High School

Player Name: Bobby Vath Position: P, 2b School: Newfield ’18 Bobby is a RHP with a long, lean frame. From the windup, he takes a big step back as he prepares to get to his balance point. He keeps his eyes focused on the ground before picking up his target. His balance point features a high and tight leg kick with his foot pointed down and his back leg firm.As he begins his falling action, he swings his leg around ala Scott Kazmir. He gets terrific drive from his back leg and his arm circle is extremely long which could be tough for a hitter to pick up but also cause some timing issues for himself. From this point, he has a unique way to get his arm into throwing position–he switches the trajectory of his arm circle and cuts it off which I have not seen. His stride is long, but ...

Player Name: Brandon Bonanno School: Mount Sinai Position: RHP Brandon is a pitcher for Mount Sinai HS. He has a very deceptive delivery with a heavy fastball that is tough to square up. He looks down at his feet as a timing mechanism but refocuses as he gets to his balance point. His leg kick is not very high, he may be able to add a tick to his velocity if he does lift it a bit higher. His stride is good for his height and he lands with his front foot on line with home plate. His arm angle is a low 3/4, which enables him to get the nasty tailing action on his fastball. In his May 11 start, he worked mainly in the 81-83 MPH range with his fastball and also a slurve that was about 10 MPH slower. In the second inning, he ran into trouble by allowing four hits that led to two runs. This all ...

Player Name: Max Steele Position: RHP School: Miller Place Max is a 2017 graduate of Miller Place HS. He appeared in two games for the varsity club in 2015. He is very wiry at 6’1″ 160 lbs, reminiscent of Jacob deGrom’s stature. He has a very clean and efficient delivery. He begin his windup with his hands held down low and a long step back along the rubber. His balance position is very solid. He has a high and tight leg kick about letter height. He looks down at the ground as a timing mechanism before picking up his target. His back leg is firm. Max gets terrific drive from his back leg and has a good stride for his height. He is able to stay closed until the last second which generates the most torque and prevents the release point from being inconsistent. The one area ...

Player Name: Troy Simpson Position: P School: Longwood   Troy is a 2016 graduate of Longwood HS. From the windup he takes a step back towards first base as he prepares to begin his delivery. He has a very high and tight leg kick that gets above the letters. He turns in slightly towards second base to generate more torque and keeps his front foot pointed down with his back leg firm and he focuses on the ground. He then explodes into his falling action and picks up his target. Simpson cuts off his strides a little bit, he could generate more velocity by adding a few inches to that. He also lands with his front foot pointing towards third base. Some pitchers do this and it creates more deception, but for many pitchers it creates timing issues with the release point. He is a near max-effo...

Player Name: Jason Diaz Position: P School: Kellenberg Jason is a 2019 graduate of Kellenberg HS. He is 5’11” 180 lbs. He begins his windup with his hands at the waist and a short step back as he prepares to begin his leg kick. At balance point, he is in terrific position to generate power. His back leg his firm, his leg is high and tight and his eyes stay locked in on the target. He has a long arm circle and his linear motion generates a great amount of force towards the plate. Jason is able to stay closed until the perfect time, which allows for him to have a consistent release point and also generating torque. He has a good stride but he does step towards third base slightly. His arm angle is 3/4, very reminiscent of fellow Long Islander Marcus Stroman . The only improvement...

Player Name: Mike Mirando School: Islip Position: RHP Mike is a 2017 graduate of Islip HS. He is currently uncommitted to a college. He threw a no-hitter in his first start of the season. He takes a slight step back as he prepares to enter his delivery. His leg kick his just above belt height, he has his back leg bent, his torso hunched over and his front foot pointed down. He gets terrific drive from his back side, and has a very good stride length. He has a long arm circle and throws from a 3/4 arm angle. He gets good extension on his pitches and falls off slightly to the first base side. In his April 20th start against Comsewogue, he fired a CG and earned his third victory of the season. He threw 130 pitches and 68 of them were strikes, a fairly pedestrian percentage considering he only...

Player Name: Joseph Geldmacher Position: P School: Islip ’16 Joseph is a RHP from Islip that possesses a tall, athletic frame. From the windup, he takes a big step back as he begins his delivery. He keeps his eyes locked in on the target and has a high, tight leg kick while his back leg is slightly bent. He swings his body during his falling action in the manner that Randy Johnson did. He has a good stride length and lands on line with his target. He has a high 3/4 arm angle and gets decent extension, but falls off to the third base side. His fastball was in the 79-82 MPH range. He had some issues keeping the ball down. It appeared to be due to the amount of moving parts during his balance point. I would recommend that he slows down his body at the climax of his leg kick just to keep...

Player Name: Daniel Vignola Position: P School: Holy Trinity   Daniel is a 6’4″ LHP that is a 2016 graduate of Holy Trinity. He won one game last season, their stacked rotation of upperclassmen made it difficult to get starts. He figures to be a key cog in their rotation next year. He has a classic lefty delivery. He begins with his hands held belt high in a relaxed position. He takes a rapid step back as he proceeds into his balance position. He has a leg kick that is identical to Cole Hamels of the Texas Rangers. At his apex, his leg is nearly shoulder height, his back leg is straight up and his foot is pointed down and his eyes locked on his target. From that point, he begins his falling action–although he could benefit from getting more drive from his back leg. H...

Player Name: Zach Decicco Position: P School: Half Hollow Hills East Zach is a 2017 graduate of Half Hollow Hills East. He is 5’10” 185 lbs. He is coming off a tremendous summer 2015 season in which he went 5-0 with a 0.18 ERA for the LI Titans. He begins in a relaxed position with his hands held letter height. He takes a quick step along the rubber as he prepares for his leg kick. His leg kick is about nearly shoulder height  and his foot is tucked in towards second base. He keeps his eyes locked on the target and his back leg firm. During his falling action, he gets good drive from his back leg and propels himself directly towards home. He has a very long arm circle, bringing it directly down and towards center field. The stride is sufficient for his height and he steps sligh...

Player Name: Michael Mincone Position: LHP School: Half Hollow Hills East   Michael is a 6’3″ LHP for Half Hollows Hills East. Due to their stacked rotation in 2015, he did not factor in any decisions,but he will play a larger role next season. His brother, John, was an All-State pitcher for them in 2007 and went on to get drafted by the Chicago Cubs and play for the New York Mets as well. He has a slow and deliberate delivery. He begins with a short step back and he rocks into his balance point. He has a firm back leg, relaxed front foot and a high and tight leg kick. He keeps his eyes focused on his target. He kicks out his front leg to the first base side, reminiscent of MLB pitcher Scott Kazmir. He drops his back leg and gets great drive. He has a long arm circle and a...

Player Name: Mike Palazzolo Position: SS School: Hills East ’17, Stony Brook ’21 Mike is a sophomore shortstop for Hills East that is already verbally committed to playing for Stony Brook in the fall of 2017. After watching him for just one game it is apparent why a Division-I team would be infatuated with his play. Offense: He is a left-handed batter that bats with a very wide stance with his front leg bent slightly in towards the plate. He rests the bat on his back parallel to the ground as the pitcher is in the set position. Once the pitcher begins his leg kick, he lifts his bat off his shoulder and cocks it back. He has a slight leg kick. Mike lets the ball travel deep and trusts his explosive bat speed to drive the baseball. He makes contact with the ball while his weight ...

Player Name: Patch Dooley Position: RHP School: Half Hollow Hills East 2017 Patch is a sophomore RHP for Hills East. He has a very smooth and efficient delivery, and that is something rarely said about 15-16 year olds. He begins his wind up by slowly rocking back and lowering his hands as he prepares for his delivery. His head glances down at his feet as a timing mechanism but he locks in on his target after that. His leg kick is just above the belt–it could be slightly higher. Even at his apex, he never truly stops his momentum. He begins drifting forward to generate torque moving forward. After that point, he drops and drives with his back leg. He has a very long arm circle, but everything is in sync and his front foot lands at the proper time. His stride is sufficient for his heig...