This is a year where there is a higher-than-normal amount of players with professional caliber playing on Long Island. There might not be a first-round pick, but there will be plenty of Day 3 guys. To discuss them all, it will be broken into a multi-part series. Here is the first group.
Jesse Berardi (Commack ’14, St. John’s ’18)
You won’t find anyone that says a bad word about Berardi. He won the Carl Yastrzemski Award in 2014 and was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies. His makeup is off the charts and everyone adores how he respects the game and hustles at all times. He was regarded as the best defensive shortstop to come out of Long Island since Shawon Dunston. His bat has come along and all of a sudden he developed power which only enhances his value. Assuming he at least maintains that level of play in the Big East, he is a lock to get drafted.
Casey Baker (Connetquot ’13, Stony Brook ’17)
The Connequot grad is really a hitting machine. He had a really strong 2016 campaign and the Mets are interested in him. Not many truly gifted hitters come from Long Island but Baker has that sweet lefty swing that catches your attention. Over the first three years of his collegiate career, he has slashed .321/.393/.424. He has showed tremendous plate discipline with 66 strikeouts and 62 walks. He also had eight hits in the postseason for Stony Brook. He’s not a sure-fire pick, but teams like the “high-floor guys”, that have strong makeup and an established track record of plate discipline which usually translate well to the next level.
Kyle Brennan (Ward Melville ’12, Buffalo ’17)
The first thing you notice about Brennan is his incredible size. As a catcher, he is just about as big as there is at 6’3″ 230 lbs. When I shook hands with him, he engulfed my hand. I watched him take BP this summer and again in the winter time and you can see that he is ready to have a monster season. It’s hard to fathom he hit only .208 during his junior year but I believe he will break out in his senior season and turn heads.
Matt Diaz (St. Brendan Catholic ’13, NYIT ’17)
We wrote the feature story on him the other day. The Miami-native has lost 45 lbs since he got to NYIT and has really discovered his potential. His fastball gets up to 95 MPH and his command is a work in progress. If he can show that he can consistently work ahead and mix in his breaking pitches for strikes, there’s no reason why he can’t get drafted this year.
Dan Jagiello (West Islip ’13, LIU Post ’17)
Jagiello will enter 2017 with much less pressure than in 2016, when he was all the buzz following the Cape Cod performance. While that may allow him to relax and start the season on the bright note, he still must perform under the scrutiny when the scouts do show back up. His mid 90s fastball will get strike outs. His hard slider will get uncomfortable hacks. The question that scouts want to see him answer is can he hold his velocity deep into games and can he dominate a team with a plus-offense like a Franklin Pierce, Southern New Hampshire or Southern Connecticut. Until then, he will rack up many strikeouts but they may be deemed to be hollow.
Jimmy Joyce (Wantagh ’17)
2016 wasn’t a bad year for the Wantagh senior. After committing to Hofstra, he also won the New York State Class A Player of the Year while leading the Warriors to the Class A championship. He followed that up by leading their football team to the Long Island Championship as a cornerback. His athleticism is unquestionable. His bulldog mentality is undeniable. He can swing, play a great third base and dominate any team. The question is can he get that velocity to pro-caliber? He’s only 5’10” so it’s not a slam-dunk. If not he will be headed to Hofstra in the fall–possibly with another Long Island Championship under his belt.
Brian Morrell (Shoreham-Wading River ’17)
What can we say about Morrell that hasn’t already been said? The same way my teammates and competition spoke about Marcus Stroman is the way the Long Island community raves about Morrell. The question will be can he show that he trusts his fastball enough against the top teams. He can’t do anything about the schedule he faces unless he were to transfer. He will be facing some teams that simply couldn’t get a hit off him if he was pitching from second base. But, when he does face a team like Rocky Point or Mt. Sinai that can hit his fastball, does he appear mediocre? If he does, he will go off to Notre Dame for at least the next three years. If he is lights out and showing command of a 94-MPH heater in the sixth and seventh innings–he’ll be faced with a tough decision.
Cody McPartland (Mt. Sinai ’13, Franklin Pierce ’17)
McPartland had a solid chance of getting drafted after his junior season at Dowling and I was really surprised he wasn’t considering how dominant he was down the stretch. After really struggling out of the gate and starting out 0-4, he was virtually unhittable in the latter half of the season which coincided with the Golden Lions’ improbable run to the ECC title. He also was electric in their regional victory against nationally ranked Southern New Hampshire. McPartland has a prototypical pitcher’s body at 6’4″ with strong legs. He generates power by using his lower half and his body and arm are synchronized which results in plenty of strikes and lots of swings and misses. He adds a hard slider that he uses for his out pitch. McPartland works in the upper 80s primarily but he did lose some velocity in the later innings of his ECC start against Molloy. If he can show that he can hold that velocity late into games, he will be drafted.
Louis Mele (Island Trees ’13, NYIT ’17)
Mele has consistently been one of the best power hitters on Long Island for three seasons. His sophomore season put him on the map when he led Long Island college hitters with eight HRs. He had a bit of hamstring injury last year which hampered his production in the beginning of the year but he really kicked it into high gear as the season went on. His bat produces towering fly balls that can get out of any yard. I was very impressed with his hands at third base–especially his quickness on the slow rollers coming in. He has very good makeup as well. Legitimate chance to get drafted.
Angelo Navetta (St. Joseph’s by the Sea ’14, Molloy ’18)
As a 5’10 195 lbs first baseman, the chips are stacked against Navetta. Many teams won’t even consider a northeast first baseman with that size when there’s literally hundreds of power hitting first baseman in the baseball-rich areas of the country. But Navetta is the exception. He has been described as the best fielding first baseman by many, many players and it is not hyberbole. He saved Molloy’s infielder’s countless errors with picks in the dirt and he fields his position on groundballs as good as you possibly can–hit transfer is lightning quick and his throws are deadly accurate. Oh, and he has one of the smoothest swings you can imagine. He hit .377 last year and was named Baseball on the Island’s MVP. Again, some teams will simply refuse to draft an undersized first baseman that is not showing Prince Fielder power but there is something to be said about a kid that has simply performed above the competition every step of the way.
Mike Palazzolo (Hills East ’17)
Palazzolo is a baseball junky. He lives in the batting cages and you can see it in the video with his smooth swing that produces line drives all over the field. I first saw him as a sophomore in a playoff game when he went 3-for-3 with a single, double and HR. He plays a stellar shortstop and that is why Stony Brook locked him up as a freshman. Runs like a deer. He will need to hit like Jesse Berardi did in 2014 in order to get drafted, but he is that caliber of player.
Rob Vani (Chaminade ’13, Adelphi ’17)
Like Navetta, Vani will have to overcome the stigma of undersized first baseman from the northeast. Four years ago, Adelphi had Anthony Zarrella as a power hitting first baseman that smacked nine home runs in 2013. Still, he wasn’t drafted. Vani has great power as well and he set the Hamptons League single-season HR record this summer with eight. Many of those parks are not exactly hitter-friendly either. He will need to show similar. What he has working in his favor, however, is that he plays a strong defensive first base and he can run the bases a little so he is not relegated to first base if he were to make pro ball. He was successful on 6-of-7 attempts last year.
Chris Weiss (Longwood ’14, Hofstra ’18)
Weiss originally was recruited to be a two-way player at Hofstra. He was athletic enough to get time at second base and pitch in relief as a freshman. Last year, he took on the role of the weekend starter which made him put his energy exclusively on the hill. He is not a big guy but he has tremendously strong legs which allows him to consistently work in the upper 80s and touch 90 at times. He throws strikes and has a wicked slider. He has that bulldog mentality which scouts and coaches love. He has a chance to get drafted on Day 3 and if not, many teams would be interested in him as a senior sign.
