The 2015 baseball amateur draft appears to be rich in college pitchers. That pack is currently led by a big RHP from Duke that hardly anyone has heard of, Michael Matuella. Matuella is big at 6'7", 220 lb, and has explosive stuff. The reason why he is largely still unknown is he missed the first couple of months of his sophomore season with an oblique strain and his innings were limited for several weeks after that. His final pitching line from last year: 1-3, 2.78, 58.1 IP, 15 BB, 69 K's.
It's his size and stuff that get the scouts most excited. His formerly hard but flat 4 seam FB has morphed into a 93-96 mph 2-seamer with nasty sink and run thrown on a steep downhill plane. His curveball is a 79-82 MPH with 12-6 movement. His slider is 83-86 MPH and he has a promising changeup that goes 87-90 MPH. He excellent command of the FB and decent command of his secondary stuff.
Matuella is also an elite student who seems to be able to translate his intelligence to his pitching. He is expected to put up big numbers in 2015 if he stays healthy and has a legitimate shot at ending up as the #1 overall pick on draft day. Both BA and Kiley McDaniel currently rank him #3 overall.
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The first comp that comes to mind is Adam Wainwright. The only way he falls to the Giants is an injury and/or serious underperformance in his Jr year. It's kind of sad seeing all these write ups (thanks for doing them, though, Doc!) of great picks that the Giants have no real chance of getting but that's the downside of being a good team and picking late in the first round!
ReplyDeleteFall draft prospect rankings often change quite radically by draft day. These short profiles are to help us get acquainted with some of the names we'll be hearing about as the draft process unfolds, not necessarily to predict who the Giants might be drafting. It does look to me like there will be good prospects available at #21 for the Giants to choose from.
DeleteFingers crossed will hopefully get a close look at him at Cal!
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