Deep Drives: ECU + Vandy/South Carolina

Another week, another Deep Drives edition.

It was a quieter week on all fronts, so it’s only natural to get some extra help and combine live looks with another writer. One of our newest writers, Jonathan Martin, makes his Deep Drives debut as he got a chance to get out and see a heavyweight matchup in the SEC between Vanderbilt and South Carolina in Nashville. Meanwhile, Tyler ventured out to East Carolina to get a chance to look at one of the best arms in the 2024 class, Trey Yesavage.

RHP Trey Yesavage, east Carolina

Line: 5 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 10 K (86 Pitches)

When we revamp our 2024 draft board, fully expect Yesavage to be in first-round consideration. The stuff is that good. He’s a big, physical specimen on the mound for ECU, who has gone from a high-leverage reliever in 2022 to a bonafide ace in 2023.

It’s hard to see the fastball not being a plus pitch at the next level. He’s been up to 98 MPH this year, though the velocity against Cincinnati was 92-95 MPH early, before settling in at 91-94 MPH as the outing went on. He’s able to generate a ton of backspin at release, which comes from an over-the-top arm slot, and the pitch has ridiculous riding life at the top of the zone. It gives him a big margin for error at the present level, especially with his feel for throwing his off-speed arsenal lacking in this start. The fastball alone had sixteen whiffs on the night, which is ridiculous. His command of the pitch is much improved, as well, giving him plenty of success living on the edges before going upstairs for whiffs.

.@ECUBaseball's Trey Yesavage turned in another 10+ K outing, his fifth on the year.

FB is electric, sat 91-94 today, touching 95, with serious life up in the zone. Tight cutter 84-88, SPL 80-83, CB 79-81. 19 whiffs total, 16 on FB alone! Becoming one of the top 2024 arms. pic.twitter.com/PGutpupZQv

— Tyler Jennings (@TylerJennings24) April 15, 2023

The aforementioned off-speed arsenal is rather robust, though it was not utilized much on this day. The primary breaking ball is a slider/cutter hybrid that he’s recently added, giving him an additional weapon with late horizontal break and tight spin against righties. When he kept the pitch down in the zone, it was nasty and got three whiffs, though there were times where he bounced it off the dirt or missed glove-side. He has a splitter in the low-80’s that can drop off the table when it’s on, though in this outing, he only threw one for a strike and struggled to find feel throughout the outing, missing arm-side constantly. There’s also a 12-6 curveball in his repertoire, and while it has sharp downward break, he struggled to find the strike zone with it.

Overall, the evolution that Yesavage has had gives him plenty of potential and upside for teams. If there’s any nitpicking to be made here, it comes from the off-speed command plus the long ball. He’ll be eligible as a junior in next year’s draft, but if he keeps this up, it’s tough to envision him lasting past the first round.

1B josh Moylan, east Carolina

The pride of Stoney Beach, Maryland, Josh Moylan made a name for himself in his freshman campaign before entering the “sophomore slump” last spring. As a junior, Moylan has begun to find his old form and has been one of the hottest bats in the country in recent weeks.

MOYLAN SENDS IT INTO ORBIT @josh_moylan20 pic.twitter.com/XG8soTClWG

— East Carolina Baseball (@ECUBaseball) April 15, 2023

Moylan is a tall, physical human with plenty of present strength. He’s struggled with strikeouts throughout his career, but he shows patience at the plate and draws a fair share of walks. With that said, the burgeoning power that Moylan possesses will intrigue teams. His swing has plenty of loft to it and his power plays to all fields. His lone hit against Cincinnati was a back-side homer, carrying over the fence in the opposite field gap. He’d go on to have a home run in the remaining two games of the series, propelling ECU’s win streak to eight straight games and one step closer to gaining a hosting spot in tournament play. The bat will need to continue to perform, as he’s a first base profile with consistent defense.

He likely profiles more toward the back half of the draft at this point in time, providing a team with a money-saving option at this point in time. Things can change, however, and if Moylan continues to crush the baseball, he could find himself sneaking his way up boards.

OF Ethan Petry, South Carolina

To say Ethan Petry is putting together a spectacular freshman season would be modest. The freshman is facing elite SEC arms and doing damage against high velocities while handling off-speed pitches fairly well. Friday night, Vanderbilt gave their workhorse a rest in Carter Holton and started Bryce Cunningham against South Carolina. Cunningham was offering 94-95 MPH fastballs to the upper portion of the zone, while also mixing in a slider and right-on-right change-ups. Cunningham managed to strike out Petry twice, but during those two at-bats, the freshman showed the ability to recognize spin and not be overpowered by a solid fastball that carried into the top of the zone. In his last AB against Cunningham, Petry took a first pitch, belt-high fastball opposite field for his seventeenth home run of the year, tying South Carolina’s freshman home run record.

Freshman Ethan Petry with his 17th HR of year. Took this elevated fastball backside & pretty sure he didn’t get all of it. Serious bat speed and good feel for the zone. @ProspectsLive pic.twitter.com/fxwfusVH7u

— jonathan martin II (@jonathan_d_m20) April 15, 2023

As stated in the above tweet, I am almost certain Petry did not fully get ahold of this baseball, which is scary. The ball still managed to get out into the right field seats 3 rows deep, but you could hear it was slightly missed. This just shows what kind of bat speed Petry possesses, and this could be an intimidating hitter for opposing pitchers for the next two years. The spray charts and this particular swing shows Petry’s is not selling out for home runs either. He maintains good front hip direction and gets a ton of unforced extension on the baseball. This shows he trusts himself to let the baseball travel and lets his insane bat speed work from there. He works with a slow early toe tap that allows him to not be overpowered by hard fastballs and he controls his forward move well. As with any power hitter, there were a couple of questionable swing decisions with him being a little too aggressive on chases out of the zone on spinners, but that will clean up nicely as he continues to see more college-caliber arms. Very excited to see this young hitter continue to make noise in college baseball.

Catcher Cole Messina, South Carolina

Cole Messina is a 2024 draft-eligible catcher from South Carolina that has put together a pretty solid season thus far. He does a good job managing his strikeouts compared to walks, he barrels the ball often and is aggressive early. Friday, he went deep twice, both home runs being on 94 MPH fastballs that were middle-in portion of the plate in 0-0 counts. Both home runs were hit virtually in the same spot and were hammered. Messina also collected two walks on the day while flying out to right field on a slider that he was a tad out front on. Besides the slider he gave into, he ignored all off-speed offers and hunted the fastball.

Defensively, Messina worked well behind the plate against a Vanderbilt team that likes to steal bases. He handled some tough blocks limiting the opportunity for runners to take extra bases as well as stealing some strikes on the corners. With only one look it is hard to tell, but the defense behind the plate is at least serviceable at the next level. The body movement on some pitches could calm down a tad to create a more consistent look for the umpire, but Messina will be behind the plate or at 1B in the future. Overall, his ability to stick to his plan and approach at the plate is impressive as well as his ability to do damage on early fastballs. As his career continues and he begins to get different pitch mixes, it will be interesting to see how his approach changes.

RHP Will Sanders, South Carolina

During Sanders’ Friday night start against Vanderbilt, the righty showed obvious glimpses of big-league intangibles. He works with a very fluid delivery that he shows he can repeat. The ball comes out of his hand well and shows the ability to create ride that could be successful in the top of the zone. The arm action also shows the ability to create deception, although sometimes not enough. The body type is there with long lanky limbs that can handle the addition of mass. Sanders has the prototypical build for what most teams look for in a big-league pitcher.

#44 on PL 2023 Draft list is Will Sanders. FB worked 91-95 flashing ability to play up, but did not miss many bats. Throws a tight slider @ 84-86 that works vertical and grabbed the most whiffs on the day. Has big league intangibles that grabs your attention. pic.twitter.com/jyQe6JbnW6

— jonathan martin II (@jonathan_d_m20) April 22, 2023

Friday night there were some signs of his fastball not getting calls in on batters or missing enough bats at times. His fastball sat 91-95 while flashing above-average vertical life and when working down, some late run. The curveball was his go-to off-speed pitch, and it showed the most success against the Vandy hitters. Sanders' curveball worked with sharp 12-6 action that floated around 84-86 MPH. There was some inconsistency with the depth on the pitch, but it created 7 whiffs on the day and produces some awkward swings. Sanders is known for great feel of his changeup, but Friday he did not have it. The changeup missed down and arm side mainly and was not competitive enough to induce much weak contact.

Sanders ended the day with only giving up five hits while striking out four and walking four. He did not give up much hard contact on the day besides two doubles and a hard line out from Jack Bulger. The command was a little shaky, but Sanders had a decent start. There are some things that can be cleaned up but, you cannot argue the projectability and future of Sanders is very exciting.