There’s no place like the Cape Cod League when it comes to evaluating the best draft talent college baseball has to offer on a day-to-day basis. And, with that said, Perfect Game will be bringing you a weekly scouting notebook from around the league, highlighting not just top performances, but recognizing players whose tools are standing out to professional scouts. This notebook is not a statistical roundup of the week’s top performers - it only is scouting based. And, only the players I’ve scouted first hand week to week will be included.
The good news around the Cape is that the hitter friendly baseballs that became so well known in 2012 (as offensive records were obliterated around the league) are no more. The pitchers are clearly back in charge. And we’ll begin by talking about some of the arms that have stood out in the past week.
Jeff Hoffman Update: At the moment, Jeff Hoffman is clearly the Cape League's top prospect. This notebook was set to be published the night the ECU right-hander took the mound against Orleans. The plan was not to address Hoffman again this week, but following a performance in which he took his game to another level, there is simply no other choice. He pitched 7 2/3 dominant innings, striking out 11 and walking no one along the way. His velocity was up, his command was the best I've seen it, and his off-speed stuff was even better than what I saw in his first Cape outing. Hoffman reached 98 mph with his fastball, living at 94-97 the entire night. His fastball showed big movement, as he induced many a groundball pounded into the dirt in front of home plate. His curveball flashed 65 potential on the 20-80 scale at 80-84 mph, and his changeup also flashed plus upside. In other words, this was about as good as a college pitcher could look, and he did it in front of a packed house of crosscheckers and scouting directors in Hyannis. We have a new candidate for the first overall pick in the 2014 draft, and he's about as strong a candidate as you could ask for.
The Scouting Hot List
Dillon Peters, LHP, Texas (Harwich)- Dillon Peters’ grit and pitchability is no secret to anyone who has seen him pitch for the Texas Longhorns. But, he’s seen an increase in raw stuff in the Cape League this summer, an increase that puts him in a little bit different group than previously thought. Peters worked at 90-92 mph on Tuesday night, topping out as high as 93. He carried this velocity through the end of his outing, and also showed a potential above average 74-77 mph curveball with 11-5 action. He didn’t use it much, but he also flashed a changeup at 83 mph. When you show command and a low 90s fastball from the left side like Peters has, you are going to end up fairly high on a lot of teams’ lists.
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