Throughout the summer, many players impressed while competing in Cape Cod. With July’s draft behind us, it is now time to turn our attention to the younger players who will be draft eligible for the first time next year. With this piece and my next one, I will delve into draft-eligible players for the 2023 draft that helped improve their stocks most this summer. In this article, I will look at pitchers: Juaron Watts-Brown, Liam Sullivan, Magdiel Cotto, Jay Driver, Hunter Hodges, and Levi Wells.
Juaron Watts-Brown, RHP, Oklahoma State, Falmouth Commodores
Season Line: 3.71 ERA in 34 innings with 45 K and 15 BB
Watts-Brown's strong summer ended with him announcing his transfer from Long Beach State to Oklahoma State and with him climbing to 36 on the 2023 Prospects Live draft board. With him, OKSU gets one of the most intriguing arms from the Cape. The athletic 6-foot-2-inch righty gets good extension when he pitches, lowering his release height. He mixes a fastball, change, slider, and curve. He sets batters up mostly with the fastball that at its best when it has cut-ride action and later in counts increases the usage of his breakers.
The four-seam sits 90/94 but can run up to 95 miles per hour, and with his well-built frame, there is more room for velocity. Against righties, his fastball and slider played extremely well. The slider (81/83) is his best offspeed and can come out as a true gyro or a more traditional slider with cut. When facing righty batters, the issue was how hard his curveball (80/81) got hit; however, as the season went on he added depth to the 12-6 curveball, and the offering got stronger. If the curve can become more effective against righties, that would help round out his arsenal against same-handed hitters. Early in the count against lefties, he effectively adds in his hard change (86/97) that has slightly less vertical action to his fastball but more run, and later in the at-bats, he turns to the curve, which lefties struggled to hit.
Watts-Brown already has a strong mix of pitches with a strong breaker in his slider and a good fastball when he’s getting ride. In order to take the next step, he will need to add consistency to each of his pitch shapes and need to increase where his fastball velocity sits.
Liam Sullivan, LHP, Georgia, Harwich Mariners
Season Line: 2.17 ERA in 29 innings with 45 K and 8 BB
This summer Liam Sullivan’s strikeout numbers (14.0 K/9) more similarly resembled his Freshman season (12.2 K/9) at Georgia when he pitched out of relief and excelled than his Sophomore season (9.4 K/9) where he took a step back as a starter. If he can continue to build on this success while limiting walks as he did this summer (2.5 BB/9), Sullivan who is already ranked 61 should see his name continue to climb the leaderboards.
Early in the counts, the burly 6-foot-4-inch lefty attacks the zone with his fastball (89/92) that gets good carry and plays well in the top of the zone. Sullivan will need to tap into his frame to increase the pitch’s velocity, which may help him limit the damage that righties produce on it. Later in counts, his slider (high-70s-to-low-80s) usage skyrockets especially against lefties who he throws majority sliders in such situations. Against all hitters, the slider with good horizontal break to the glove side produces weak contact and ugly swings. Occasionally he’ll mix in a curveball in the mid-70s with the same horizontal break but more depth than his slider. Against, righties he uses another extremely effective weapon, his low 80s change, that misses a ton of bats when buried.
To best position himself next year, Sullivan will either need to improve his fastball by adding velo or lower its usage, especially against righties. Being tall and having short extension plays against his fastball’s favor so having good breaking balls is vital for the lefty. In regards to the breaking balls, improving the curveball can help give another option against right-handed hitters.
Magdiel Cotto, LHP, Kentucky, Hyannis Harbor Hawks
Season Line: 2.67 ERA in 27 innings with 29 K and 8 BB
Running his fastball up to 97 mph, Cotto had one of the most electric lefty arms this summer. The big 6-foot-4-inch lefty, who throws from a ¾ arm slot, dominated hitters with a three-pitch mix: mid-to-high 90s fastball, mid-80s, gyro slider, and high 80s change with good arm-side run.
In all counts, Cotto leans on the heater that plays best in the top of the zone, but depending on the handedness of the hitter, he became essentially a two-pitch pitcher. Against righties, he works with the fastball and change, and against lefties, he replaces the change with the slider. His pitch mix against righties needs the most work. During the summer, hitters of the opposing hand earned a 1.023 OPS against the fastball. Increasing the slider usage in those situations may lead to improved results. Against lefties, he had no problems holding them to an OPS of .515.
In the latest 2023 draft rankings, Cotto shot up to number 65. To become a more complete starter, he will need to develop the slider against righties, which should take some pressure off the four-seam. He already shows a good ability to pitch in the zone and limit walks, he will just need to take the step to miss more bats, which changing his pitch mix could help.
Jay Driver, RHP, Harvard, Hyannis Harbor Hawks
Season Line: 4.56 ERA in 23.2 innings with 39 K and 9 BB
Though the ERA may not suggest it, Jay Driver really impressed this summer, especially in his three starts he made where he struck out 28 batters in 16.1 innings. The 6-foot-3-inch Ivy Leaguer drops and drives a lot when pitching and releases from a low ¾ arm slot making his fastball (low-to-mid 90s but ran it up to 97 this summer) with some sink and arm-side run devastating on righties. Against righties, he mostly works with fastball and slider (mid-80s with a lot of glove-side run), both of which limit contact and rack-up misses. With lefties, he’s fastball heavy with a more even split between his change (high 80s pitch that kills spin well with arm-side run) and his slider after it.
His biggest issue seems to be how much lefties produce against the fastball (.899 OPS) which he threw nearly 70% of the time. However, lefties only produced a .474 OPS against his slider and change, but at the moment, he does not land the change enough (less than 40% strikes) to increase its usage. He will need to improve the change command so that he can throw fewer fastballs against righties and improve his pitch mix.
Driver checked in at 143 on the list of 2023 eligible players. He already has two strong pitches and his slider was one of the best breakers in the Cape. If he can continue to strike out hitters at an absurd rate like he did as a starter and can make the changes to become more effective against lefties, he will be an early-round pick in next year’s draft.
Hunter Hodges, RHP TCU, Harwich Mariners
Season Line: 2.25 ERA in 12 innings with 21 K and 10 BB
Hunter Hodges improved upon the impressive season he had at UNC Willmington with an excellent Cape showing. The 6-foot-3-inch has always possessed the raw stuff, his curveball was one of the highest spinning breakers this summer, but the command has not always been there. In this short summer, he took a small step in improving his command dropping his BB/9 from 9.7 to 7.5. When he’s in the zone, hitters cannot do anything against him as his .478 OPS against indicates. In all counts, he relies on his wicked, 12-6 breaker (81-84) before anything else. His command of the breaker is sharper than his command of the fastball (89-92) which leads to his pitch usage. With him, TCU is getting a pitcher who sustained a K/9 greater than 15.0 over 42 innings between Wilmington and Harwich this year. The key will be if the new staff can help him continue to lower his walks, and if they do, they will have one of the most effective back-end relievers this year.
Levi Wells, RHP, Texas State, Falmouth Commodores
Season Line: 2.08 ERA in 17.1 innings with 22 K and 8 BB
For Texas State this season, Levi Wells served mostly as a starter, but Falmouth used him in the back of their bullpen this season where he thrived. Since I never saw him start, I am unsure about how his stuff would hold up in longer stints, but in short stints, his pitches had a lot of life. His fastball that sits in the low-to-mid 90s and can run up to 95 miles per hour has a lot of carry and was one of the best fastballs on the Cape. He complements it with two high spin breakers that he uses late in the count: his traditional slider that he mostly throws to righties and his big 12-6 curve that he mostly throws to lefties. The curve is the slightly weaker of the two breakers currently with less command and less misses created. However, with three pitches he throws well already (he also occasionally used a change) and a good frame at 6-foot-2 inches, there are definitely starter qualities in him. He also throws a lot of strikes limiting walks which is another thing working in his favor as a starter. Depending on what he shows this season at Texas State, his future role will further cement itself. If he cannot stick around as a starter, this summer showed he can be a strong reliever for any team.