After going over some of my sleeper hitters for the 2021 draft we move on to pitchers here. Part 1 contains info on 11 pitchers and part 2 will contain another dozen or so. Some of the pitchers included have already started to pop a bit and it will be really interesting to see how they fare over the next several months. Enjoy!
Right Handed Pitchers
Joe Miceli, Bergen Community College, No Grade (NG)- Miceli plays ball at my former school, Bergen Community College which earns him a spot on here by default. He caught my attention after his commitment to the University of North Carolina came across my twitter feed. The info JMAC provided (low 90's velocity, feel for spin, loose arm, possible swing and miss breaker, etc.) put him on the sleeper list for me. The plan was to get out to a couple of starts of his this season but Bergen had its spring season canceled, effectively ending any opportunity to see him in person. I'll be monitoring the situation at BCC to see if they eventually get some games in or if Miceli gets some mound time elsewhere. Unfortunately, it's looking like there is a good chance we are going to have to wait until his UNC debut before getting a true read on him. To be continued . . .
Emmet Sheehan, Boston College, 35+ FV- Sheehan's rise through the Boston College baseball program has been remarkable. He barely touched 90 MPH when he arrived on campus and had very little idea where the pitch was going once it left his hand. Sheehan filled out his frame and added some power to his arsenal and can now hit 98 with his fastball that he pairs with a cutter/slider hybrid that can be a swing and miss offering at times. The 6'5/215 righty has an ideal starter's build with a clean arm and a delivery that he's starting to repeat more consistently. Sheehan has a starter's pitch mix with a feel for 4 offerings. The fastball will usually play in the 92-96 range and has some life to it, the slider/cutter has flashed plus but I have the pitch conservatively projected to be above average, he can land a get-me-over curve for strikes and it acts as a decent change of pace pitch, while the changeup has some depth and fade to it and projects as a potential average offering as he uses it more.
Sheehan's question marks are pretty evident after a quick glance at his career stat line while at Boston College. He hasn't thrown strikes with any consistency and he hasn't gotten much mound time because of it. Sheehan comes into his 3rd season with the Eagles with just 28.1 IP and he's walked 34 batters during those frames. Thankfully it sounds like Sheehan has turned a corner in that regard as he looks more comfortable with his fully formed body, a testament to his work ethic and desire to improve. Sheehan will need to prove that he can handle a full season with a starter's workload and maintain his stuff/velocity/command throughout starts. He has top 5 round potential for this July.
RJ Petit, Charleston Southern, 35 FV- The first thing that you will notice with Petit is his 6'9/300 body. He's a huge dude and his presence on the mound screams late-inning, power arm. He's getting a chance in the starting rotation for Charleston Southern in 2021 where he will be able to develop into more of a pitcher instead of a thrower. Petit's bread and butter is a high spin, mid 90's fastball. That mid 90's velocity comes easy and the pitch has been up to 96 in the summer and fall. Typically, he'll sit in the 91-95 range but his size and low effort arm signals to me that more velocity is in the tank. His secondaries show some potential but neither the breaker nor changeup project as better than average currently. Developing a better off-speed pitch will be of utmost importance as well as improving his strike-throwing and command. His profile screams reliever to me but I think getting Petit as many innings as possible will be a positive for his overall development as a pitcher. He has late-inning potential as a reliever where he could air out his fastball more while only needing to focus on engineering one secondary pitch. Petit is a top 5-10 round pick this July depending on how he progresses this spring.
Bryce McGowan, Charlotte, 35+ FV- The Charlotte 49ers baseball program completely transformed the makeup of their pitching staff by adopting new-age training methods and analytics. Charlotte partnered with Premier Pitching Performance (P3) and sent a large chunk of their pitching staff to St. Louis to train at their facilities in the offseason. Many of their pitchers saw major results with McGowan seeing perhaps the largest jump overall. McGowan increased his fastball velocity from the low 90s to the 93-95 range and has reached back for 97 at times. The fastball is a high spinner and McGowan pairs that big fastball with a power slider that flashes plus when he locates it. McGowan also has feel for a curveball and a changeup, both of which could be average or better with further development. McGowan is a very good athlete and his delivery is clean and repeatable. His biggest question mark coming into the season is his ability to control and command his new stockpile of pitches. His career BB/9 was well over 5.5. His strike throwing was reportedly much improved over the fall but time will tell if that is a long-term development. McGowan has top 3 round potential if he can put it all together this spring.
Zach Fruit, Eastern Michigan, 35 FV- Eastern Michigan isn't a program you think of when it comes to power arms but the Eagles go into 2021 with about half a dozen pitchers that can run their fastball into the mid 90's. Fruit is one of those arms and he's expected to jump right into the closer role for Eastern Michigan after spending two years at the juco level. Fruit pitched almost exclusively out of the pen for Lansing Community College where he had a K/9 of 12.0. He had an unblemished ERA in the abbreviated 2020 season and looked well on his way towards establishing himself as one of the top relievers at the juco level. He pitched out of the pen this summer in the Northwoods League and showed a fastball up to 97 with a power slider that can miss bats. The key for Fruit will be throwing strikes as that has been an issue in the past. His draft stock is somewhat limited because he's exclusively a reliever at the next level, but he should get drafted on the strength of his fastball/slider combo. He's someone I'll be checking in on as the college season progresses.
Josh Bostick, Howard JC, 35 FV- Bostick was a pop-up arm late in the 2020 draft cycle. He was primarily a shortstop before giving pitching a try. The fastball was up to 95 in games last spring with good life and movement. Bostick now plays at Howard Junior College making him eligible for the 2021 draft, He's spending time on both sides of the ball and hasn't gotten much mound time so fair in the spring season. He is understandably raw as a pitcher but he's a great athlete and clearly, the velocity is in there. I don't have too much information beyond that and there's a good chance Bostick will need to log more mound time before garnering any real draft interest. This is a name to tuck away and check back in on just before draft time to see if there have been any developments.
Cooper Chandler, Pepperdine, 35 FV- Pepperdine was 12-3 in 2020 before the season was abruptly canceled and a big reason for their success was Chandler. The 6'2/190 righty was named a freshman all-American and West Coast Conference freshman of the year in 2018. Like his rotation-mate Wil Jensen (Giants NDFA signing) Chandler missed a big chunk of the 2019 season but came back strong in 2020 and posted a 1.00 ERA, and 20:5 strikeout to walk rate in 18 innings. It was definitely a small sample, but Chandler's stuff was solid with a fastball that got into the mid 90's and two average-ish off-speed pitches. His control is ahead of his command and he doesn't currently possess a true plus offering. But there may be some added development and the decorated righty still looks like a late day 2 pick presently.
Kevin Davis, USC-Upstate, 35 FV- USC-Upstate has several draft-worthy arms strewn about its pitching staff this year with Davis being one of them. Davis is a monster human being. He's every bit as intimidating on the mound as his 6'9/270 body suggests he would be. The fastball is a high spinner that sits in the low 90's and has peaked at 94. Davis's primary secondary pitch is a slider that will flash above-average and get swings and misses along with a changeup that he has feel for and can land for strikes. The build and 3 pitch mix give him some starter traits, but USC-Upstate plans on using him as the team's primary closer. I caught a Davis appearance on opening weekend and was surprised how in control and repeatable his delivery was which can be a struggle for larger pitchers. If he can gain a couple of ticks to his fastball velocity out of the pen and/or take one of his secondaries to another level he becomes really interesting. For now, he profiles as a day 3 pick with some starter traits and a bit of an oddball profile given his immense size.
Left Handed Pitchers
Reid VanScoter, Coastal Carolina, 35 FV- VanScoter makes the sleeper list almost entirely based on reports from the fall. He was up to 94 with his fastball and showed a consistent above-average slider with some plus ones mixed in. VanScoter is a bit of an unknown as he's missed a ton of time dealing with injuries. He originally played at Binghamton and missed almost the entire season in 2019 with Tommy John Surgery as well as the entirety of the canceled 2020 season. Coastal has hinted that he may get some time in the starting rotation, but I'm more interested in seeing what he can do with his newfound velocity and swing and miss breaking ball out of the pen. I'm not sure where VanScoter slots in terms of the draft because teams simply haven't seen much of him. He may be best served spending another year at Coastal to shake off the rust and get some innings under his belt.
Garrett Crowley, Fordham, 35 FV-- Crowley has just 12.2 collegiate innings pitched and an ERA near 8.00. So why is he listed here? Crowley vaulted himself into sleeper status by showcasing a lively fastball that hit 95 MPH regularly this summer in the Texas Collegiate League. He had a strong FaBIO profile during both the short spring season and over the summer. I don't have much info on his secondary pitches so getting a read on those will be a priority for me this spring. Crowley's biggest flaw right now is his control as he's had some strike-throwing issues in the past. It will be interesting to see how Fordham utilizes Crowley this year as his current profile would probably be lights out in a closer role. Depending on how his secondary pitches look, Crowley could be a mid day 2 selection this summer and may move into the 35+ or 40 FV tier.
Dylan Dodd, Southeast Missouri State, 35+ FV- Dodd might be the "sleepiest" sleeper of the bunch. He's rarely considered when the topic of the top college lefties comes up. That may change over the next couple of months. Dodd caught my attention towards the end of the canceled 2020 season when he threw a complete game shutout against Ohio that included 15 strikeouts, 0 walks, and just 5 hits allowed. I think Dodd would have worked his way into the top 5 rounds had the season continued in 2020. He comes into 2021 as one of the top prospects in the Ohio Valley Conference and will serve as SE Missouri State's ace. Dodd transferred in from Kankakee Community College where he was an accomplished two-way player. The 6'2/220 southpaw's fastball took a jump at his new school and he now sits comfortably in the low 90s, getting up to 94-95 with regularity, and maxing out at 97 MPH. He also scrapped his loopy curveball and replaced it with a late biting slider that shows two-plane break. He also commands a changeup that he has feel for and can get swings and misses with. Those 3 pitches give Dodd some starting potential at the next level. His delivery isn't the prettiest and though he throws strikes, his command in the zone is a question mark. He's been an extreme flyball pitcher and could run into HR issues in pro ball. That may point to a future in the pen but for now, Dodd looks poised to build on a fantastic 2020 season (3.38 ERA, 36:7 K: BB in 26.2 IP. He started off 2021 with two fantastic starts with his most recent outing coming against #1 overall Arkansas. In that outing, Dodd struck out 10 Hogs in 6 innings while giving up 2 runs (solo homers to Christian Franklin and Brady Slavens), 3 hits, 2 walks, and 2 hit batters. Dodd is a potential top 5 round pick this July and has a chance to be the first pitcher selected out of the OVC.
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