What a beautiful weekend it was for college baseball. The College Park Regional did not disappoint. The #15 Maryland Terrapins were the host with UCONN, Wake Forest, and Long Island rounding out the four teams. It came down to game seven to decide the winner. UCONN barely ousted the hosting Terrapins 11-8 in the final game to punch their ticket to the NCAA Super Regional in Stanford. I had the fortunate opportunity to get some live looks in game 1 (Wake Forest vs. UCONN), game 4 (Maryland vs. UCONN), and game 5 (Maryland vs. Wake Forest).
The regional was also stocked full of potential MLB Draft prospects for both 2022 and 2023. Although there were some talented bats, starting pitching was where it was at. Some fun arms had great performances against some hit octane offenses throughout the regional.
2022 MLB Draft
Austin Peterson, RHP - University of Connecticut
Final Line: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 11 K
There were a lot of talented pitchers in this NCAA Regional but no one impressed me more than UCONN’s Austin Peterson. He may not have the electric stuff of, say, a Teddy McGraw of wake forest, but he carries a good mix of average to above-average pitches to give him a solid floor. With UCONN losing Reggie Crawford before the season started, Peterson stepped up to be the ace of the staff. He struck out the side in the first inning, but his command wavered a bit which led him to giving up an early run. In the post-game press conference, Peterson even admitted that he lacked command in the first. “That first inning I was just walking guys,” Peterson said. “That’s just not something I usually do a lot of”. He bounced back quickly after that striking out a total of seven in 3 innings pitched. His command was far from an issue after this. He walked a couple of others later in the game, but the umpire had an extremely tight strike zone and they probably should’ve gone for strikeouts.
The one thing that impressed me the most about Peterson was his mound presence. The 6’6, 240lb Senior wants the ball and pitches with confidence. He is confident with his stuff and ability to throw his pitch when he wants to. He stays focused and isn’t afraid to let out the appropriate amount of emotion when he gets fired up. His tall, large frame allows him to be a physical presence out there as well. Peterson came after the offensive-heavy Demon Deacons lineup with lots of changeups to keep them off balance so they couldn’t lock in on his low-90s fastball. The changeup looked about average and helped make his fastball look better. The development of his mid-80s changeup will help enhance his fastball and give him a solid third pitch to go with his plus slider. His slider swept across the zone and he could easily go to it to get swings and misses when he needed them. He has plus command and a good feel for all of his pitches. He’s able to work the fastball in all quadrants of the zone and was really working it inside on hitters in this one. Peterson has a good shot to go on day 2 of the MLB Draft. Definitely a more solid floor than ceiling pick.
Nick Dean, RHP - University of Maryland
Final Line: 5.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
This was my second time seeing Nick Dean this year and not too much has changed. I have been somewhat hot and cold on Dean. When his command is on and his changeup is flashing like a plus pitch, he can be really filthy. The changeup is deceptive, sits in the low-80s and he is able to maintain arm speed while throwing it. When it is on, it helps keep hitters off his fringe-average sinker that sits 90-91 and tends to dip down into the high-80s a bit. The best part about his changeup is that he is confident enough in his command of it to throw it in any count. He’s able to work it in all parts of the zone and commands it really well. He has a third pitch breaking ball that lacks some bit and is more of a get-me-over pitch to righties. His command carries him, but when he loses it he has a tendency to get hit extremely hard. He kept in check for most of this game but started to lose it in the sixth. The positive about Dean is he keeps his poise on the mound. When he gets into trouble he does a good job of minimizing the damage. Dean is likely a guy to go on Day 3 of the MLB Draft. His lack of velocity and a true average third pitch will have him pegged down a bit on draft day, but there is some room for development and to grow.
Pat Gallagher, RHP - University of Connecticut
Final Line: 7 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Command command command. Pat Gallagher just pounds the strike zone. The third-year sophomore is draft-eligible this year, but doesn’t carry any large standout tools. He has a simple delivery on the mound and repeats it with ease. He worked fast and wasn’t afraid to attack hitters with what he had. He is far from overpowering with his fastball which sits 87-91 but he can command it in all four quadrants of the zone. He was painting down and away on both righties and lefties and wasn’t afraid to elevate it when he needed to.
Gallagher worked away to righties with his slider that sat 79-81 mph. Based on the loopiness of the break it seemed like it was caught somewhere between a curveball and slider. He has above-average command with the pitch, but it needs some more refinement to generate more swing and misses. He flashed his changeup once in a while, mostly against lefties. Velocity sat around 82-83 mph. The pitch is fringe-average and used more to develop soft contact rather than generate swing and miss. Gallagher doesn’t have anything too exciting in his repertoire but has fringe-average to major-league average stuff that might have a team selecting him on day 3. There is a chance he could return to UCONN for a fourth season.
2023 MLB Draft
Teddy McGraw, RHP - Wake Forest
Final Line: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
Electric stuff sums up Teddy McGraw. He was able to hold the high-powered Maryland lineup at bay all day in game 5.
“Teddy McGraw is really really good. Guys are hitting .205 off of him this year,” said Maryland Head Coach Chris Vaughn in the post game press conference. “The only way you score off of Teddy McGraw is when he walks people and gets behind people.” The words of Coach Vaughn rang true for the most part. McGraw got burned a couple of times by Maxwell Costes, hanging a slider over the middle of the plate who took him deep for a two-run home run.
McGraw’s fastball with sinking action was consistently 93-95mph with armside run. It’s easy velocity for McGraw and it explodes out of his hand. He isn’t afraid to work it up in the zone to hitters and will try to put them away up in the zone. His mid-to-upper-80s changeup keeps hitters off balance. It has a good fade to it and the pitch has some promise to give him a solid pitch mix. His command waivers with it sometimes. His low-to-mid-80s slider is where it is at in terms of his offspeed. It’s nasty and finishes off hitters. It has great depth to it and he throws it with good velocity. He would elevate the fastball or hit them with the slider away to get his strikeouts. McGraw has the makeup to be one of the best pitching prospects in college baseball next year. If he can make significant developments in his command, he will make his case to be the best pitching prospect in college.
Rhett Lowder, RHP - Wake Forest
Final Line: 6.1 IP, 10 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
Lowder was named the 2022 ACC Pitcher of the Year and a finalist for 2022 NCAA Pitcher of the Year. It wasn’t hard to see why. Despite the ten hits and seven earned runs, Lowder still flashed plus stuff across the board. Lowder looked phenomenal through the first four innings, but started to lose his command in the fifth and was leaving pitches over the heart of the plate to the UCONN Huskies offense. Just like Austin Peterson, Lowder was getting squeezed with a tight strike zone that you could see was frustrating him on the mound. The walks and errors behind him also hurt.
The good news is he maintained his velocity on his fastball with arm side run even late into the game. He sat around 92-94 mph all game. Changeup was a legitimate weapon. It had some late sink to it and he was throwing it anywhere from 82mph to 87mph at the tops. It was his go-to pitch and he could throw it with confidence in any count. He wasn’t afraid to pitch backwards and start hitters with a changeup. He possesses a third pitch in his low-80s slider. The pitch dropped down to 79 once in a while but it was rare. It has sweeping action across the zone and is an average pitch that helps give him a solid three-pitch mix. Solid feel for pitching and he is confident in his stuff. Holds up under pressure for the most part even though he showed some frustration with the tight strike zone. He isn’t eligible for the draft until 2023. Between him and Teddy McGraw, Wake Forest could have the potential to have two arms get selected high in the MLB Draft.
Jason Savacool, RHP - University of Maryland
Final Line: 6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
It was COOL to see Savacool pitch. I promise that is the only terrible joke in my live looks. The sophomore who will be draft-eligible in 2023 surpassed Nick Dean to be the number two guy on staff. With the potential for both his teammates Ryan Ramsey and Nick Dean to be drafted, there is a chance that Savacool ends up the ace on next year's staff. Of course, there is the potential for both to return. Savacool struggled early in this one, leaving two low-90s fastballs over the plate that led to two solo shots in the first. After that, Savacool buckled down and settled in. He has two fastballs that both tend to sit in the low-90s. He has a little bit more velocity with his four seamer and also possessed a two-seam sinker that was more 89-91 mph. He works it at the bottom of the zone and has average command of both. His control is above-average but his command is what led to the two solo shots. He showed off a slider that was around 82-84 mph that he worked away from the right handed heavy UCONN lineup. On the opposite side he worked a 83-85 mph changeup that has more splitter action to it. He also apparently has a curveball that sits in the high-70s but I didn’t see it at all in this one. His five-pitch mix makes him an extremely interesting prospect for the 2023 MLB Draft.