Porter
Buursema

Georgia Southern Commit. 6-foot-1, 185 pounds. With the aura of a throwback prize fighter, all eyes immediately lock on him as he toes the bump. The delivery looked even more sharp than his 1st start, but he was battling 30 degrees temperature (felt like 23 with wind chill). Talking with Porter after the game, he said there was no feeling in his fingertips after the 1st INN. The cold didn’t stop him from dominating, as he K’d 10 through 5 with 0 ER. With his extremely rare high spin arsenal, you can basically pencil him in for those numbers. His FB spin is in the top 5% of MLB, and his natural cut+ride causes the most in zone whiffs in the class. His unreal wiffle ball SL was impressive in outing 1, but took another step outing 2. The pitch stayed on FB plane longer, with an even more sudden sweep. It flashed wipeout depth multiple times. It was encouraging to see his air bending CB feel coming back in the 71-73 range, and he’s going to steadily incline each outing.

Georgia Southern Commit. 6-foot, 185 pounds. It was exactly the 1st outing we were hoping for from this samurai of spin. When he toes the bump, there’s no energy like Buursema energy. When you see him power skipping after a big K, you see the star power written all over him. Porter has the aura of a prize fighter, and sure gets the crowd going like one. There was a noticeable shift in the park as soon as he came into the game. His first 2 pitches were 92, with a vicious cut ride. One a take strike, one a swing & miss. He’s known for whiffs in the zone, and this night was no different. The velocity did dial back inning 2, but it’s what you expect in a first outing on a crisp night. His FB filled the zone with mostly 89-92. The SL was just as good in the 80-81 range, with the sweep+depth combo being so sudden it’s almost blurry. He flashed a promising CH to LHH. He’s still fine tuning his 3k RPM CB, and we look forward to seeing him at GDC.

Georgia Southern Commit. 5 foot 11, 175 pounds. This is a future high impact starter who possesses a deadly high spin arsenal. What he lacks in prototype size is made up for with athleticism, freakish core+lower half strength, and shockingly electric stuff. It’s a compact, twitchy delivery with elite balance and good direction. He has a naturally smooth, full circle arm action (H ¾) that gradually builds momentum in one piece. Metrically, he’s the best arm in Georgia’s 2023 class and there are very few in the country with a repertoire like him. The spin rate master is also in an elite group of arms visually. He creates a shocking amount of torque in hip/shoulder separation, and is very mobile+flexible as the arm works in & out of throwing position. Buursema is aggressive early in the count with his riding 90-93 T95 FB (cut+ride), creating illusion at 2600-2800 rpm. It’s an arm speed arm strength combo and the violence he produces is so compact, efficient, and controlled it looks like he’s not even trying. His 2700-2800 rpm power SL works in the 78-81 range and tunnels perfectly on FB plane with sharp HZB and wipeout depth. The pitch has such a sudden bang that it looks like mid-upper 80’s velo. His 3k rpm CB at 72-75 hovers in mid air before taking off with a vicious two plane snap. We haven’t seen a pitcher with 2 breaking balls this good all summer, and that's saying something.