The University of Florida filled with an electric rotation and big bats came into Knoxville this past weekend to take on a talented Tennessee team for a big conference weekend. To put this weekend in perspective, there are FOURTEEN players combined on either roster that is listed in our 2023 MLB Draft top 400 list. Lindsey Nelson Stadium was borderline a historic place to be Thursday night. I had the pleasure of seeing one of the most talented arms in the 2023 draft class in Chase Dollander face off against another immense talent in Brandon Sproat. Even though I was excited about these two elite arms throwing, the bats stole the show Thursday night producing 15 hits between the two teams.
Prospects Live #3 Chase Dollander, Tennessee
For Chase Dollander, some things never change. He came out throwing electric fastballs with high velocities working the middle to upper portion of the plate ranging from 94-97 MPH. To anyone who knows college baseball, the velocity was no surprise. Recently it seems as though his fastball has played down a tad not creating the amount of whiffs he has wanted, but this past weekend it seemed to have a little more life and the numbers back that up.
Dollander threw 70% strikes with the fastball and created 18 total swings and misses. Nine of those misses were above the strike zone and only three fastballs were put into play. The fastball only gave up one hit which was a homerun while the other two contacts were flyouts. The shape of the fastball looked better with good late carry through the zone. The increased whiffs and chases produced could mean Dollander is starting to regain the fastball. Dollander’s hard slider worked in the 87-91 MPH range and worked glove side exclusively. Historically his slider has been a plus offering, but Thursday it seemed to be the pitch he struggled with the most as he had some inconsistency with landing and creating the tight sweep we are used to seeing.
The curveball showed well at 75-77 with good depth at times and creating some out-in-front/ roll-over swings. Two of the curveballs ended up too far in for lefties and produced a single and a double that ultimately put Dollander in trouble. The changeup was stiff and did not show enough difference in pace to create whiffs but it did create some weak contact. Dollander was pulled in the 5th after giving up three runs, three walks, and striking out seven.
The talent is undeniable and hopefully, we will see Dollander back in dominating form soon.
Prospects Live #38 Brandon Sproat, Florida
Sproat was fun to watch, and because of pure stuff, his upside is promising. The command was at times erratic and created four walks, but the righty ended the day with nine K’s while working some tough at-bats against a majority lefty lineup.
Sproat worked from a three-quarters slot with a heavy 92-96 MPH fastball touching some 7’s and 8’s. The fastball showed the ability to sink/run that could front hip a lefty or bore in on an RHH fist. The pitch did give up hits when left over the middle of the plate, especially to lefties which are typical from an arm slot like Sproat’s. Thursday both the slider/cutter and changeup proved as good offerings grabbing six swings and misses each and weak out-of-zone contact. Sproat tunneled the slider/cut at 85-89 MPH very well and showed the ability to add or subtract velocity and sweep all while being fairly consistent with his misses.
The changeup was Sproat’s weapon of choice against lefties at 84-89 and showed true potential with above-average depth and occasional arm side fade. A couple of the harder changeups got lifted but had just enough velocity difference to get to the end of the bat for soft contact. Sproat’s curveball (77-82) started off sharp and as the innings progressed began to lose deception. Early on this pitch provided a good separation in velocity from his other off-speed offerings and created some big swinging foul tips. In the later innings, the pitch stayed up and arm side or down with no chases.
Overall, Sproat showed good stuff and flashes the feel for all three of his off-speed pitches. The fastball has to be able to work corners and work lower in the zone to induce ground balls. This will give him the ability to mix in his well-tunneled slider/cutter and change up all while he continues to develop consistency with the curveball.
Prospects Live 2024, #44 Blake Burke, Tennessee
Going into Thursday I knew Blake Burke would put on a show during BP and most likely put up some high exit velocities in the game. The BP session did not disappoint, and Burke put a charge into two baseballs in game one. We also know Burke loves doing damage on fastballs left over the heart of the plate and usually does not have any swing-and-miss issues with fastballs, this proved to be true Thursday night.
Burke went 2-4 with a walk and one strikeout Thursday night. He only had one swing and miss on an elevated fastball from Florida’s LHP Phillip Abner. He controlled 4 out of 5 of his ABs and showed good zone awareness against some tough pitches against top prospect Sproat. In the 2nd inning, Burke took a low and away fastball from Sproat to center field hitting off the batter’s eye and giving him his 11th home run on the season. There were a couple of front-foot swings he took against off-speed pitches that he still managed to get the bat on, one being a 105 MPH double in the gap and the other being a ground out to SS.
Overall Burke had an impressive day and shows good ability to lay off pitches out of the zone, but may use some refinement on giving into weak contact on in-zone off-speed pitches. The power is undeniable and has cemented himself as a top bat in the 2024 class.
Prospects live #373, Philip Abner, Florida
After Florida pulled Sproat the Gators brought in lefty Philip Abner to hold Tennessee at bay. I was very impressed with Abner and his pitch ability. At first look, he seemed like a stock lefty with average pitch metrics. The fastball sat 90-92 and the breaking ball was 78-83, so at most, I was expecting some ground ball outs with some borderline fastballs called for strikes. After seeing some whiffs and out-of-character swings from the Tennessee line up I went down to get a closer look.
Abner’s operation was a tight compact leg lift that worked with good pace down the mound showing good arm speed. The fastball was deceptive, held plane well, and played a couple of MPH higher which cause some awkward, up in the zone chases. He made lefties expand the zone with his slider that worked around 2600 - 2700 RPM which showed late hard bite. He dotted glove-side sliders and back-footed some right-hand hitters that caused some silly swings. Thursday night he threw strikes, only had one barrel hit off of him, and brought good energy to the mound that controlled the moment. He ended the day with 2.1 innings pitched, 6 strikeouts, and 0 walks. The fastball brought 6 swings and misses on 9 offers while the breaking ball got 10 chases on the day.
During the game, I was impressed, but after going back over notes I am even more impressed. This is a lefty with the ability to pitch competitively with deception and creates uncomfortable at-bats on lefties. The velocity could tick up to grab some more attention but everything else is there.
Honerable Mentions
Maui Ahuna #62 on our 2023 MLB Draft board overall had a decent showing Thursday. When watching Ahuna’s BP I was surprised by the raw pop he showed when he was able to work the middle to pull side. The barrels felt a tad inconsistent with some forced oppo swings causing some lazy fly balls, but when barreled, showed some unexpected juice. In game, Ahuna showed the ability to stay on pitches when recognized and drove a low and away fastball to deep left field and also took an elevated slider over shortstop for a hit. The swing and misses came from off-speed pitches away that showed he struggled to see spin. The athleticism and tools are there but needs some improvement on spin recognition as well as cutting down on fastball whiffs.
#2 on our 2023 MLB Draft Board Wyatt Langford did not have his best day against Tennessee, but I was able to see him faceoff against top arms. He got tested with a steady dose of elevated fastballs and some good off-speed pitches in the lower portion of the zone. Some streaky command allowed him to take two walks on the day while striking out twice. The BP was impressive and showed the ability to spray the field with great bat speed and easy pop. The hit tool is unquestionable, and he is having an impressive year thus far.