Widgets Magazine

2012 College Baseball Notes: Volume 9

Written By on 25th July, 2012

2012 Volume #09

Through various webcasts, I was able to watch a few games this weekend and jot down notes along the way. I present them to you in a mostly unaltered form.

Important Note: I must stress that these notes are — in most cases — based on only one game of data. A player is not at his best every time out, and we need multiple viewings before we get a clear picture of the player.

Previous Volumes:

 

Player: Hawtin Buchanan
College: University of Mississippi
Position: Relief Pitcher
Bats/Throws: L/R
Height/Weight: 6'8″ / 250 lbs
Class: Freshman
Draft Year: 2014
Games:

  • 4/17 vs. Mississippi State

Notes:

  1. Very tall; lean, athletic frame with long arms; physically mature but still a bit of projection
  2. Very little in the way of a delivery, pitches from stretch with or without runners on; uses slide step and has very subtle movements
  3. High 3/4 arm slot; live arm and fairly low effort
  4. Fastball has good velocity and is delivered on a downward plane with good arm side run; 90 (via announcers)
  5. Fastball can be overpowering and be blown past hitters; elevating the pitch with a purpose and getting awkward swings
  6. Short 11-5 breaking ball has very little depth; late downward action with some added horizontal movement
  7. Breaking ball had good shape the couple times that he threw it
  8. Aggressively attacked hitters with a steady diet of fastballs; liked to elevate the fastball as chase pitch
  9. Showed ability to move pitches around the zone fairly well; command was solid and he hit the black on a few occasions

Hawtin Buchanan

Player: Jonathan Crawford
College: University of Florida
Position: Starting Pitcher
Bats/Throws: R/R
Height/Weight: 6'1″ / 205 lbs
Class: Sophomore
Draft Year: 2013
Games:

  • 4/20 vs. Georgia

Notes:

  1. Good height; thin and athletic with some room to fill out
  2. Delivery features some awkward, quick movements before cocking his arm
  3. Good fluidity in delivery; low effort high 3/4 arm slot
  4. Fastball has good velocity and late life; not overpowering despite raw velocity
  5. Ground ball inducing pitch; UGA hitters making contact fairly easily but not doing too much with it
  6. Slider has hard 11-5 break; consistently good shape and depth on pitch
  7. Features sharp, very late break; looks like a fastball before falling off the table with straight downward movement
  8. Swing and miss ability but he only broke off a couple that showed its full potential
  9. Change has good downward plane and some late fade; got key swinging strikeout with pitch in the 4th
  10. Showed ability to throw fastball to both sides of the plate and throw slider for strikes
  11. Consistently attacked hitters
  12. Command was solid but he missed over the heart of the plate a bit too often
  13. Command started to slip in the fourth; started to works deeper counts and left fastball in the middle of the zone more often
  14. Flashed a couple but did not have a consistent swing and miss pitch; relied on hitters putting the ball in play weakly
  15. BABIP gods were not kind to Crawford; a lot of seeing eye ground balls

Jonathan Crawford

Player: Nolan Fontana
College: University of Florida
Position: Short Stop
Bats/Throws: L/R
Height/Weight: 5'11″ / 190 lbs
Class: Junior
Draft Year: 2012
Games:

  • 3/3 at Miami
  • 3/22 at South Carolina
  • 3/24 at South Carolina
  • 4/20 vs. Georgia

Notes:

  1. Average height and average build
  2. Very quick bat with a short compact swing; almost seems to guide pitches into empty spaces
  3. Advanced feel for the strike zone, patient and takes balls just outside of the zone consistently
  4. Smart, aggressive baserunner; took third base on a foul out to the first baseman
  5. Very smooth infield actions, ball is seamlessly consumed by his glove
  6. Ranged to his right on hard hit ball and made good off balanced throw to second for force out
  7. Arm strength is good enough for left side

Comment: Al is a bigger Fontana fan than I am. He's a tremendous college short stop, but the tools are a bit limiting on both sides of the ball. He gets the absolute most out of his defensive ones, but will his polish be enough for him to play short at the highest level? That is the key question as his bat is a lot less interesting if he's forced to second base.

Nolan Fontana

Player: Dusty Isaacs
College: Georgia Institute of Technology
Position: Starting Pitcher
Bats/Throws: R/R
Height/Weight: 6'0″ / 189 lbs
Class: Sophomore
Draft Year: 2013
Games:

  • 4/21 at North Carolina

Notes:

  1. Average height; well filled out and not overly athletic, no projection
  2. Simple delivery with high leg kick; pretty good rhythm and arm is in sync
  3. 3/4 arm slot, fairly clean arm action; some effort involved
  4. Live fastball has a touch of late downward dip but uneventful life; delivered on a very flat plane
  5. Fastball seemed to deteriorate as the LONG first inning progressed; very hittable pitch when not located well
  6. 11-5 curve ball has a lot of depth and is fairly late breaking but lacks power
  7. Break is pretty sharp but it was hung way too often (very hittable in those instances) and did not have the velocity to be a true weapon
  8. Change has some late drop and fade; 76 in the first (via announcer)
  9. Action on the change was very mediocre early in the game, but improved in the second, showing good late drop
  10. Ground ball pitch with a little bit of swing and miss ability
  11. Command was a major problem, left the majority of his pitches up in the zone and UNC hitters were teeing off
  12. Control was a problem at times as well, had fastball sail high and arm side
  13. Did not look good trying to field bunt down first base line; fell on back and tossed over first baseman's head

Dusty Isaacs

Player: Austin Maddox
College: University of Florida
Position: Relief Pitcher
Bats/Throws: R/R
Height/Weight: 6'3″ / 235 lbs
Class: Junior
Draft Year: 2012
Games:

  • 4/20 vs. Georgia

Notes:

  1. Good height; strong well developed frame; power pitcher build
  2. Simple delivery with a high 3/4 arm slot; not incredibly easy but not effort filled either
  3. Fastball has good velocity and some late arm side run; delivered on a good downward plane; 90 (via announcers) in the thirteenth inning (his sixth inning of work)
  4. Hard 11-5 slider with late, sharp downward break
  5. Slider has excellent depth and shows nasty two-plane break when broken off well
  6. Threw a number of beautiful sliders that broke out of the zone for swinging strikes
  7. Change up has mostly downward action and a touch of fade
  8. Movement is steady rather than late but not terrible; tick below average but gives him a different look
  9. Command was a bit of an issue in his first inning of work but he settled down after that and attacked the bottom of the zone
  10. Threw quality strikes and showed good efficiency during a very extended outing

Comment: This was by far the best I've seen Austin Maddox. In previous looks, his command was a problem area; not so on Friday night. Maddox cruised through 5 2/3 innings, needing only 61 pitches, and holding his stuff well during the extended outing.

Austin Maddox

Player: Benton Moss
College: University of North Carolina
Position: Starting Pitcher
Bats/Throws: R/R
Height/Weight: 6'2″ / 178 lbs
Class: Freshman
Draft Year: 2014
Games:

  • 4/21 vs. Georgia Tech

Notes:

  1. Tall and slender thin thighs; plenty of room to fill out frame
  2. Delivery features very extended arm on backside, slight pause and full bodied motion; noticeable effort involved
  3. Really snaps head down and to the first base side to deliver ball from high 3/4 arm slot
  4. Fastball is big with a touch of late sinking action; does not feature a ton of movement; 91 in the second (via announcer)
  5. Sinking action improved a bit later in the game; also features good downward plane on pitches low in the zone
  6. Hard 11-5, nearly 12-6, curve ball; big power breaker with hard downward action and sharp break
  7. Pitch has a lot of depth and steep break; consistently good shape
  8. Curve ball seemed to lose a bit of its power in the middle innings but still had good shape and late break
  9. Change up has mediocre downward action; very steady drop
  10. Lacks ability to command his pitches but did a good job of attacking hitters, predominantly with his fastball and curve
  11. Left a lot of pitches belt to letter high over the heart of the plate but hitters still could not do too much with them
  12. Utilized the curve ball HEAVILY throughout the game; did a good job mixing his three pitches and changing speeds
  13. Georgia Tech hitters finally started to square poorly located pitches up in the sixth inning: allowed a couple stinging line drives and a pair of home runs before exiting
  14. Got off the mound quickly to cover first base

Benton Moss

Player: Pete Nagel
College: University of Georgia
Position: Relief Pitcher
Bats/Throws: R/R
Height/Weight: 6'4″ / 230 lbs
Class: Freshman
Draft Year: 2014
Games:

  • 4/20 at Florida

Notes:

  1. Good height; well filled out frame; not much projection
  2. High 3/4, borderline overhand, arm slot; some effort involved in his delivery with head violence
  3. Good live arm that produces quality fastballs with some late arm side run
  4. Big 12-6 curve ball features steep break; good power on the pitch
  5. Head steep break on the curve ball; consistently good pitch during his inning of work
  6. Attacked the strike zone fairly well but did not show a real ability to command pitches

Pete Nagel

Player: Steven Rodriguez
College: University of Florida
Position: Relief Pitcher
Bats/Throws: L/L
Height/Weight: 6'2″ / 235 lbs
Class: Junior
Draft Year: 2012
Games:

  • 4/20 vs. Georgia

Notes:

  1. Good height; fairly well filled out and not projectable
  2. Pre-pitch leg lift and glove waggle that he gradually moves into the set position from eye level to belt
  3. Drop/drive delivery mitigates his height; reaches back with arm and delivers from 3/4 arm slot; some effort involved
  4. Arm slot seemed to drop to low 3/4 at times
  5. Fastball is delivered on a flat plane and has some late arm side run; 93 in his first inning of work (via announcer)
  6. Cut fastball distinct from his regular fastball; good power with subtle late glove side movement; just enough movement for him to miss bats
  7. Blends into his slider a bit, but its shorter break with less tilt
  8. 10-4 slider with late horizontal break; sharp, hard tilt
  9. Slider has good shape and can be thrown for strikes and used effectively as a chase pitch; nasty late breaking pitch with swing and miss ability
  10. Good feel for backdooring the slider to RH batters for called strikes
  11. Threw a pitch that has good downward action away from RH batters that almost looked like a change up; could have been a variation on the slider
  12. Hitters were ahead of that pitch and got a few swinging strikes with pitch out of zone
  13. Showed good command of pitches during the first couple innings of work, showing ability to hit specific spots; started to slip as he approached the 45 pitch mark

Steven Rodriguez

Player: Sam Smith
College: University of Mississippi
Position: Starting Pitcher
Bats/Throws: S/R
Height/Weight: 6'4″ / 210 lbs
Class: Freshman
Draft Year: 2014
Games:

  • 4/17 vs. Mississippi State

Notes:

  1. Tall, physically mature freshman; well developed frame without noticeable projection
  2. Delivery looked a bit stiff with a high leg kick and a significantly bent back to release ball from over hand arm slot
  3. Long arm action but delivery does not have much effort
  4. Fastball has average velocity and significant arm side run; delivered on a steep downward plane
  5. Fastball generates ground balls even when up in the zone
  6. Slow 11-5 curve ball with a lot of depth; lacks power and can get loopy
  7. Showed fairly consistent shape of the curve ball throughout the game
  8. 11-5 slider lacked shape, threw it a few times as a pitch that dove into dirt away from RH batters
  9. Straight change with good downward action; threw one that dove into the dirt for swinging strike
  10. Showed good command of his pitches, particularly his fastball and curve ball; painted the black to his glove side on multiple occasions
  11. Command slipped a bit in the fourth and his stuff proved hittable when not well located

Sam Smith

Player: Casey Turgeon
College: University of Florida
Position: Second Base
Bats/Throws: L/R
Height/Weight: 5'9″ / 165 lbs
Class: Freshman
Draft Year: 2014
Games:

  • 3/3 at Miami
  • 3/22 at South Carolina
  • 3/24 at South Carolina
  • 4/20 vs. Georgia

Notes:

  1. Average height; thin and not very physical; lacks present strength
  2. Hits from wide stance and deep crouch with his weight heavily on his back leg
  3. Works the count well and shows ability to lay off breaking balls out of the zone
  4. Short, contact oriented swing; can get defensive and likes to slap pitch opposite field
  5. Did turn on a few pitches, driving one to medium deep right-center field for fly out
  6. Shows good range to both his left and right; makes diving stops on hard hit balls and show quick reactions
  7. Good arm strength and athleticism for second base

Casey Turgeon

Player: Alex Wood
College: University of Georgia
Position: Starting Pitcher
Bats/Throws: L/L
Height/Weight: 6'4″ / 220 lbs
Class: RS Sophomore
Draft Year: 2012
Games:

  • 4/20 at Florida

Notes:

  1. Tall and lean; fairly well developed thighs; not sure he's going to add much to his frame
  2. Really reaches back with arm and bends back before catapulting through; a lot of moving parts that need to be in coordination
  3. 3/4 arm slot with a  fairly clean looking arm action; live arm; gets good angle to the plate; some effort involved
  4. Delivery causes him to lose some plane on his pitches
  5. Fastball has good velocity and a touch of late arm side run; gets on hitters fairly quickly; 92 in the fifth (via announcer)
  6. Good late movement on the fastball makes it difficult to square up; ground ball tendencies
  7. 2-8 curve ball with big break and heavy spin; thrown with good power; keeps shape well
  8. Curve does not have tremendous amount of sharpness
  9. Change up has good downward action with some arm side fade
  10. Turns over the change up well and keeps his arm speed; improved as the outing progressed and turned into a real weapon
  11. Early change ups featured steady action but transformed into a pitch with later action deeper into the game; evolved into a swing and miss pitch
  12. Command came and went throughout the game; showed ability to paint corners for looking strikeouts at times
  13. Settled down after a rough start and really started to attack the lower portions of the zone
  14. Worked very deliberately

Alex Wood

Player: Brandon Woodruff
College: Mississippi State University
Position: Starting Pitcher
Bats/Throws: L/R
Height/Weight: 6'2″ / 221 lbs
Class: Freshman
Draft Year: 2014
Games:

  • 4/17 vs. Mississippi

Notes:

  1. Good height; big, wide frame that is fairly well filled out; perhaps a bit of room to add still
  2. Simple, repeatable delivery without much effort; arm seems to lag behind very slightly; high 3/4 arm action slot
  3. Fastball has good velocity, some downward plane, and a touch of late arm side run; 88-90 (via announcers)
  4. Solid pitch overall; not a true weapon but it was good enough for him to pitch off of
  5. Hard 11-5 curve ball with good power and late break; breaks off pitch consistently well with good shape & late depth
  6. Curve features tight spin and very sharp break; swing and miss pitch
  7. Change up is thrown with good arm speed and features some drop and late fade; good feel
  8. Change has good action and had hitters fooled out in front of the pitch on multiple occasions; swing and miss ability
  9. Shows some ability to command his pitches; would miss intended target but rarely by much
  10. Good quick pick off move to get runner at first; compact, strong throw

Comment: It's not hard to see why Woodruff was so highly regarded. The curve ball and change are both swing and miss secondaries that should play well at the next level. The fastball is probably going to settle into the low to mid 90s as he matures, and his command is pretty good for a freshman. That kind of arsenal will be absolutely dominant in college; I'm surprised Mississippi State hasn't utilized him more often. His final line was not pretty, but he was not hit hard at all; he got into a few hitters' counts and balls found holes. Future is bright here.

Brandon Woodruff

Player: Mike Zunino
College: University of Florida
Position: Catcher
Bats/Throws: R/R
Height/Weight: 6'2″ / 220 lbs
Class: Junior
Draft Year: 2012
Games:

  • 4/20 vs. Georgia

Notes:

  1. Explodes on outside fastball and pulls down right field line; extended arms and ripped line drive off bottom of wall
  2. Drove change up to straight away center field for fly out
  3. Ripped another line drive for line out on fastball
  4. Makes quick transfer and strong accurate throw on outside slider to nab runner stealing
  5. Very good agility behind the plate with quick movements to block pitch overthrown and in the dirt

Comment: I don't think there's a college hitter who squares pitches up as consistently as Mike Zunino does. He did not have a loud game in the box score but his outs were loud ones. I would have a hard time passing on him if I were drafting for the Astros.

Mike Zunino

Jeff Reese
Jeff Reese
About Jeff Reese

Jeff Reese is a writer & administrator for Bullpen Banter. He can be reached via email at JReese@BullpenBanter.com and via twitter @ioffridus. An index of his college notes can be found here and his youtube channel can be found here.

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