The ACC is one of the premier leagues in college baseball, going toe to toe yearly with the SEC for the top conference in the country. This year is no different, and as per usual, the Triangle boasts a ton of talent within the Raleigh-Durham metropolitan area. Not to forget the uptick in talent the state is seeing on the prep side, too.
This week’s Deep Drives installment features a shorter list than last week, but it’s still ripe with talent. Both Duke and NC State will have a featured player, as well as one of the top prep bats in the country in UNC commit Walker Jenkins. Let’s get started.
LHP Jonathan Santucci, Duke
Santucci was a hot commodity as a two-way player in the 2021 draft cycle, though he ultimately found his way to Duke. While he’s still hitting at times, the future for Santucci is likely on the mound and has gotten off to a hot start as the Friday night guy for the Blue Devils.
The first thing that catches your eye watching Santucci is not the stuff, but rather the delivery. The ease of operation stands out, showcasing solid athleticism and a very repeatable delivery with a clean arm stroke. There’s not many moving parts, as well. There’s enough room to suggest that Santucci will add muscle to his frame and with that, extra velocity should come along, too.
Santucci’s first inning was rather spectacular, blowing fastballs by Baylor hitters who seemed unprepared. Out of the nine pitches he threw, he had five whiffs and threw just one ball. While Baylor played some small ball in the second inning to scratch a run across, Santucci’s fastball/slider combination held Baylor’s lineup to just two more hits after the second inning, finishing his day with nine strikeouts and just one walk through five innings.
The fastball in the first inning was sitting at 93-95 MPH before settling in at 91-94 MPH the rest of the five inning outing. There’s a solid mix of ride and run to his fastball and he’s able to command it across the zone with ease, rarely missing the zone. As the outing went on, he became more reliant on a slider in the 80-84 MPH range that showcased solid depth and some two-plane break. The pitch was tough on lefties and righties alike and he was able to garner some ugly swings as a result. The raw spin profile itself doesn’t stand out, but he was able to consistently locate the pitch down, flashing above-average at times. He has a change-up in his arsenal, though he did not use it in-game. It was flashed in warm-ups only.
Overall, Santucci accrued eighteen whiffs across his outing, ten on the fastball and eight on the slider. There’s a lot to like with his profile and he’s a starter long term, given the easy operation and great command of his arsenal. It’s pretty easy to imagine his name being called in the first round once we get to the draft next summer.
INF Lujames “gino” groover, nc state
A former UNC-Charlotte transfer, all LuJames Groover has done since getting to campus is hit. Coming off a 2022 campaign where he slashed .364/.440/.568, he’s admittedly gotten off to a slow start at the plate, only recording five hits in twenty-two at-bats prior to Sunday’s tilt against Belmont. Despite the slow start, he’s still the same old Groover.
Nothing has really changed with his stance at the plate. He employs a small leg kick to trigger his operation and everything is pretty quiet throughout his swing. The swing is short to the ball and rather compact, giving Groover the opportunity to generate a high contact percent and sport good coverage of the zone. To start the year, he’s managed to put the ball in play a decent amount, though he’s not had much luck in finding grass. He’s also minimized strikeouts, recording just two on the year to that point.
His contact to start the day was relatively weak, resulting in ground-balls that never left the infield. That changed once the game reached the sixth inning, blistering a double down the left field line after working a solid at-bat. One of the key things for Groover in 2023 was to begin generating more power and he’s shown it early on. The following at-bat was a screaming line drive that was hit directly to the centerfielder, and the encouraging news is that there’s been a few more instances of him scorching baseballs to start the year. Most of his power plays to the pull-side presently, though once he gets going, there may be more power to the gaps.
Defensively, Groover is now at third base, a position that’s still relatively new to him. He began playing there over the summer, practicing with Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco during warm-ups in CNT trials. You can tell that he’s still making the adjustment, and while it was just one game, he did flash the leather at the hot corner and looked solid. He made a tough play on a screaming grounder to his left and made a solid throw to get the runner, as well as a couple more plays. I’m not here to make a judgment call on how his defense projects based on one game though and there will be more looks at his defense before the season is done with.
As of the writing of this article, it seems as if he has found his groove and began racking up hits, which is encouraging to see. ACC play will start in a week and scouts will be looking for the improvements to continue. He’s likely a Day 1 fit come July with an outside chance at reaching first round conversations if all goes well.
OF Walker Jenkins, South Brunswick HS
Walker Jenkins is one of the more prominent bats on the prep side, battling with Indiana OF Max Clark for the top rank for the past year or so. However, Jenkins suffered a hamate injury at PDP and subsequently missed a chunk of his summer before coming back and showing off the tools at Perfect Game’s All-American Game.
Wednesday was Jenkins’ season opener and thus, the two hour drive from Raleigh to Wilmington commenced. Scouts have described Jenkins as “what they look like” and boy, does he look the part. His 6’4”, 215 frame is lean and there’s still room to add muscle to his body. It’s a wide, slightly open stance at the plate, working to keep his front hip closed and swing through the ball.
What stands out immediately with his swing is the bat speed and separation that he’s able to generate between his hips and shoulders. There’s plenty of barrel lag through the zone and he’s able to drive the ball to all fields, utilizing the gaps with his power. He’s able to make solid adjustments to off-speed pitches and shows patience at the plate. His night consisted of two walks, one intentional, the double shown above, as well as a 4-3 ground-out in his final at-bat. Another aspect to Jenkins’ game is his speed. On the aforementioned ground-out, Jenkins recorded a 4.10 home-to-first time, which sits comfortably in the above-average to plus range for a left-handed bat.
In the field, he manned center field but got no opportunities, apart from some pre-game throws. Through previous looks, he’s shown off the speed and route-running to play well in center field, though he’s likely suited more for right field once he’s fully matured physically, where his strong arm will play nicely. Either way you look at it, Jenkins has serious potential in the bat for both average and power and fits nicely as a top ten selection if he continues to perform this spring.