Draft League Scouting Notes - June 25-27

Frederick Keys

+Switch-hitting 3B/1B Jake Plastiak (Kentucky) is tied for the Draft League home run lead after he launched a three-run shot (99 MPH EV, 376 feet) in Frederick’s loss against Trenton on Sunday. The home run was Plastiak’s second from the left side of the plate, and, overall, he’s had four of his first six hits go for extra bases in five games since joining the Keys.

+LHP Ronan Kopp (South Mountain) racked up six strikeouts in three innings on Friday night to increase his Draft League-leading strikeout total to 43. The 6-foot-7 southpaw was tagged for a solo home run and at times struggled with his control in the outing, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits and four walks, but the raw stuff was still plenty good, as Kopp sat just under 95 mph while topping out a 96.8 and posting a 38.9% whiff rate with his heater. Kopps’ two high-spin breaking balls have improved as he’s thrown them more this season, and he’s shown good feel for executing both pitches against same-sided hitters.   

+Wichita St. commit RHP Will Stevens’ outing on Saturday was similar to Kopp’s in the sense that he battled control issues but also flashed a high-end combination of velocity and spin. In running his fastball up to 98.1 mph, Stevens recorded the day’s top pitch velocity as well as the Draft League’s third-highest this season. He also posted Saturday’s second-best fastball spin rate (2672 rpm) as well as the two highest breaking-ball spin rates with his slider (3181) and curveball (3055).  

+RHP Dylan Tebrake (Creighton), who struck out two batters over two scoreless innings in relief of Stevens, wasn’t all that far behind Stevens in several categories on the daily leaderboards. Tebrake’s fastball velocity and spin have been ticking up since he entered the Draft League and he sat better than 93 mph while touching 96.3 and 2571 spin on Saturday. He induced five whiffs on 11 swings with his heater and also posted elite spin rates with his 12-to-6 curveball (3007 rpm) and slider (2915), notching two whiffs with the latter. 

Mahoning Valley Scrappers

+OF Bobby Sparling, currently uncommitted for the 2022 season, tied a bow on his 5-for-14, five-RBI weekend performance by hitting his first Draft League home run, a 400-foot, three-run shot, in the Scrappers’ 9-9 tie against West Virginia on Sunday. He leads all qualified hitters in batting (.364), hits (32), RBI (25) and total bases (44) through 24 games, during which he’s totaled more walks (18) than strikeouts (16).

+1B Dan Harwood (Butler) entered the home run column with authority Saturday via a 446-foot solo shot to deep right-center field. He would later add an RBI single to finish 2-for-4 with three RBI. He’s tied for third in the Draft League with 19 RBI.

+MIF Branden Comia (Illinois) drove in two runs and notched two hits including an extra-base hit in back-to-back games as he improved his average to .317. He was 2-for-5 with a two-run triple on Friday and delivered a two-run double (90-mph exit velo) on Sunday to help the Scrappers rally back from an early 9-1 deficit.  

+Friday starter LHP Colin Floyd (Youngstown St.) posted a 75% whiff rate and 58.3% CSW with his 72-74 mph curveball. He recorded two of his three strikeouts with the pitch in four scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk. LHP Garrett Schoenle (Cincinnati) was up to 93.8 and got whiffs on three of the six changeups he threw while working two scoreless innings out of the Scrappers’ ‘pen. 

+RHP Aaron Haase (Wichita St.) turned in another dominant appearance as he struck out the side swinging on 11 pitches in the ninth. He picked up two strikeouts with his curveball and another with his slider, spinning both pitches north of 2600 in the outing. Overall, Haase has fanned 12 batters in 6.1 innings while only allowing one hit.     

+RHP Jacob DeLabio (Carthage) pitched a scoreless ninth for Mahoning Valley on both Saturday and Sunday, striking out one batter in each appearance. He topped out at 94.9 mph and 2618 rpm on Saturday and 95.1/2535 on Sunday, showcasing the same consistent velocity that he has all season, even while pitching on back-to-back days. DeLabio has been a standout from Opening Day, posting a 1.74 ERA and 37/5 K/BB in 20.2 (13 appearances). He’s fourth in the Draft League in strikeouts, and the only non-starter to appear in the top nine spots on the list.  

State College Spikes

+OF Nathan Church (UC Irvine) belted his third home run and added his fourth double in just 10 Draft League games Sunday via a 3-for-4 performance. He served as the Spikes’ three-hole hitter in all three weekend contents, going 5-for-13 with four batted balls at 94 mph or harder. 

+Arizona commit 3B Damiano Palmegiani kicked off his weekend by going 3-for-3 with a 103.8-mph RBI double. 2B Mark Vierling (Missouri) also hit a ball at 103.8 mph off the bat -- a line-drive (22.3-degree LA), two-run home run to left field, his second of the season. 

+Friday starter RHP Richie Holetz (Nebraska-Omaha) allowed one run on two hits in five innings, striking out three. He flashed a dominant slider in the outing, posting a 54.5% whiff rate at 50% CSW with the 79-82 mph offering. RHP Drew Garrett (Missouri) was 94-96 mph during a two-strikeout, two-walk seventh inning in Saturday’s game. 

+RHP Jason Bollman, an LSU commit, worked at 90-93 mph and showed good pitchability in his first Draft League start. Bollman picked up two whiffs apiece with his curveball, slider and changeup while posting a 40% CSW with the two latter pitches. He allowed one run on two hits in four innings, issuing two walks and striking out three. 

+TCU commit LHP Connor Oliver fired three hitless frames in relief of Bollman, albeit while giving up an unearned run on three walks and a pair of wild pitches. He also featured a deep arsenal, using a curveball, cutter, slider and changeup to complement a 90-93 mph heater that’s averaged 17.4 inches IVB during his first two outings.  

+RHP Kiernan Higgins (Shippensburg) continues to be lights-out. He worked scoreless frames on both Friday and Sunday and was 92-94 mph (T94.9) with a T3056-rpm curveball and T2829-rpm slider in the latter. He’s pitched to a 0.69 ERA with 18 strikeouts and three walks in 13 innings (10 appearances).

Trenton Thunder

+RHP Dylan Heid (Pitt Johnstown) got the best of Kopp and the Keys on Friday, adding a new chapter to what has been an eye-opening Draft League campaign for the fastball-dominant hurler. Operating with more velocity than he did in previous starts, Heid sat 92.4 mph -- more than a full tick above his season average (91.3) -- and set a new season-high mark by touching 94.4. In terms of the results, Heid picked up nine whiffs and recorded all six of his strikeouts with his heater, throwing the pitch at an 82.1-percent clip. He’s compiled 35 strikeouts against four walks in 18 innings on the season and paces all Draft League hurlers (10 IP min.) with a 0.50 ERA. 

+RHP Chris Jefferson (New Mexico St.) struck out seven over five no-hit innings Sunday in one of the better starting-pitching performances of the Draft League season. He notched four of those strikeouts using his Draft League-best changeup, an 81-84 mph weapon that falls off the table as it arrives at the plate. Jefferson can effectively change hitters’ eye levels with his 91-94 mph fastball in order to set up the changeup, and he also will mix in the occasional curveball and slider, both of which he can land for strikes. 

+SS Carson Matthews (San Diego St.) went 6-for-13 with four doubles over the weekend, hitting at least one two-bagger in each of Trenton’s three games. He tallied a pair of doubles on Friday as part of a 3-for-6 performance and followed it the next day with a 104.6-mph double in a perfect 2-for-2 showing. On the season, Matthews has hit .341 with three home runs and five doubles in 15 games. 

+OF Adan Fernandez (Nova Southeastern) became the first player to take Ronan Kopp deep, as he jumped on a 93.2-mph, 2600-plus spin fastball to hit 363 feet at 100 mph off the bat for his second Draft League home run. He continued to swing the bat well Saturday, finishing 2-for-2 with a two-run double. 

+3B Jonny Weaver (Grand Canyon) drove in three of his five runs over the weekend via his second Draft League homer. 2B Tyler Finke (Southeastern Louisiana) had pair of run-scoring hits including a double Sunday in a 3-for-4, three-RBI showing from the bottom of the lineup. He went 4-for-7 on the weekend, also reaching twice via a walk. 

+RHP Rob Griswold (Long Island) struck out two batters during a perfect ninth inning in Trenton’s Sunday win to extend his Draft League scoreless-innings streak to nine innings. Griswold’s fastball, a sinker, is far from overpowering, averaging just 89.2 mph and 2200+ spin, and he’s registered just a 7.5% whiff rate with the pitch. However, no hurler in the circuit imparts as much horizontal movement on their heater as the Thunder right-hander, who’s averaged 20.4 inches HM on the 80 fastballs he’s thrown this season.    

West Virginia Black Bears

+LHP Mitch Bratt, a Florida State commit, continued to separate himself from the Draft League field Friday with his second nine-strikeout start of the season. The 17-year-old southpaw scattered four hits over five scoreless innings and did not issue a walk. Bratt’s fastball velocity and command have both been trending in the right direction over his last three starts, and he reached 92.2 mph and averaged 90.2 -- a 0.8-mph improvement compared to his season average -- in Friday’s outing. That Bratt also posted a 40% CSW with his 76-79 mph curveball and picked up whiffs with both his changeup and slider, throwing each pitch eight times, speaks to his advanced pitchability with stuff that is ticking up across the board at the right time. 

+West Virginia commit OF/1B Grant Hussey rebounded from a three-strikeout game Friday to record the top exit velocity on both Saturday and Sunday. The former came on a 105.1-mph ground-rule double in a 2-for-5 performance, and he went 416 feet off the scoreboard in right-center field on Sunday -- also 105.1 mph -- to record the latter. The 6-foot-3 left-handed hitter also laced a 100-mph double and walked twice in Sunday’s contest, finishing 2-for-3.  

+Leadoff man OF Garrett Spain (Austin Peay) also bounced back from a hitless game Friday to finish the week on a high note, going 3-for-5 with a triple and three runs scored on Saturday, and then encoring with his first Draft League homer (430 ft. at 101 mph) in Sunday’s series finale. 

+INF Jake Reinhardt (North Park) drove in a team-high three runs in Saturday’s 12-6 victory with his first Draft League homer. After a night off on Friday, C Tucker Mitchell (State College of Florida) returned to the lineup Saturday to go 2-for-4 with a 97-mph triple and a 96-mph single, both of which plated runs. C Max Wright (Indiana St.) hit a 101-mph double and a bases-clearing, 99-mph triple on Sunday.

+RHPs Trevor Tietz (Jefferson College) and Michael Hobbs (Saint Mary’s) retired the side in the order in the eighth and ninth innings on Saturday, with the two hurlers combining for three strikeouts. They bumped 95.4 and 95.2 mph with their respective fastballs. RHP Madison Jeffrey (West Virginia) topped them both on Sunday by touching 95.5 mph.

Williamsport Crosscutters

+C Rob Marinec (North Central) was the only Crosscutter to collect two hits in multiple games over the weekend, going 5-for-12 with a 104-mph, pull-side double off the wall and three walks. He also started Saturday’s contest in right field. OF Lance Logsdon (Quincy) delivered a go-ahead, bases-clearing double to help lead the Crosscutters past State College, 7-5, on Friday. He finished 1-for-3 with two walks and hit another double the following day as part of a 2-for-5 showing. 

+Saturday starter RHP Tyler Uberstine (Northwestern) spun three innings of one-hit ball, striking out five. The righty was on point with each of his three pitches, posting a 45.8% CSW with his 92-94 mph, T2641-rpm fastball, a 40% CSW with his changeup (85-87 mph) and a 25% CSW with his slider (84-88). He retired the final seven batters he faced after allowing a two-out single in the first. LHP Jacob Smith (Wallace Hanceville) delivered three hitless frames with five strikeouts in relief of Uberstine. The southpaw sat 87-88 (T88.8) but posted a 50% whiff rate with his fastball, inducing eight whiffs on 16 swings.  

+RHP Troy Taylor (Cypress College) took the loss Sunday but pitched well overall, striking out five in five innings. He was up to 95.1 mph and averaged 93.3 with his fastball, throwing it with 42 of 67 pitches in the outing, and was still touching 95 when he struck out the side in order in his fifth and final inning of work. He posted a 60% whiff rate and recorded four of his strikeouts using his curveball and picked up one whiff with both his slider and changeup as well. 

+RHP Francisco Mateo (College of Central Florida) sat 92-93 (T94) with a good slider as he worked around an infield single to strike out the side in the seventh. RHP Owen Holt (Alvin CC) sat 91-93 mph with his 2500-spin fastball while notching a pair of strikeouts in the eighth. RHP Chase Plymell (Central Missouri) recorded each of his three strikeouts in the ninth with his breaking ball after allowing the Spikes’ first two hitters in the frame to reach base.