UConn vs. Georgetown was a matchup of two better teams in the Big East. UConn came into town and ended up sweeping the Hoyas. I attended the Sunday game featuring Georgetown left-hander Everett Catlett, an intriguing draft prospect for the 2024 MLB Draft. Here are a few names that stuck out and could gain some interest on draft day.
LHP Everett Catlett - Georgetown
Catlett was the guy that everyone came to see. The left-hander has gained intrigue from a few organizations due to his fastball that can get up to the mid-90s and unique delivery. He’s a fun arm to come out of a mid-major. The Georgetown senior will be 22 in July and is having a breakout year. He hadn’t really pitched much since 2021 due to injuries that had him miss the entire 2022 and he worked mostly out of the bullpen in 2023. He’s got a solid four-pitch mix that includes a fastball, changeup, slider, and curveball. The stadium gun was kind of hot in this one, but I had his fastball sitting around 90-93 mph, topping at 94 mph. The changeup was around 86-88 mph, the slider was around 83-86 mph, and the curveball was around 79-82 mph. His funky three-quarters delivery gave him some deception to play with. The slider was his best secondary and the curveball is a work in progress. The changeup looks like it could play well but the velocity was close enough to the fastball and lacked depth so hitters were getting to it easily.
Catlett struggled with his common throughout most of this game, and was able to work around those issues in the first three innings. He was unable to have the same luck in the fourth, and he eventually was pulled. Catlett seemed to lose confidence in his slider and curveball and went pretty fastball and changeup heavy in the fourth. He ended up giving up five earned in 3.1 innings. If Catlett can make some progress on the command of his slider and improve the efficiency of his curveball, there is a repertoire that teams would love to build on. Given his age as a senior and low-mileage on his arm to date, he could find himself as a solid cheap senior sign for a team on draft day.
C - Owen Carapellotti - Georgetown
On the offensive side of the ball, there wasn’t a guy who impressed more than Owen Carapellotti. The junior catcher provided a ton of offense going 3-for-5 with a three-run home run and two singles. Carapellotti has an open stance and there isn’t a ton of moving parts although he has a pretty big load. He’s aggressive early and isn’t afraid to jump on the pitch he wants, but that could lead to swing-and-miss issues in the future. He possesses a good feel for the strike zone and can work a walk when needed. Behind the dish, Carapellotti is very athletic and receives the ball well. He did a good job keeping the ball in front of him and limited the pass balls, although one got by him. The average pop, ability to get on base, and skills behind the dish should have teams interested in Carapellotti late in the draft.
LHP Braden Quinn - UConn
Outside of Catlett, it was quite obvious that teams came to see left-hander Braden Quinn. Going into the game, the consensus was that Quinn was a two-pitch pitcher with a fastball and an intriguing 12/6 curveball. That was somewhat the case, but his curveball looked more like a “slurve” and had slider tendencies to it in this game. He works significantly from the right side of th rubber and comes at hitters from an over-the-top release point. His fastball had some serious ride to it and was sitting around 90-93 mph. His CB/SL was around 81-83 mph and had some sharp bite to it. The lefty has high strike-out numbers, and the two-pitch combo intrigues teams. He could quite possibly hear his name called late in the 2024 MLB Draft.
RHP Brady Afthim - UConn
Afthim is similar to Quinn and is basically a right-handed version of him. He has a fastball in the low 90s and has an excellent feel for his slider. His fastball was 90-92 mph and topped out at 93 mph. The slider was around 83-85 mph almost profiled more as a cutter, and he flashed an 81-83 mph changeup. Afthim tends to live around the strike zone and didn’t seem to fool a ton of guys in this one even though he got the outs he needed. He usually possesses more swing-and-miss stuff. His stuff isn’t as sharp as Quinn’s, but the 21-year-old junior could get some interest from teams late in the draft or as an undrafted free agent sign.