Cape Cod League Observations: Week 5

• Mason Robbins, OF, Bourne Braves (Southern Miss) – Very comfortable hitting to the opposite field and sent a homer out oppo on Wednesday. Also showed pull power in bp. Whips the bat through the zone well but dropped his back shoulder some and would get out early on his front foot. Very good athlete with a strong arm. Runs well.

• Colin Moran, 3B, Bourne Braves (North Carolina) – Really like the bat. Loud contact from an easy, pretty swing. Busy hands prior to the swing. Drops them and then loads backs. Hands are more than quick enough to compensate but still sometimes leaves him late adjusting, especially on soft stuff. Good bat control and feel for squaring the ball up with wood. Solid athleticism at 3B. Arm unspectacular but adequate. I still think 3B is the best fit for his profile, but he could play other positions… he’s not relegated to 1B if he can’t handle 3B as a pro.

• Jack Reinheimer, SS, Bourne Braves (East Carolina) – Covers a lot of range and has a strong arm at SS. Saw him last summer with Newport and his glove caught my eye. First time I saw him this summer he was out front on everything and had a stiff lead. He looked much better this week. Staying back and rotating his hips well… his timing was a lot better. Commands the strike zone pretty well. Kept his hands inside and drove a ball oppo in game.

• Chase McDonald, 1B, Bourne Braves (East Carolina) – Big, thickly built kid looks closer to 40 years old than 20, but McDonald can hit. Tremendous leverage in his swing and plenty of bat speed. Quick bat and can handle good velo. In batting practice he put on a show, hitting rocket home runs to all fields. Seems to have a generally good feel for hitting with wood. Was told he put on an impressive show at the Cape Scout Day at Fenway as well.

• Tyler Skulina, RHP, Bourne Braves (Kent State) – 90-92 (93) with a fairly heavy FB that had a little bit of run. Threw both a CB (low 70’s) & SL (76-79). His feel for the breaking pitches came and went… though each had their moments. CU was too hard but thrown with good arm speed. Biggest criticism was that everything was north/south coming from a high ¾ slot.

• Daniel Aldrich, OF, Cotuit Ketleers (College of Charleston) – Good bat speed and power with a mature feel for hitting with wood. Pull hitter with some loopiness to his swing… good amount of swing and miss but I’ve seen him make some good mid at bat adjustments.

• Tony Kemp, OF/2B, Cotuit Ketleers (Vanderbilt) – Well undersized at 5’6”, but sprays hard contact to all fields. Gap to gap type… obviously not a whole lot of power in his frame – though he’s certainly not to be confused with a slap hitter. Puts together pesky ABs that make you think he might fit in a leadoff role. Well above average runner. I’m not sure how much 2B he’s played but he looked very unnatural there on Thursday.

• Jacob May, OF, Cotuit Ketleers (Coastal Carolina) – Another undersized outfield but has shown some good pop in batting practice. Plus runner and athlete. Solid all around tools, some bat speed and has shown an ability to hit with wood.

• Jordan Ramsey, RHP, Cotuit Ketleers (UNC Wilmington) – Big, athletic RHP. FB has some late run and life at 87-89. Straight dropping CU around 80. SL 75-76. Some effort in his mechanics. Arm was late at times.

• Dan Slania, RHP, Cotuit Ketleers (Notre Dame) – Big, bulky right-hander’s velocity kept increasing the longer he was in the game. 87-89 rising to 91-92, but missed his spot a lot and his release point drifted. SL 76-77. CU flashed some potential at 78-81 but he left a few waist high over the plate.

• Robert Pehl, 2B, Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox (Washington) – Good feel for hitting and hits the ball hard on a line drive plane. Swing can get long. Poor runner. Timed him 4.81 to 1B. Acceptable defender at 2B despite the footspeed. Smooth actions but probably lacks the athleticism for the middle infield.

• Chris Anderson, RHP, Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox (Jacksonville) – Big kid with clean mechanics that do have some effort in them. 4 seam & 2 seam up to 90-92 early. Mixed in a 12-6 CB with tight spin and a shorter, harder SL without much depth. I thought I also saw him throw a split change in warmups but he didn’t use it much in game if at all (at least when I was behind the plate). Quality stuff and he held his velo through his outing. Still 91-92 in the 6th.

• Brian Gilbert, RHP, Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox (Seton Hall) – Power relief arm type. 90-92 with the FB. Secondaries nothing special but showed flashes… especially the SL.

• Tom Windle, LHP, Brewster Whitecaps (Minnesota) – Big, lean, athletic left with room for further projection. High waist and long legs. ¾ delivery with good arm speed. 89-91 FB had good natural sink and some run. Hitters couldn’t square it up well or elevate it. Main secondary pitch is a low 80’s SL he commanded well but it didn’t have great shape or depth. Flashed as an above average pitch. Threw a few CUs that didn’t have much action on them. Really impressive arm you can dream on with quality stuff and FB with life from the left side.

• Ryon Healy, 1B, Brewster Whitecaps (Oregon) – Big guy who doesn’t run well at all. One dimensional 1B only type but has a pro bat profile. Short, quick swing that generates lots of loft and backspin.

• Conrad Gregor, 1B, Orleans Firebirds (Vanderbilt) – Continues to impress me with the bat. Short, sweet swing with plus bat speed and power projection. Works at bats well and looks for a pitch to drive.

• Matt Boyd, LHP, Orleans Firebirds (Oregon State) – 13th rounder by the Reds this June didn’t sign. High leg kick. Hard, heavy FB 89-92. 11-4 power CB with tight spin. Good confidence in the pitch and was unafraid to start off hitter with it and throw it behind in the count. Didn’t throw many CUs but broke out a couple nice ones that hit their spots. Great feel for his secondaries. Varied his timing with runners on base and even tried to (almost) quick pitch a batter once.

Pref List Through Week 5

1. Karsten Whitson, RHP, Orleans (Florida)
2. Phil Ervin, OF, Harwich (Samford)
3. Jared King, OF, Falmouth (Kansas State)
4. Sean Manaea, LHP, Hyannis (Indiana State)
5. JaCoby Jones, INF/OF, Harwich (LSU)
6. Austin Wilson, OF, Harwich (Stanford)
7. Trevor Williams, RHP, Orleans (Arizona State)
8. Tom Windle, LHP, Brewster Whitecaps (Minnesota)
9. Dylan Covey, RHP, Orleans (San Diego)
10. Aaron Judge, OF, Brewster (Fresno State)
11. Colin Moran, 3B, Bourne Braves (North Carolina)
12. Michael O’Neill, OF, Falmouth (Michigan)
13. Brian Ragira, 1B, Harwich (Stanford)
14. Daniel Palka, 1B, Wareham (Georgia Tech)
15. Jason Monda, RF, Brewster (Washington State)
16. Mason Robbins, OF, Bourne Braves (Southern Miss)
17. Matt Boyd, LHP, Orleans Firebirds (Oregon State)
18. Conrad Gregor, 1B/OF, Orleans (Vanderbilt)
19. Alex Blandino, SS, Yarmouth-Dennis (Stanford) (2014)
20. Aaron Blair, RHP, Yarmouth-Dennis (Marshall)
21. Andrew Knapp, C, Chatham (California)
22. Mike Ahmed, 3B, Bourne (Holy Cross)
23. Aaron Nola, RHP, Harwich (LSU) (2014)
24. C.K. Irby, RHP/OF, Harwich (Samford)
25. Carlos Asauje, INF, Yarmouth-Dennis (Nova Southeastern)

2 Comments on "Cape Cod League Observations: Week 5"

1. 

   Kape Crusader July 31, 2012 at 9:48 am -

   Kemp has only really started to play second base this year and is certainly still unnatural there. He still gets moved to the outfield in the late innings if Cotuit has a lead.

   • 

     Al Skorupa July 31, 2012 at 10:44 pm -

     Thanks for reading, KC. I didn’t mention it, but I assumed people thought of Kemp primarily as an OF. When I’d seen Kemp before he’d always played OF.

     I saw him take infield again this week and he actually showed off some quick hands. a conversion to the infield does make sense. Better pro profile there if he can handle it. Reminds me in some ways of recent Cubs draftee and University of Miami OF (turned 2B) Zeke DeVoss. DeVoss played 2B in the ACC tournament a couple years ago and the Cubs liked what they saw there. He’s still a work in progress, but its coming along and I really liked that call.