There
were two sets of games Friday evening at Terry Park to start the 2013
WWBA Florida Qualifier, plenty of time to bounce around the four
fields and get some initial scouting impressions.
Perfect
Game’s Jeff Dahn profiled the young and talented FTB Chandler team, and they rolled to an easy 12-3 win over ProStyle Baseball
Academy in their first game at the Stadium Field. 2015 Lefthander
Michael Zimmerman, a Florida commit who goes to nearby
Gulf Coast High School in Naples, threw the first three innings in
shutout fashion for FTB, striking out seven hitters and allowing only
one hit. Zimmerman is 6-foot-3, 180-pounds with long, slender arms
and is extremely projectable. He pitched in the 84-87 mph range
with a low-70s curveball that showed good depth and a nice 78 mph
changeup. He’s going to be very good in a few years.
First
baseman Jason Heinrich, another 2015, had a nice
righthanded swing with present bat speed, going 1-for-2 with a pair
of RBI hitting cleanup for FTB. He also impressed me by running to
first in 4.34 second despite his strong 6-foot-1, 190-pound build.
As he is also expected to pitch this weekend, I suspect he has plenty
enough athletic ability for a corner outfield slot in addition to
first base.
2014
righthanded pitcher and infielder Tyler Leonard put on
a nice show for the Sarasota Baseball Club in their 8-0 win over the
South Florida Storm, throwing a five inning complete game shutout
and striking out 10 hitters while also going 2-for-3 at the plate
with three RBI. Leonard has an easy full “old fashioned” hands
over head delivery that produced a fastball up to 86 mph, and he only
threw 54 pitches in his five innings.
Maybe
the most interesting game of night was the matchup between the loaded
IMG Academy team and the South Florida Elite TPX. Some might have
wondered about standout 2015 lefthander
Logan Allen starting the first game of pool play instead of a
later contest for IMG, but they needed all five of his no-hit, six
strikeout innings to start the game. I’ve seen Allen frequently
this summer and he’s been dominant every time out. He pitched
primarily with his fastball this game, topping out at 87 mph.
The
reason IMG needed Allen’s effort, plus two more no-hit innings from
the bullpen, was that the Elite starting pitcher, 2014 righthander
Louis Beck was even better, throwing five innings, allowing one
scratch single and striking out 11 hitters. Beck wasn’t
overpowering, topping out at 83 mph, but his low-70s changeup was
outstanding, with hard late life, and he commanded his upper-60s
curveball well. Beck threw 35 fastballs, 20 changeups and 12
curveballs and had the IMG hitters so off-balance that his 83s
probably looked like 88s. It was an impressive display of pitching.
IMG
quickly scored four runs, two on a double to right field by highly
ranked 2014 outfielder
Luke Bonfield, to win 4-1.
Perhaps
the most intriguing prospect of the night for me was Team Tampa Bay
Warriors 2014 shortstop
Derek “D.J.” King, for the most part because I’ve never
seen him before. King attends Fort Meade High School, where
presumptive National League MVP Andrew McCutchen played when he was
a PG All-American, King has attended a handful of WWBA tournaments
but is uncommitted and not well known in the scouting community.
King had a difficult game to scout, as he walked twice and didn’t
get much action at shortstop, but everything he did was with prospect
level actions. He definitely passes the eye test at 6-foot-3,
190-pounds, and is a player that lots of people will be bearing down
on in the near future.
South
Florida Elite Squad Prime righthander Andy Rohloff is another
uncommitted senior who was very impressive. Rohloff pitched in the
85-89 mph range for three innings against King and the Warriors, but
the most impressive thing about his fastball was it had outstanding
consistent hard run and bore to it. With some deception in his
delivery along with a curveball and live changeup, Rohloff looked to
provide a very uncomfortable at-bat, especially for a righthanded
hitter.
I
had a nice talk at the Stadium Field with Los Angeles Angels
lefthander and new PG scout/scorekeeper Carmine Giardina before
the game about his PG experiences playing for Chet Lemon’s Juice at
a number of events, including twice in Jupiter, along with his time
with the Angels. Giardina reached AA this season and says “he
finally gets it” about his delivery and how to get hitters out and
was very optimistic about his professional future after a couple of
years of injuries, including TJ surgery. I’d be pretty optimistic
if I was a healthy strong armed 25-year old left hander in AA.