Keeping So Cal distractions at bay (Kevin Gowdy feature)
Florida
lefty stays calm, cool
FORT
MYERS, Fla. – After completing two strong innings of work at the
Perfect Game National Showcase at JetBlue Park early Thursday
morning, 2016 Florida left-hander Cole Ragans took a seat in the
bowels of the stadium and talked to a couple of PG media personnel
about the experience.
It
was a fine outing, one that played out in front of more than 100
scouts and college coaches/recruiters, and a PG scout blog entry
noted that Ragans had his fastball sitting at 90-91 mph while peaking
at 92. He had registered 93 mph at past PG events but everything that
went down Thursday was pretty much in line with what scouts have come
to expect from Ragans over the past two or three years.
What
was most impressive when Ragans sat down after his outing was his
demeanor. He was calm and cool – very much businesslike – and
each one of those adjectives are written with nothing but positive
connotations. Here is a young man very comfortable in his skin who on
Thursday felt right at home with many of the other top class of 2016
pitchers in the land.
“I
get a little nervous before I go out but once I go out there I calm
down,” he said. “It’s just fun playing with some of the best
talent from around the country. I go out and give it all I have every
time, and if I don’t do my best than I know there’s still some
work to do. As long as I’m not giving up runs and I’m getting
people out, I’m satisfied.”
Ragans
is an impressive 6-foot-4, 190-pound southpaw who PG ranks as the
nation’s No. 9 overall prospect in the high school graduating class
of 2016 and the No. 3 left-handed pitching prospect in the land. When
narrowed down to talent-rich Florida, he is recognized as the state’s
No. 3 overall prospect and the No. 1 left-handed pitching prospect.
For
the past three years, Ragans has been associated with two of the most
outstanding baseball programs in Florida, if not the country. He will
be a senior in the fall at North Florida Christian School, a K-12
school in Tallahassee that is about a 20-minute drive from Ragans’
home in Crawfordville, Fla. He is also part of the elite Orlando
Scorpions travel ball organization during the summer and fall.
The
North Florida Christian Eagles finished as runner-up at the FHSAA
Class 3A state tournament in May and finished 21-10 overall; Ragans
was 7-2 with a 0.89 ERA and struck out 94 batters in 62 2/3 innings.
He’s played in nine PG tournaments with the Orlando Scorpions
2016’s since 2013 and has been a part of several Scorpions’ PG
tournament championship teams.
Ragans
is very careful with his arm health, especially after throwing more
innings during this past high school season than he had expected to.
He has already sat down and planned out his summer, choosing to take
almost two weeks off between each of his tournament outings.
He
has gotten plenty of help along the way from the coaching staffs at
North Florida Christian and the Orlando Scorpions. Those coaches are
Mike Posey and Zac Cole with North Florida Christian, and Matt
Gerber, Jerry Kennedy and Jesse Marlo with the Scorpions.
“They’ve
really pushed me to be better every time I go out to play and they’ve
helped me come a long ways,” Ragans said. “Four years ago I was
throwing like 75 (mph) and they’ve helped me get to where I am
today.”
In
addition to his PG tournament play with the Scorpions, Ragans was at
last year’s PG Junior National Showcase held right here at JetBlue
Park and earned inclusion on the event’s elite Top Prospect List.
It may very well have served as his coming out party and jettisoned
him up the class of 2016 rankings.
By
attending such a small high school, Ragans has used his quiet and
confident approach to try to help as many people (re: kids) as
possible. He sometimes walks the same halls as kindergartners and
first-graders right along with his own classmates.
“I
like helping people out and making them feel comfortable,” he said.
“With the younger kids at my school, I’ll just go through the
hallways and give them a high-five, letting them know that they’re
noticed.”
Considering
the proximity his hometown of Crawfordville and Florida State’s
main campus in Tallahassee enjoys, it was a natural for Ragans to
commit to the Seminoles program. He called it his “dream school”
and noted that his entire family has been big FSU backers for as long
as he can remember.
On
Thursday, he enjoyed his moment in the hot sun at JetBlue Park but
didn’t let the sun melt his brain. This is a young man who appears
well-grounded while maintaining that calm, cool and businesslike
demeanor.
“This
is a big event, and I came here last year for the Junior National and
just had a blast,” Ragans said. “I knew the National would be
even more fun getting to play with a ton of great, talented kids and
pitch against some very good talent, and that just makes me better. I
need to stay humble; I still have a lot of work to do. You can never
work hard enough.
Taking
it 10 yards at a time
There
was a lot of buzz during the first two of three scheduled workout
sessions at this year’s PG National Showcase about the PG scouting
department’s ability to record an accurate time in regard to how
long it takes a prospect to cover the first 10-yards of his 60-yard
dash effort.
The
60-yard dash is a time-honored drill at baseball workouts, much like
the 40-yard dash is recognized as the standard at football workouts.
The 10-yeard breakout offers an entirely new dynamic.
“It’s
definitely valuable as a scouting tool because it’s really a
completely different piece of information,” PG Vice President of
Player Personnel David Rawnsley said Thursday. “We’ve always
timed the 60 in baseball – it goes back to Branch Rickey, I believe
– and it’s a valuable tool to see how well people run. But so
much of the game is done in shorter bursts, whether it’s stealing
bases or whether it’s range, especially at an infield position.”
There
were some interesting results just from the first workout session on
Wednesday. Tampa, Fla., outfielder Nicholas Baldor ran a 6.99-second
60-yard dash – a fine effort but one that was almost six-tenths of
a second slower than the fastest clocking of the day – but
recorded the top 10-yard time in a mercury-quick 1.52 seconds.
Similarly, Lexington, Ky., outfielder Jared Shelby ran a respectable
6.80 60 but skated over his first 10-yards in 1.58-seconds.
There
were, of course, athletes that were quick at both 60 and 10 yards.
Orlando, Fla., outfielder Chase Cheek ran a 6.40-second 60 and a
1.60-second 10, and Ruston, La., shortstop Zachary Watson clocked a
6.44-second 60 and a 1.54-second 10.
When
Rawnsley sees those numbers, he considers how important a first-step
is in certain baseball situations, like the one required on that
first move when stealing a base or the first move a shortstop makes
to his left when he’s trying to get to a ball up the middle. The
10-yard breakout turns that first-step into a number that is
quantifiable.
“The 60 is not going
to be obsolete; you’re still going to want to know how people run,”
Rawnsley said. “A lot of baseball is done in open space – you see
the outfielder run, you see the first-to-third – so there are a
variety of ways (the 60 is relevant). But that 10 yards comes into
play so often and I really think this is going to be a valuable tool.
We’re all really excited about it and we hope the baseball
community is going to be too.”
– Jeff
Dahn
Live
Streaming
For
the fourth consecutive year the Perfect Game National Showcase is
available for everyone to watch online. The live stream to all of the
workouts, batting practice sessions and games can be accessed in real
time here (archives of the events will be added at a later point in
time):
https://iframe.dacast.com/b/53363/c/70773
PG
National Scout Blogs
Read
even more about the game-by-game highlights and the workout results
from the 2015 Perfect Game National Showcase scout blogs:
https://www.perfectgame.org/blogs/View.aspx?blog=534
National
Impressions
•
A UCLA commit, Kevin
Gowdy showed big downhill plane on his fastball consistently living
at the knees with his fastball that peaked at 94 mph, showing a lot
of 93's over his two innings of work. Continuously gaining strength
on his long and projectable 6-foot-4 frame, Gowdy generates his
velocity rather easily and without much effort, up from 90 mph when
we last saw him at the WWBA World Championship. While he could
probably work through a lineup on the strength of his command, life
and velocity of his fastball, Gowdy showed a hard breaking ball in
the low-80s that featured late life around from righthanded hitters.
Showing more slider life with occasional depth giving more of a
curveball feel, Gowdy was able to miss plenty of bats. Rounding out
the arsenal was a solid 81-82 mph changeup, featuring late fade down
in the zone, giving him three pitches that have potential to be well
above average offerings.
•
The top prospect in the
2016 class, righthander Riley Pint came out showing an easy and loose
arm action, producing an easy fastball that peaked at 96 mph in both
his innings, working comfortably in the 93-95 mph range both out of
the windup and the stretch. When the Louisiana State commit located
down in the zone he was able to generate late life to his arm side
and did it with plenty of athleticism in his delivery. Though he
flashed a single changeup at 84 mph with some fading life to his arm
side, Pint also snapped off a couple of sharp curveballs in the 81-82
mph range.
•
Brenden Heiss came out
attacking with his fastball early and missed plenty of bats in the
process. Working comfortably in the 91-94 mph range peaking at 95
with nice running life down to his glove side. Doing a nice job of
working over his front side, Heiss lived low in the zone with his
fastball with the ability to get to both sides of the plate. The
amount of downhill plane Heiss was able to generate was as impressive
as his the frequency of which he missed the bats with his fastball,
fininshing his two innings with five strikeouts. Committed to the
University of Arkansas, Heiss flashed a changeup at 84 mph and showed
a feel for his 11-to-5 breaking that was up to 77 mph.
•
A well known prospect
on the national scene as he came into the National Showcase as the
No. 9 player in the country, lefthander Cole Ragans (as featured
above) worked two quick innings of his own. Throwing from a high
three-quarters arm slot, Ragans worked steadily in the 88-91 mph
range with a top velocity of 92 mph, showing downhill plane on his
heater. Working to his arm side well, the Florida State commit held
his velocity well out of the stretch while showing a nice feel for
his low-70s curveball and turned over a nice changeup at 74 mph.
•
Two more arms that
showed quality fastballs were righthanders Alek Manoah, who is
uncommitted, and Kevin Roliard, a University of Texas commit. Each
arm peaked at 94 mph with their fastballs, sitting comfortably in the
low-90s throughout their innings.
Manoah
has a strong and broad 6-foot-6, 245-pound build, and with an
extended arm action he was able to work down in the zone with nice
running life on his arm side. The fastball is a quality pitch at
present, especially when he gets on top of his fastball, and he also
showed a sharp curveball in the mid-70s with nice depth. Roliard came
out pumping fastballs early on, living in the 90-93 mph range and did
so while showing hard, sinking life when he worked down in the zone.
With a lean and very athletic frame, Roliard shows a quick arm coming
through the back side and also flashed a nice breaking ball in the
78-80 mph range.
• After
watching eight of the 12 teams take batting practice in the past two
days, it has become clear that the Red team has some of the more
impressive pure hitters on their roster.
Four
members of the Red team – Seth Beer, Ben Rortvedt, Joe Rizzo, and
Avery Tuck, who all happen to hit from the left side – had some of
the best rounds of batting practice on Thursday.
• Beer
(OF, Suwanne, Ga.) has a smooth swing and some of the best bat speed
of the 2016 class. At 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, Beer uses a toe-tap
timing mechanism and does a good job of staying balanced before
uncoiling and unleashing the barrel on the ball. The Clemson commit
hit a couple of home runs to the power alley in right-center field,
and the ball really jumps and carries off his bat.
• Rortvedt
(C/OF, New Glarus, Wis.) had a very good performance in the defensive
portion of the workout, and he continued his strong showing with a
well-rounded batting practice. A lefthanded hitter, the Arkansas
commit showed a tremendous feel for the barrel and sprayed strong
line drives all over the field. Rortvedt’s balanced, quick swing
should translate very well to the next level, as catchers with such
solid defensive and offensive tools are hard to come by.
• Joe
Rizzo (3B, Oak Hill, Va.) is a Perfect Game veteran, having
participated in last year’s Junior National Showcase and the
Northeast Indoor Showcase in February. He’s performed very well in
the past and he turned in yet another good performance Thursday
afternoon. He displayed very good hands and solid strength in his
5-foot-11, 215-pound frame. While he continued to show off his
advanced feel for the barrel and comfort in spraying hard line drives
in the middle of the field, he also flashed some impressive power to
his pull side, wearing out the right-center field gap.
• Avery
Tuck (OF/RHP, San Diego, Calif.) is a top-notch athlete with very
good two-way potential. He threw 93 mph from the outfield in the
defensive workouts and it will be interesting to see how that arm
strength and his overall athleticism translates to the mound.
However, on Thursday afternoon it was his performance with the bat
that really turned some heads. Yet another lefthanded hitter from
the Red squad, Tuck – like Beer and Rizzo – wore out the
right-center field gap. He has very good bat speed and displayed
easy pull-side power, hitting a couple of home runs in the round. At
6-foot-5, 195-pounds, Tuck projects to add even more strength and
muscle, as he could very well end up having some of the best raw
power of the 2016 class.
•
Trace
Bucey (OF, Corpus Christ, Texas) is not a member of the Red team, but
he also turned some heads as the lefthanded hitter hit a pull-side
home run on his very first swing in his batting practice round. The
Texas A&M commit is an excellent athlete and also ran a 6.63
60-yard dash, one of the better times of the National Showcase to
this point.
– Jheremy
Brown, Andrew Krause