Cape Cod League Observations: Week 6
Zach Alford, 3B, Hyannis Harbor Hawks (Auburn) – Killed the ball in batting practice. Very good bat speed and flashed a plenty of power. Squared the ball up well but expanded his strike zone too often. Kept hands inside and drove a ball oppo into the RF gap. Glove looks improved over last year (when he was playing SS). Moved well. Arm enough for 3B? Could handle 2B well, too
Kaiana Eldredge, C, Falmouth Commodores (Kansas) – Very good athlete behind the plate. Sets a low target but need works framing. Moves really well laterally but sloppy in his actions and blocking. Right now he’s the catching equivalent of a raw, athletic center fielder with bad routes and jumps saved by his natural make up speed. Footwork throwing needs polish, too, but very strong arm and some of the best POP times I’ve ever seen. He threw out the first baserunner trying to steal second base by ten feet and I looked down at my watch… 1.78. I shook my head and said to myself “well, must have got a little twitchy there and jumped the gun.” Scout next to me said he missed it, too. Couple innings later same scenario – Eldredge hoses the runner by 10 feet. 1.84. Guess the first one wasn’t a fluke (or at least all that much of a fluke!).
Dominic Jose, OF, Hyannis Harbor Hawks (Stanford) – Really needs to add strength. Not sure if he’ll get to play much for Stanford next year and he really needs to. Slightly loopy swing from the right side… even loopier swing path as a lefty. Bat speed, tools and good athleticism but remains a work in progress.
Michael O’Neill, OF, Falmouth Commodores (Michigan) – Continues to show off the tools and athleticism. Plus runner. Hit well in bp and squaring balls up well.
Sean Manaea, LHP, Hyannis Harbor Hawks (Indiana State) – 91-93 (95) with the four seam, and it has late life in the zone. Best secondary is a split change that features strong diving action. Slider can get slurvy but has its moments. Both the FB and split generate lots of swings and misses. Some inconsistencies in his mechanics and timing but big and athletic.
Peter Miller, RHP, Hyannis Harbor Hawks (Florida State) - 3/4 delivery with good arm speed. FB 90-92. Solid three pitch mix. Slowed arm on his breaking ball – a 71-72 CB that he needs to tighten up and throw harder. He released his CB too late/too far forward. Also throws a CU (75-77) with good drop.
Drew Dosch, 1B, Falmouth Commodores (Youngstown State) - Not overly athletic and is probably 1B only. Can really put a charge in the ball. Plus raw power. Controls strike zone pretty well and works at bats. Big pull power but can send the ball far oppo.
Mitchell Garver, C, Hyannis Harbor Hawks (New Mexico) – Showed some hitting ability, bat speed and pop in bp… but didn’t have a good day at the plate. Adequate defender behind the plate. Actions, athleticism and receiving all okay, but no area of his defensive game stands out. Arm strength above average but mechanics mitigate that. Pop times mostly >2.00, but I did get a 1.9.
John Magliozzi, RHP, Falmouth Commodores (Florida) – 88-89 (90) FB with good run. Also a SL and CU. Good arm speed on the secondaries. SL had tight spin and good break. Maggliozzi was able to throw the SL both for strikes and as a chase. CU flashed plus with great fade and drop. Some effort in his mechanics… gets the most out of a smaller frame. Bulldog relief profile makes some sense.
Trey Masek, RHP, Falmouth Commodores (Texas Tech) – RH with a high leg kick and a pause over the rubber. Slightly undersized at 6’1″. FB 90-93 early… mostly straight but worked the bottom of the zone well. High 3/4 and all his pitches are north-south. Shook off his catcher a lot. Also mixes in a CB and SL of varying effectiveness, cutter and a CU that was very promising in flashes.
Brandon Trinkwon, SS, Hyannis Harbor Hawks (UC Santa Barbara) – Needs to add strength physically. Squaring the ball up well. Apparently he scuffled early… then switched to a lighter bat and has been raking since. Very good athlete with quick hands and good footwork in the infield.
Walter Wijas, RHP, Hyannis Harbor Hawks (Kansas) - Reliever mechanics with effort. Long in back arm action and hitters get a good look at the ball early. Primary FB is a 2 seam with strong run and sink. 86-89. Shallow, power cut SL 77 that he showed some confidence in. CU had good drop 84. Kept the ball down well.
Luke Farrell, RHP, Falmouth Commodores (Northwestern) - Big kid (6’6″) with a high 3/4 delivery… creates a good downward plane. Pauses over the mound. Heavy FB 88-90 looked tough to elevate. Also threw an early breaking CB (73-74) and a CU (78) that he didn’t show a lot of feel for. He three three CUs. Two were waist high and hard with no life. The other was too hard into the dirt.
Jake Rodriguez, C/2B/3B, Falmouth Commodores (Oregon State) – Interesting profile. At 5’8″ and lacking up the middle athleticism he probably fits best in a utility role if he develops & hits enough to make the majors. Not sure he has the actions, range or footwork for 2B. I saw him catch a little a few weeks back but it wasn’t a full game and I didn’t get a great read on him there… but he didn’t stand out defensively behind the plate. He does make some hard contact and has a good feel for hitting, but his power projects as largely gap to gap.
Pref List Through Week 5
- Karsten Whitson, RHP, Orleans (Florida)
- Sean Manaea, LHP, Hyannis (Indiana State)
- JaCoby Jones, INF/OF, Harwich (LSU)
- Jared King, OF, Falmouth (Kansas State)
- Phil Ervin, OF, Harwich (Samford)
- Trevor Williams, RHP, Orleans (Arizona State)
- Austin Wilson, OF, Harwich (Stanford)
- Tom Windle, LHP, Brewster Whitecaps (Minnesota)
- Dylan Covey, RHP, Orleans (San Diego)
- Aaron Judge, OF, Brewster (Fresno State)
- Colin Moran, 3B, Bourne Braves (North Carolina)
- Michael O’Neill, OF, Falmouth (Michigan)
- Brian Ragira, 1B, Harwich (Stanford)
- Daniel Palka, 1B, Wareham (Georgia Tech)
- Jason Monda, RF, Brewster (Washington State)
- Mason Robbins, OF, Bourne Braves (Southern Miss)
- Matt Boyd, LHP, Orleans Firebirds (Oregon State)
- Conrad Gregor, 1B/OF, Orleans (Vanderbilt)
- Alex Blandino, SS, Yarmouth-Dennis (Stanford) (2014)
- Aaron Blair, RHP, Yarmouth-Dennis (Marshall)
- Andrew Knapp, C, Chatham (California)
- Mike Ahmed, 3B, Bourne (Holy Cross)
- Aaron Nola, RHP, Harwich (LSU) (2014)
- C.K. Irby, RHP/OF, Harwich (Samford)
- Carlos Asauje, INF, Yarmouth-Dennis (Nova Southeastern)
Surprised you haven’t talked about Eric Jagielo. He has huge power, though I don’t like his actions in the infield.
Its funny… I’ve seen Harwich more than any other team besides Y-D. Early on I wanted to get more of a look at Jagielo’s glovework… later on I just had so many Harwich guys to write about – didn’t want to be accused of just writing about the Mariners! I’m a fan of Jagielo, but I don’t know that the glove plays at 3B in the pros. So that complicates the profile.
I agree but he has such explosive power and I think he seems like he can hit for a solid average as well because he has an ability to straighten out his swing against tougher pitches instead of trying to drive them out of the ballpark. And yeah, Harwich certainly is loaded with talent.
He definitely can. The excellent Frank Piliere (of FoxSports/Scout.com) comped him to Richie Shaffer to me the other day. Think that made a ton of sense.
Have a restaurant here on the Cape and got out to ONE game this year…happened to see Harwich. Saw Wilson and I think Jones go back to back (was a LH). Couldn’t believe the size and bats of Harwich kids. Also, know Jake Rodriguez (family friend)….I don’t think he’s a big league catcher but could be capable 3rd catcher if his bat plays as a utility infielder. I think his power will come as well.
You have to get out to more games, man! If you could only see one team that was the team to see, though. Harwich really has an amazing middle of the order. Brewster as well – and you want to talk size? Judge (6’7″), Healy (6’5″), Mitsui (6’5″), Monda (6’4″) and Olinger (6’2″) in the middle of their order.
I do like Jake Rodriguez. I hope he finds a niche – and I think he has a great shot because the kid is a ballplayer. Good teams draft ballplayers – not profiles – and sort the fit out later.
Appreciate you reading and taking the time to comment.
On a semi-related note, I saw Rodriguez tonight and he got ejected late in the game for getting right in the umpire’s face after a questionable called third strike. Just thought it was interesting and wanted to share.