Player Name: Bret Clarke
School: Stony Brook
Position: RHP
Bret is 6’3″ 170 lb pitcher from Royerford, PA. He is a 2019 graduate of Stony Brook.
He begins his delivery with a long step back as he drops his glove and prepares for his delivery. He takes an aggressive leg kick to generate force. At his apex, his leg his high and tight, with his momentum already moving forward towards home plate. His back leg is firm and his foot is pointed down, with his eyes locked on the target. He swings his leg out as opposed to towards home plate. This is used by MLB pitchers such as Scott Kazmir and A.J. Burnett. It is not ideal but as long as the arm swing is in synergy with the body, it will not affect command. He generates great drive from his back side, which leads to a very healthy stride from his height. He lands with his foot flat on the mound. When paused at the landing point, he resembles Hall of Famer Tom Seaver due to the stride length. His delivery his high 3/4, with a natural unhinging of the elbow. This generates great whipping action and it is one of the reasons he can throw so hard despite his 170 lb frame. IT is also deceptive for the hitter, because it is not directly over the top. He sort of cuts himself off immediately after delivering the ball–I would like to see a little more extension. His momentum takes him off to the first base side slightly, but not enough to be an issue. Overall, very smooth and repeatable mechanics which will enable him to be a successful starter at this level.
He threw five innings in his start on March 1. He struck out five and walked two. He worked primarily in the 86-88 MPH range in the fastball, but he has gotten it up to 90 in the warmer climate. He displayed a nasty slider.
He did have bouts with control issues at times. It appeared to be the type of issue related to jitters in front of a big crowd. He bounced lots of fastballs early on in the game, but once he calmed down he got good extension and finished his pitches. He blew his fastball by several of the opposing hitters. One hitter in particular was so late on the fastball he basically hit it out of the catcher’s glove and fouled it onto the first-base side on-deck circle.
His first strike out came on a 2-2 curve that completely froze the cleanup hitter. He got his second strikeout looking on a 1-2 fastball . He struck out the next batter swinging on a 1-2 slider that just disappeared and was not hittable.
His walk of the nine-hitter was something that shouldn’t happen at this level but was almost certainly related to nerves. After getting ahead on a fouled bunt attempt, he threw four pitches nowhere near the zone, mostly bounced. The run came in on a misplayed sinking liner that was on a 1-2 fastball. The RF should’ve played it on the hop and it would’ve been 1st and 2nd not an RBI triple. His last two innings were dominant, aside from a four-pitch leadoff walk to the cleanup hitter. He lucked out that the baserunner was caught napping and the catcher gunned him down for the first out. He struck out the sixth-place hitter looking on a high fastball that did not appear to be a strike. In the fifth inning, he coaxed a weak fly ball, a popout to the third baseman and a soft fly to right that took only 9 pitches.
He didn’t have to make any plays off the mound, but he’s definitely an athletic kid. He didn’t allow any stolen bases and controlled the running game well.
