College 150: Top 10 Scouting Reports
Prospects The staff at D1Baseball.com takes you inside college baseball and prospects like no other, and you can find in-depth stories, reports and more on the College Top 150 Prospects by searching for their player pages at the top of the site with the magnifier icon. With that said, we give you instant access to our in-depth scouting reports on the Top 10 prospects below. Check them out:
1. Casey Mize, rhp, Auburn
Auburn’s Casey Mize has thrown a no-hitter this season. (Auburn)
Easily the best pitcher with the best “stuff” I have seen on the amateur level for quite some time. His full draft report for Prep Baseball Report was very easy to write. Strike-throwing power pitcher who generated repeated swing/miss with four different pitches while commanding all of them throughout his start. Kept hitters off balance with a four-pitch arsenal; fastball, split changeup, cutter, slider and knows how to mix them up/down, in/out and back/forth. He did not “pitch off” of any one pitch. He pitched off all of them. Was a magician with his feel for the ball and manipulating the action on it. Mize is very tough for opposing hitters to square up, but very easy for Trackman operators to “tag.” He has a large spin rate differential and action on all of his pitches. His 2226-2376 rpm spin rate fastball showed average life, peaked at 96 mph in the first inning and maintained 93-95 the entire outing. He threw harder in the seventh (94-95) than the third (93-94). His best pitch, among three very good ones, is his split changeup at 86-88 mph. The low spin rate of 1243-1472 rpm gives it hard, late under the bat dive and induced repeated swing/miss. The speed, action and plus command down in the zone combine to give it a 70-grade on the scouting scale. His next best pitch was a plus cutter which checked in at 87-91 mph with a spin rate of 2349-2480 rpm. For a MLB comparison, Kenley Jansen’s cutter (the best in the game today) has an average spin rate of 2610 with a velocity of 95.5 mph. Obviously, Mize is not Jansen and this comparison is simply for illustration. Mize’s slider is his fourth pitch, average to above average in quality, and thrown at 81-85 mph. On the evening Mize struck out 12 in seven innings, throwing 104 pitches. Of his 12 strikeouts three were via fastball, five by cutter and four by split changeup. Mize works quick and repeats his delivery. He releases the ball at a height of 6-foot-1 with extension of 6-foot-4, on average. He is quick from the stretch to the plate at 1.12-1.20 seconds, sometimes too quick as he rushed and unintentionally elevated his fastball on a couple occasions. With continued good health this spring and a clean medical review from team doctors, Mize should easily be a top five overall pick in the draft. He profiles as a top of the rotation starter with Major League now stuff and the command of it. Should be a fast riser through any minor league system. With the Detroit Tigers picking at #1 and their fondness for college pitching, expect Mize to be considered for their top selection.
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