BB: General New England Discussion

[slick]

I agree with Bostonian. Tim Kiely had TJ surgery done last June and should not be throwing yet. He is a tough, very though kid/young man. He throws hard, has a great breaking pitch(s) and most importantly is a winner, he fights hard. He was getting MLB looks before he hurt his arm, he is the real deal. Reminds me of a RHP Guidry. A classic tournament pitcher.

[TheGNAC]

Not so sure about that, Bostonian. Yes, the perfect game is impressive, but I'm certainly not sold on him being better than a freshman All-American (Gilblair), or even a kid who's pitched in the Cape Cod League (Conway). Let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

[NEBaseball]

Anyone have names of legit dudes (Juniors and Seniors) getting scouted by the MLB for this region?  Like guys with the velocity, accuracy, and poise to do big things at a higher level.

[TheGNAC]

NEBaseball,

I'd imagine Gilblair, Conway, Kiely, and Smolin all have professional aspirations / ability. Gilblair's a lefthander who sits in the 85-87 mph range with his fastball, and he knows how to pitch. Conway has pitched in the Cape League, and he throws in the upper 80's with good command. I haven't seen Kiely but I've heard he has a live arm, and Smolin went from being a seldom-used pitcher at Western New England to throwing 92 consistently in front of a Mets scout last weekend.

McDonough from Wheaton and Telian from Tufts could also have pro aspirations, as they're lefties who have a good idea how to pitch.

[Jcon2134]

I agree with all the New England Pitchers there they are all really good pitchers with great arms and the fact that they get no love like the pitchers in the midwest and west get is awful If we put the top 10 arms in New England Vs. the top 10 arms in any other regions They would beat any one of them in my option.

[frank uible]

Will velocity in the high 80s ordinarily attract pro interest? That isn't much faster than batting practice speed for elite DI programs.

[TheGNAC]

Depends on everything else, Frank. Take for instance Tim Stronach from Worcester State last season. Drafted by the Mets in the 22nd round, he normally sat 86-88 with his fastball. Kevin Boggan, closer at BC, was taken in the 43rd round, and he barely touched 88.

A guy like Gilblair, for instance, should create serious draft interest, IMO. He's a lefty who has a proven track record (All-American as a freshman), and he throws a good moving fastball 85-87 consistently.

All one need to do is look at Jeremy Sowers. A former first round pick of the Cleveland Indians in 2004, he was one of the fastest moving arms in the entire draft, as he's already a proven starter at the big league level. What's the word on him? He's barely 6'1, and his fastball doesn't crack 88 on a good day. Why did he get a $2,000,000 signing bonus? Because he has pitchability. Who else has pitchability? IMO, a lot of D-III guys from the NE, as they have had to learn how to pitch instead of throwing 95 by guys (Greg Norton, "ace" at UMaine, throws 95 and he has a BAA of .340 this season in the America East Conference).

Honestly, velocity is the most overrated aspect in scouting. Movement, command, and pitchability are much more important, IMO.

[NEBaseball]

TheGNAC,

Totally agree with you.  I've seen D-I dudes topping out at 86 and making hitters look silly.

Are there any other pitchers topping out over 90 mph in New England?  

[TheGNAC]

In D-III or in NE entirely?

In D-III, I know Smolin at WNEC throws 90+, and his teammate, Pizzoferrato, had to be touching 90 in the GNAC championship game last weekend. Jagodinzki at EConn throws hard, and I'm pretty sure LaVorga has a power arm, as well. Barnes at Wheaton also has a very good fastball.

[NEBaseball]

Do all of these guys have pitchability, like you mentioned earlier?  All seem to have good numbers, the first three mentioned are starters and Barnes/LaVorga finishing games out.

[TheGNAC]

Smolin, I'm not sold on. His arm is electric, and it works effortlessly. There was a Mets scout at his start in Nashua last weekend, but there's a reason he didn't pitch much until this, his senior year. Against JWU on Saturday, he pitched 8 innings and allowed just 1 run, while throwing 90+ into the 8th... that said, he struck out just one against JWU, which isn't a sign of pitchability. His counterpart, Pizzoferrato, was a Regional All-American last year, winning 10 games as a freshman, and this year, although his innings are down, he's still shown two plus pitches. He's pitching in the NECBL this summer in a make-or-break year.

The two guys at EConn have very good arms and pitchability, being that they both pitch in a great program for pitchers. Barnes was a stud at Bishop Feehan in high school, and he's been a very good arm to watch over the last 4 years.

[NEBaseball]

Smolin, I'm not sold on. His arm is electric, and it works effortlessly. There was a Mets scout at his start in Nashua last weekend, but there's a reason he didn't pitch much until this, his senior year.

Looking at NCAA statistics, the reason may be that he played in left field last year.  This year it looks like he focused on pitching, as left was secured.  He did beat Otterbein, the preseason #1, and hasn't lost since.  His start this weekend vs. JWU was his second against them this year.  He had 11 k's in the first matchup.  Either way, 8 inning 4-hit 1-k shutout is still pretty good.

[TheGNAC]

Oh most definitely, I agree. Smolin is without a doubt the best arm in the GNAC, and Burkett getting POTY over him is absurd. I've seen him throw 3 times this season, and every time out he's been exceptional. His arm really works, he's throwing 90 mph with little effort. Only concern I see is that his fastball may be a little straight, and he may need to throw more 2-seamers against better hitters to be more successful.

[hockeyfan77]

Final from Tonight: USM 13 U-Maine 7...

[MSG77]

You guys beat me on Tim Kiely - definitely should be on the list.  Didn't realize he was hurt that badly.  He pitched in the NECBL in 05 as well.  Hard thrower with a really good hard slider.  The Tufts team that he was perfect against for 7 inn wasn't a bad team either.  His nos for the year -

4-0, 1.61, 1 Sv. 28.0 IP, 25K/6BB, .89 WHIP - Pretty good

Haven't seen that many games this year vs past years so I can't comment on too many kids.

In terms of straight velocity, I know Jason LaVorgna (ECSU) throws hard.  I had heard that in AZ early in the year he was clocked at 93.  In the past, he had somewhat of a flat fastball and sometimes had trouble getting offspeed stuff over.  Teams would just sit on the fastball and if he left it up it would get hit.  But he has good numbers this year and also pitched in the NECBL last summer.  Maybe he got some good advice there and is improved.  Here are his numbers for this year and for last summer

07 ECSU - 3-0, 1.05, 4 Sv. 25.2 IP, 33K/7BB, 1.09 WHIP
06 NECBL - 3-1, 1.75, 1 Sv. 25.2 IP, 32K/14BB, 1.17 WHIP

Those are really good numbers and his walks seem to be down this year.  Over a K/inn as well.

I would agree as well about "pitchability".  Its not just about throwing hard.  A great example is someone like Joe Serfass.  His fastball was about mid-80s but it had movement and he could really spot it.  Also had a great slider, not hard, maybe around 80, but with late break.  Watching him pitch he never overpowered people, but he didn't walk anyone, he got ahead in the count, and batters would just beat his sinker or slider into the ground.  At one point he pitched almost 50 straight scoreless innings.  Last year he was in high A and had an ERA under 2.  So its not all about arm strength.

IMO that is why Gilblair gets overlooked sometimes.  He is far from an impossing pressence on the mound (I don't think he is over 6') but he mixes pitches and throws strikes.  Has a decent fastball that he spots, a good breaking pitch, and a very good changeup (which last year when on was his best pitch).  As only a sophmore he has a way to go before thinking about getting drafted, but if he continues to pitch the way he has it is always a possibility.  Teams can always use lefties with 3 pitches.