Player Spotlight: 2021 RHP Victor Lizarraga

Mechanically he looks comfortable with his hands set high and his front leg open to the batter. Arm swing is medium and enables him to keep the ball hidden from the batter on the backside. Leg kick is quick and high en route to a total body coil with good backside drive and explosion towards home plate. Landing is consistent and inline with home plate but at times his finish featured heavy glove side pull that left his fastball up in the zone and made his curveball difficult to locate.

Stayed extremely aggressive in the zone throughout the game and went right after hitters with a fastball ranging from 84-87 mph that carried with hop and showed some arm side run. At times it seemed that he was just trying to throw a strike instead of pinpointing a location within the strike zone which will need to improve at the next level as hitters will not fall victim to the level of swing and miss within the strike zone that he garnered against Coronado. Featured a curveball that broke on an 11/5 plane with sweeping action down in the zone in the 71-73 mph range. Struggled with consistent command of the pitch which was clearly caused by the heavy glove side pull finish. Development of the curveball will be crucial for his future success.

Fielded his position well and displayed good footwork when fielding a bunt and picking to first base. Showed serious toughness when he was struck in the helmet with a fastball in his second at-bat and stayed in the game to complete three more shutout innings. Singled in the games only run with a two-strike opposite field hit.

First impression has shown that this is a young arm with lots of potential and a high level of positive confidence on the mound. The frame and mechanics display ability for a velocity gain but the question will be from where. Experimenting with starting with his hands lower may be something to consider as it may give his arm more momentum and arm speed. Early results have shown that he is able to quiet a quality San Diego county lineup making the next two years should be fun to watch as he develops his already impressive showing.

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