DANIELSVILLE, GA—The weather broke just enough Wednesday to get some action in, albeit with a change in locations. This weekend, we’re in Georgia and I got things started in Madison County to see RHP Alex McFarlane (Habersham Central HS, GA). Originally from the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Miami recruit is living with a host family after Hurricane Maria devastated the Caribbean islands in 2017. Joey and Elizabeth Elger were missionary teachers in the Virgin Islands, but are from Habersham County and moved back after the hurricanes. Looking for a better opportunity in school and baseball, McFarlane moved in with the Elgers. He has athletic bloodlines, as his mother competed in the Olympics in Tae Kwan Do and his father sprinted in the Pan-American Games.

He made his second start of the regular season at Madison County, after the game was moved from Habersham Central because of field conditions. McFarlane has a projectable frame with long, skinny limbs at about 6-foot-1, 170 pounds. While raw on the mound, he is athletic with considerable upside. His arm is quick through a low-3/4 slot and he stays upright in his delivery with only slight effort. His fastball jumps out of his hand with finish through the zone and was 91-94 mph early, touching 95. He threw two breaking balls in the game with the slider being the better pitch. It has sharp 10/4 break at 77-80 with plus potential. He also tried to throw a curveball that showed more 11/5 break at 73-75, but his arm slot makes it tough to consistently stay on top of the pitch. It flashed depth, but was mostly loose and slurvy. He also showed feel for a changeup at times, sitting in the low 80s, but he didn’t repeat the arm action on the pitch consistently.

McFarlane started the game with a strikeout on his slider and then got two groundouts. He retired the side in order in the second, ending the inning with another strikeout and got the first two outs, including his third strikeout, of the third inning, giving him eight straight to start the game. A couple soft singles put two runners on, but McFarlane escaped with a flyout. The first two batters of the fourth reached on a walk and infield single, but an attempted sacrifice bunt was turned into an out at third base when McFarlane hopped off the mound, fielded the ball and showed off quick feet to get into throwing position. He recorded his fourth strikeout and got out of the inning on a caught stealing. He started the fifth with a walk, but struck out the next two and caught a soft liner back to him to end his day.

In five innings, he allowed three hits and two walks while striking out six. He threw 78 pitches, 46 of which were strikes. In his previous start, he went three innings, allowing an unearned run and a hit batter while striking out seven.

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