North Florida Open: Pitching Analysis

November 17, 2015

By Rob Sidwell
Florida Scouting Director

Jacksonville, Florida --- This past weekend’s North Florida Open was held on the campus of Florida State College of Jacksonville. While small in numbers, the showcase still produced plenty of young talent to talk about. While most of these young players are currently 2 way guys, some may end up on the mound only. Today we take a look at what we saw in terms of pitching performances. Lead by 2019 OF/LHP Jud Fabian from Trinity Catholic who is a very young, very projectable arm but also stood out with the bat and as an athletic outfielder with a high ceiling. Followed by 2017 RHP/3B Connor Gonzalez from Bishop Kenny HS who is a big strong body that touched 79 mph. 2018 RHP/MIF Troy Britts from St Johns Country Day also showed well with a very projectable, easy working arm on a smaller framed body. He also had good infield actions. The following were the rest of the pitchers.

Dawson Fietsam OF/LHP Trinity Christian 2019
5-foot-7, 145 pound OF/LHP with a lean loose athletic projectable young body on a smaller frame. Loose quick arm at a high ¾ arm slot. Hides ball in back and lands in line. Fastball had late tail action at 75-78 mph. Curveball had tight ¾ rotation at 60-61 mph. Changeup had same late fastball life at 63-64 mph. Good looking young arm. Also showed well in the outfield.

Jud Fabian OF/LHP Trinity Catholic 2019
6-foot, 155 pound OF/LHP with a tall loose lean athletic projectable young body with a lot of upside. Loose easy working arm at a ¾ arm slot. Fastball had late tail action at 78-81 mph. Curveball had a tight ¾ rotation with occasional depth at 66-67 mph. Good feel for changeup with the same late fastball life at 68-70 mph. Threw all 3 pitches for strikes. Good athlete. Is also a very good position player. Good young arm that will begin attracting attention soon.

Connor Gonzalez RHP/3B Bishop Kenny HS 2017
6-foot-1, 195 pound RHP/3B with a tall thick body with a wide frame. Quick arm with some effort. Lands slightly across the body. Fastball is heavy at 76-79 mph. Slider is a short ¾ breaker at 67-70 mph. Changeup has good arm speed at 69-70 mph but occasionally slows down to throw it. Big strong young arm.

Troy Britts MIF/RHP St Johns Country Day 2018
5-foot-9, 130 pound MIF/RHP with a lean loose projectable young body on a smaller frame. Loose easy working arm at a high ¾ arm slot. Fluid delivery. Low elbow at release. Fastball is 77-79 mph with some deception. Curveball was a slurve at 62-64 mph and he dropped his arm slot to throw it. Changeup was 67-70 mph and occasionally slows down to throw it. Easy working arm that will continue to throw harder as he physically matures.

Austin Kittle IF/OF/RHP Ridgeview HS 2017
6-foot, 175 pound IF/OF/RHP with an athletic projectable body. Long loose arm at a ¾ arm slot. Long arm arc in back. Fastball was 74-76 mph with tailing action. Curveball was a soft slurve at 61-62 mph. He dropped arm slot to throw it. Changeup was 66-67 mph that he also dropped his arm slot to throw. Young athletic arm.

Jared Wilson 1B/LHP Ridgeview HS 2018
5-foot-8, 185 pound 1B/LHP with a thick stocky young body. Loose arm at a ¾ arm slot. Hides ball in back. Takes ball out of glove with elbow. Lands open. Fastball was 67-69 mph with tail action. Curveball was a soft ¾ breaker at 58-60 mph. Changeup was 62-63 mph with fairly good arm speed. Also swung the bat well.

Justin Farmer LHP/1B 2019
5-foot-8, 130 pound LHP/1B with a thin young projectable body. Loose arm at a high ¾ arm slot Short in back. Hides ball. Takes ball out of glove with elbow. Fastball has tail action and glove side cut action at 71-73 mph. Curveball is a downer at 57-59 mph. He raises arm slot to get over it. Changeup is 61-63 mph with good arm speed. Projectable young arm.