Player Name: Teddy Cilis
School: Hofstra
Position: RF/ LHP
Teddy is a 6’2″ 215 lb outfielder and pitcher for Hofstra. He transferred from UNC-Wilmington after his freshman season.
Pitching: From the hill, Cillis is a legitimate prospect. He has pitched in relief and as a starter. He throws his fastball in the 87-90 MPH but has hit 92. He has a max-effort delivery with a high 3/4 arm slot. He has good tail on his two-seam fastball. He has had issues locating his fastball down in the strike zone, but he throws hard enough that he can succeed by throwing in the top half, and that is also a weapon with him when he has two strikes. He has a devastating 12-6 curve that is tight and has tremendous rotation. He threw three innings in his March 23 start. He allowed one first inning run when he threw a wild pitch to advance the runner to third, and he scored on a sac fly. He also struck out four runners and showed some really good command of the curve. In one inning spurts, he can be lights out. He is only a sophomore, which means in another year he will have all eyes on him leading up to the draft.
Offensively: He has a very mechanically sound, smooth and compact swing. It is very similar to that of MLB star Joe Mauer. He sits back on his back leg and has his hands bat resting just above his shoulder with slight movement. His toe tap is very subtle. In the above video, you can see how he stayed closed, threw his hands at a pitch on the outside corner and smacked the ball up the middle.
In the season opening series against Texas A&M, he led the team with four hits in the series. Two of his hits were to left field and one was to center. He did strike out four times, but the pitching was very advanced. They seemed to attack him with fastballs early in the count, and used breaking balls down in the zone to try to put him away. He struck out looking twice on curves he was confused by. He showed no hesitancy not swinging at the first pitch of the at bat.
He did also put one fly ball to the warning track in the center field, showing very good power.
He also smacked the ball in batting practice with power all over the field. Cilis will continue to be a middle-of-the-order hitter due to his consistent approach.
Defensively: It was not a great weekend in the field. He did have seven putouts in the three games, but made two mistakes. There was a triple hit into the right center field gap that he arguably could’ve gotten to with a more efficient route. He also committed a miscue on a base hit that hit off his glove and allowed the runner to advance to third, and led to a run. His arm, however, is a weapon. He showed off his plus-arm a couple times and it will certainly make third base coaches hesitant to wave runners on when he has a chance to gun him down.
Base Running: Good instincts, good speed. He did not attempt a steal, but he could swipe some through out the season.
