Kicking off "Spring" Baseball: Live Looks on Seven Draft-Eligible Arms in the Southeast

While Spring is still more than a month away on the calendars, “Spring baseball” is underway in both Florida and Georgia. The first two weeks in February have seen a number of intriguing arms take the mound in JUCO and high school action. Ergo, for this first edition of Live Looks, we will cover seven draft eligible arms in the Southeast that grabbed attention in their season debuts.

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Carson Dorsey, LHP - Gulf Coast State College

Performance: 5 IP, 3 K, 1 BB, 0 H, 0 R

Carson Dorsey put together a stellar start for Gulf Coast State to open up the tournament, pitching five hitless innings vs. a tough San Jacinto lineup. Operating with a big arm swing, over the top armslot and exhibiting hard falloff to third base, Dorsey’s ability to throw strikes is a testament to his athletic ability. He carries his low 90s fastball very well at the top of the zone, and gets varying levels of two plane shape on a low to mid 70s curveball and high 70s slider. The Dores’ ace also flashed a changeup at 76 with fading life. A 17th round pick for the Rangers last year, scouts are still anticipating an uptick in stuff from the long and lean lefty. However, the pitchability and above average starter’s arsenal was on full display in his season opener.

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Ramsey David, RHP - Northwest Florida State

Performance: 4.1 IP, 5 K, 2 H, 1 R

Ramsey David got the ball on Friday night for NWFL State and put together a strong outing for the Raiders. The physical right hander operates with tempo and has a really quick arm, moving downmound well to get the ball on hitters in a hurry. To right-handed hitters, David used a 90-94 MPH four seam fastball with good carrying life and a sweeping 79-80 MPH slider. To lefties, David went to a two seamer with good tail and similar velocity, and pitched off that with a 84-86 MPH changeup with good depth. The well-traveled (Auburn, Gordon State) 22 year old executed his plan well and even went to a quick pitch for one of his strikeouts, demonstrating some advanced pitchability that has developed over the fall in Niceville.

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Christian Oppor, LHP - Gulf Coast State College

Performance: 5 IP, 9 K, 1 H, 0 R

The top JUCO prospect on our board at press time, Christian Oppor dominated a good Delgado lineup with almost nothing but fastballs over five innings. The lean and athletic left hander sat 92-96 MPH with his two seamer from a low 3Q armslot, flashing plus tailing life and touching 97 early on. Oppor flashed a solid 84 MPH changeup with late depth in the first inning, and showed a decent low 80s slider in warmups. However, 69 of his 70 pitches in game were fastballs, and all the Delgado Dolphins could muster was a single infield hit. Operating with low effort and not even needing to go to his secondary offerings, the A’s draft and follow pick put together a loud performance that is eclipsing the $225,000 that Oakland could offer him, shooting him up boards across the league into Day 1 consideration.

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Francesco Capocci, RHP - Denmark HS (GA)

RHP Francesco Capocci (Denmark (GA), 2023) worked a scoreless first vs Cambridge. FB sat 91-93 with good carrying life, CB at 74-77 with above average vertical shape. Flashed a SL at 80 with tight vertical break. North Carolina commit. pic.twitter.com/4cxQcFGLSp

— Will Hoefer (@whoeferbaseball) February 8, 2023

Francesco Capocci put together a solid outing to start off the Denmark Danes’ 2023 season, surrendering two runs over four innings of work. The UNC commit worked off an improved four seam fastball at 89-93 MPH, which seems to have exchanged some natural cut for more armside run and carry. Capocci was able to get whiffs on it up in the zone, but did have issues locating it early on. The main secondary offering was a curveball in the 75-78 MPH range with above average two plane shape. With a 6-4, 210 lb. frame straight out of central casting, Capocci moves well and has a quick arm--but the stiffness of its action may be causing the timing issues that has led to him losing his fastball release point. However, Capocci was able to quickly go to his curveball and pitch backwards off it to get the outs he needed, showing some of his strong pitching aptitude.

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Tate McKee, RHP - Mt. Paran Christian HS (GA)

Tate McKee got the start for Mt. Paran in their scrimmage against Houston County, and struck out 4 batters over two innings. McKee has a long wrapping front leg that he is able to keep on time with his short arm action, which hides the ball behind his head for a substantial portion of his delivery. The 6-2 Kennesaw native worked off a 90-93 MPH fastball with good armside life, and put a bevy of batters away with his sweeping slider at 79-81. The slider has the potential to be a plus pitch for the Georgia Tech commit, who could elicit serious draft interest if he shows a good third pitch and makes velocity gains as the weather heats up.

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Luke Dotson, Mt. Paran Christian HS (GA)

Coming on in relief, Luke Dotson pitched two scoreless innings against Houston County, including a strikeout of Drew Burress, one of Georgia’s best hitting prospects. The big left hander has a fairly unique drop and drive delivery, which allows him to keep his release point low on the overhead slot in which he fires his 88-92 MPH four seam fastball from. There were early command issues, but once Dotson settled in no one could touch his heater. Complementing the shallow angle of his fastball was a sweepy slider at 75-77 MPH that lacked sharpness, but was still effective when Dotson finished it at the knees. Committed to Mississippi State, Dotson’s two pitch mix feels tailor made for late relief in Starkville, but he will continue to be monitored throughout the spring for any developments in his stuff and/or command.

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Andrew Dunford, Houston County HS (GA)

Andrew Dunford pitched a scoreless first inning for Houston County in their scrimmage against Mt. Paran Christian, with his fastball flummoxing hitters. The heater sat 89-92 MPH, touching 93 and possesses good running life that jams hitters on the inner third and can paint on the outer third. Dunford mixed in a few curveballs at 75-77 MPH, though the feel for spin is below average and the shape is soft. The 6-6 righty shows very strong athletic ability in his drop and drive delivery, though the maintenance of getting his long arm swing and involved lower half on time can lead to command issues. Nevertheless, athletes of this caliber at this size are viewed as great clay, and as such an eye should be kept on the Mercer commit to monitor velocity gains throughout the Spring.