Eastern PA Top Prospect Games Analysis: Pitchers
July 27, 2016
By Jacob Gill
Pennsylvania Assistant Director of Scouting
The first-year of the Eastern PA Top Prospect Games brought 65 college hopefuls to La Salle University in Philadelphia on July 19-20. Today we conclude prospect analysis with pitchers. Links to previous evaluations of position players and two-way performers can be found at the end of this article.
Class of 2017
Zach Boop, RHP, Neshaminy
Second time on the bump in game action since suffering an injury during the high school season. 6-foot-4, 180-pounds with room to grow. Overhead rocker and drifts through balance point a bit into a high three-quarter arm slot. Will work around front side at times and get turned sideways on finish. Fastball has returned to pre-injury level at 83-85. Was getting around it and cutting it on this day, but when he missed, he missed down. Has a good feel for his change-up at 73-74 and also features a curveball at 70-71 with 11/5 action. Expect to see him regain consistency and make a jump this fall as he rounds back into game shape.
Tom Jacob, RHP, Upper Moreland
6-foot, 170-pounder who starts his delivery with a sideways rocker into a chest-high leg lift and pitches out of a low three-quarter slot. Fastball sat 79-83 and he showed an ability to work down in the zone with some sink at the lower end of that range. Also incorporated a slider with short break at 71-74 and a rare change-up at 68-70.
Scott Leitholf, RHP, Northern York
Lean 6-foot-6, 175-pounder attacked the zone and showed good command of a three-pitch mix. Repeatable delivery with minimal moving parts to get out of sync includes a slight back shoulder dip over the rubber. Arm action has some wrist wrap with soft stab, but gets good extension out front. Fastball sat 85-88 with some armside run and finish. Showed a good feel for a curveball with some depth at 68-70 and also featured a change-up at 70-71.
Santino Nave', RHP, Roman Catholic
5-foot-10, 165-pounder's stuff has been very consistent over the past five months. Fastball sat 81-84 on this day with some armside sink, although he struggled to command it as well as he has during other recent viewings. Delivery is repeatable, although, at times, will come out of it early, limiting his extension and cutting off his finish. Primarily a two-pitch guy, his top secondary offering is a solid mid-70s slider.
Nick Picariello, RHP, Germantown Academy
5-foot-10, 185-pounder who can really spin it. Compact delivery that he repeats includes an up-tempo wind-up with slight back should dip over rubber. Fastball sat 83-86, while his equalizer is a tight, 11/5 curveball with depth at 73-75 for which he demonstrates a very good feel. Likely a reliever profile due stuff dropping off by third inning of work and a build that doesn't project as a workhorse, but breaking ball gives him a chance to get high-leverage outs in that role.
Austin Reusing, RHP, South Western
6-foot-1, 240-pounder who attacked the zone out of an over-the-top slot. Gathers over rubber well in the wind-up and and leads to plate with front hip. Doesn't get off rubber as well from the stretch, leading to less extension and some recoil. Fastball sat 80-82 with a little cut to it and occasional downhill plane. Secondary offerings included an 11/5 curveball at 69-71 and a straight change-up at 71-72. Quick feet on pickoff attempts.
Kyle Serman, RHP, Northampton Area
5-foot-11, 165-pounder who pitches out of a high three-quarter slot with some deception in his delivery. Hides the ball well with the glove in tight to his chest and arm stroke concealed behind his body. Fastball at 79-81 had occasional armside sink and got in on a few hitters. Curveball at 65-67 showed some 11/5 tilt out of the wind-up, but was more loopy in the stretch. Will need to maintain arm slot for change-up at 69-71 to become an effective third pitch for him.
Ari Silverstein, RHP, Central Bucks East
Projectable 6-foot-4, 190-pound frame. Rhythmic delivery includes a chest-high leg lift, with high lead arm and front foot kicked toward home plate. Pitches out of a high three-quarter slot and cuts off extension at times. Fastball at 80-84 was down a couple ticks from the 84-86 that he showed in a bullpen three weeks prior. Slow curveball at 60-63 is still in the developmental stage, while he did not feature his change-up at 63-64 very often (both pitches also down in velocity from three weeks ago).
Noah Weber, RHP, Governor Mifflin
6-foot, 185-pounder who used an economy of pitches and generated groundballs. Sideways rocker with some yo-yo glove action in his wind-up. Stays on-line to the plate well. Pounded zone with a fastball at 80-82 and a breaking ball at 66-68 that varied from 11/5 break, when it was at its best, to more slider-like action.
Class of 2018
Joe Adametz, LHP, Governor Mifflin
Ultra-lean, 6-foot-5, 165-pound frame. Compact delivery with short arm action into a three-quarter slot. Deliberate wind-up with controlled leg lift. Lands with front foot open, which leads to some collapse of his front leg and lack of a fulcrum to push against. Fastball sat 78-80 with some baby tail at the end. Secondary stuff included a loopy curveball with 1/7 action at 62-64 and a change-up at 70-71.
James Balogh, RHP, Pocono Mountain East
Athletic 5-foot-11, 160-pounder with loose, clean arm action. Gathers over rubber well, while upright finish, at times, led to inconsistencies in release point and command on this day. Stuff was down a tick from when we last saw him. Fastball sat 81-83 with occasional late, hard armside action. Curveball at 65-67 flashed late slurvy action, but was inconsistent, while change-up checked in at 68-70. Still expect athleticism and arm action to lead to a velocity jump at some point.
Tyler Burchett, RHP, Red Lion Area
6-foot-4, 190-pound build with room to add more strength. Pitches out of an over-the-top slot with arm speed out front and shows some ability to get downhill. Kicks heel toward plate and leads with stiff front leg. Lively fastball sat 86-89 in his first inning before settling in the mid-80s after that. Mid-70s slider again showed promise, while he also mixed in the occasional change-up at 78-79 and curveball at 69-70 that would benefit from being thrown with fastball arm speed. Command was spotty, but there's big upside here.
Aidan Frye, RHP, Springside Chestnut Hill
Solid 6-foot, 175-pound build. Compact, repeatable delivery. Pitches out of a high three-quarter slot with a quick arm. Leads out of balance point with his front hip and stays on-line to the plate well. Best command at the event, routinely dotting the glove, especially to his armside. Fastball came out of his hand well and there could be more to come from the pitch that sat 83-86 and occasionally had good plane to it. Didn't have a great feel for his curveball early, but it sharpened up with 11/5 break at 67-70 as his outing went along. Also mixed in a firm change-up at 77-79.
Dillon Marsh, LHP, Lancaster Catholic
Recently back on the market, the physical 6-foot-2, 210-pounder continues to progress. Chest-high leg lift with slight pause coming out of balance point leading with front hip. Athletic on the mound, he pitches out of a high three-quarter slot with loose arm action and good arm speed. Fastball sat 84-87 and had good plane to it. Nibbled too much early, but pounded the zone better in his second and third innings. Mid-70s change-up flashes plus with sink/fade and good sell, and he trusts it enough to throw it against left-handed hitters. Curveball that used to be very flat continues to develop depth and shows 11/5 shape at 70-72 now.
Taylor Rohrer, LHP, Manheim Central
6-foot, 160-pounder pitches out of a three-quarter slot. Appeared to struggle with his plant foot, tending to spin and not get over front side. Finish has some recoil when he does stay on-line. Fastball at 80-82 comes out of his hand well, while he also utilized a 1/7 curveball at 69-72. Interesting upside, but will need to sharpen up command.