Player Name: David Palmer
School: New Haven
Position: RHP:
Palmer is a 6’5″ 210 lb freshman at New Haven. He is a 2014 graduate of East Islip high school where he was an All-State member.
He has a very deliberate delivery. When he reaches his balance point, he has his toe pointing straight down, which is generally to avoid landing on the heel of the foot. His arm action is straight over the top.
He had a solid inning against Dowling on March 11. He got the first batter to fly out to the left fielder on a well-placed fastball. The next batter popped out to the shortstop. He then allowed a bloop single to right center field. Prior to that pitch, he showed a slider and a changeup. He held onto the slider too long and it was yanked outside, but the changeup was very advanced with good deception and downward action. The inning would’ve been ended with a strikeout on a breaking ball in the dirt–that was a perfect two-strike pitch against an aggressive swinger–but it scooted past the catcher and allowed both runners to move up. The next batter made it hurt with a groundball single to CF on a fastball. On the next pitch, both runners attempted a steal but the lead runner was caught to end the inning.
For a freshman throwing in his first game, it was a solid showing. Palmer showed why he dominated in high school with the solid three-pitch mix that he had command of. He throws hard enough to keep hitters honest. With his 6’5″ frame, he creates a deceptive downhill look that hitters find it tough to pickup on.
