(Photo Credit: Hofstra Athletics)
It’s been nine years since a lanky left-handed pitcher from Ward Melville burst onto the scene and dominated League I of Suffolk County. Steven Matz, a soft-spoken, humble individual with lightning in his left arm went from an unknown pitcher to the 72nd overall pick in the MLB Draft after a compiling a record of 6-1, 0.25 ERA, allowing only 14 hits with 74 strikeouts over 54 innings pitched.
When you break down the components of Matz’ entire body of work, mechanics, velocity, command and demeanor on the mound, it’s easy to see how he was able to make that meteoric rise in the draft and make himself wealthy when most kids his age were preparing for freshman year of college.
Fast forward to 2018 and there’s another LHP from a program on Long Island is vying to make that same jump.
John Rooney, a 6’5″ southpaw with prototypical pitcher’s build is off to a lights-out start for the Hofstra Pride. Through two starts, he has yet to allow a run in 14.0 IP, and he is coming off a 13-K masterpiece against Norfolk State last night. He has allowed only nine hits and two walks.
That last stat is crucial for Rooney because he struggled with his command last year. In 82.1 IP, he walked 44 batters and compiled a 5.36 ERA. The ERA was not as much of a concern for me as the walks, because the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is home to some of the best offenses in the country and he was tasked with being the Friday starter as a sophomore. He showed the swing-and-miss ability and he showed the durability. Those are two major components of being a successful pitcher. It was a matter of whether he would learn to command the ball within the strike zone better to avoid free passes and solid contact.
After a summer of pitching in the prestigious Cape Cod League with the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, he appears to have taken that next step.
The numbers clearly tell the story of a confident pitcher that is coming into his own and might be making a bid to become the highest player selected out of Hofstra since Bryan Verbitsky (3rd round) in 2013.
My thinking is that he could surpass that, due to the fact that 1) he throws with his left-arm 2) his fastball hovers in the 93 MPH range and 3) he’s 6’5″ whereas Verbitsky was a 6’0″ RHP.
I’ve watched Rooney throw twice. Once in his collegiate debut at Texas A & M and another time later that season at home. The mechanics are clean, and he also has something in common with Matz–the sedated demeanor on the mound. It’s great when pitcher’s are unflappable under pressure and they can control their heartbeat. It’s okay to be fiery, but you can’t be nervous and Rooney strikes me as the same as Matz under those pressure situations. He also has pretty good command of a 78-80 MPH change up with the same arm actions.
Lastly, Rooney already has a 2+ year track record of playing high-end Division-I baseball and also the Cape. There’s not much secret that his stuff will play at the next level whereas Matz essentially put together a 7 start stretch of brilliance against high school hitters.
It’s still early to tell, but I could envision Rooney getting drafted in the first round and making himself quite a bit of money just like that southpaw from Ward Melville
