This edition of live looks is focused on two series involving matchups between the states of South Carolina and Georgia; Georgia Tech v. Clemson and…South Carolina vs. Georgia. In addition, some midweek stops to see a pair of Georgia HS bats fills out this set of notes. Enjoy!
RHP Will Sanders, South Carolina, 2023
Performance: 7.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 2 HR, 1 BB, 6 K
South Carolina brought a trio of pitching prospects to Athens, with Will Sanders as the high profile Friday night starter. Sanders put together a solid outing for the Gamecocks despite not having his best stuff, giving his team seven innings of four run ball.
The strength for Sanders this outing was his blend of two seam and four seam fastballs, each with above average life and sitting in the 91-94 MPH range. Sanders has an extreme high vertical release point, and was at his most effective working down in the zone with his fastballs. The favored secondary for the Atlanta native was an 86-88 MPH changeup with good running life and flashes of average depth, but the command and feel for it was shaky at times. Rounding out the arsenal was a curveball in the 80-82 MPH velocity band, with flashes of average sharpness but lacked conviction in its deployment.
The long and lean right hander operated with easy effort and has a smooth arm action, but will need to show more with his secondaries if he is to live up to his first round hype coming out of the Fall.
RHP Noah Hall, South Carolina, 2023
Performance: 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 HR, 0 BB, 5 K
Following Sanders in Saturday’s doubleheader was Noah Hall, a right hander that chose not to sign with the Brewers after being selected in the 20th round of last year’s draft. Hall is somewhat undersized at 6-0, but has a good physical build with a very quick and clean arm. A noticeable quirk of Hall’s windup is a slight swing on his front leg back and into a foot tap before coming to the plate, which evoked comparisons to Marcus Stroman.
In terms of stuff, Hall has a 92-95 four seam fastball with above average carrying life and a flat plane due to his low vertical release point. Off the heat he mixed in an 82-85 MPH slider with above average sweep and an 81-84 MPH changeup with solid running action. While not very exact with location, Hall trusts his stuff and just pounds the zone with it--particularly his fastball.
Hall’s bet on himself in 2023 is paying dividends so far, and could land him in the top 100 picks despite being over 22 years old.
RHP Jack Mahoney, South Carolina, 2023
Performance: 6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 BB, 6 K
Rounding out the Gamecock righty triad was Jack Mahoney, who has been scaling draft boards this spring after missing the entirety of the 2022 season with a UCL tear. At 6-3, 205 lbs., Mahoney has the physical build to handle starting pitching rigors and has a tight arm stroke with plus arm speed.
His fastball sat 92-94 MPH with good arm side run, generating a ton of groundballs early and eliciting whiffs late as he mixed in the rest of his secondaries. The primary offering of those aforementioned secondaries was a 82-84 MPH slider with above average sweeping action, with a low 80s changeup with solid depth featured to left handed batters. Later on Mahoney mixed in a 79 MPH curveball with a softer shape compared to his slider, but also longer and more useful vs. lefties.
Command wise Mahoney is also more of a control than command guy at this stage of his development, but showed an ability to make pitches in the zone to avoid walks and wiggle his way out of trouble. A fiery competitor with projection upside and a starter’s arsenal, Mahoney projects to be selected within the first three rounds of the upcoming draft.
3B Parks Harber, Georgia, 2023
Performance: 5-9, 1 2B, 2 HR, 1 BB, 1 K
Parks Harber was one of the few Georgia batters to have repeated success vs South Carolina pitching, driving in four of Georgia’s seven runs scored over the weekend.
A good bad-ball hitter, most of Harber’s damage came from behind in the count and working to get off-speed pitches in his happy zone. The 6-3, 217 lbs. Atlanta native has plus raw power, but struggles to catch up to fastballs unless he’s sitting on them.
Defensively, Harber lacks the first step and range to handle 3B at the professional level, but should slot in nicely at 1B with his soft hands. While his stock has dropped a bit this Spring due to his approach and contact issues, he should still get a decent bonus on the back half of Day 2.
1B Gavin Casas, South Carolina, 2023
Performance: 3-8, 2 HR, 4 BB, 3 K
After being somewhat subdued in the first two games of the Gamecocks’ series vs. Georgia, Gavin Casas broke through with two home runs on Sunday afternoon to ensure a sweep against the Bulldogs. Casas has at least 70 grade raw power, and has shown an ability to get it into games throughout the Spring.
The younger brother of Red Sox 1B Tristion Casas, Gavin has a pronounced crouch from the left side that gets his hands low, allowing him to go up through the ball and drive it in the air with significant force. While Casas’ steep swing has been exploited by pitchers that can change levels effectively, he’s a fairly well disciplined hitter that gives himself opportunities to get back into plus counts where can unload on mistakes in the zone.
There’s an old adage that you can never have enough left handed pitching and left handed power, and Casas certainly fits the latter criteria. Despite his hit tool issues and age, expect the Vanderbilt transfer to get taken on Day 2 as a good three true outcomes first baseman prospect.
1B Landon Stripling, Parkview HS (GA), 2023
Possessing some of the best bat speed in the state, Landon Stripling struck Loganville for two home runs to left center field this past Thursday. The Parkview slugger has a very strong combo of raw power and feel for hitting, though in looks this season he hasn’t been able to lift the ball to his pull side.
Stripling also took the mound on Thursday, demonstrating his above average arm strength by sitting 86-88 MPH with his fastball. He has played some catcher this past fall, showing some receiving and catch and throw potential in limited action.
At this stage of his development, Stripling is a right side of the infield bat that evaluators think may be able to be hidden at first base, and will likely need more development time to make the move off first base. While it is likely that the 6-0, 195 lbs.
Stripling will make it to Texas Tech, it’s still worth checking in on him in conjunction with projected first round pick Colin Houck, since there’s some strong offensive upside despite being undersized as a first baseman.
SS Tai Peete, Trinity Christian (GA), 2023
We got our long overdue first look at Tai Peete against a good Starrs Mill team this past Friday, going 1-2 with 2 BBs and using his baseball instincts and speed to score the only run of the game. Trinity Christian’s starting shortstop led off the game with a sharp infield single, showing above average speed down the line.
While there’s still signs of the length in his swing, Peete made good contact and avoided any whiffs in his four plate appearances. Defensively, Peete handled the routine opportunities that were handed to him, but showed lingering effects of a forearm issue in the lack of carry of his throws to first base. This forearm injury shut Peete down after East Coast Pro last year, and has left some evaluators with unease as to his true ability to stick at shortstop.
On the whole, Peete’s swing and miss and questions regarding his arm strength are counteracted by his plus athleticism and a tremendous body--one that’s been compared to Druw Jones. There are likely to be a few suitors for Peete, but it’s still very much in the air if they will come up with the bonus necessary to buy him out of his Georgia Tech commitment.
LHP/1B Caden Grice, Clemson, 2023
Peformance: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 6 K
A famous name at the plate since his loud 2021 freshman campaign, Caden Grice has trended towards primarily being a pitching prospect as his contact rates have stagnated at well below average. However, this is not to say that Grice’s upside on the mound is limited or a mere consolation prize. Grice had his first extended outing of his college career this past Sunday, working five innings of one run ball and showing poise in pressure situations.
The big and athletic lefty operates with a long and loose arm and easy effort, projecting improvement with velocity and command down the road. His fastball sat 90-93 early before settling in at 88-90 MPH, with above average armside run and sinking life that made it a real groundball machine. Off the express Grice went to a slurvy high 70s breaking ball that flashed above average shape and got plenty of whiffs, and showed a low 80s changeup with above average fading life that missed right handed bats.
Command was a bit of adventure for the Greer, SC native, but his mechanics portend aforementioned improvement in that department and he was able to make pitches when he had to. Grice will have tougher tests down the road in ACC action that will solidify his draft stock, but as of now he looks like a mid Day 2 pitching prospect with #4 starter upside.
