.

Thunder Bay’s Nate Woods (Belmont) followed Lafferty in the pitching order in the second inning. Like Lafferty, Woods has a large, projectable frame that should allow him to be able to sustain a heavy workload at the next level.

Woods has done a very good job limiting baserunners this summer during his first taste of collegiate summer ball. Over 41.2 innings of work entering the all-star break, he had only allowed 23 hits and 15 walks while posting a 1.30 ERA and limiting batters to a .167 average.

His fastball ranged from 86 (his first pitch) to 90, and that pitch showed some nice, late movement. He also mixed in a big-breaking mid-70s curveball and a promising changeup. Woods’ delivery, despite his size and velocity readings, was a little on the slow side, which may make his offerings somewhat easier to read by opposing batters, but he’s still another young, projectable and promising pitcher that could make some noise between now and the 2010 draft.

Jimmy Reyes, as mentioned above, was a pitcher I was looking forward to seeing. He only threw one pitch, but I had heard quite a bit about him before attending the day’s events.

His one pitch was a 88 mph sinking fastball that quickly induced a weak groundball right back to him. I’ve heard that his fastball has sat in the 87-91 range with very good movement, and he mixes in a very good slider that has made him very difficult to hit. At the break he had a 1.54 ERA (seventh best in the league) while giving up only 29 hits over 41 innings of work with 37 strikeouts and nine walks allowed.

A pair of relievers rounded out the pitchers that made the strongest impression on me during the game’s events.

Thunder Bay’s Jimmy Stanley (Belmont) came in the seventh for the North squad and continued to pitch in the eighth.

With a strong, compact frame he showed a long-armed, low three-quarters delivery that creates a fair amount of deception and a good deal of late movement on his fastball. Similar to R.J. Hively of the South squad, Stanley threw an overhand curveball, but with his delivery and sinking fastball he would be much better off focusing on his slider.

So far this summer, Stanley has been nearly untouchable, posting nine saves at the break with a 0.83 ERA and a 25 to 4 strikeout to walk ratio over 21 innings of work.

St. Cloud’s Xavier Esquivel (Loyola Marymount) came in to finish the game, and showed one of the most wicked one-two punches of any pitcher in attendance with an aggressive delivery, a sinking fastball and arguably the best breaking pitch, a nasty slider.

Built short, strong and compact, he has an equally compact delivery, and shows a no-fear approach to pitching, which makes him tailor-made for a short relief role. At the break Esquivel had nine saves (which with Stanley led the league), a 0.44 ERA and a 25 strikeouts over 20 innings while giving up only nine hits and one earned run.

Extra Workout

As mentioned last week, there were a handful of players from the league that attended the pre-game workout that did not participate in the all-star game.

Eight pitchers took the bullpen mound in front of the scouts in attendance, and four of them were particularly impressive.

Wisconsin’s Rob Currie (Tusculum College) was a curious non-selection to the all-star game, entering the day with a 6-0 record, a 2.81 ERA and a 46 to 16 strikeout to walk ratio over 41.2 innings of work. His wins were tied for the best in the league, while he was fifth in punchouts.

And he backed up his statistical success with a strong performance during his work in the ‘pen. He pitched consistently in the 88-90 range with a very loose arm and a strong overall frame, while also mixing in a sharp 75-76 curveball and advanced 78 mph changeup.

Madison’s Alex Rivers (Santa Clara) didn’t have to travel far to attend the workout. Unlike Currie, Rivers has a smaller, sub-six foot and compact yet strong build. Despite his smaller size, he showed an easy arm action that produced 88-90 mph fastballs with very good sinking action. His slow curveball clocked in the 71-73 range, and he also threw a low-80s slider, which looked as though it would complement his sinking fastball perfectly, and a 80 mph changeup.

Fellow Mallard Andy Deain (Northern Illinois) used a right-handed side-arm delivery to pump his fastball in the 86-91 range, although he didn’t reach 91 until the last pitch during his bullpen session. He showed a nice high-70s slider and mixed in a changeup, and might have a role as a short inning specialist at the next level.

St. Cloud’s Kevin Johnson (Cincinnati) was the most pleasant surprise on the day, since he hadn’t yet pitched an inning this summer for the River Bats (he was hitting .313 as the team’s first baseman) but posted some impressive numbers as a left-handed pitcher. His first fastball recorded 87 mph, and his next five showed up at 90. He showed a very sharp 73-75 curveball and an impressive low-80s changeup in which his arm did not slow down one bit relative to his fastball delivery.

Of the hitters that attended the workout that weren’t among the all-stars, Wisconsin’s Kyle Bubak, who is transferring from Salt Lake Community College to Nebraska this coming year, stood out the most. A switch-hitting middle-infielder, Bubak showed nice infield actions and a strong arm during the workout, although he probably profiles best at third base at the next level. He showed intriguing bat speed and pop from the left-side of the plate, and could be a sleeper to keep an eye on for next year’s draft.

The thoughts and opinions listed here do not necessarily reflect those of Perfect Game USA. Patrick Ebert is affiliated with both Perfect Game USA and Brewerfan.net, and can be contacted via email at pebert@brewerfan.net.