Player Name: Toby Handley
School: Stony Brook
Position: CF
Toby is a 6’1″ 170 lb outfielder for Stony Brook University. He is from Whitby, Ontario.
Offensively: He has a very relaxed batting stance, with his feet spread very wide and his bat resting on his back shoulder. As the pitcher gets ready to release the ball he takes a very slight step as he gets prepared to swing. He is very quick to the ball and gets into a good hitting position and generates power from his back side.
In the March 11 game, he went 1-for-4 with a walk. He led off the game with a terrific at bat. He fell behind 0-2 on the count, but it appeared he became very comfortable in that position. You can almost say the at bat started after he fell behind 0-2. He fouled off a good curve low in the zone, took a curve that was low and then smacked a single to right-center field to get the inning going.
In his next two at bats, he did strike out, but the first of those certainly appeared several inches off the outside corner. He was attacked with curves to begin the count, strange for a team to do so against a leadoff batter not named Rickey Henderson. Despite the strike outs, he did not appear fooled by curves at all. He took the pitches comfortably and was able to foul off some good ones. His second strikeout came on a fastball looking.
In his fourth at bat, he ripped a fastball to deep left-center field but the left fielder made a terrific over-the-shoulder catch to prevent an extra base hit. He also drew a walk in his fourth at bat on a 3-1 count.
Defensively: He recorded two put outs in this game and also one assist. He really stood out as a plus-defender. Even on the two putouts, he was not hesitant in the slightest in attacking the ball. He immediately broke in on a shallow fly ball right at him that is generally considered the toughest play for a center fielder to read. Very good instincts and reactions on fly balls. He also displayed a cannon on two separate throws. In the third inning, he fielded a base hit with a runner on first. He came up firing and gunned the runner down pretty easily at third base. It was perfectly executed. Later in the game, he fielded a single with a runner on second base and the ball was hit to fairly deep center field. He showed off the gun again, this time the runner was safe, but it was still a cause for pause for the opponents not to test him out.
Base Running: Very heads-up player. The play that sticks out was his ability to react immediately on a pitch in the dirt that went to the back stop and allowed him to advance to third. It resulted in a run when the next batter singled to center field. He is very fast and is a weapon on the base paths.
