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August 12, 2016

Notes from the Field

Cape Cod League

by Wilson Karaman

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Austin Bain, RHP, Louisiana State University – Square shoulders, compact, some room to fill out; semi-wind, quick shuffle into high leg kick, stiffness in takeaway; mild stab, steep arm angle to high three-quarter; drop-and-drive, deceleration and drift into stride, inconsistent balance, significant spine tilt, struggles to get downhill consistently with force; fastball 86-89 relatively straight, lacks a ton of plane, below-average command, ball wanders up in the zone; changeup 79-81, solid tumble, late diving action, consistent arm speed, flashes above-average potential; slider 76-78, lacks depth, will roll it, not a ton of bite; struggled with balance and rhythm in the stretch, lots of misses up in the zone; deliberate pace with runners on, holds the ball to try and counter slow stretch delivery, 1.38-1.5.

Ernie Clement, 2B, Virginia – Thin frame, lean throughout, flat backside, room to add some strength, not a frame that’ll hold bulk; quiet setup, tall with slight knee bend, mild bat flair, very short stride, minimal weight transfer, flat bat path with steepness into the zone, swing lacks strength; arms and hands swing, excellent hand-eye, malleable barrel delivery, efficient delivery, makes in-swing adjustments, battles pitches, limited swing-and-miss; plus runner, 4.2 on multiple clean releases, scrambling run style, quick steps; athletic defender, lateral agility, makings of quality solid range at second, soft hands, fluid transfer and release.

Joseph Dunand, 3B, North Carolina State – Big, physical player, present strength, lacks quickness but fluidity in his movements; early rhythm in his setup, toe tap to a controlled, balanced stride lacks explosion, stays upright with some stiffness, doesn’t full engage lower half; notable hand and wrist strength, strong barrel, moderate leverage, generates some bat speed with natural strength, projection for more; looks to extend, beaten a couple times to inner-third; 4.7 turn, long strides with some lumber, fringe-average present tool should play more to below-average at maturity; smooth fielding motion, soft hands, didn’t show a great first step; plenty of arm strength for third.

Nick Dunn, 2B, Maryland – Compact frame, moderate physical projection remaining; crouched stance, quiet setup, minimal load, still hands; mild leg lift, moderate stride, hips leak when he’s looking pull; direct bat path, simple swing mechanics, repeatable; strong wrists, feel for the barrel, quality bat-to-ball skills; tracks well, works counts, hangs in left-on-left, solid hit tool with some gap power; 4.4 on a slow-down check, foot speed looks fringe-average; poor defensive profile at second, struggles with game speed, choppy start-up, poor lateral range going left, tendency to rush throws, short arm, ball sails, showed some footwork working the turn.

A.J. Graffanino, SS, Univesity of Washington – Same build as his old man, projection for moderately more size and strength; sloped shoulders, balanced weight distribution; patient approach, sees pitches, lays off quality strikes; easy swing, drifting two-piece hand load, back elbow will drift up, minimal leg lift, limited weight transfer, some drag into the zone, steep, negligible leverage, contact swing with 20 power utility; keeps hands in, controls the barrel, spoils pitches, at-bats are a battle; 4.4 on a tight turn, smooth runner, short strides, doesn’t take aggressive leads; fluid field and transfer to start a 6-4-3, moves well in space, natural shortstop actions, fundamentally sound; solid-average arm, accurate throws hold line.

Landon Hughes, RHP, Georgia Southern – Tall and lean, long legs with ample room to add muscle and strength, highly projectable frame; all stretch, high, athletic leg kick, lacks torque, drop and drive; long arm circle, fluid, clean action to three-quarter slot, will drift south; long stride, mild spine tilt, some effort, mild head whack; clean strike, fluid over his front side, mild recoil; fastball 85-89, late life, some sink, mild arm-side run, projectable velocity, plus potential if the velo gets there; tight slider 76-79, quality bite, two-plane action, swing-and-miss pitch, takes it out of the zone, swing-and-miss potential; quality relief prospect.

Kel Johnson, RF, Georgia Tech – Large, muscular frame, strong hands and forearms, some bulk, projection for additional strength through maturity; wide stance, rigidity to his movements, short stride, moderate coil, aggressive weight transfer; quiet setup, mild load, quick trigger, hips start early, above-average bat speed; leveraged swing, plane to drive the ball; aggressive approach, swing will get out of control and loopy into the zone, struggled to cover inner third against 50 velocity; 4.38 on a clean break, below-average projected run; showed average arm strength from right, played down in throw execution, circled ball with long transfer.

Pavin Smith, 1B, Virginia – Tall, long body with present strength, projectable, frame can wear additional good weight; wide stance, stiff setup, moderate load, toe tap, no stride; mild arm bar, tips the bat head, length into the zone, leveraged swing to pull side, hips open, looks to turn on the ball with authority; quality approach, advanced pitch recognition, shows command of the zone, willing to work into at-bats; DH-only in viewing.

Will Toffey, 3B, Vanderbilt – Big, athletic frame, square shoulders; quiet setup, mild waggle, square stance, hands tucked off back shoulder; deep load, hands drift; big leg kick with aggressive stride, some stiffness, foot gets down early, locks him in, extreme leverage, swings uphill, hips have good power but will rotate late, struggled to catch velo in this look; advanced command of the zone, passive in a couple hitters’ counts; agile, moves well for his size, quick breaks with second gear, efficient running motion, aggressive runner, fringe-average speed but tool has some utility; moves well at third, quality range, good concentration navigating a shattered bat, some stab, not the most fluid field-and-transfer guy; plus arm strength, good zip and line.

Quick Hits

Nick Feight (C, UNC-Wilmington) has a prototypical catchers’ frame with present strength and quality pitch recognition at the dish. The bat has some length and drag, with a hitch that takes the barrel away and caused problems against velocity. But he tracked and squared a couple benders, showing off some playable power with a leveraged swing. There’s solid arm strength, but he’s noisy behind the plate, and the catch-and-throw is on the slower side…Pat Vanderslice (RHP, St. Joseph’s) sat high-80’s with a boring fastball and a slurvy hook that he toggled between 77-81. He leaned heavily on the bender and commanded it decently down in the zone…Antoine Duplantis (CF, LSU) can go get it in center. He got multiple excellent breaks on balls to the gap and showed off quality track-and-close ability. He worked counts and showed as a pesky at-bat, as well…Austin Filiere (LF, MIT) has some pop and patience to go along with his brains. It’s a stiff swing, and the back shoulder showed a tendency to drop down in the quest for leverage, but he attacks the baseball out front and generates plenty of plane to loft the ball to his pull side…Ryan Gridley (MI, Mississippi State) brought a much more aggressive approach to the Cape than I’d seen earlier in the spring. He struggled with his mechanics in both games, losing is back side and generating off-barrel contact. His run times were also down a grade, indicating he may well have been cooked after a long season.

Wilson Karaman is an author of Baseball Prospectus. 
Click here to see Wilson's other articles. You can contact Wilson by clicking here

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