RHP Alonzo Tredwell, UCLA (No.36 on T400)
No.7 UCLA’s Saturday starter and RHP Alonzo Tredwell took the ball against fellow PAC 12 foe Arizona, a lineup that packs a punch. The righty showed off his appeal early, a frame with good proportions and room to add weight and strength while still maintaining athleticism. His mechanics are simple and repeatable and allows him to command his fastball and other pitches well.
He worked through an extremely quick 1-2-3 first inning that ended with a strikeout of Arizona slugger Chase Davis. He worked the fastball effectively east to west and elevated a few times for swings and misses, and the fastball sat consistently 91-92. Although he doesn’t currently overwhelm with velo, he’s consistent and it has some late life that allows nets tardy swings, and the command helps it play up.
In total he flashed a 4 pitch mix, adding a slider that had solid depth and lived down in the zone, he frequently started it at the knees and broke it down and away from RHB’s. His most used secondary was a high 70’s 11-5 curveball, that was effective at times and showed the ability to freeze hitters, but also was used more to steal strikes when possible, as it caught more plate than the slider. He also flashed a changeup that had some arm side run but lacked consistency and really only threw a handful to Lefties.
After two strong innings, it fell apart in the third. He struggled to command the secondary pitches, having to over rely on a fastball that doesn’t play well as a pitch being thrown more than 40% of the time do to a rather flat path to the plate, struggling with deep counts and walks, he was chased after allowing a 3-run homer followed by another single.
All things considered, it was a rough outing but could have been worse, he cruised through the first two but will need to throw more strikes with the offspeed in order for the fastball to be effective, his present value isn’t overwhelming but there is a lot to project on.
OF Chase Davis, Arizona (No.72 on T400)
Arizona’s slugging outfielder showed off a wide array of tools, but also displayed some concerns to keep an eye out for. Davis went 1-5 on the day, but may have had some bad luck on batted balls. He smoked a pair of line drives, one of them ended up caught by the lone infielder on the left side but the other was a base hit to LCF.
The swing is a loose and comfortable rhythm, the hands have the ability to be compact through the zone and he allowed the ball to get deep enough to go the other way with authority. UCLA other teams continue to play him to pull excessively, so the ability to go the other way with quality contact is key for him and will make him harder to pitch to, allowing him to tap into the raw power even more.
There are concerns with swing and miss, and there is a decent amount as he swung and missed twice in his first at bat alone going down chasing a fastball elevated, but his K% to start the season is down roughly 7% since last season which is a great sign.
Defensively is a corner outfielder, didn’t have many opportunities but misplayed a bloop single and allowed it to get to the wall, only to end up showing off a ++ arm throwing a seed from the wall to third base on a line to hold the runner at second. All things said, the performance showed adequate amounts of both promise and concern, but he’s off to a great start to the season and has the raw tools to be a strong corner outfielder.
