Player Name: Nicholas Trabacchi
School: Smithtown West
Position: RHP
Nicholas is a 2017 graduate of Smithtown West HS. He currently has not committed to a college.
He has very smooth and efficient mechanics. He begins his delivery with a step back as he prepares to get into his balance point. His leg kick is just above belt height. His back leg is bent and his front foot is parallel to the ground. He gets very good drive from his back leg and has a good stride. He hides the ball pretty well with his modified arm circle, as it is tough to pick up the ball with his body hiding it. He gets good extension on his pitch and finishes square to home plate. His delivery resembles that of Mark Prior, from the falling action on.
He started on April 18 at Smithtown East and had a rough go of it. He threw 33 pitches in the first inning. It was most likely a case of nerves with several scouts behind home plate, because he had just beaten the same team two weeks before and threw an efficient game and he has very clean mechanics which is usually conducive to throwing strikes. He walked three batters in the first inning, primarily missing with high fastballs. His fastball was regularly in the 82-84 MPH range. He also displayed a 68 MPH curve that had two-plane depth and showed the potential to be a plus pitch. Unfortunately, he did not utilize this pitch enough when his fastball command was off. It could’ve been the remedy to getting ahead in the count. He did not allow a run in the first inning, but threw only 14 of his 33 pitches for strikes.
In the second inning, he struck out the first batter looking on a very nice curveball. He had fallen behind 2-0 in the count but came back with three straight quality strikes. After getting a comebacker for the second out, he allowed a single to the ninth-place hitter. He intentionally walked the lead off hitter (All-County player) to set up the force. The decision paid off when he struck out the next batter looking on a 1-2 curve.
He ran into trouble in the third inning when he allowed a leadoff single to left field on a fastball. He allowed a first-pitch double to the next batter before inducing a ground out to third. He threw a wild pitch on a curve to allow the runner to score. He also allowed a sac fly for the second run of the game. That was on a high fastball, that was a scenario he should have came in or went away soft so the pitch location was not ideal. He escaped further damage with a ground out.
The game got away from him a bit in the fourth inning. After striking out the first batter on a very good curve in the dirt, he allowed a double to the No. 9 place hitter, and he advanced to third on a ground out to the shortstop. After walking the No. 2 hitter on a high fastball, he allowed a two-run double to right field on a fastball middle-middle to the No. 3 hitter. It broke the game open at 4-0. The lead was extended to 5-0 when the next batter ripped an RBI single to center field. He got out of the jam after the next batter, but he allowed five ER in four innings while striking out four batters.
What he did well was show his plus fastball and deceptive sluve. He will definitely win plenty of games with his combination of stuff and pitchability. He has clean mechanics, so I’m not sure there’s much more velocity unless he increases arm strength. He does have a bright future ahead. This game doesn’t do much to change my opinion that he is a high-end Division-II prospect and could pitch at some Division-I schools. He also fielded his position well, he showed his athleticism and ability to hold on runners.
Of course, the biggest knock was that he had very little command of his fastball. Against a good hitting team like Smithtown East, that will not get the job still. Still, he is a good pitcher and will certainly have plenty of schools interested in him.
