Indiana second baseman Micah Johnson received full medical clearance this morning to return to the team. A preseason third-team All-American who ranked No. 92 on Baseball's America's initial College Top 100 Prospects list for the 2012 draft, he had surgery on his throwing elbow on March 7. Johnson returned from the Cape Cod League last summer with a sore elbow that bothered him throughout the offseason. Unable to throw without pain when the season began, he opened the season as the Hoosiers' DH. After he went 3-for-21 in nine games, he opted to have surgery. He has been taking swings and grounders in anticipation of his return, which should come this weekend in a home series against Nebraska. Johnson batted .335/.402/.474 with 19 steals as a sophomore in 2011. He's an offensive-minded second baseman with plus speed and a quality bat. He projected as a top-five-rounds pick before his injury.

Coastal Carolina righthander Josh Conway will miss the remainder of the season, reports Ryan Young of The Sun News in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Conway, who stands 6-foot-1 and 175 pounds, was a 42nd-round pick by the Braves out of high school and was looking like a second-round talent this year before the injury. In his start on Thursday night, Conway was up to 96 mph early in the game, but left in the fourth inning, when his velocity was down in the 86-89 mph range. Conway was 4-1, 2.14 this season with 50 strikeouts and 18 walks over 55 innings.

Injuries have ravaged this year's draft class and another pitcher in The Palmetto State will be on the shelf, as Clemson righthander Kevin Brady will be sidelined at least two to four weeks with a hamstring strain.

• Clemson catcher Spencer Kieboom went ka-boom against Georgia Tech this weekend, going 10-for-15 with a double, a home run and seven RBIs. The weekend included a 5-for-5 Sunday showing, as the Tigers took two out of three from the Yellow Jackets. Kieboom is now hitting .277/.350/.355 on the season.

• Stony Brook outfielder Travis Jankowski had a great weekend Maryland Baltimore County, who is 2-17 in April. Jankowski helped Stony Brook outscore the Retrievers 35-7 on the weekend by going 8-for-13 with two triples, two home runs and two stolen bases. Jankowski’s two home runs raised his season total to three on the season, as he’s now hitting .390/.468/.634. His nine triples lead the country and his 29 stolen bases rank eighth nationally.

• Monmouth righthander Pat Light cruised against Long Island, giving up one run on five hits over eight innings with no walks and 15 strikeouts. Light improved to 7-3 on the year and lowered his ERA to 2.69. The 15 strikeouts were a career-best for Light and he now has 81 strikeouts (and just 11 walks) over 80 innings.

• Radford righthander Eddie Butler threw a complete-game shutout against Presbyterian, scattering five hits with two walks and nine strikeouts for the win. Butler is now 5-3 on the season and lowered his ERA to 2.03.

• Stanford ace Mark Appel gave up one run on eight hits over seven innings against UCLA Friday night. Appel didn’t allow a walk and struck out 10 in the 7-2 Cardinal win. It was Appel’s fifth start of the year with double-digit strikeouts—four of which have come against top-10 teams—and he leads the Pacific 12 conference in strikeouts with 81 over 79 innings.

Here are all of the weekend stats for the nation's top draft-eligible college players, listed alphabetically by school. The stats were collected by CollegeSplits.com. Follow CollegeSplits on Twitter @collegesplits. The list of players was selected before the season to include this year's top college talent for the draft. . .

[...] Continue Reading »

BATON ROUGE, La.—A pair of Southeastern Conference aces with first-round aspirations squared off at Alex Box Stadium on Friday night. The showdown between Georgia lefthander Alex Wood and Louisiana State righty Kevin Gausman didn't exactly live up to its billing, as the two teams combined for 23 hits in LSU's 6-5 win, but the stats are deceiving. Gausman and Wood both showed impressive stuff and composure despite their pedestrian lines.

Gausman, a flame-throwing draft-eligible sophomore with a chance to be drafted first overall this June, allowed five runs (three earned) on 10 hits and no walks over six innings, but his nine strikeouts were a better indication of the quality of his stuff. After a 1-2-3 first inning, Gausman gave up three hits in the second and five more in the third, but none of those eight were hit particularly hard—they were a collection of seeing-eye choppers and bloops that fell in. And he showed plenty of poise by striking out Justin Bryan and Jonathan Hester with the bases loaded to minimize the damage in the two-run third.

"In the third inning, I've never seen such bad luck for a pitcher as Gausman was having, it was unbelievable," LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. "They weren't even getting balls out of the infield, and we were fortunate they only got two runs—Gausman had to really show what he was made of again."

The defense behind Gausman didn't help, as three of Georgia's hits in the third could have been outs if the left side of the infield had made better plays. The defense let Gausman down again in UGa.'s two-run fifth, as two Tyler Hanover throwing errors led to two unearned runs. [...] Continue Reading »

Successful college shortstops tend to be overdrafted. Take 2010, when the consensus of area scouts in Southern California preferred Cal State Fullerton speed-merchant outfielder Gary Brown over shortstop Christian Colon, while national evaluators preferred Colon for his track record of hitting and steady, if less flashy tools.

The college middle infielder that can hit is one of the safest profiles for scouts, so Colon went fourth overall, while Brown went 20 picks later and signed for $1.3 million less than Colon. In their first season as pros in 2011, Brown outshined Colon. Both are in Double-A now.

This year's crop of college middle infielders is thin, contributing to the subpar college hitting crop overall. Arizona State's Deven Marrero and Stanford's Kenny Diekroeger led the crop of such players coming into the year, but neither has shined this spring, with Diekroeger (.310/.360/.441) moving to second base while sophomore Lonnie Kaupilla was healthy for the Cardinals and Marrero slumping to .268/.329/.396.

That has left room for others to move up, including two from the rival schools that have occupied the top spot in BA's Top 25 college rankings: Florida State's Justin Gonzalez and as Florida junior Nolan Fontana.

[...] Continue Reading »

Baseball America intern Peter Wardell got out to see Trey Williams again last weekend and shot some video, too. . .

In a down year for Southern California position prospects, Valencia (Calif.) High’s Trey Williams leads the way as a potential first-round talent.

This past weekend, I made it out to Valencia for a double-header and my third look at the Pepperdine-commit this spring. Over the two games against Dana Hills, Williams, the son of former big leaguer Eddie Williams, went 4-for-6 with four singles and a walk.

Williams’ game begins at the plate where he rates as a solid-average pure hitter with power potential. He shows tremendous bat speed, arguably the top of his class, due to quick hands and wrists. This not only allows him to jump on pitches a split-second later than most, but also helps him generate power. Nearly every ball he puts in play is hit hard and he does a tremendous job making consistent contact and squaring up. He really only juiced one ball on Saturday (a deep flyout to center field) but has shown plenty of raw power in previous looks including a no-doubt home run against Harvard-Westlake, shown at the end of the video below.

The biggest difference I saw from Williams last weekend (and a good one at that) was in his plate approach. Back at the MLSB Compton Urban Youth Academy showcase in February and even a little bit against Harvard-Westlake, Williams was overly patient at the plate, to a fault. He was working deep into counts, often getting behind and although he rarely looked phased with two strikes, it was still concerning. On Saturday, he was much more aggressive, jumping on pitches early in the count while capitalizing on the pitcher’s mistakes. It was good to see. [...] Continue Reading »

Last year, Mississippi featured a two-sport high school star who was one of the draft's most electric athletes but ultimately couldn't be enticed to play professional baseball. The Red Sox drafted Pascagoula High outfielder Senquez Golson in the eighth round and offered him a seven-figure bonus before he decided to play football and baseball at Mississippi.

History is repeating itself this spring, as Petal (Miss.) High outfielder Anthony Alford has informed baseball teams that he's intent on playing football and baseball at Southern Mississippi in lieu of turning pro.

The first player in Mississippi history to win the state's Gatorade football player of the year award as both a junior and senior, Alford quarterbacked Petal to the 6-A state championship game last fall. He passed for 2,058 yards and 20 touchdowns while rushing for 1,731 yards and another 24 scores.

The 6-foot, 200-pound Alford offers tantalizing potential on the diamond as well. An outfielder with plus-plus speed and good power potential, he might have commanded a seven-figure bonus if he were willing to commit to baseball. He entered the second round of the state 6-A playoffs hitting .479 with three homers and 12 steals in 25 games.

Missouri State righthander Pierce Johnson had pitched himself into the first round of the 2012 draft before leaving a March 30 start against Dallas Baptist after just three innings. He missed his next two starts with what was diagnosed as a forearm strain, putting his draft status in question. When he finally returned to the mound Sunday against Wichita State, he provided the answers scouts wanted to see.

Johnson followed a shaky first inning in which he allowed two runs to pitch five strong frames afterward. He struck out nine and walked none in his six innings, allowing seven hits and three earned runs while throwing 49 of 74 pitches for strikes. Despite his layoff, his fastball ran from 91-94 mph and he backed it up with a hard curveball and an effective changeup in a 3-2 loss to the Shockers.

"Other than being a little rusty in the first inning, he was good," said Bears assistant Paul Evans, who has coached eight Missouri State pitchers who have advanced to the major leagues. "You could tell he was a little jittery at first, but then he settled in. I was very pleased with what I saw."

Before his forearm strain, Johnson was working at 92-94 mph and topping out at 96 with his lively fastball. The 6-foot-3, 180-pounder is doing a better job of repeating his delivery and commanding his pitches than he had in his first two college seasons. A 15th-round pick by the Rays out of a Colorado high school in 2009, he has a 2-4, 2.28 record with 80 strikeouts in 55 innings over eight starts this spring.

• St. John’s outfielder Jeremy Baltz helped lead the Red Storm to a sweep of Cincinnati, with scores of 14-1, 9-4 and 9-0. Baltz went 8-for-12 on the weekend with a double and seven RBIs. Baltz wasn’t the only St. John’s player with a dominating week. Righthander Kyle Hansen pitched a complete-game shutout Friday night, allowing just six hits with no walks and 16 strikeouts for the win. He’s now 2-5, 4.05 on the season with 15 walks and 72 strikeouts over 53 innings.

• San Francisco righthander Kyle Zimmer continues to cruise. Against Gonzaga this weekend, Zimmer threw eight innings, allowing three runs on nine hits with one walk and 10 strikeouts. Zimmer got the win, improving to 4-3, 2.87 on the year.

• Mississippi State righthander Chris Stratton continues to deal for the Bulldogs. This weekend against Tennessee, Stratton pitched nine innings, giving up one run on four hits with no walks and 10 strikeouts. The game wound up going 11 innings and Mississippi State won, 2-1.

• Stanford swept Arizona State this weekend, as the Cardinal outscored the Sun Devils 34-17 over the three games, highlighted by a 17-5 rout on Friday night. Left fielder Stephen Piscotty went 6-for-13 on the weekend with a triple and seven RBIs.

• Missouri State righthander Pierce Johnson returned to the mound against Wichita State and gave up three runs on seven hits over six innings with no walks and nine strikeouts. He got the loss and is now 2-4, 2.28 on the season.

• Stony Brook center fielder Travis Jankowski went 7-for-11 on the weekend against Hartford with a double, three triples and three stolen bases. Jankowski is now hitting .354/.436/.556 on the season with 23 stolen bases in 27 attempts.

• Jacksonville outfielder/first baseman Adam Brett Walker went 6-for-11 this weekend against South Carolina Upstate with three doubles, a home run and two stolen bases.

Here are all of the weekend stats for the nation's top draft-eligible college players, listed alphabetically by school. The stats were collected by CollegeSplits.com. Follow CollegeSplits on Twitter @collegesplits. The list of players was selected before the season to include this year's top college talent for the draft. . .

[...] Continue Reading »

• Stanford ace righthander Mark Appel had a great outing against Oregon on Friday night. Appel gave up one run on 10 hits over nine innings while walking two and striking out 13. Appel, who threw 149 pitches, got a no-decision and the Cardinal lost the game in the 10th inning, 4-2.

• Arizona State shortstop Deven Marrero has been sliding on draft boards after having a lackluster spring. There are questions about how much he’ll hit at the next level, but he had a good weekend against Southern California, going 5-for-11 with a triple, a home run (his fourth of the season) and a stolen base. Marrero raised his season line to .290/.347/.427. Even after the slide, he still projects to go in the top half of the first round.

• Texas A&M righthander Michael Wacha shut out Kansas in a complete-game victory on Friday. Over the nine innings, Wacha allowed just four hits and no walks while collecting six strikeouts. On the season, Wacha is now 5-0, 2.42 with 50 hits, 11 walks and 66 strikeouts over 63 innings.

• Duke righthander Marcus Stroman held on to the lead for the most strikeouts in the country with eight more against Maryland this weekend, raising his season total to 93. Oklahoma State lefthander Andrew Heaney is in second place with 85 strikeouts on the season.

• Florida lefthander Brian Johnson pitched well against Tennessee, throwing six shutout innings while allowing six hits with one walk and four strikeouts for the win. Johnson also went 6-for-12 with two doubles and a home run to raise his batting line to .315/.347/.517 on the season.

• California second baseman Tony Renda went 6-for-9 on the weekend against Washington with two doubles, a home run and a stolen base. On the season, the 5-foot-8, 173-pounder is now hitting .365/.447/.518.

• Cal Poly outfielder Mitch Haniger collected eight hits in 13 at-bats this weekend against Cal State Northridge, including a double and a home run. The junior raised his line on the season to .333/.405/.589 with 10 doubles and seven home runs.

Here are all of the weekend stats for the nation's top draft-eligible college players, listed alphabetically by school. The stats were collected by CollegeSplits.com. Follow CollegeSplits on Twitter @collegesplits. The list of players was selected before the season to include this year's top college talent for the draft. . .

[...] Continue Reading »

See Also: Byron Buxton scouting report

See Also: Byron Buxton video from Under Armour game

Baseball America headed south this weekend to check out a couple games from outfielder Byron Buxton and the Appling County High (Baxley, Ga.) Pirates. Over the two games against Long County High (Ludowici, Ga.) and Calvary Day School (Savannah, Ga.), Buxton went 4-for-6 with two doubles and two walks. He showed off his well above-average speed on the bases and in the outfield, where he ran down a ball easily in the left-center gap.

Of all those things—getting a hit, stealing a base, or making a good defensive play—there's one Buxton likes better than the other two.

"Running a ball down," Buxton said. "Because you're keeping somebody else from getting on base."

Buxton—"Buck" to most of the fans in the stands, except his grandma, who has always called him "Big Boy"—is the type of athlete who makes everything look easy. He doesn't get overanxious at the plate, remaining patient and waiting for his pitch. He's a smooth, gliding runner and he got on the mound to close out the first game and ran his fastball up to 94 mph.

On top of all that, he handles everything that comes with being the top prospect in the country—the scrutiny from other teams, as well as the fan and media attention—with a relaxed grace.

Buxton, a Georgia recruit, isn't likely to wind up on campus because he projects to be picked in the first five picks of the draft. That was evident on Saturday by the teams in attendance to scout the tooled-up outfielder. The Astros (picking first), Mariners (3rd), Orioles (4th) and Pirates (8th) all had scouts at the game to see Buxton play.

With four more stolen bases over the two games, Buxton is now 21-for-21 in steals on the season. He hasn't stolen home this year yet, but he did do it once last year and always has the green light—both at the plate and on the bases.

"I tell him, if he gets a good read, he's on his own," Appling County High head coach Jeremy Smith said.

Even with all the draft hype and attention this year, Buxton's goal remains simple.

"I want to lead us to the state championships, that's it," Buxton said.

Below is video of Buxton from April 13 & 14.
 

• Clemson third baseman Richie Shaffer had a great weekend against Duke, going 7-for-13 with a double and two stolen bases. Click here to read about his night against Marcus Stroman, which includes video of his batting practice, and two at-bats versus Duke’s ace.

• Baseball America’s Midseason Most Outstanding Player was Florida catcher Mike Zunino, who went 5-for-14 with four doubles and a stolen base this weekend as the Gators lost the series to Louisiana State.

• Alabama senior outfielder Taylor Dugas went 6-for-13 on the weekend against Auburn with a double, a triple, a home run and a stolen base. The 5-foot-7, 175-pounder was a eighth-round draft pick by the Cubs last year and is now hitting .350/.480/.525 on the season.

• Purdue third baseman Cameron Perkins went 8-for-14 on the weekend against Northwestern. Perkins, who stands 6-foot-5, weighs 200 pounds and ranked as the No. 8 prospect this summer in the Northwoods League, hit a double and stole three bases on the weekend. On the season, he’s now hitting .388/.429/.545 with seven doubles and four home runs.

• It was a tough outing for Duke righthander Marcus Stroman, as his brilliant effort wasn’t enough for his team to beat Clemson on Friday night. The future first-rounder went nine innings, giving up one run (unearned) on seven hits while walking three and striking out 13. The 13 strikeouts marked the eighth double-digit strikeout game of Stroman’s career and matched his second-highest strikeout total in a single game. Duke wound up losing the game 4-1 in 11 innings.

• Georgia lefthander Alex Wood gave up two runs on seven hits for the win against Arkansas this weekend. Wood walked three and struck out 11, improving to 4-1, 2.45.

• Arkansas righthander D.J. Baxendale threw eight scoreless innings against Oregon State on Sunday. He gave up six hits, but didn’t walk anyone and struck out seven. Baxendale lowered picked up his sixth win of the season, improving his record to 6-1, 4.20.

Here are all of the weekend stats for the nation's top draft-eligible college players, listed alphabetically by school. The stats were collected by CollegeSplits.com. Follow CollegeSplits on Twitter @collegesplits. The list of players was selected before the season to include this year's top college talent for the draft. . .

[...] Continue Reading »

Friday night against Duke ace Marcus Stroman, Clemson third baseman Richie Shaffer showed about 20 scouts—including several crosscheckers and a few scouting directors—that he has no trouble catching up to premium velocity.

Shaffer went 2-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout Friday night, with both singles coming off of 95 mph fastballs from Stroman. The strikeout came against Duke reliever Andrew Istler.

After the game, Shaffer was complimentary of Stroman's stuff.

"He was electric today," Shaffer said. "You can't be thinking anything besides fastball, because he's really got a heavy ball. He kind of has that short arm motion, so it really gets on you real fast. I was just trying to look for something up in the zone and was trying to stay off his slider, because when it's on, it's almost unhittable. . . the at-bat that I walked, he threw me a 2-0 slider and I think it might be the sharpest slider I've ever seen. Thankfully, it was a couple inches off the plate and wasn't a strike. But there's a reason he's as good as he is. He has great stuff and I was fortunate enough to get a few pitches up in the zone and get a few hits."

Stroman threw nine innings, giving up one unearned run off of seven hits. He walked three and struck out 13 for a no-decision. Clemson eventually won the game, 4-1, in 11 innings. After the 2-for-4 performance, Shaffer is now hitting .349/.489/.670 on the season with 11 doubles and seven home runs.

Clemson coach Jack Leggett has been impressed with Shaffer's development over the past three years.

"He's been more selective at the plate," Leggett said. "He's patient but aggressive and he's using all fields. He's understanding that line drives and hitting the ball in the gap and those sorts of things are big. He's a big RBI guy, got a big hit early in the game to break the ice early. He's playing good defense at third base and is getting more comfortable all the time over there and he's doing a lot of good things, leadership wise. His leadership colors are coming out."

Shaffer has a tall, physical frame at 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds. He has broad shoulders, but a trim ways and moves well for his size. He's light on his feet at third base and isn't a clogger on the bases. He has above-average arm strength and, if he has to move off of third base, may be able to handle a move to a corner outfield spot instead of heading straight to first base.

While scouts have to think about the future, Shaffer is very much living in the present.

"People can say whatever they want about me, but I'm confident in my abilities at third base," Shaffer said. "Right now, my goal is to play a good third for our team here. That's the most important thing now for me, is to make all the plays I can make and help our pitchers get outs. Whatever my future holds down the road, that's not really a priority for me right now. I'm just trying to focus on helping my team get wins, but I'm confident in playing wherever on the diamond."

Draft Dope

• Even though Stroman's effort was marred by a loss, he still looked brilliant. His fastball was in the 93-96 mph range and he mixed in his 82-86 mph slider and his 81-83 mph changeup.

• Clemson starter Kevin Brady started out in the 92-94 mph range, but settled in at 90-92 and was down to the 89-90 range by the fourth inning. He recently scrapped his curveball for an 80-82 mph slider, which was a good pitch considering the circumstances. Brady allowed one run on four hits with one walk and three strikeouts over six innings. Righthanded reliever Scott Firth throws across his body a little, but shows a loose arm and a fastball in the 93-95 mph range. The arm strength is interesting, but Firth doesn't have good control—as evidenced by his five walks over five relief innings—and his 83-84 slider is inconsistent.

Matt Smoral, a lefthanded pitcher at Solon (Ohio) High, will have surgery on the fourth metatarsal of his right foot on Friday, April 6, his father confirmed in an e-mail to Baseball America. The surgery will be performed by Dr. Brian Donley of the Cleveland Clinic. Donley said the expected recovery time is 12 to 14 weeks and while he couldn't guarantee anything, he expects a full recovery with no limitations for Smoral afterward.

Smoral, a North Carolina signee, has an imposing presence on the mound. He stands at 6-foot-8 and 225 pounds. His fastball sits in the 89-92 mph range and tops out at 94. He also throws a slider in the 81-84 mph range and a changeup with similar velocity. His low arm slot causes him to sometimes get around his slider, but when he stays on top of it, it's a tight pitch with late break. Like many big pitchers, Smoral is still growing into his frame and learning how to control his delivery. He currently lands a little open and a little stiff, sometimes stumbling off the mound in his follow through. This causes his control to come and go, but when he's on, his stuff is dominating. Smoral has the athleticism to smooth things out. He made a recent start at a tournament in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and struggled before exiting the game in the fourth inning with blisters.

CHARLOTTE — Providence High righthander Ty Buttrey from Charlotte has been a player who has been rising up draft boards lately after he was touching 95-96 mph earlier in the season.

He didn't quite have his best stuff in his April 4 start against Charlotte Christian in the Jack Sink Memorial Tournament, but Buttrey still battled through 6 1/3 innings.

"I definitely didn't feel my best," Buttrey said of the outing. "It kind of started in the 'pen. I just felt like my fastball wasn't on today. Later on, I think the fifth inning, Coach (Danny) Hignight just asked me what I have to throw to get outs, so we switched to two-seamers and changeups and I just kind of used those from the fifth inning on. It was just one of those days when you don't have your best stuff and you just try to manage with what you've got."

Buttrey's fastball in this outing was in the 92-93 mph range early on, but he quickly settled into the 90-92 range and held that velocity throughout the game. He throws a changeup with good fade at times in the 83-85 mph range and a hard downer curveball that is consistently between 77-79 mph.

"It's actually a knuckle-curve," Buttrey said. "I've never really been able to throw the traditional curveball and I just feel like I can really get on top of this one. It was pretty much my go-to pitch today. It's always been my go-to strikeout pitch."

Buttrey has a large frame and even at 6-foot-5 and 205 pounds, he still has room to add muscle. His delivery is pretty smooth, although he does have a little wrist wrap in the back that can cause his curveball to flatten out at times. In addition to his stuff, one of Buttrey's best attributes is his breakneck tempo on the mound. He pitches like his car is parked next to a fire hydrant, never letting batters get comfortable and he also didn't show any emotion on the mound.

Some scouts believe Buttrey's drop in fastball velocity from earlier in the year is because he's also used sometimes as a reliever in between his start days.

"I've come in relief about two times this year and closed once," Buttrey said. "It's all right. I like the preparation and getting mentally focused before a start and if I had to pick one, it'd be to start any day. But I'll do whatever it takes to help us win."

Buttrey, an Arkansas recruit, was taken out of the game in the seventh with Providence trailing 3-2 and they were losing 4-2 as they came up to bat in the bottom of the seventh, but wound up scoring two runs to win the game.

Below is video of Buttrey's second inning. . .

By Peter Wardell

Editor’s note: Baseball America intern Peter Wardell hit the road last week to get a look at San Francisco ace Kyle Zimmer and Camarillo (Calif.) High lefthander Hunter Virant, who took the mound at Oxnard. He filed this report.

Kyle Zimmer, rhp, San Francisco

Zimmer has been one of the hottest names among draft circles this spring. Over 46 innings, the Dons junior is 2-2, 2.14 with a 51-7 strikeout-walk rate. In just a couple of months, he’s gone from a presumed late first-rounder or supplemental pick to a strong candidate for the top overall selection. 

Following a pair of complete game shutouts the past two weekends against Hawaii and UC Santa Barbara, Zimmer took the mound Friday against No. 24 San Diego on Friday in front of a dozen scouts and even a couple GMs. While the Toreros did knock around the La Jolla native for four runs on 10 hits over 7 1/3 innings, Zimmer impressed, displaying solid command and composure and flashing dominance, finishing the contest with six strikeouts and just one walk.

Zimmer utilizes four pitches, all of which have the potential to rate as above-average offerings. His fastball sat 92-94, touching 96 mph, with decent life. The pitch flattens out at times up in the zone, but overall Zimmer commands it well, working both sides of the plate and challenging hitters. His curveball came in 79-81 with sharp, 11-to-5 break, and already rates as a solid out pitch. It has hard falling-off-the-table drop, drawing lots of swings and misses. [...] Continue Reading »

• South Carolina first baseman Christian Walker mashed against Vanderbilt this weekend, going 6-for-12 with three home runs as the Gamecocks won the series, 2-1. Walker is now hitting .332/.452/.569 on the season with six doubles and six home runs.

• California catcher Chadd Krist went 5-for-12 with two doubles and a home run this weekend against Texas. Krist is now hitting .315/.353/.454 on the season.

• Georgia Tech righthander Buck Farmer and Duke righthander Marcus Stroman went head-to-head on Saturday in what turned out to be the pitching duel of the weekend. Farmer and the Yellow Jackets got the best of Stroman’s Blue Devils, winning 1-0. Farmer threw a complete game shutout, giving up three hits and no walks while striking out 11. Stroman threw 7 2/3 innings, giving up one run on six hits with no walks and 12 strikeouts.

• Georgia Southern righthander Chris Beck dominated against College of Charleston, striking out 16 over six innings. He also gave up two runs on seven hits and walked two. Beck’s 16 strikeouts were two short of the school record, set in 1959 by Ray Mims.

[...] Continue Reading »