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Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2
It’s
rather remarkable to think about the jump Ian
Anderson
(2016, Rexford, N.Y.) has made within the last calendar year, going
from a relatively unknown from the outskirts of Albany, N.Y., to
becoming one of the top overall arms in the country. The buzz on
Anderson was just beginning to pick up around the middle of last
summer and it was easy to see why as the ultra-projectable Anderson
was living in the mid- to upper-80s and showed rather advanced
pitchability for a player his size and age.
Listed
at 6-foot-3, 170-pounds Anderson, a Vanderbilt commit, still projects
very nicely with long and loose limbs, a high waist and a lightening
fast right arm though his overall stuff has already taken several
steps forward. With two strong pitching performances from the summer
circuit notched in his belt, the Perfect Game National Showcase and
the Tournament of Stars, Anderson can add the 16u WWBA National
Championship to that list as he took his stuff to the next level with
arguably his best performance to date.
Lately
Anderson has been runnings his fastball up to 92-93 mph on a
consistent basis, that is until last night when he came out in the
first inning and virtually sat at 94 mph and touched a 95. The
fastball alone screams high-end talent, but when you take into
account the command, downhill trajectory, and late, subtle running
life to his arm side you’re talking about something special. As the
innings wore on Anderson began to pitch in and lived rather firmly in
the 91-93 mph, showing little sign of fatigue while still working
either side of the plate.
He
did allow a couple of base hits including a triple but once he began
to throw his curveball or changeup first pitch the contact seemed to
disappear. As mentioned above the arm action is a thing of beauty and
looked as though he was playing catch while exerting limited effort
and did an excellent job of maintaining his arm speed regardless of
the pitch he was throwing.
Anderson
snapped off a handful of curveballs in the first inning, each as
impressive as the last which wasn’t a good thing if you were a
batter. Showing one of the better curveballs in the 2016 draft class,
college or high school, Anderson continued to drop them in the zone
in the upper-70s, peaking 78 mph with consistent life. An easy above
average pitch, Anderson showed little trouble mixing and wasn’t
afraid to double up as he picked up a handful of strikeouts with the
hammer.
The
changeup may not be quite at the level of his curveball, yet, but it
projects to be another above average pitch with the same levels of
swing and miss potential as his other two offerings. After flashing
just a couple of quality ones early at 82-83 mph, Anderson began to
show it off in his final inning of work and was up to 84 with it. The
arm speed and arm action remains very consistent and that’s key as
he is able to get hitters out front with it looking like a fastball
coming out, only to have it be 10 mph slower with late diving life
down in the zone.
Overall
he threw five quality innings, surrendered one run on two hits,
struck out nine and most impressive was that 51 of his 67 pitches
were for strikes, good for a 76 percent mark.
He
may have been handed the ball for the 8:00 a.m. game but Tanner
Burns
(2017, Decatur, Ala.) showed no sign of it being early morning with
the performance he turned in early yesterday. Already established as
one of the top arms in the 2017 class, though still early in the
process, Burns continues to show why he’s such a highly regarded
arm whether it be running his fastball up to 94 mph or the advanced
command and pitchability he showed this particular outing.
Listed
at 6-foot-1, 170-pounds, Burns shows strength in his forearms and
lower half at present and still has room to fill out in his upper
body with additional strength. Working from a rather simple set of
mechanics which he repeats well, Burns shows a clean and quick arm
action coming through the back before delivering a crisp fastball to
either side of the plate. Burns sat comfortably in the 88-91 mph
range throughout the run rule shortened game and bumped a couple of
92s early in the outing. The limited amount of effort at his release
is noteworthy but even more impressive was the advanced command of
his fastball and his ability to miss barrels with the pitch.
Burns,
a University of Alabama commit, was able to work with consistent
downhill plane on his fastball to either side in part to how short
the arm action is in the back and how well he repeats his mechanics.
With a majority of his fastball coming across at 90 or 91 mph in the
early frame, Burns was able to generates solid running life to his
arm side at times, particularly out of the stretch. The combination
of velocity and command would have probably been enough to get
through his time on the mound but Burns showed his off speed which
was nearly as impressive as the previously mentioned tools.
Throwing
both a curveball and a slider he was able to generate distinguishable
shape on the two and showed high levels of pitchability as he’d use
either to set up his fastball which he simple overpower hitters with.
His curveball showed big depth in the upper-70s and like his slider
he did a nice job of maintaining his arm slot on the pitch. Burns
went to his slider more often than the curveball and displayed a
strong feel for the late tilting pitch that climbed as high as 82
mph. His slider remained a consistent pitch and he was able to
execute with command pretty steadily, giving him three weapons at his
disposal.
We
spoke briefly about Jose
Ciccarello’s
(2017, Tampa, Fla.) bat in a previous recap and touched briefly on
his defense though not in much detail. Yesterday it was his defense
that stood out at shortstop early before the rain came as the
University of Florida commit shows light actions with his footwork
and a bounce in his step as he circled the ball well and consistently
showed off a strong arm across the diamond.
It
was a quick three inning look as the sky shortly opened up after the
top of the third inning but Altoon
Coleman
(2017, Sanford, Fla.) continued to do what he’s shown throughout
his extensive Perfect Game career. Throwing the first three hitless
innings of what became FTB Pride’s second no-hitter of the
tournament, Coleman showed a fastball/curveball combination that kept
hitters off balance and induced steady ground ball contact.
Still
looking as though he’s playing catch on the mound with little
effort at release, Colman ran his fastball up to 91 mph while sitting
steadily in the 87-90 mph range. His mechanics remain very simple and
repeatable and with a quick arm coming through the back he’s able
to get his fastball on hitters quickly with heavy life, leading to
the aforementioned weak ground ball contact. A Florida State
University commit, Coleman did a nice job of incorporating and
working over his front side, something that allowed him to hold his
velocity out of the stretch and get stronger as the innings wore on.
After
falling behind in the count 3-1 and working exclusively off his
fastball, Coleman dropped in his first curveball of the afternoon at
71 mph, catching the hitter off guard. While the velocity still
projects on the pitch as it sat in the 70-72 mph range, Coleman has
made noticeable strides with the pitch since last fall as both the
shape and depth have improved as has his overall feel for the pitch.
Chase
Sanguinetti
(2018, Tampa, Fla.) and Donnie
Gleneski
(2016, Orange Park, Fla.) each helped the FTB Pride offense early
with a double a piece to their pull side. Gleneski showed quick hands
on his as he line a pitch down the left field line for a two bagger
while Sanguinetti went to his pull side gap. Just completely his
sophomore year Sanguinetti has already committed to Florida State
University and continues to swing a loud stick from left side with
fluidity and interesting strength coming off the barrel.
Currently
uncommitted, righthander Zachary
Dreznin (2017,
Saddle River, N.J.) performed
well over his time on the mound and even carried a no-hitter into the
sixth inning before a single to the opposite field broke it up.
Dreznin hails from the state of New Jersey and with his long
6-foot-4, 185-pound frame he attracted a bevy of onlookers yesterday
afternoon.
Dreznin
came out bumping his fastball up to 89 mph while sitting in the 86-88
mph range early from a long and loose arm action. Showing some tempo
to his delivery, Dreznin works from a high three-quarters arm slot
and when he remains on top of the ball he’s able to generate nice
downhill plane with slight running life to his arm side. The ball
comes out pretty well at present and projects nicely for more
velocity as he continues to fill out though he has already shown the
ability to miss bats with his fastball.
His
curveball was a solid secondary offering at 72-73 mph and though the
velocity may not suggest it Dreznin’s curveball showed solid depth
with late bite while maintaining his arm speed nicely on the pitch.
He was able to pick up more than a handful of strikeouts as he
incorporated a third pitch, his changeup, in the upper-70s all while
remaining balanced and showing the same high three-quarters arm slot.
Starting
at shortstop for Dreznin’s Tri-State Arsenal team was quick-twitch
and currently uncommitted Kevin
Welsh
(2016, Columbus, N.J.). His defensive actions have stood out in each
of the two games I’ve seen as he moves well on his feet both up the
middle and on the bases. Listed at 5-foot-10, 165-pounds, Welsh also
made some noise with the bat yesterday as he stung a double into the
opposite field gap to plate a couple of early runs for the Arsenal.
Another
uncommitted arm from the Northeast who threw last night at LakePoint
was Pennsylvania native Brendan
Cellucci
(2017, Wyncote, Pa.), a projectable lefthander who is listed at
6-foot-3, 180-pounds. With a high leg lift at the start of his
delivery Cellucci shows a very quick arm coming through the back and
was able to generate some nice angle on his fastball that worked in
the 84-87 mph range rather comfortably. Cellucci came out attacking
with his fastball and did a nice job of work down in the zone while
showing occasional cutting life. He showed both a slider at 77 mph
and a curveball up to 69 mph, each of which project with continued
refinement.
– Jheremy
Brown
2017 righthander Justin Bullock (Creedmor, N.C.), a North Carolina State
commit, started on the mound for Team Elite Prime 16u and was pretty
good overall. Bullock is an athletically built rising junior, with
serious quick-twitch in his overall physicality that translates to
the mound. His uptempo delivery with whippy arm speed allows him to
generate that type of velocity—as well as projection for more—but
at the same time he tends to get a little bit too uptempo, which can
cause him to lose control of his overall delivery and rush, impacting
his command. He has a longer arm action with some hook in the back
and worked 90-92 early—a new high in velocity for him—Bullock
settled in around the 88-90 range and held it deep into his start. He
is in the early stages of having the ability to command fastball
downhill to both sides of the plate, as an inconsistent release point
as well as the overall control of delivery impacted his ability to
command the fastball on this day. When online with his delivery and
consistent with his arm slot and release point, the fastball is
downhill with life and command, and nearly impossible for opposing
hitters to square up or oftentimes even make contact with.
He
complements that fastball with a power curve, showing excellent feel
and an innate ability to spin the pitch, even if the command is a bit
loose at present. At it’s best; the curveball is a true snapdragon
pitch with hard, late bite with 11-to-5 shape. It’s a bat-misser in
every sense of the word, eliciting weak swings and buckled knees on
several occasions, showing as a potential future plus pitch.
Bullock’s
teammate, 2016 outfielder Terence Norman immediately impresses
with his physicality, but what really makes him special is his
potential with the bat. He has a lot going on with his swing, with
some complicated mechanisms in place, but when he’s on time with
his swing it’s very synchronized and the results can be impressive.
After battling off about a half dozen tough pitches in one at bat on
Sunday, Norman finally got a pitch he could drive and drilled it down
the left field line for a double. With hand speed in spades, Norman
generates solid bat speed as well with natural loft and overall
strength, giving him excellent present gap-to-gap power with more
home run power on the way.
2016
righthander Anthony
Locey is
a well-built, broad-shouldered prospect with a durable, innings-eater
frame and overall physicality. After touching 96 in recent weeks,
Locey was very good one again on Sunday, running his fastball up to
94 and living 90-93 for the entirety of his start. Effectively
pounding the bottom of the zone with his fastball to both sides of
the plate, Locey was able to get ahead of hitters often and then put
them away with a good off-speed combination of a curveball and
slider. He employs a longer, easier arm action with some effort but
no mechanical red flags, uses his lower half well and generates good
plane to the plate with a bit of tailing life on his fastball at the
bottom of the zone. His curveball shows very tight spin with 11-to-5
shape, and though he left a few up in the zone that were pretty
hittable, the pitch showed a potentially above average future. He
also flashed a slider that was a little harder than the curveball,
but not as effective. It’s a mostly horizontal breaking pitch that
can run away from righthanded hitters, but the lack of depth and
overall sharpness can hurt it’s effectiveness. Still, there’s
quality feel for a second breaking ball in there, which can’t be
discounted.
2016
uncommited righthander Christian
Camacho
(Elk Grove, Ill.) took the mound for Team DeMarini Illinois Kout on
Sunday night, and despite having to work through some rain/lighning
delays, was very solid. Camacho employs a hands-over-head delivery
with good balance and tempo, showing good arm speed and creating
angle from a three-quarters slot. He worked in the 81-84 range,
touching 85, with projection remaining in his arm. His curveball had
huge break in the in the 70-72 range, showing 11-to-5 shape with
quality command and legitimate snap. He was able to throw it for
strikes as well as bury it down and out of the strike zone to get
swings and misses. He’s an interesting under-the-radar arm in the
class of 2016.
– Brian
Sakowski