Player Name: Michael Mincone
Position: LHP
School: Half Hollow Hills East
Michael is a 6’3″ LHP for Half Hollows Hills East. Due to their stacked rotation in 2015, he did not factor in any decisions,but he will play a larger role next season. His brother, John, was an All-State pitcher for them in 2007 and went on to get drafted by the Chicago Cubs and play for the New York Mets as well.
He has a slow and deliberate delivery. He begins with a short step back and he rocks into his balance point. He has a firm back leg, relaxed front foot and a high and tight leg kick. He keeps his eyes focused on his target. He kicks out his front leg to the first base side, reminiscent of MLB pitcher Scott Kazmir. He drops his back leg and gets great drive. He has a long arm circle and an over-the-top arm angle. He does land with his front foot open which could leave him vulnerable to leaving some pitches up-and-away to RHB. He gets very good extension and finishes square to home plate.
He worked primarily in the low 80s with his fastball and displayed a two-plane slurve breaking ball in the mid 60s. He recorded a 1-2-3 inning in his outing. He retired the first batter on a 2-0 fastball after missing with two fastballs. The next batter had a long turn at bat. He started him off with a fastball that he fouled off, he snapped in a curveball for strike two, he missed with a curveball high. After missing again with a high fastball and a high curveball, he got the batter to swing through a high fastball out of the zone. He next batter took a fastball for strike one, took ball two, took strike two on a fastball, watched a 78 MPH fastball high and then struck out looking on a curveball.
Mincone has an advanced feel for pitching. He comes from a strong line of athletes in the family and he is 6’3″with lots of weight to gain. He is touching 80 MPH, but he could easily add 5-7 MPH with time and training. I expect him to put up great numbers next season for HHHE and I would expect a high-level Div-II or maybe some Div-I schools to bring him in.
