Texas High School Lefty Matt Purke
This year’s Aflac game showcased what appears to be a very strong year for high school power pitchers. I don’t know if any class can match the high school crop of 2007, but these guys are going to try to give them a run for their money. The cream of the crop is a pair of lefties Matt Purke and Tyler Matzek. Look for my lengthy complete report on the pitchers in this year’s game after the break.
By far the two most impressive players in the game were lefties Matt Purke and Tyler Matzek. They both possess now ability, knowledge of pitching, and tons of projection. Right now Purke is the guy with a little more upside because his stuff is a notch better. In his inning of work he was humming his fastball up to 95, and didn’t dip below 92 mph. He also was dropping in a down right nasty slider at 81 mph. He has a lightning quick arm that could lead to even more velocity as he fills out his 6’3″ 170 pound frame. Even if he doesn’t add any more velocity, he already has two plus pitches from the left side and surprisingly he commands both pretty well. Purke does have a little more effort in his delivery than Matzek, but it shouldn’t be a problem. The obvious comp would be Scott Kazmir, another dominating Texas high school lefty, but I think the better comparison would be a shorter version of David Price. Either way you get the idea of the kind of ability this young man possesses.
Tyler Matzek was equally as impressive, but did it a little differently. He may be considered more of a polished pitcher, but don’t think he is lacking for stuff as his fastball sat comfortably in the 91-93 range. Matzek also threw a sweeping curve in the 74-77 range that he easily threw for strikes. Another positive with Matzek is his silky smooth mechanics and polished approach. His game is very similar to this year’s first pitcher taken with a similar last name, Brian Matusz. If I am a scouting director I would be hoping for the 1st or the 3rd pick in the draft. Stephen Strasburg is clearly the #1 talent, but I would hate to have to choose between these two lefties. It may be a case where you can’t go wrong either way.
While the lefties were the cream of the crop, there were also some very impressive right-handers with Jacob Turner and Zack Wheeler leading the way. Turner, a St. Louis area native, holds the top spot among prep righties at the moment thanks to his ultra polished approach and good stuff. He fanned 5 in his 2 innings of work thanks to very good command of a 91-93 mph fastball with movement. When trying to think of a comparison the name that kept coming to my mind was a Chris Carpenter type fastball. He didn’t need anything other than his fastball to dominate, but he also featured a 78 mph pitch that was either a change or a tight slider. Either way it was a nice secondary pitch. Turner also looks like a horse out on the mound with his 6’4″ 220 pound frame.
Zack Wheeler gave up a run, but he put on a show. He may not have Turner’s polish, but he has a little more velocity clocking in at 93-95 and it also had a little movement. For a guy with his power fastball, I was surprised to see him flash two above average off-speed pitches. He threw a tight low-80′s slider and a low-80′s change that had some fade away from left-handed hitters. The sky is the limit for Wheeler as he still has a lot of room to fill out his 6’4″ 180 pound frame and potentially add even more velocity. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Wheeler pass Turner and claim that top righty spot by the time the draft rolls around.
Those weren’t the only pitchers to impress, as there were no less than 11 guys who hit 94 mph. There were several two way stars who flashed a lot of talent on the mound. Top shortstop Mychal Givens came out and recorded 2 outs on 2 pitches, a 96 and 98 mph fastball. Outfielder Slade Heathcott also showed a big arm from the left side. He blew the save in the 9th, but he was showcasing a 90-93 mph fastball and a nice curve in the 75-77 range. He also flashed a couple changes at 84 mph. Catcher Austin Maddox also lit up the radar gun bumping his fastball up to 96 mph, but he is extremely raw on the mound.
Chad Thompson is the guy that has been ranked the second best righty in this class, but while he has talent, he is all projection at this point. Its easy to dream on a workhorse when you see his massive 6’8″ frame, but his fastball was only in the 89-91 range. He has a hard curveball in the high 70′s, but his off speed stuff needs to be sharpened up. Thompson could be Chris Volstad, or he could be Stu Pomeranz.
A guy that really impressed me was Daniel Tuttle. He was 93-94 mph with movement and also featured two very good secondary pitches in his 78-79 mph slider and 83 mph change. He was able to throw all three pitches for strikes, and he has a very smooth delivery. This kid has good stuff and knows how to pitch. Another standout was Keyvius Sampson. He is an athletic righty with a super quick arm that unleashed fastballs in the 93-94 range, and he also had a nice sharp curve. There is a lot of projection, but he could be the next Edwin Jackson.
Here is a quick run down of some of the other guys who flashed first round potential. Brooks Pounders showed three solid pitches including a 92-94 mph fastball and a good idea of what he was doing on the mound. Lefty Ian Krol has stuff very similar to Tyler Matzek with a 90-93 mph fastball and 76-78 mph curve, but he is just not as advanced. If he can sharpen his command, he could find himself in the running for the first round. Chris Jenkins is a huge guy at 6’7″ 225 pounds and showed a nice sinking fastball in the 91-94 range. Michael Heller showed three pitches including a fastball that touched 95 mph. Scott Griggs also touched 95 mph, but he missed most of his junior year with injury and looked pretty raw on the hill. Matt Graham used a Max Scherzer type delivery to generate 93-94 mph fastballs.
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Sounds like a good year to draft a pitcher in the (non-supplemental) first round since Brian Barber (1991).
That should have read “high school pitcher”, by the way.
it depends on what is available, but i think you are right. i have no clue where we are going to pick, but i do know there should be a top level high school arm available. i do think there is a better chance of taking a high school pitcher in the first round if we also have a first rounder from losing lohse.
there are also some very good college pitchers available besides strasburg. alex white is probably the next best, but mizzou’s kyle gibson is also very good. i think two guys who have to be very intriguing for the cardinals are college lefties andrew oliver and mike minor.
Excellent write up, few.
I’m not sure I’d want to be picking 3rd either. You’re still going to have 3 great pitchers available when you add in Alex White and Kyle Gibson.
FEWGOOD, you have a bordering on weird fetish-like love of lefthanded high school pitching. And I would like to subscribe to your newsletter sir.
UB, i think the top of this draft is absolutely loaded. grant green is a stud too. i don’t think you can go wrong if you are in the top 10.
danny, i love all lefties not just high school lefties ;)
Lefthanded pitching is the most overrated commodity in baseball. Take that FEWGOODCARDS.
Yeah the top of the draft is definitely going to be loaded. The depth, though, looks a little thin…right now. A lot can change after one more year of college baseball but its looking like the high school class is going to have to pick up the slack if a lot of college guys don’t pick it up this coming year.
Lots of Cody Satterwhite’s and Jordan Dank’s in the college class from what I can see.
exactly. i am working on an early ranking for the site, and the talent drops off in a hurry. the college crop has some elite talent, but there is zero depth. i have guys like robert stock, ryan jackson, and jared mitchell in the top 25, and while they are guys who have had a lot of hype, they haven’t really produced a lot in college. even a guy like dustin ackley, who is probably the 2nd best college hitter in this class, doesn’t really have star potential.
well, doing some more research i found another stud college bat. kentrail davis turns 21 in june, so he will be draft eligible. that will help out a lot b/c that kid is a stud. he probably won’t come cheap (draft eligible sophomores never do), but he could be an impact player.
Kentrail Davis is definitely a nice addition but the 2009 college class lost a lot of good draft eligible sophomores in the 2008 draft.
Tim Fedroff(UNC), Mark Sobolewski(Miami), Cole Figueroa(Florida) and Dusty Coleman(Wichita St.) all signed pro contracts and Chris Dominguez(Louisville) was taken in the 5th round BUT he has yet to sign, so maybe the 2009 college class will add a power hitting 3rd baseman, though one that will be a bit old and will have contact issues. Dominguez is the only one of the five that was a junior in school, but a sophomore on the field.
That is a great group of players and another reason why the depth in the college class is a little thin.
A good season for a lot of guys could change that but there isn’t going to be much of a track record to work with. You won’t find too many Brett Wallace’s, Yonder Alonso’s, Pedro Alvarez’s, Conor Gillaspie’s, Ryan Flaherty’s, etc that have put 2-3 good years together. You’re going to see more Jason Castro’s and Reese Haven’s. Guys that have one breakout year, although Haven’s did have some good summers IIRC.
Or you might see Cody Satterwhite’s and Jordan Dank’s that flash their tools but not with any consistency and you just bank on the potential.
It will be interesting to see who steps up next spring but hopefully the 2009 high school class is just loaded.
Grant Green seems to be following the Gordon Beckham path.
Yeah Green had a monster summer on the Cape. The 17 errors is surprising, though(and it could be a typo). He only committed 9 errors at USC during his sophomore year.
i think green is a lot better than beckham. i think he is more like evan longoria, but able to play short.
Another draft eligible sophomore that I know of is Kentrail Davis’ Tennessee teammate Bryan Morgado. Although Morgado is a different kind of DES. He’s going to be a junior in school and a sophomore on the field after having TJ surgery his freshman year. But he put up pretty good numbers this past year.
he is also only going to be 20 years old, so he will be one of the youngest college players available. i have only seen him once, but i currently have him as a first rounder. i don’t know what you guys think, but i have him as the third best college lefty behind andrew oliver and mike minor.
I think you could put those three in any order right now and I’d agree with it.
I expect a big rebound season out of Gavin Brooks
Yeah Brooks was a huge disappointment this past season after a very good freshman year. Had a chance to see him pitch in Regionals and not only was he all over the place but his velocity was way down. He still had a nice curveball but he threw it way too much although that may have been because he couldn’t locate his fastball at all.
Brooks has had some problems with injuries in the past and pitching for John Savage at UCLA probably won’t help prevent any further arm problems. But if he can regain his freshman year stuff then he should have a good year.
Could have guys like Putnam, Scheppers, and Brett Hunter returning for their SR years.
Does Josh Fields not want to play Pro Ball? Seriously dude, sign a contract!
[...] throwing downhill makes it extremely tough on hitters to react. Futureredbirds got him in the 88-91 MPH range with his fastball, a little slow for his size, along with a upper 70s curve with goo…. He is the type of pitcher taken because of his great potential, but it will be up to the team that [...]
[...] throwing downhill makes it extremely tough on hitters to react. Futureredbirds got him in the 88-91 MPH range with his fastball, a little slow for his size, along with a upper 70s curve with goo…. He is the type of pitcher taken because of his great potential, but it will be up to the team that [...]