Through the season I will be posting my observations of games from a scouting standpoint.
Today I was at NYIT @ Hofstra, in which the Pride protected their field with a 14-3 victory. Here are some observations:
Teddy Cillis:
He got the start for the Pride, and they used one pitcher per inning, but it was a great outing for him. He struck out two batters–the second and third place hitters.
Cillis is one of the few two-way players on the island at the college level and he is very deserving of it. He hit nine home runs last year and throws 91 MPH from the left side. He works very quickly, which is good when he is throwing strikes, but he does have the propensity to get overly amped and lose the zone. In my opinion, he is a closer because he can let it all out for one inning with no fear of hitters being more patient in the second time through the order.
He has a max-effort delivery, another reason for making him the closer. He also showed feel for his change up. He got his first strike out on that and then struck out the next batter on a curveball. He has a true power 12-6 curveball, it is a weapon on lefties and righties.
Vito Friscia:
We have covered him extensively, we know about the power but today he really impressed with his opposite-field home run to right. He didn’t even square the ball up and it still was 330+ feet. He has gotten off to a bad start to the season, but he had a potentially breakthrough game. He also smacked one to left center field for a sacrifice fly. It was good situational hitting, when he needed to drive the ball to the outfield to get the run home and he did. He is one of the true power hitters around.
Elias Martinez:
This is the second time I’m seeing him this season. He had the velocity, but he got hit more today. Hofstra can swing the bats, but he also got abandoned by his defense. With a few scouts in attendance, it was not a great look but he kept his head on straight and did not show up his teammates when they committed errors. I’m still a big fan of his repertoire and his delivery. For a big guy, he is very synchronized in his movements and he has very clean mechanics. I would like to see him dominate as the season goes on and also see his velocity jump from 87-89 MPH to 91-93 MPH which I think it will as it warms up.
Tom Archer:
Tom is a very short middle infielder with minimal power, but today was the best performance of his career. He ripped a long RBI double into the left field corner and also smoked a three-run double into the right center field gap. He hit both of those baseballs as hard as he can, and it was certainly a good sign from a hitter that hasn’t displayed that ability to this point of his college career. He is typically known for his speed and defense. The one thing that I didn’t like was that he popped up a bunt attempt in his first at bat. He’s the type of player that needs to utilize his speed and get those bunts down in order to stay in the line up.
Sean Rausch:
He is a true 5-tool player. The only nitpicking of his game is that he has a short arm action (due to being a catcher) and when he is in the outfield, it limits his ability to make the long throws to nail runners. In this game, he had one hit and it was a single to right field. It was misplayed by the outfielder and he sprinted to third. He has great speed, which he also exhibited on his stolen base. Rausch has tremendous power, which he showed on a foul ball that was about 50 feet over the fence but just went foul. He’s a high-ceiling player with a football-player build and mentality. He’s a winning player that could get drafted if he turns his extra base hits into home runs.
