Slade Cecconi

The 6-foot-4 Miami commit has proven to be one of the biggest enigmas in the 2018 draft class for major league teams this spring. After several loud performances last summer at Perfect Game's National Showcase and in USA Baseball's Tournament of Stars, Cecconi was thought by many scouts to be in the top tier of elite prep pitchers. He was up to 97 mph with a fastball that had power and natural heavy sinking action, a mid-80s slider with tight sweeping action that could be projected as a plus offering, a curveball with 11-to-5 shape in the 76-80 mph range and feel to mix in a changeup as well. With a fast, albeit slightly long, arm action, a frame that could add even more weight, an advanced mix of pitches and feel to spin the baseball, Cecconi showed all of the ingredients necessary to become a future top-of-the-rotation arm. Cecconi hasn't been seen much this spring, however, as he dealt with a minor injury for much of the early weeks and was rumored to make his first start at USA Baseball's National High School Invitational--though he didn't pitch at that event, either. He's thrown some bullpens for scouts later in the season, but teams have less off-the-field information on him than they would like after dealing with obstacles when trying to reach him in the offseason. Considering his odd spring and offseason, he might be ticketed to Coral Gables, where he could wind up being one of the best pitchers in college baseball and turn himself into a high-end first-round pick as a draft-eligible sophomore in 2020.