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College  | Story  | 4/26/2018

Quick Take: Louisville

Photo: Josh Stowers (Louisville Sports Information)



Quick Takes: Florida | Kentucky | College Notebooks: Stanford | Arizona | College Player Database

During the season Perfect Game scouts will be traveling to some of the top series to watch the very best players in college baseball. Those observations, captured with both written notes and video, will be shared in the College Player Database as linked above, notes that can also be accessed on the players' individual PG profile pages. Throughout the season select reports will be shared in feature format to promote the players, the teams and college baseball as a whole.


 Louisville Cardinals

What Happened: In a trio of one-run ballgames, Louisville dropped two of three to Virginia, including losing a 1-0 lead in the ninth inning of Sunday's contest. Louisville pitched well, getting good starts from both Adam Wolf and Bobby Miller while also picking up very good bullpen appearances from Bryan Hoeing and Riley Thompson, but ultimately couldn't muster enough offense to win the series. 

Carrying Tool: Pitching. Despite the losses, and the fact that Louisville's weekend rotation is two-thirds underclassmen, the Cardinals are pitching well at the moment for the most part. Adam Wolf has been good on Fridays and Bobby Miller has been sterling as a freshman pitching on Sundays, while Nick Bennett has been solid on Saturdays. Riley Thompson's move back to the bullpen has paid dividends and Bryan Hoeing has seen very good results along with Sam Bordner, while Reid Detmers has big upside as a freshman bullpen arm.  

Concerns: Power. Louisville is currently slugging only .397 as a team, while Tyler Fitzgerald and Josh Stowers lead the team in home runs, with three apiece. Not exactly a slugger-built lineup for Louisville, though they aren't wholly punchless as an offense, they just lack that power threat in the middle who can change the course of the game with one swing. They can run and get on base at a high clip so they can play with a pressure-style of attack, but the reality is that this edition of the Louisville offense has to string hits together in order to have a big inning. 

Best Player on the Field: Bobby Miller. The tall, lanky freshman from the Chicago area has been absolutely sensational in his freshman year, starting the season in the bullpen and now having locked down the Sunday starter role. In 32 1/3 innings thus far, Miller is 4-1 with a 1.11 ERA, limiting his walks and doing a good job of attacking hitters. In his start against Virginia, Miller nearly went the distance, allowing a single run on four hits and one walk in 8 1/3 innings, striking out five in the process. He's always been a high-upside prospect dating back to his high school years, but the fact that he's been so dominant right away as a freshman is a testament both to himself as well as to pitching coach Roger Williams. 

Fearless Forecast: Postseason bound. Louisville has had some struggles this year, particularly in conference play as they stand at 5-7. They aren't hitting for much in the way of power and their bullpen has been a bit shaky at times, but as underclassmen like Nick Bennett and Bobby Miller (along with a guy like Reid Detmers in the bullpen) keep coming along, this team has a chance to find its stride and close the conference schedule strong, leading them into the postseason with a head of steam. 


Database Player Reports (6):

• Nick Bennett
• Reid Detmers
• Tyler Fitzgerald
• Devin Mann
• Bobby Miller
• Josh Stowers


Prospect Spotlight: Josh Stowers, OF



One of Louisville's more prominent draft prospects in 2018, Josh Stowers' plays center field and hits towards the middle of the lineup for the Cardinals. He's having a solid enough year, slashing .276/.425/.418 across roughly 170 plate appearances, walking more than he has struck out and leading the team in stolen bases with 25. 

Stowers is built extremely well, closer to Rajai Davis than anyone as far as physical comparisons go, and their games aren't too dissimilar either. Stowers is a solid defensive center fielder whose plus speed adds to the defensive profile, and he likely has the versatility to play all three outfield spots. We didn't get a full read on his arm strength across two games of viewings against Virginia, but it certainly looks to be another solid tool at his disposal. 

At the plate, Stowers definitely fits more into the contact-over-power category, with the intent of hitting line drives and using his speed to grab extra bases. He wants to get on base and does so at a high clip, with a non-expansive approach at the plate and a solid understanding of identifying breaking balls. He takes a smaller leg lift to load back, creating a bit of separation between his hands and hips, and doing a good job turning the barrel and getting it onto a linear plane early on. The swing path does not portend to a ton of over-the-fence power, despite the fact that Stowers is very strong physically. It's on the flat side and stays flatter through the zone, covering the plate well and showing the ability to work to all fields, but without much in the way of loft. 

On the whole, Stowers has a good collection of tools, highlighted by his speed, approach and ability to play center field. With the physical strength he has it wouldn't be hard to see him hitting for more power in his career if some adjustments were to be made to his swing plane. Stowers is valued somewhere around the sixth round on the PG draft board, and he could go higher than that given his on-base and stolen base numbers.


Devin Mann, 2B



Louisville's second baseman and likely MLB Draft choice, Devin Mann has enjoyed a solid season for the Cardinals, slashing .263/.441/.398 with more walks than strikeouts, solid extra-base power and 10 stolen bases. He's a bit bigger and overall more physical than the traditional second baseman, standing 6-foot-3 and weighing in at 205 pounds, but he has solid athleticism and makes it work in the middle infield. 

He has good footwork around the bag and stays balanced through his actions, though the overall twitch factor isn't overwhelming in his profile. The power numbers are down a bit for Mann this year, but he still has good raw power and the strength necessary to drive the ball around the yard. It's a pretty simple overall approach to hitting, with a quiet set up and overall pre-swing movements. He takes a smaller leg lift trigger and loads his hands slightly up and back, creating separation. It's a pretty direct path to contact, with a flatter plane but getting the barrel on that plane in a timely manner, covering the plate well. His approach is a big plus as well, not expanding the zone at all and willing to take his walks, which he's done at a high clip all season. 

Mann is pretty safely in the Day 2 section of our draft board at present, and we've heard valuations on him anywhere from rounds 5-9 at this point.
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