Player Name: Ryan Aloise
School: St. Joseph’s
Position: RHP
Ryan is a 6’1″ pitcher that is a 2013 graduate of Sayville HS. He begins his windup by stepping back to the side as he begins his delivery. At balance point, he has a straight back leg, a very high leg kick–above the legs–with his toe pointed directly down and his glove over his head. As he begins his falling action, he brings his front leg directly towards home plate, not wasting any motion. He keeps his eyes locked on the target throughout the delivery. He generates good drive with his backside and stays closed until the very last second before he lands, which enables him to generate a lot of torque. The arm circle is long, as he points the ball towards right field. The stride is good and he lands with his foot pointed to home plate. The front leg is bent but whips back violently as he delivers the ball. He is a near max-effort pitcher. He gets good extension and finishes square to home plate.
In his April 1 start, he used his three pitch mix, but primarily stuck with fastball-curveball. The fastball was 83-84 MPH in the first inning but was at 80 in the later innings. He did labor in the first two innings–throwing 53 pitches. His curve was around 73-74 MPH while his change up was 70 MPH. He started off many batters with curves, he had very good command of it–it has a two-plane break and is a weapon on two-strikes as well as early in the count. He walked the leadoff batter in the first and second inning which was a concern.
It was also strange that he missed up-and-away as often as he did. As the game progress it became clear that he missed high when he exaggerated his balance position and “bounced” on his balance leg. When he had a controlled leg kick, his pitches were around the strike zone.
Most of the hits off him were not hard-hit. In the first inning, both hits were jam-shots that went for bloop hits. In the second inning, he was victimized by a bad throw from the SS to prolong the inning and allow a run to score. He did allow one very hard-hit ball on a hanging curve in that inning. He sidestepped danger when his outfielder made a nice play going back on a ball.
After that, he threw many more curves and that seemed to get him in a groove. He threw nine of 13 pitches in the third inning for strikes. He threw seven of nine pitches for strikes in the fourth. He avoided trouble by inducing a 5-4-3 DP in that frame.In the fifth, he threw ball four which would’ve put two runners on, but the runner on second foolishly dozed off the bag and that ended the inning. He allowed one hit in the sixth but avoided trouble.
He did a good job controlling the running game. He has very quick feet on his pickoff move and throws the ball accurately and with velocity to the bag. He also fielded his position well on the one bunt attempt–he jumped off the mound and charged hard to convert the 1-4 putout.
Aloise is a poised pitcher on the mound. He relies heavily on his curve, but against a more potent lineup he will need to utilize the change more frequently because it is easy the recognize a two-plane curve.
**UPDATE** March 26, 2016
Ryan had a very good outing against Old Westbury. He fired strikes as a high percentage and utilized his full repertoire. He didn’t walk anyone and showed good body language on the mound. While he may have lost his spot in the rotation due to the infusion of talent on St. Joseph’s, he is still a crucial pitcher in the Golden Eagles staff and will be counted on to get big outs as the games increase in importance.
