February 28, 20242 yr 42 minutes ago, DirtySox said: BA with a good read today. https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/10-mlb-draft-prospects-to-know-after-two-weeks-of-college-baseball/ Picked out the portions on Condon, & Honeycutt. There are also writeups on Hagen Smith, Hartle, Santucci, Amick, Brecht, Hurd, Cam Smith, and AJ Russell. They had a lot of heat at his last game and needless to say they won't be forgetting that performace anytime soon.
February 28, 20242 yr Author The Hagen Smith portion. Quote Hagen Smith, LHP, Arkansas After pitching just one inning in his season debut against James Madison, Smith dominated Oregon State last weekend. He struck out 17 of the 22 batters he faced in six shutout innings and needed just 78 pitches to do so, while averaging nearly 97 mph with a fastball that touched 100, while making hitters look silly with a plus slider. Smith entered the season with a reputation as an effectively wild starter who had some reliever question marks, but in this outing he did an excellent job getting ahead in counts with his fastball and using his slider as a consistent weapon both within the zone and as a chase pitch out of it. He threw 59 of his 78 pitches for strikes (75.6%) and got ahead in the count against 13 of the 22 batters he faced. Listed at 6-foot-3, 225 pounds, Smith has always presented a strong and physical presence on the bump, but he looks noticeably stronger and more physical early in 2024 with more mass packed onto his lower half and more definition in his arms and shoulders. He works from the first-base side of the rubber and throws from a simple and direct delivery that has a bit less effort and recoil so far in 2024 than 2023. He throws with a short arm action that features little depth in his takeback before firing with great arm speed with a lower three-quarters arm slot and a slightly open stride that gets him directly back in line to the plate. Smith pitched in the 95-100 mph range in the first three innings and maintained his velocity nicely, though he was more in the 94-98 mph range in his final three frames. The fastball was a clear plus offering and was used both to establish the zone, set up his slider and generate eight whiffs—five of which came at the top of the zone or just off the plate, and three of which came above the zone. His 83-88 mph slider was a consistently plus offering and swing-and-miss pitch to both lefties and righties. It has a fastball look immediately out of his hand before featuring late and sharp biting action with more horizontal movement to the glove side, but consistently hard tilt that created whiffs in the zone and below it. In total, he generated 17 whiffs with the slider and used the pitch to finish off 15 of his 17 strikeouts. Smith flashed an 88-89 mph changeup against righthanders three times in this outing, though it was quite a bit behind his fastball/slider combo. There’s a tick of fading life that could make it a serviceable third pitch eventually, but he missed with it to his arm side here. When Smith is locked in and throwing strikes, it’s difficult to find a lefthander in the class who can match him. Ultimately, he’ll need to show this peak version of himself more consistently to prove to scouts he’s a bonafide starter with elite pure stuff. Smith’s arm looks a bit quicker than a year ago, his delivery looks a touch more clean and his fastball velocity is up through his first two starts in 2024 compared to his 2023 average. He’s currently averaging 96.4 mph on his fastball compared to his 93-mph average in 2023—though in his first two starts in 2023 he sat at 95. Edited February 28, 20242 yr by DirtySox
February 29, 20242 yr 20 minutes ago, DirtySox said: Condon has 3 home runs in today's game. Dude is going off. Him against Burress this weekend
February 29, 20242 yr Author Brody Brecht going to be on an actual televised broadcast this Friday. Against Ole Miss. Should be on the SEC Network on ESPN+ I believe.
February 29, 20242 yr 22 hours ago, Harold's Leg Lift said: They had a lot of heat at his last game and needless to say they won't be forgetting that performace anytime soon. pretty cool that you have all this inside info. im trying to work my way into sources. Go Sox Go!
March 1, 20242 yr I'm taking a vacation to Louisiana in 3 weeks and we are trying to go see LSU vs Florida on Sunday 3/24. Apparently Jac Caglianone is their Sunday starter. I'm really hoping we can go, but tickets are expensive considering I'm the only baseball fan in the group.
March 1, 20242 yr Author Hagen Smith about to start against Murray St. Game is on ESPN+. Let's see how he follows up that 17K outing.
March 1, 20242 yr 55 minutes ago, DirtySox said: Hagen Smith about to start against Murray St. Game is on ESPN+. Let's see how he follows up that 17K outing. Huge strikeout totals again. He’s basically turned into prime Rodon with high 90s heater and unreal slider.
March 1, 20242 yr Just now, DirtySox said: Hagen Smith good. I'm in. At this rate, he will be gone you’d have to think
March 1, 20242 yr Author 6 minutes ago, fathom said: At this rate, he will be gone you’d have to think I'm okay with that too. It's making the top of class much more interesting than what it was. A glut of uninteresting college 2B/1B types was what we were staring at a few months back. Edited March 1, 20242 yr by DirtySox
March 1, 20242 yr 8 minutes ago, DirtySox said: I'm okay with that too. It's making the top of class much more interesting than what it was. A glut of uninteresting college 2B/1B types was what we were staring at a few months back. So true, guys like Smith and Condon taking the leap can only help.
March 1, 20242 yr 46 minutes ago, fathom said: At this rate, he will be gone you’d have to think The beauty of picking 5th is that only 4 guys can be gone. A lot of teams will not pick a pitcher in the top half of round 1 and Burns is also off to a hot start. I think they are going to have a lot of very attractive options at 1-5.
March 2, 20242 yr Author Brecht's slider is just stupid. 3Ks in the first. Edited March 2, 20242 yr by DirtySox
March 2, 20242 yr Author Boy do I get the Brecht appeal, but I don't think I would have the balls to pop him at 5th overall. That slider though.
March 2, 20242 yr 11 hours ago, DirtySox said: Boy do I get the Brecht appeal, but I don't think I would have the balls to pop him at 5th overall. That slider though. Brecht appeal. I like that.
March 2, 20242 yr Author On 2/25/2024 at 9:55 AM, Harold's Leg Lift said: I really like this dude. He's not gonna blow up a radar gun or a rapsodo spreadsheet but he can really pitch. He has a smooth easy repeatable del w/a 4 pitch mix and plus command. It would be great but I don't think he gets to pick 43.
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