2,210 MLB PLAYERS | 15,134 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
Create Account
Sign in Create Account
Summer Collegiate  | Story  | 7/25/2013

Summer Collegiate Notebook

Frankie Piliere     

Contributing: Patrick Ebert, David Rawnsley, Chris Wimmer


Team USA vs. Team Cuba, July 18-20

Carlos Rodon, LHP, NC State– Just over a month removed from his dominant complete game effort in a win over North Carolina in the College World Series, Carlos Rodon started both the first and fifth of five games played against Team Cuba, the first of which was played at Principal Park, home of the Iowa Cubs, in Des Moines, Iowa. Rodon came out firing in the first inning, peaking at 96 mph while working at 92-94. That velocity dipped slightly to 91-93 in the third and fourth innings, as he worked only the first 3 1/3 innings. While not a big enough drop in velocity to be concerned about, Rodon sat 93-97 in his aforementioned CWS appearance, hitting 96 in each of the nine innings he took the mound. In his defense, he did already throw 132 innings this spring for the Wolfpack. While his delivery is not without effort, his overall arm action is clean and easy, and he is able to generate late life on his fastball making him that much more difficult to square up. His slider is another plus pitch, thrown as hard as 89 mph in this game but was at it's best with nasty two-plane break when thrown at 85-87 mph. He also mixed in a handful of low-80s changeup, a pitch I would like to see how effective it is in the mid to late innings. He still one of the favorites to go first overall next June, but with the emergence of Jeff Hoffman on the Cape and several dynamic position players on the prep side, it's not as big of a slam dunk as once believed.



Special thanks to Nick Faleris of Baseball Prospectus for editing this video

Luke Weaver, RHP, Florida State– Luke Weaver and Brandon Finnegan got the next two starts against Cuba as the series moved to Werner Field, home of the Omaha Royals, in Omaha, Neb. Weaver has the same slender, young build as he did in high school with simple, efficient mechanics and a loose, long arm action from a three-quarters slot. His fastball sat at 93-97 mph for six innings, although despite the impact velocity he wasn’t blowing the ball past hitters. Weaver also mixes in a 78-81 mph sweeping curveball that has depth and spin and a nice 83 mph changeup.


This is PG 'DiamondKast' Level content.
You must be either an DiamondKast, Crosschecker Rankings & Scouting Reports, or Scout subscriber to read the rest.
Sign in
DiamondKast
PG Special Events
Travel, Lodging, Entertainment
PG Partners
Recommended
About Perfect Game :: Contact us :: Terms of Use :: Privacy Policy :: Testimonials :: Job Opportunities
Copyright 1994-2024 by Perfect Game. All rights reserved. No portion of this information may be reprinted or reproduced without the written consent of Perfect Game.