Well, I was hoping to get these out in a weekly manner. Ultimately, I got burnt out mentally from work, school, and other personal things ongoing. With that said, the wait is now over from me.
April featured quite a few solid college series in the area, as well as the return of NHSI and the stretch run for local high school teams. The likes of Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech made their way to the Triangle, both of whom deploy potential top of the first round players in Gavin Cross and Kevin Parada, but it’s more than just those two guys. I’ll include the latter days of NHSI looks in this piece, as well as some double-up’s on college guys already featured in previous looks. Let’s dive in.
College
OF Gavin Cross, Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech’s lineup is chock-full of big-time bats, including the aforementioned Cross, who has overcome an early season injury to be a prominent prospect at the top of that lineup.
Cross is a pretty well-rounded prospect. He’s done a great job of cutting down on the strikeouts and has one of the better hit tools in this class with burgeoning power. The power plays to all fields and projects to be plus at the next level, with one of his home runs against UNC being practically flicked over the wall. He’s manned centerfield quite a bit this spring, with good routes to the ball and solid defense, though I wouldn’t be shocked if he gets moved to right field. He’s got a cannon of a right arm that would play well over there. At this point, it’s hard to envision Cross not being selected within the top fifteen picks come July.
C Kevin Parada, Georgia Tech
I am not entirely sure I have ever seen such a dominate college bat like Parada. He didn’t necessarily wow me with his performance in the NC State series, but it took just one game against UNC to blow me away.
Parada started off banging a hanging change-up from Max Carlson to the opposite field with ease, before doing his best Giancarlo Stanton impersonation with a rocket that didn’t get more than twenty feet off the ground and nearly got out to centerfield. The encore, mashing a hanging slider to the opposite field again. Parada’s bat is a 60 hit/60 power weapon of destruction, and the raw power could easily be 70 grade, as well. He’s got more home runs than strikeouts on the year so far, which is pretty unprecedented to see in this day of age. While there’s some questions about his defense behind the plate, it’ll be tough for any team to not include him in their lineup. Could he work at first base? Or, maybe even third? There’s a lot to dissect there, but either way you dice it up, Parada likely slots himself somewhere in the top five in this draft.
RHP Thomas Harrington, Campbell
If there’s one strength to an underwhelming college pitching demographic, it’s the mid-major arms. Harrington is amongst that list of arms and in my honest opinion, there’s a solid chance that Harrington could sneak his way into the back-end of the first round.
It’s a solid base for any development team. Harrington started his outing against Longwood locating his fastball east/west with precision, holding 92-95 MPH with run throughout the outing before sitting 91-94 MPH in his final frame. The slider was the main star of the show for him, with consistent two-plane movement and garnering whiffs in the 82-86 MPH range, flashing plus in the process. His high-70’s curveball has solid shape and bite, and while the mid-80’s change-up was inconsistent early, he found it halfway through the outing and did a good job keeping hitters off-balance with it late. He’s got great pitchability and plus control of the baseball, throwing 75% of his pitches for strikes throughout the outing. It’s a projectable frame and body, as well. Harrington has certainly made himself some money this spring with his performance.
SS Zach Neto, Campbell
Harrington’s teammate, Neto also has first round aspirations. It’s a wonky swing, but it’s a profile with tantalizing tools at his dispostal.
There’s a lot going on with him at the plate. He’s undersized for the swing that he has, with his knee coming up to his chest and lots of swaying in his load, though he eases that out in his two-strike approach. It’s a solid hit tool and he makes it all work, plus he’s got plenty of raw power. The raw power has yet to fully translate in game, but that’ll come with time. There’s a good likelihood he’ll have to change his mechanics once in pro ball, as the current setup may not work against higher velocity. In the field, he’s got plenty of confidence and range at shortstop, making a couple of tough plays for Harrington, though the arm presently lags behind slightly. There’s a pretty good chance that he’ll be taken somewhere in the late first round.
Other note-worthy college players: OF Jack Hurley, Virginia Tech; SS Tanner Schobel, Virginia Tech; INF Andrew Jenkins, Georgia Tech; 2B Johnny Castagnozzi, UNC
High School
LHP Jackson Humphries, Fuquay-Varina HS (NC)
Humphries is a helium arm, popping up after a very impressive showing at PBR’s Super 60 event in the winter. Committed to Campbell, he’s an arm that’s worth watching this spring.
He’s touched 95-96 MPH in the past, but in this outing, he was primarily 89-92 MPH, bumping 94 in the first. Fastball command was solid at first, but became erratic as the outing went on. His calling cards were his breaking balls, a slider and curveball with distinct shapes to them. The slider was his primary off-speed, sitting 82-85 MPH with serious late bite and sweep. It has the potential to be a wipeout pitch with backfoot abilities. The curveball had 1/7 shape in the high-70’s with solid bite, though it was sparsely used. He’s got a change-up, but there was no usage of it in the outing. He’s definitely a project arm, but there’s good upside there if someone can allow him to throw the fastball for more strikes and tap into his mid-90’s velocity. Keep an eye on him as a early Day 2 pick.
RHP Jake Clemente, Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS (FL)
Clemente is another helium arm who has added some velocity to his fastball this spring. Helping MSD on their way to an NHSI title, Clemente pitched a complete game gem against reigning three-peat champions, Orange Lutheran.
He was more of a low-90’s pitcher last summer on the showcase circuit, but he came out 93-96 MPH with heavy, boring action and commanded it well east/west in the zone. It was his calling card of the outing and it was very tough to square up. While the fastball velocity has gone up, the secondaries do lag behind. The slider felt like more of a “get-me-over” pitch with little bite in the low-80’s and the change-up was a high-80’s offering with some slight fade. There’s room for improvement on that front and he’ll be an interesting sign, given his commitment to Florida.
RHP Seth Keller, Hanover HS (VA)
Keller is teammates with highly regarded southpaw Levi Huesman. He was one of my picks to click at the NHSI tournament and at the end of the week, he walked away from the tournament with a robust .750 average and the NHSI strikeout record.
Keller struck out sixteen batters, which tops the previous record held by current St. Louis Cardinal Jack Flaherty. The fastball has some zip to it, holding 91-93 MPH and touching 95 MPH late. The slider has solid biting action to it and Keller did a great job of utilizing the pitch, which sits in the low-80’s. He’s got confidence in a low-spin splitter as well. There is some violence to his delivery, particularly at release, but he makes it work. Not to mention, he’s got a very solid bat and glove, as well. He’s an Old Dominion commit that has risen up draft boards after this performance.
SS Mikey Romero, Orange Lutheran (CA)
Romero is one of the more polished prep bats in this class. While the hits didn’t pile up throughout the week, Romero showed enough to leave a good impression on scouts.
Romero has one of the better bat-to-ball skills in this class, though the power certainly lags behind presently. He showcased good power gap-to-gap, though that will likely get better as he starts to translate it more in-game. He’ll expand the zone often and utilize the entire field at the plate. In the field, he’s got the tools to stick at shortstop. He’s got smooth hands and a great internal clock, with excellent footwork as well. There’s a very good chance he can be a late first round pick with how polished of a player he is.
Other note-worthy high school players: OF Gavin Turley, Hamilton HS (AZ); SS Roch Cholowsky, Hamilton HS (AZ); OF Roman Anthony, Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS (FL); SS Dallas Macias, Regis Jesuit HS (CO); INF Jacob Reimer, Yucaipa HS (CA); LHP Christian Arroyo, Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS (FL); OF Mason Neville, Basic Academy (NV)