(Note on local Nebraska baseball: My son’s high school team almost had a Triple Crown of cancellations in a one-week period. Last Tuesday the game was called in the second inning when the tornado sirens went off. His Friday game was cancelled due to cold weather (22 degrees in the morning, maybe low 30’s in the afternoon). Last night’s game was minutes from being called from lightning and rain when he hit a walk off double in the bottom of the 7th. Do you hear me, Anup?)
ROUGH WEEKEND FOR SOME COLLEGE STARTERS
There were two big weekend match ups, one in the SEC and one in the Big 12, featuring potential first round pitchers facing off against one another. I’ve heard no accounting of how many scouting directors and cross checkers were at Kentucky Friday night to see LHP James Paxton face off against South Carolina’s RHP Sam Dyson, nor how many were in Stillwater, Oklahoma on Sunday to see OSU LHP Andrew Oliver go against Missouri RHP Kyle Gibson. But I’m sure it was an impressive amount.
Both games were originally scheduled to be played on Friday, when most such match ups take place in college baseball. But the Oklahoma State/Missouri series was postponed two days by the blizzard in Oklahoma and the two teams played a double header on Sunday and a single game on Monday.
If you had to grade out the performances by the four pitchers, you would have given out one “A”, one “C” and two “F’s”.
The “A” would definitely go to Oliver, who desperately needed that type of outing (7 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, 10 K’s) after a series of very mediocre outings to start the season. Missouri is hardly an offensive juggernaut, with a .249 team batting average and only 11 home runs on the season. Their pre-season Big 12 POY candidate OF Aaron Senne has reportedly completely changed his offensive approach according to scouts and is hitting .283-0-14 after hitting .347-13-67 as a sophomore. But a complete game win with 10 K’s is a big step forward for Oliver.
Oliver’s opponent, Gibson, could be given a pass for his 2 IP, 7 H, 7 R performance (“F”), as he’s been completely dominant before Sunday with a series of “A” outings that has put him solidly into Top 5 pick consideration. After both the Friday and Saturday games were canceled, Gibson reportedly threw a regular bullpen on Friday and was as sharp as he’d been all year. On Sunday, though, Gibson’s normal 91-94 mph fastball with plus life was 88-90 and flat, which pretty much described the shape of his slider as well. The good news is that Gibson only threw 45 pitches (as opposed to Oliver’s 122), a nice rest in the middle of the season.
Sometimes college pitchers get into such a routine of throwing the same day every week, with regular bullpens in between, that it’s a big adjustment in pro ball to starting every fifth day and adjusting to a different routine. That could very well be what happened to Gibson. He had great stuff on Friday in the bullpen when his body thought it was supposed to perform; he had bullpen stuff on Sunday when hitters were swinging the bats in anger.
The other “F” would go to Paxton, the Wildcat’s southpaw who was portrayed extensively here on PG Crosschecker two weeks ago. Paxton allowed 9 runs in 2 innings of what turned out to be an ugly 20-19 victory for South Carolina. On Monday, the word got around that Paxton has been undergoing treatment for tendonitis in his knee and that he may be affected in the short term by that injury.
The “C” goes go Dyson, who is not quite as much a newcomer to first round consideration as Paxton, but is still someone who has more to prove than what he has already put on the table this spring. Observers at the game said that the wind was howling out of Cliff Hagan Stadium, accounting for much of the 39 run onslaught, but Dyson contributed his share. The hard throwing right hander did manage 6 2/3 innings, allowing 8 hits, 8 runs while walking 4 and striking out 5, while picking up the win.
COLLEGE NOTES
The ongoing reliever vs. starter conversation that has been going on in this blog had some positive feedback this past weekend.
-- Mississippi senior RHP Scott Bittle was outstanding against LSU, throwing 7 shutout innings (1 hit, 2 BB’s, 10 K’s, 90 pitches) before the bullpen gave up a 1-0 lead in an eventual 2-1 Tiger victory.
-- San Diego evidently wants the best of both worlds with RHP A.J. Griffin, who is now on a “close Friday, start Sunday schedule”. It worked out well in a series sweep against Pepperdine, as Griffin went 2 2/3’s scoreless on Friday to get the save, then pitched 5 innings (8 hits, 3 runs) in a no-decision that San Diego ended up winning 9-3. But you have to wonder how long Griffin can endure that work load, especially with 2+ inning saves.
-- Southern California’s Robert Stock got his first start of his college career against Arizona State and it looks like it won’t be his last. The former Trojans’ catcher/closer threw 5 innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits while striking out 10. He’s now struck out 26 hitters in 16 innings this year, but he may not build on his 3 saves. Stock threw 95 mph as a high school junior, so there is no doubt the arm strength is there.
-- Missouri’s Johnny Wholestaff plan for the bullpen worked out superbly again this week, as 9 pitchers combined for a 6 hit shutout against Oklahoma State. Just as happened the week before, Ian Berger started the game with a scoreless inning and Brad Buehler closed it out flawlessly. The 9 pitchers combined for only 109 pitches.
-- The inability of top programs such as Missouri, Texas and Southern California to generate much offense this spring is strange given the number of football scores that have been popping up the past few weeks in college baseball. Here’s a quick sampling from last week alone:
South Carolina 20, Kentucky 19
Cal State Fullerton 18, UC Riverside 1
Baylor 15, TCU 4
UC Irvine 17, Washington 13
Oklahoma 16, Nebraska 6
Arkansas 20, Mississipi State 9
Brigham Young 15, New Mexico 13
Cal Poly 18, Cal Bakersfield 15
Brown 20, Pepperdine 8
UC Santa Barbara 21, Cal State Northridge 12
These are all nationally ranked teams, too. The compressed schedule undoubtedly has something to do with what seems like an offensive explosion in college baseball this year. It will be interesting to see what the raw numbers look like at the end of the season.
-- RHP Addison Reed of San Diego State leads the country in saves with 8, but has only pitched 10 innings to collect those saves, which seems like a waste for an established college closer. On the other hand, Georgia Tech’s freshman RHP Mark Pope has also only pitched 10 innings, but is 2-0 with 7 saves. Pope looks like a future college star and his role will expand for sure over the next three years. He gained a reputation in high school and at East Cobb for being a big game competitor and he’s backing that up early.
-- The most important college closer in the country probably isn’t Pope, who was a nationally known prospect, but the unheralded LSU right hander Matty Ott (2-1, 5 SV, 2.14, 21 IP, 1 BB/34 K’s). Ott’s presence enables the Tigers to keep senior RHP Louis Coleman (6-1, 1.23) in their otherwise all freshman/sophomore rotation. Never having heard of Ott, I looked him up in the PG database and found these notes from the 2008 WWBA 18U National Championships: “FB 85-88, SL 80, Chg 77, side arm release, lots of effort, fast arm, outstanding command, good mound presence.” That combination of a) sidearm release, b) upper 80’s fastball, c) outstanding command, is a great one at the college level.
Eastern Illinois is one of the more interesting teams in the country that is flying under the radar for now. The Panthers snuck into an NCAA Regional with a sub-.500 record last year by winning the Ohio Valley conference tournament, but PGCrosshecker ranked them 81st in their pre-season rankings and they are knocking at the door of the top 50 with a 17-5 record that includes only three home games.
ESU has one of the best seniors in the country in CF Brett Nommensen, who is leading all of Division I in OPS (on base plus slugging) and is hitting .474-8-15 with 17 walks out of the leadoff spot. Jr DH/RHP Richie Derbak is filling the dual role in outstanding fashion at .482-2-22/2-2, 2.45, 4 SV’s and senior SS/RHP Jordan Kreke is doing a bit of everything, hitting .424-6-28, making only two errors in the field and even picking up a win out of the bullpen.
Still, the reason that Eastern Illinois has a chance to make some waves should they reach the NCAA’s again is they feature a starting rotation with three legit 90+ pitching prospects, an unusual situation for a smaller program.
Sophomore RHP Josh Mueller emerged as the team’s top starter as a freshman and is 4-0, 4.91 this spring. Junior LHP Tyler Kehrer struggles controlling his 90-94 mph fastball (19 BB’s in 26 innings this spring) but has the potential to dominate any opposition when throwing strikes.
But the standout for ESU this spring has been sophomore RHP Mike Recchia, who has gone 5-0, 0.92 in six starts after going 2-1, 5.66 in a swing role last year. I haven’t talked to any scouts who have seen Recchia this spring, but I really liked him as a prospect out of Alan Shepard (Illinois) High School. Here are my notes on him from the 2006 Midwest Top Prospect Showcase.
“FB 88-90, CB 77. Strong build, uses hips well in delivery, CB is nasty at times, big/sharp/deep, controls it very well for its size. Out pitch at the next level. FB has some run, mostly straight and flat. Won't see many better CB's.”
If Recchia has maintained or built on his fastball velocity since high school, that curveball and the command that he shows of it makes him a strong prospect for 2010.