2B Levi Michael, North Carolina
I must admit that I was a bit surprised late last summer when word spread that 2009 high school shortstop Levi Michael was going to graduate early and enter North Carolina with the intent of playing for the Tar Heels this spring. Each situation is very different, but as a parent of teenagers and as an observer of teenage baseball players for the past 20 years, moving a young man up that large a step socially and athletically is serious business. And I hate seeing kids being set up to struggle or fail.
I can only think of three times that this has happened in college baseball the past few years, although it is a very common occurrence in college football.
C/RHP Robert Stock, one of the top prospects in the 2007 class, skipped his senior year entirely to enroll at Southern California, to mixed results thus far. 3B/OF Kyle Parker enrolled mid-year in 2008 at Clemson for football reasons but still managed to hit 14 home runs while shuttling between baseball and spring football when he should have been a high school senior. RHP Jake Thompson did the same in 2008 at Long Beach State, driven primarily by non-academic eligibility issues, and pitched well as a freshman before struggling thus far this spring.
Fortunately, Michael has been up to the challenge and has done anything but struggle, hitting .313-5-18 for the 14-2 Tar Heels. He’s playing second base and hitting in the #2 hole in front of potential first rounders Dustin Ackley (.426-4-11) and Kyle Seager (.467-0-14), which is enough to probably make opposing pitchers overlook Michael, who turned 18 in February.
The big surprise for most observers is the switch-hitting Michael’s team leading 5 home runs, since that was his least prominent and projectable tool as a 5-10, 165 lb middle infielder.
Michael played in numerous WWBA events with the Dirtbags and played at the 2008 PG National Showcase (PG Grade 10). Here are some notes from that event: “RH: strong hands, + quick hands, ball jumps, LD swing, bit better bat speed RH’d, LH: more open, swings hard, good bat speed. Def: + feet, hands work, quick release, will feel for the ball. 6.48 (60), 85 mph arm strength.”
I hope another year or two goes by before something similar happens. It’s not as if just any player can graduate early by raising your hand and saying “I want to”, you have to have all your academics taken care of in advance (Michael was a 4.00+ student, by the way). Plus you have to have a school willing and able to take you early, as North Carolina obviously was with a shallow middle infield before Michael’s arrival.
College Notes
Some true freshman of note:
-- LHP/1B Danny Hultzen of undefeated Virginia (15-0) is in early contention for Freshman of the Year consideration. Hultzen, who would have likely been a 2nd/3rd round pick last June if he had been signable, is 4-0, 1.04 on the mound with 39 K’s in 26 innings. He’s also hitting .313-0-9.
-- Cal State Fullerton is 13-3 and can make an argument for having the hardest and most ambitious schedule in the country as well, as they just completed a nine game road trip through Mississippi, Texas and Oklahoma. Some of their opponents thus far: Texas A&M, TCU, Oklahoma State, Stanford and San Diego State. Freshman DH Nick Ramirez is hitting.407-5-20 against this level of competition. The hitting comments on the 6-3, 225 lb left handed hitter from the 2007 PG National include: “Natural hitter, absolutely rakes! Relaxed quick hands, fluid swing, on top of everything, drives ball to all fields, ball jumps.”
-- UCLA RHP Gerrit Cole continues to pitch well on the struggling (5-12) Bruins team. The 2008 first round pick is 1-2, 3.15 with 30 K’s and 9 BB’s in 20 innings pitched.
-- RHP Logan Verrett keeps picking up the wins for Baylor. He’s now 5-0, 2.34 after only six appearances out of the bullpen. The hard throwing freshman has struck out 28 in 19 innings.
Texas remains atop the PG Crosschecker college rankings (http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/articles/DisplayArticle.aspx?article=680) but one has to start wondering for how long the Longhorn’s incredible pitching staff will be able to continue to support the underachieving hitters. With six pitchers accounting for 93% of the team’s innings thus far, Texas has a team ERA of 1.41 after 16 games, led by sophomores LHP Chance Ruffin and RHP’s Brandon Workman and Cole Green.
The offense, on the other hand, is at the complete opposite end of the spectrum, hitting .287 with a team .387 slugging percentage and only 5 home runs, while scoring only 4.25 runs/game. 1B Brandon Belt is hitting .300-2-10, the latter two numbers leading the team, but opposing pitchers have caught on and have already walked him 16 times, twice as many as any other Longhorn. Two former Aflac All-American sophomores, C Carmeron Rupp and OF Kevin Keyes, have huge power potential but they have combined for one long ball so far.
San Diego and Team USA closer A.J. Griffin may have a new role, both short and long term. The Torero’s early season struggles (10-9) left the junior with few closing opportunies and he had only thrown 7.2 innings after four weeks of play. But when a 3+ hour rain delay after the first inning of the San Diego/Rice game on Sunday shut down starter Matt Thompson, Griffin came in and threw 8 shutout innings against the powerful Rice line up, allowing only 3 hits while striking out 8. Griffin maintained his 89-92 mph fastball throughout, surprising considering his lack of use thus far, and showed his customary plus change up. The 6-5, 215 lb Griffin doesn’t have classic closer stuff and likely projects better as a starter professionally, so this kind of outing could be a boost for his draft status if he can maintain it.
A player to watch carefully, both for the 2010 draft and for post season All-American lists, is Vanderbilt C Curt Casali. The Connecticut native has started off the year hitting .390-5-23, with 9 walks and only 5 strikeouts. He was always very advanced defensively in high school but basically survived offensively on pure athletic ability and strength. If fact, Casali was one of those young hitters who could look terrible swinging the bat but still produce consistent line drives. He’s evidently smoothed things out considerably thus far and his athletic ability and defense give him a high ceiling if he keeps developing offensively.