2016 Top 50 Preseason Junior College Teams | Top 150 Junior College Prospects
Over the weekend I was able to hit up my first live game action of the 2016 season. St. Petersburg College hosted a kickoff tournament for some junior college teams from around the state of Florida and two teams from Tennessee. Since the games were spread out over three different venues I wasn’t able to see as much as I would have liked, but I was able to sit in on two games from perennial national power Chipola and State College of Florida-Manatee, two teams that have several intriguing players.
As it was opening weekend for many teams across the country, there were some slow starts and sloppy play at times (which I wasn’t immune to either as my video camera didn’t want to cooperate on the first day of action).
Here is what we know from after this weekends games: Chipola is as advertised. They have toolsy players like Reese Cooley blended with some big power guys like Reynaldo Rivera and a seemingly endless supply of 90 mph arms. They will be strong all year thanks to a balanced lineup and a deep stable of arms.
State College of Florida is a team you don’t want to play. They have a good blend of size and speed with two very intriguing arms at the top of their rotation.
St. Pete College is going to be a team that scores a lot of runs all year long. They surely did all weekend and I will be getting a much closer look at them in the next couple of weeks.
Below is a breakdown of some of the players who caught my eye and who your eyes should be looking at as well.
Brady Acker, RHP, Chipola
Acker was the most impressive arm of the weekend. He presents good size with his 6-foot-4 frame and has the room to add some strength to his 210-pound body. The righthander showed a solid three-pitch mix with a 87-91 fastball, a 74-75 changeup and a tight-spinning curveball that comes across the plate in the 74-76 mph range. He did a good job staying tall on the mound and using good posture to stay on top and work downhill.
His primary pitch had a good amount of late arm-side run and was able to locate it to his glove side when he wanted to. His best secondary offering was his curveball which is short but tight and has 11-to-5 shape. He kept it down in the zone and used it early in the count to set up an elevated fastball and also late in the count to miss a bat for a putaway pitch. The changeup needs more reps and confidence but it was more than just a show-me pitch. With Acker creating angles and moving the ball around the zone he was fun to watch.
Franklin Van Gurp, RHP, Chipola
If you want to go off of arm talent alone, then Van Gurp was the best arm of the weekend, but command was an issue for him. The arm is long and loose with above average strength and speed and his fastball is a heavy 91-93 mph heater with late run. With his cross-firing arm and the late movement on the pitch it was a challenge for him to find the mix that would allow him to hit his spots.
Van Gurp also has a tight sweeping slider that has the ability to miss bats. He threw it often with confidence and it was steadily in the 75-77 range. If he can iron out some mechanical issues this is an arm to watch.
Michael Hickman, C, Chipola
Hickman is a sturdy, long-levered lefthanded hitter who was finding the barrel consistently in both games I saw. He is strong from top to bottom with long arms that allow him to cover all quadrants and put an impactul swing on the ball. Hickman presents a good amount of bat speed with natural loft built into his swing. With his high hands pre-swing he can get long getting the barrel into the zone at times, but once he’s there the barrel stays in the zone and allows him to make hard contact to all fields. He will use the entire field, but most of his present power is to the pull side. His bat has a chance to be a true impact level weapon.
Reese Cooley, OF, Chipola
Cooley has been somewhat of an enigma since he graduated high school. He possesses some of the best tools you’ll see but he hasn’t been able to put it all together just yet. He has a nice 6-foot-1 frame and weighs a solid 205 pounds. He is strong and athletic, but creates too much tension at the plate. He has short and balanced stride and the bat speed is there, but he struggles with pitch recognition and his approach can be inconsistent.
It’s important to share the reminder that these were the first games of the season and adjustments can and will be made. In these two games he was getting fooled on off-speed stuff located on the outer-half and was early on fastballs in that he otherwise has shown the ability to drive hard to the alleys.
Defensively he played center and right field where he displays enough arm strength for either position while consistently making accurate throws.
Ryan Miller, RHP, State College of Florida-Manatee
The 6-foot-1 170-pound Miller was converted to the mound from being a catcher within the past year. He is still raw but showed very solid arm speed and strength. His arm action is short but he looks comfortable with it. Working from a mid- to high-three quarters slot and with a high knee built in to his delivery, Miller does a good job hiding the ball until the last second allowing for more deception. The ball comes out of his hand quickly and jumps on the hitter. His delivery is pretty simple and clean with good fluidity and balance. The momentum he builds carries well throughout his delivery all the way up to his release. Miller is a good athlete and it shows up in his movements on and off the mound.
The fastball sat easily 87-90 most of the outing with a couple touching 91. When located up in the zone the primary offering had more life and a heavy feel to it and he was able to blow it by a few guys in this part of the zone. He works at steady pace and wasn’t afraid to attack. His secondaries are works in progress, as was to be expected, especially his changeup. Miller did a good job maintaining arm speed and the changeup showed some horizontal fade to it, and while getting more consistent with it will be key, the makings flashed enough to inspire hope that it can become an average secondary offering.
His third pitch is a short 11-to-5 breaking ball that showed decent depth at times. He was able to spin it in the 76-77 range but it appeared he was having trouble with the grip. The more he threw it the better it got and his confidence began to grow.
For his first start of the season and being so new to the life as a pitcher, Miller showed plenty of traits that would indicate he can continue to grow and become a viable arm at the next level.
Ethan Skender, SS, State College of Florida-Manatee
Skender isn’t the biggest guy on the field, but he has a solidly built 5-foot-11 frame that holds plenty of strength and athleticism. During pre-game infield drills Skender moved well to both sides and was smooth with his backhand, and his all-around his actions were clean and quick. He transfers well and has a quick release on his throws with average arm strength from the left side that stays accurate whether he is set or throwing on the run.
At the plate, Skender stands in the box with a closed stance and hands up high and he gets them loaded and set on time without a lot of wasted movement. Tracking the ball early out of the pitchers’ hand is a big asset to his offensive game. With his tracking ability and command of the strike zone, Skender is able to execute his plan and make solid contact on just about any pitch he offers at. His hands work well while controlling the barrel through the zone and he can square it up inside or out.
Ronny Orta, RHP, State College of Florida-Manatee
Orta has the reputation of being a bulldog on the mound, even with his smaller 5-foot-10, 170-pound frame. His shoulders are broad for his height and there is good strength built into his lower half. Orta releases the ball from a low- to mid-three quarters slot, but his arm action and speed were wildly inconsistent. On one pitch he would keep the arm short and it would whip through with solid speed, but then he would get longer on his backswing and the arm looked like it was moving much slower. Because of this it was no surprise that finding his release point was an issue all day for him.
His fastball was consistently 86-89 while touching 90 a handful of times. There wasn’t a ton of life on the ball, but when he dropped his arm angle a bit, there was some late run on it. Orta showed a 71-73 mph curveball that he was overthrowing and a 81-82 changeup that flashed some potential. I have seen him look better than this, but Orta still battled and showed a good fighter’s mentality even when he didn’t have his best stuff.