by Nick Vecchione
Below are my scouting observations from yesterday’s game between Stony Brook and Quinnipiac
Nick Grande
Standing at 5’11 Grande sports a straight up stance with quiet hands sitting about shoulder height. He is the epitome of a complete situational hitter, which is why the 2-hole compliments him quite well. He is talented enough to have a gameplan entering each at bat, keeping the pitcher off balance as to what he’s trying to accomplish during each plate appearance. At times he looks to clearly be trying to put the ball on the ground to utilize his speed to reach base. Furthermore, he can take advantage of the defense playing back by featuring his outstanding bunting skills. Additionally, given all factors within a game, he can showcase an abnormally large upper cut swing for his smaller stature. While Grande at times has a tendency to lunge out front and cheat to the fastball, he is more than capable of doing damage as well as being a scrappy hitter.
Michael Wilson
Wilson checks a ton of boxes when is comes to being a complete hitter. With a slightly open stance and slight bend at the knees, the tall and slender Wilson has a great sense of the strike zone. He looks extremely comfortable taking pitches, working the count, and waiting for the pitcher to make a mistake in which he can capitalize. His feet and hands are completely in sync, and furthermore keeps his front side extremely closed within his load. This inevitably allows him to stay on an off speed pitch to the outer half of the plate. However, this can in turn create trouble for him getting his hands in quick enough, almost getting “stuck” to consistently turn on an inside pitch with pace. Wilson clearly has a plan each at bat, and this mixed with talent can make for a dangerous combo.
Bobby Honeyman
Honeyman, who is thick in his lower half, really gets into his legs during his approach. He features a classic open stance and high hands with a toggle during pitchers delivery. Moreover, Honeyman doesn’t try to do too much, and is very short to the ball. This can catch you by surprise given his bigger stature but he absolutely is “short too, long through.” (short to the ball, and long through the zone). Because of his high start with his hands, this ultimately results in a downward bat path and compact swing. He makes excellent use of his inner knee on his back side to drive through the baseball. However, his best attribute that was on display had to be his plate coverage. Being able to get to every quadrant of the strike zone is no easy task, but Honeyman makes it look effortless, being able to use all parts of the field with the simplest of swings.
