Prep Baseball Report

Insider Analysis: Top 5 Breaking Balls from Unsigned Senior Games



By Mike Penn
Michigan Director of Scouting

The common refrain heard from college pitching coaches across the country is "spin to win."  With this in mind here are five pitchers who showed swing-and-miss breaking balls at the Unsigned Senior Games.

Jamie Castiglione, RHP, Fenton HS, 2014
Castiglione came into the Unsigned Senior Games relatively unknown but left the games well positioned to pick up an offer. During his outing, Castiglione was in complete control striking out three hitters all on breaking balls.  He also induced three ground balls and a soft liner while facing the mandatory ten total hitters.  He threw a 70mph breaking ball for a strike early in the count and was able to finish hitters with a 74mph hammer late in the count.  His 12-6 biter has tight spin and depth.  Castiglione has a ton of potential in our opinion as he still has yet to use his lower half well.  He should pick up an easy three to five mph over the next year or two.  He currently sits 83-85 mph.

Joel Perry, LHP, Holly HS, 2014
Perry may not have thrown the hardest of the pitchers who attended but he certainly carved up hitters with his stuff.  Perry is a smaller compact lefty who struck out six of ten hitters faced.  His breaking ball was the arguably the best one at the Unsigned Senior Games.  His 12-6 curveball has good shape and bite. It ranged between 68-69 mph.

Craig Bosanac, RHP, Monroe-Jefferson HS, 2014
Bosonac is another under-the-radar player who attend the Unsigned Senior Games and performed well.  The big-bodied RHP flashed a heavy 82-85 mph fastball. He cruised through his two innings of work allowing a couple of hits but now damage was done. His breaking ball had good depth to it and was "slurvish"in nature.  He threw it between 72-75 mph and used it effectively to keep hitters off balance.

Jake Lincoln, RHP, Jackson Lumen Christi HS, 2014
We have seen Lincoln several times over the course of the past year and this was the best his breaking ball has been.  He seems to be finding his groove.  He sat primarily between 82-83mph with his fastball but his breaking ball, which acts more like a slider, was 70-72mph.  He was able to get swings in misses both in and out of the strike zone and routinely had players chasing away with short late movement.  In addition to his breaking ball, Lincoln had some good downward tilt and arm-side run to his fastball.

Ryan Wysocki, RHP, Forest Hills Northern HS, 2014
Wysocki has a slender frame and is a good athlete.  The quick-armed righty showed that there is going to be more in the tank. Wysocki used his three pitch mix effectively inducing five ground balls and striking out two.  He flipped several breaking balls for strikes and seemed to have good feel for it.  He was able to use it to get ahead in the count easily and even buried a few in attempt to get a chase or two. His breaker has an 11-5 shape to it with tight spin and sits around 70mph.