Approximately twenty pitchers threw bullpen sessions this morning on the seven mounds in front of the David Montgomery Performance Center building while hitters took batting practice on Ashburn Field. Lefty Danny Wilkinson ( un-drafted free agent signing from Villanova University 7/25/22 ) threw a live BP session on Ashburn facing Kendall Simmons & Simon Muzziotti after regular BP was done.
My focus was on the seven mound bullpen sessions - here are my observation notes :
RH Nathan Karrafa ( 2022 20th round draft choice - Ohio State ) threw a nice slider with good horizontal movement in his session, kept most of his deliveries on the lower level of the zone and hit locations consistently. First time we’ve seen his delivery and mix up close, encouraging.
RHer’s Tyler Phillips & Eduar Segovia were sharp in their sessions - really like Segovia’s cross fire action and the life on his pitches - Phillips throws what appears to be a heavy sinker with run, coupled with a changeup we can see where the mix can be Zach Eflin like - similar arm slot and size as well.
LH Spencer Van Scoyoc had more pop in his session than what we saw in the fall as he continues to progress in his rehab work coming back from TJ surgery - threw sliders and I believe a few curve balls today as well - solid mechanics.
RH Andrew Baker, RH Chase Antle, RH Orion Kerkering & LH Tristan Garnett threw shorter pens following up from their live BP sessions on Friday. RH Hans Crouse, LH Sam Aldegheri, RH Tommy McCollum, LH Keylan Killgore, RH Cam Wynne, RH Jose Pena, RH Enrique Segura, RH McKinley Moore & RH Tyler McKay all threw sessions.
Enrique Segura continues to impress, ball comes out hot and the breaking pitch we saw today ( I believe it’s a slider ) has really good movement, life and break - looks like an out maker, everything comes from an easy motion that he seemingly has no issues repeating - the young man is 18 years old and has played just one season in the Dominican Summer League but when we watch him we envision a great deal of success in his future.
Tommy McCollum’s delivery is smooth, the ball releases like a pellet shot and appears to be able to get on a hitter even quicker than the velocity driving it there because of where/how he releases it - he’s a big fella at 6’5” so the length lends to the release, has a nasty splitter to off set his fastball - today we saw a few sliders as well.
It was the first time I’ve seen RH McKinley Moore in person - he’s another big fella at 6’6” - delivery wasn’t pressed, free release from my perspective which is contradictory to reports I’ve read where it was stated as being more violent. Can see the ball hop out of his hand - didn’t cut it loose today - we believe there’s good energy and life there when he does just by the movement we saw in the session.
I’ve always liked the release point and stuff that Jose Pena possesses - it’s akin to a straight overhand release point with his curve ball having deep vertical break and big time spin. The fastball offsets it well - key is command and location as sometimes Jose gets rushed and the ball spikes on him - the stuff plays for the 19 year old - just a matter of consistency from what we saw of him on the backfields last year - today strengthened our opinion that he can be a really good one once he locks it in.
Just a few observations is all - still very early so take it all with a grain of salt but it’s sure fun to see baseball action once again. 😎
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
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Danny Wilkinson delivers pitch against Kendall Simmons - Gustavo Sosa catching