• Stephen F. Austin State shortstop Hunter Dozier went 7-for-13 this weekend against Nicholls State, with a double and a home run. Dozier is a physical specimen at 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds. On the season, he is now hitting .402/.495/.683 with 11 doubles and four home runs.

• Samford outfielder Phillip Ervin continues to stay hot at the plate on weekends. This weekend, he went 6-for-12 with a double, a home run, and three stolen bases against Furman. On the season, the probable first rounder is now hitting .391/.522/.759 with six doubles and eight home runs. His teammate also had an outstanding weekend. Righthander C.K. Irby threw his second complete game of the season. He gave up one run on three hits with no walks and 16 strikeouts, to improve to 4-2, 3.89 with 46 strikeouts and 11 walks over 39 innings. He also went 8-for-13 on the weekend with a triple and a home run, and is right there at the top of the Bulldogs’ statistical leaders with his .398/.453/.677 line. Samford swept Furman this weekend and outscored them 34-11.

• Kansas State outfielder Jared King went 5-for-10 with two doubles, a home run, and a stolen base this weekend, helping the Wildcats sweep Bethune-Cookman. In the process, King boosted his season line to .316/.393/.487 with five doubles and two home runs.

• Louisiana State second baseman JaCoby Jones continues to struggle. He went 0-for-10 at the plate this weekend against Auburn, dropping his season line to .215/.385/.329. I spoke to a scout about him recently who said, “That guy’s just a head scratcher. You go in and see him in BP and he’s bangin’ ‘em out of there like it’s nothing. Then in the game, he’s struggling to make contact. I don’t know if it’s in his head and he’s trying to press too much, or what it is . . . His pitch recognition is below average. Breaking balls really tie him up. There’s just nothing consistent there.”

• Oregon State senior lefthander Matt Boyd threw a complete-game shutout against Arizona State. He gave up just one hit while walking three and striking out 11. He is now 5-0, 1.26 on the season with 42 strikeouts and nine walks over 43 innings. After the game, Oregon State tweeted that Boyd has a 1.19 career ERA in 75 innings at Goss Stadium.

• Long Island-Brooklyn righthander Justin Topa threw eight shutout innings against Lehigh for his second win on the season. Topa walked one and struck out 10. It was a much-needed start for Topa, who has struggled this season. On the year, he is now 2-3, 5.16 with 33 strikeouts and 12 walks over 30 innings.

• Righthanders Mark Appel (Stanford), Jonathan Gray (Oklahoma) and Chris Anderson (Jacksonville) continued to dominate, with each racking up double-digit strikeouts yet again. All three pitchers will likely be selected in the top half of the first round this June.

Here are all of the weekend stats for the nation's top draft-eligible college players, listed alphabetically by last name. The stats were collected by CollegeSplits.com. Follow CollegeSplits on Twitter @collegesplits.
[...] Continue Reading »

Subscribers can read a feature about Virginia Tech third baseman Chad Pinder here. Pinder is off to a hot start for the Hokies, hitting .398/.505/.530 with five doubles and two home runs over the team's first 22 games. Here he is taking batting practice at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park on March 16 before a game against Duke . . .

Video shot by Alyson Boyer Rode

• San Diego third baseman Kris Bryant is red hot.

• The matchup between Indiana State lefthander Sean Manaea and Minnesota lefthander Tom Windle did not disappoint.

• Virginia Tech outfielder Tyler Horan helped the Hokies sweep Duke this weekend by going 7-for-15 with a double, two triples and a home run. On the season, he is now hitting .329/.402/.553 on the season.

• Senior outfielder Brandon Thomas helped Georgia Tech sweep Boston College by going 8-for-14 with a double, a triple, a home run and a stolen base on the weekend. After not signing with the Pirates as a fourth-round pick in 2012, Thomas is now hitting a robust .479/.557/.658 on the season.

• Oklahoma righthander Jonathan Gray continues to roll, pitching a complete game shutout with five hits, no walks and 12 strikeouts against Northwestern State. On the year, Gray is now 4-1, 1.51 with 39 strikeouts and eight walks over 36 innings.

• Oklahoma State righthander Jason Hursh pitched a complete game shutout of his own against Iona, scattering four hits with no walks and 10 strikeouts. Hursh improved to 2-0, 1.50 on the season with 28 strikeouts and five walks over 36 innings.

Here are all of the weekend stats for the nation's top draft-eligible college players, listed alphabetically by last name. The stats were collected by CollegeSplits.com. Follow CollegeSplits on Twitter @collegesplits.

[...] Continue Reading »

Florida Gulf Coast finished 2012 with a 26-31 record, but the team is off to a 13-3 start this year and ranked No. 25 in the nation, thanks in large part to the team's pitching staff.

"This has been a great group to be around so far," FGCU pitching coach Forrest Martin said. "And we feel like it's a group that could do some pretty special things."

The Eagles currently have a 1.79 team ERA, one of the best in the country.

Of the team's 11 pitchers, seven are juniors or seniors who battled through a tough 2012 season, during which four of the team's weekend series—and two more midweek series—were against teams who went on to play in NCAA regionals.

"We had a really young team last year and they kind of got thrown into the fire," Martin said. "We played an incredibly tough schedule last season and I just think it's a level of trust. You'll hear just about every pitching coach tell pitchers to trust their stuff, and I think just going through it last year and just realizing what they're capable of doing (helped). And as we started playing better at the end of last season, I feel like it just carried over into this year. We have a great group of guys on both sides of the ball."

Martin knows he has a talented staff but believes the new BBCOR bats have helped their development, as well.

"I really think that the new bats have done a lot to help the pitching game, just in terms of being able to bring the fastball back into the game, so to speak," Martin said. "You watch games these days and they play much more like a major league game. Through my playing career and in college and in the last five or six years, it had gotten to where college baseball was a breaking ball game. You had to pitch to miss bats, and now you can really have pitchers put a premium on being able to locate fastballs and movement is something that really plays. It's finally gotten to the point where you just have to miss sweet spots, you don't have to miss entire barrels and I think it's going to dramatically help with the development of pitchers for the next level . . . (more so) than five or six years ago with those rolled composite bats that had 170-pound guys front-footing balls out of the park."
[...] Continue Reading »

• Righthander Mark Appel continued to dominate, even though Stanford came up short.

• Minnesota lefthander Tom Windle threw a no-hitter in the Metrodome against Western Illinois.

• Vanderbilt lefthander Kevin Ziomek continues to rack up the strikeouts. He gave up one run on two hits against Oregon with one walk and 13 strikeouts. Ziomek is tied with North Carolina State sophomore lefthander Carlos Rodon for the most strikeouts in the country (46).

• Central Florida righthander Ben Lively took a tough loss on Friday night. Over eight innings, he gave up one run (unearned) on four hits and a walk, while tying a career best with 11 strikeouts. His Knights couldn't score for him though because opposing him on the mound was Jacksonville righthander Chris Anderson, who pitched eight strong innings of his own, allowing no runs on four hits with one walk and 10 strikeouts.

• North Carolina lefthander Kent Emanuel went the distance in a shutout against Wake Forest, scattering five hits and three walks while striking out seven. It was already Emanuel's second complete game of the season and he is now 3-0, 0.56 with 25 strikeouts and six walks over 32 innings. He's given up 21 hits on the year and only three have gone for extra-bases—two doubles and a triple.

• New Mexico third baseman D.J. Peterson went off in a four-game series against UC Riverside this weekend, going 11-for-15 with two doubles, a triple and four home runs. Even with the boffo performance, Peterson only drove in six runs and the Lobos splits the series. On the year, he is now hitting a ridiculous .500/.597/1.138 with seven doubles, three triples and eight home runs over 58 at-bats and six of his 12 walks on the season came this weekend.

• Georgia Tech outfielder Brandon Thomas went 7-for-12 this weekend against Virginia Tech with three doubles. Thomas is one of the top seniors this year and is now hitting .458/.548/.576 on the season with seven doubles.

• Mississippi State outfielder Hunter Renfroe went 6-for-12 this weekend against Central Arkansas with a double, a triple and a home run. He's currently playing with a small fracture in his right hand. Renfroe is now hitting .420/.448/.800 on the year with three doubles, two triples and four home runs.

Here are all of the weekend stats for the nation's top draft-eligible college players, listed alphabetically by last name. The stats were collected by CollegeSplits.com. Follow CollegeSplits on Twitter @collegesplits.

[...] Continue Reading »

Stanford righthander Mark Appel continues to dominate during his senior season for the Cardinal.

Stanford lost in an upset tonight at home against Nevada Las Vegas, 3-2, but Appel continued to be electric. He pitched seven innings, allowing three runs (one earned) on four hits with one walk and 15 strikeouts—a new career high.

"He's been real consistent," Stanford pitching coach Rusty Filter said. "Rice was not his best outing, but the last three have been real consistent. He's been pretty special the last couple years going on Friday, giving us a chance to win and he did the same thing tonight, we just didn't pull it out. He's been pretty good the past three weeks."
[...] Continue Reading »

Quitting would have been the easy thing to do.

Few would have blamed righthander Sean Furney if he had given up on baseball when he didn't make Rhode Island's team as a freshman. He wasn't a highly-touted prospect out of Pilgrim High in Warwick, R.I., and people would have understood if he wanted to just focus on school, earn his communications degree and move on. But Furney couldn't give up on his dream.

"Freshman year, I came in and I was little nervous I guess you could say in the fall, coming to a Division I program," he said. "I really hadn't been out of Rhode Island to play baseball that much. And I kind of got a little nervous and pressured out there, I guess you could say, and I tried to do too much. I was going to redshirt, but I knew I needed progress and needed to make myself better, so I decided to leave and go to CC Rhode Island."

"He wasn't ready—physically, mentally, he was not ready," Rhode Island head coach Jim Foster said. "And he didn't make the team. It's that simple. I said, 'Sean, go do what you've got to do and I want you back, but you're not ready to help the team right now and you've got to grow up and get your stuff together.' He did it, to his credit. A lot of kids would have quit. That's why I love him so much. He's even keeled, he knows when he messes up, he owns up to it and just tries to get better. He's a really good kid and I'm proud of how far he's come."
[...] Continue Reading »

• Stanford righthander Mark Appel continues to dominate as a senior. On Friday night, he threw a complete game shutout against Texas, scattering three hits while allowing only one walk and striking out 14, which matches a career high and he's now 2-1, 1.17 with 28 strikeouts and five walks over 23 innings.

• Jacksonville righthander Chris Anderson allowed three runs (one earned) on seven hits with one walk and 13 strikeouts against Texas Christian for the win. Anderson—whose fastball has been up to 97 mph this year—is now 1-1, 1.17 over his first three starts.

• Vanderbilt lefthander Kevin Ziomek carved against Illinois Chicago, giving up just one hit in his complete-game shutout performance. Ziomek walked three but struck out 15. The dominant performance was Ziomek's first career complete game and the 15 strikeouts are a personal best. Vanderbilt had footage of the outing on its YouTube page . . .

• Michigan outfielder Michael O'Neill was a spark plug at the Snowbird Invitational in Port Charlotte, Fla., helping the Wolverines to a 3-1 record on the weekend. O'Neill went 9-for-19 at the tournament with two doubles and five stolen bases.

• San Diego third baseman Kris Bryant powered the Toreros to three wins at the UNC-Wilmington tournament this weekend. Bryant went 6-for-12 against Gardner-Webb, UNC-Wilmington and Stony Brook with two doubles, two home runs and a stolen base. On the season, he is now hitting .333/.509/.692 with five doubles and three home runs. He has 13 walks and 10 strikeouts over 39 at-bats.

• Samford outfielder Phillip Ervin, who has one of this year's best Twitter handles (@Mr_MagicErvin), went 4-for-10 with a double, two home runs and a stolen base against Purdue. Ervin is proving that his Cape Cod League power outburst was no fluke, as he's now hitting .340/.446/.809 with six home runs over the team's first 12 games.

Here are all of the weekend stats for the nation's top draft-eligible college players, listed alphabetically by last name. The stats were collected by CollegeSplits.com. Follow CollegeSplits on Twitter @collegesplits.

[...] Continue Reading »

GREENSBORO, N.C.—Las Vegas had a banner year for baseball talent in 2010. Bryce Harper was the headliner, destroying junior college competition as a 17-year-old on the way to a National League rookie of the year campaign two years later.

Then there are players currently enjoying success in the minor leagues like Padres righthander Donn Roach and Red Sox righthander Aaron Kurcz (who were both teammates with Harper at Southern Nevada CC), Pirates righthander Nick Kingham and Rangers third baseman Drew Robinson.

Two players—third baseman Kris Bryant and righthander Michael Wagner—are now juniors at San Diego. But what happens in Vegas, sometimes winds up in West Virginia.

Righthander Aaron Blair from Marshall is one of the top righthanders in this year's draft class. How does a high school player from Nevada wind up at a college nearly 2,000 miles from home?

"I went to Jupiter, Florida, my senior year and I played with the Ohio Warhawks," Blair said. "And they saw saw me throw out there. I came on a visit and committed the next day. I had a lot of fun on my recruiting visit. I really liked the coaches and the players I was with. Everything was great."

Blair's emergence at Marshall capped a fine year for the program's pitchers. Athletics righthander Dan Straily led the minor leagues in strikeouts (190) and became the first Marshall pitcher to pitch in the big leagues since Rick Reed in 1988. Other recent picks like Padres righthander Joe Church (17th round, 2012), Rockies lefthander Mike Mason (24th, 2012), Rangers lefthander Greg Williams (12th, 2011) and Blue Jays righthanders Arik Sikula (36th, 2011) Ian Kadish (NDFA, 2011) had solid minor league seasons in 2012.
[...] Continue Reading »

Last year against Fresno State, Stanford righthander Mark Appel got the loss, giving up two home runs to Fresno State outfielder Aaron Judge in the process. Appel later beat the Bulldogs in Regionals and carried that success into the 2013 season. On Friday night at home, Appel pitched a complete game while giving up one run on three hits with one walk and 11 strikeouts for the win. On the season, the senior ace is now 1-1, 1.93 with 10 hits, four walks and 14 strikeouts over 14 innings.

Indiana State lefthander Sean Manaea tossed six shutout innings against College of Charleston at a tournament in Auburn, Ala. Manaea allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out 10, but didn't factor in a decision. On the season he is now 0-1, 0.90 with five hits, five walks and 16 strikeouts over 10 innings.

Oklahoma lefthander Dillon Overton continues to dominate. After ranking eighth in the country in strikeouts as a sophomore, Overton is off to a blistering start as a junior. He scattered seven hits over eight shutout innings against Iowa this weekend for a victory in the first game of the 2013 Kleberg Bank College Classic at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi. Overton did not issue a walk and struck out nine, improving to 3-0, 0.56 on the season with 16 strikeout and one walk over 16 innings. Overton will take on Scott Frazier and Pepperdine at home this Friday.

Appel wasn't the only Pacific 12 pitcher with a stellar outing this weekend. Arizona State righthander Trevor Williams struck out eight over seven shutout innings for the win against Tennessee; Oregon State senior lefthander Matt Boyd struck out nine over 8.1 shutout innings for the win against San Diego State and Washington righthander Austin Voth struck out 14 over 7.2 innings against Lamar. He gave up two runs on five hits for the win.

Mississippi State outfielder Hunter Renfroe had an excellent weekend against Purdue and Samford, going 5-for-10 with a triple and two home runs as the Bulldogs went 4-0 on the weekend in their Diamond Classic tournament to improve to 9-0 on the season. Renfroe is now hitting .393/.471/.750 on the year.

Virginia Tech left fielder Tyler Horan went 6-for-9 on the weekend against Temple, Holy Cross and Delaware. Horan’s six hits included two home runs and the slugger is now hitting .429/.515/.714 on the season. Virginia Tech travels down to Cary, N.C. next weekend for the inaugural Irish Baseball Classic, where the Hokies will take on Rhode Island, Ohio, Notre Dame and Tennessee.

Here are all of the weekend stats for the nation's top draft-eligible college players, listed alphabetically by last name. The stats were collected by CollegeSplits.com. Follow CollegeSplits on Twitter @collegesplits.

[...] Continue Reading »

• Georgia Tech righthander Buck Farmer pitched a beauty against Akron on Friday. The YellowJackets' ace threw eight shutout innings, allowed only four hits (all singles), didn't walk anybody and struck out a career-high 14, as Georgia Tech won, 3-0. Scouts don't love Farmer's arm action and he slipped to the 15th round last year, but is one of the most interesting seniors available for 2013.

• Fresno State outfielder Aaron Judge has some of the loudest raw tools in this year's draft class. But scouts would like to see his raw power translate into more home runs, as he's hit just six over his first two years with Fresno State. Judge got off to a nice start this weekend against UC Santa Barbara by going 5-for-13 with a double, a home run and a stolen base.

• Washington State outfielder/first baseman Jason Monda got off to a hot start in cold weather, though his Cougars weren't as fortunate. Monda, who you can read more about here, went 6-for-14 on the weekend with a home run and a stolen base. The home run already ties his total output from last season. The Cougars scored 19 runs on the weekend, but wound up going 1-2 against Western Carolina.

• Notre Dame third baseman Eric Jagielo helped the Irish get off to a 2-1 start to the season in the Snowbird Tournament in Sarasota, Fla. Notre Dame beat Florida Gulf Coast and Ohio State before losing on Sunday to Mercer. Jagielo anchored the lineup by going 6-for-11 with a double and two home runs.

• Oregon third baseman Ryon Healy went 8-for-12 on the weekend against Hawaii with three doubles, a home run and a stolen base. Healy was a breakout prospect in 2010 when he ranked as the California Collegiate League's No. 1 prospect and hit .312/.378/.419 as a sophomore. The Ducks went 3-0 on the weekend and finish up the series against Hawaii today.

• North Carolina lefthander Kent Emanuel continued to do what he does by throwing a complete-game shutout on Opening Day against Seton Hall. Emanuel gave up four hits, didn't walk anybody and struck out five to notch a 1-0 win for the No. 1 ranked Tar Heels.

• Jacksonville righthander Chris Anderson dominated Radford on Friday, giving up no runs on one hit and one walk over seven innings while recording 13 strikeouts. Even after that sparkling performance on the mound, it still took Jacksonville 11 innings to win, 2-1.

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.

[...] Continue Reading »

CULLOWHEE, N.C. — Washington State outfielder/first baseman Jason Monda was born to be a Cougar.

His Washington State roots run deep. Both of his parents attended the university before his father, Greg, spent six years in the minor leagues after the Reds made him their 15th-round pick in 1983.

"Obviously I've been a Coug since day one, so it means a lot to me," Monda said about wearing the crimson and grey. "I'll be a Coug until the day I die and hopefully the Cougar tradition stays in the Monda family for a while."

"His entire family, they all go to Washington State," Washington State head coach Donnie Marbut said with a chuckle. "I think he lives with three cousins and his twin brother (Michael), who is on the team now as a backup catcher for us. Jason's biggest fan is Michael and Michael's biggest fan is Jason, and I think they bring out the best in each other."
[...] Continue Reading »

It's a bit of a light year in the Northeast for college pitchers. One of the most exciting draft-eligible arms in the region was on display in Cary, N.C., on Opening Day, so there were about a dozen scouts taking in the 2013 Ron Fraser Classic at the USA Baseball National Training Complex.

Righthander Pat Young from Villanova took the mound against Monmouth to open the season. Young, who stands 6-foot-7 and 208 pounds, gave up three runs on nine hits with a walk and three strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings for a no-decision.

Young sat in the 92-94 mph range and topped out at 95 with some natural sinking action. His 79-81 mph breaking ball is developing right now, but showed signs of becoming an average slider. He only threw a couple changeups during his first outing.
[...] Continue Reading »

RALEIGH — Appalachian State senior Rob Marcello wasn't drafted out of Royal Palm Beach (Fla.) High. He wasn't drafted out of Indian River State (Fla.) JC as a teammate of Padres 2011 first-rounder Cory Spangenberg. And he wasn't drafted as the Mountaineers' Sunday starter last year, after the 6-foot-3, 245-pound lefthander went 6-5, 5.31 with 48 strikeouts and 30 walks over 83 innings.

This year, his role has changed and has boosted his draft stock. Marcello is now in the closer's role, a move that has boosted his fastball into the 91-93 mph range and getting as high as 95.
[...] Continue Reading »

See Also: 2013 HS Games To Watch

The beginning of college baseball season is 111 days before the draft. Those days go quickly for scouting directors and crosscheckers, as they zig-zag across the country trying to see as many key players as possible. With such a limited amount of time before the big day, carefully choosing the best matchup games is important. Here are some of the season’s best college matchups, from a draft perspective, for the 2013 season.

Minnesota at UCLA (Feb. 15)
From a draft perspective, this looks like the best opening day matchup in the country with UCLA righthander Adam Plutko likely facing off against Golden Gophers lefthander Tom Windle.

Stanford at Rice (Feb. 15)
This series has more overall appeal than the one in Westwood. Even with righthander A.J. Vanegas on the shelf after having back surgery, Stanford is loaded with draft talent. This game will feature the top overall draft prospect, righthander Mark Appel (who was born in Houston and has a number of family members who attended Rice) against Rice righthander Austin Kubitza. Kubitza, who went 6-5, 2.69 last season, will have his work cut out for him, as Stanford’s lineup features two first-team All-Americans in outfielder Austin Wilson and first baseman Brian Ragira, along with one of the better college shortstop prospects in Lonnie Kauppila.
[...] Continue Reading »

The final game for this year's Prospect Classic ended in a 6-6 tie, but there were several standout performances. . .

• Oregon State outfielder Michael Conforto went 3-for-4 in the game with a double.

"I'm seeing the ball really well right now, especially against some really good pitchers," Conforto said. "I couldn't ask for a better game today and I'm feeling really good."

Hitting well is nothing new for Conforto, who hit .349/.438/.601 as a freshman last season, while leading the Pacific 12 conference in home runs with 13.

"He's got a great swing and. . . when you drive in 76 runs or whatever it ended up being in the Northwest, that's legit," Oregon head coach and Team USA assistant coach George Horton said. "We're in the same state, so we follow each other closely and those RBIs were clutch RBIs, as well. He hit third against right and lefthanded pitchers and, unfortunately, we're going to have to figure out a way to get him out the next couple years, but it's good to have him in my dugout.

"He's a tremendous player who has a bright future."
[...] Continue Reading »

Three games into the 2012 Prospect Classic and the highlights are still about the Collegiate National Team. Aside from a couple lopsided innings in Game Two, the 18U National Team has held its own in the series, but the college players have stood out the most mostly because of their advanced experience and a crop of preps that scouts feel is down from recent years.

Game Three highlights belonged to infielder Trea Turner (North Carolina State) and righthander Bobby Wahl (Mississippi). Wahl was a known entity in high school and ranked 68th on the Preseason High School Top 100 in 2010—just four spots behind Monday starter Adam Plutko (UCLA). But he had a lackluster spring, admitting that he got caught up in the draft talk, and fell to the 39th round. He honored his commitment to Ole Miss and made 18 appearances (one start). He logged four saves and went 0-2, 4.80 with 26 strikeouts, 11 walks and 33 hits allowed in 30 innings. After his freshman season he went to the Cape Cod League and pitched out of the bullpen for Cotuit and went 1-1, 1.23 in 16 appearances with six saves. In 22 innings, he allowed 15 hits and 11 walks while striking out 38. That summer he learned some valuable lessons and took them back to Ole Miss. [...] Continue Reading »

UPDATED: July 1, 2012 at 4:09 p.m EST.

After the first game of the 2012 Prospect Classic ended in a 2-2 tie, the bats busted out in Game Two, but just for one side. Behind an eight-run second inning the Stars beat the Stripes 15-3 with 16 hits and seven walks. Oral Roberts infielder Jose Trevino led the barrage by going 2-for-3 with six RBIs and two runs scored. He doubled in the top of the second to open the scoring and followed with a grand slam in the fourth to make it 12-0.

Despite the outburst of offense, Arkansas righthander Ryne Stanek was one of the bigger highlights of the night. He pitched 3 2/3 innings, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out four. The only trouble he found was in the second inning when he allowed a leadoff single, got two outs and then loaded the bases with a walk and fielder's choice. But he got Kentucky outfielder Austin Cousino to fly out to end the inning. He cruised through the third inning and was taken out in the fourth with two outs after walking a batter. He had thrown 59 pitches.

"I felt like I competed pretty well," Stanek said. "I threw my fastball for a strike, which is the biggest thing. I was able to throw most everything for a strike. The second inning I ran into a little trouble. I tried to get a little too fine and make too good a pitch instead of just letting them put the ball in play and get a quick out." [...] Continue Reading »

For the second-annual Prospect Classic, USA Baseball decided to mix things up a little bit—literally.

Instead of having two games pitting the College National Team against the 18-and-under hopefuls, the event was expanded to four games—two games with the teams integrated followed by two games in the traditional format.

The first game took place June 29 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park and ended with a 2-2 tie after seven innings. As usual, the pitching was ahead of the hitting—especially the college pitchers—and the most impressive arm was lefthanded starter Marco Gonzales from Gonzaga.

Gonzales has an athletic 6-foot-1, 185-pound frame. He repeats his effortless delivery well, allowing him to fill up the strike zone. Last year at Gonzaga, he went 8-2, 1.55 with 92 strikeouts and 23 walks over 93 innings.

Gonzales gave up one hit over four shutout innings. He didn't allow a walk and stuck out three.
[...] Continue Reading »

Most college aces—such as the righthanders at the top of the BA Top 200 draft prospects list, Stanford's Mark Appel, LSU's Kevin Gausman and San Francisco's Kyle Ziimmer—pitch on Friday nights. To study the hitters in the college class, we decided to take a look at how the college hitters from the Top 200 did during the opening game of a weekend series.

The assumption made in this study is college coaches use their best pitcher on Fridays. Now that’s not always the case, and there are many differences between competition levels and playing environments that factor into the equation, especially with such a small sample size.

Still, it’s interesting to examine and a few of the numbers really stand out. Clemson third baseman Richie Shaffer walked 21 times in the opening game of a weekend series, while Stanford third baseman/outfielder Stephen Piscotty didn’t draw a single walk in those games.

Of Florida catcher Mike Zunino’s 19 hits in the opening game of a weekend series, 61 percent of them went for extra bases. His .310/.354/.603 line on Friday nights looks better than his .255/.336/.509 line in Southeastern Conference play this season. [...] Continue Reading »