Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Alex White
Alex White
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC
Class in 2009: Junior
Position: Right-handed Pitcher (Starter)
Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 191 pounds
Hometown: Greenville, NC
High School: D.H Conley
Age on Draft Day '09: approx. 20 years, 9 months
Draft stock: Top 5-10 picks in 2009 Draft. Chance at #1 overall.
Scouting report: (video at bottom of page)
STRENGTHS:
White's electric arm throws a lively, moving low-to-mid 90s fastball from a 3/4 arm slot that can top out at 96 or 97 mph. His slider has been his go-to secondary pitch for awhile and it features good velocity and movement and he can often throw it for strikes. Recently he has begun to augment that with a strong, biting splitter. The splitter helps him deal with left-handed batters as it acts similar to a changeup. He doesn't seem to struggle pitching from the stretch. White is an excellent athlete who was good enough as a HS basketball player to draw mid-major recruiting interest. White has a strong, lean build and a good frame for pitching that could still fill out a small bit. He has really embraced his role this year as staff ace since Robert Woodard departed.
WEAKNESSES:
He could stand to be more consistent with his command and overall quality of pitches from start to start, mixing in a dud or two with otherwise brilliant pitching. Even in some dominating starts he got in trouble with walks (example - 5.2 ip, 1 hit, 5 walks, 6 Ks, no runs at Clemson). His arm slot is three-quarters, but it dropped has he fatigued as a freshman but - with some muscle added to his projectable, athletic frame - he has avoided that so-far as a sophomore. The fatigue caused a poor second half and poor postseason to mar a great start to his freshman year. His arm slot will occasionally vary even when (seemingly) rested, so tightening up the muscle memory there could largely eliminate much of his inconsistencies.
OMAHA UPDATE - White was lights-out in Omaha for the College World Series. He delivered a strong start against a good LSU offense and then was used in a multi-inning relief role for almost every game after that, something UNC head coach Mike Fox loves doing with his relievers (Wooten and Moran were used this way, and Jon Hovis and Matt Danford in the past). In his start White mixed his three power pitches well but he was electric in his relief outings by using his fastball almost exclusively. The combination of movement and velocity he had on it made it difficult to make contact with and, if you did make contact, hard to make the contact any good. He would have broken a bat or two if opponents were using wood. This year he was at his best in Omaha instead of his worst.
SUMMER UPDATE: White, expected to be ace for the Cape Cod League's Chatham A's, has shut things down for the summer to rest his arm.
NOTES:
-Drafted in Round 14 by Dodgers out of HS. Turned down a 6-figure bonus from them.
-A good enough athlete that he could have been drafted as a 3b out of HS and was a potential two-way player as a collegian.
-A few months younger than most players in his year.
-His brother Travis played at N.C Wesleyan (where UNC coach Mike Fox came from) and played one year of pro ball.
Statistics:
Movement: 65/65
Command: 40/50
Slider: 50/60
Split: 50/60
VIDEO: This is just some highlights of three years ago a HS championship game.
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC
Class in 2009: Junior
Position: Right-handed Pitcher (Starter)
Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 191 pounds
Hometown: Greenville, NC
High School: D.H Conley
Age on Draft Day '09: approx. 20 years, 9 months
Draft stock: Top 5-10 picks in 2009 Draft. Chance at #1 overall.
Scouting report: (video at bottom of page)
STRENGTHS:
White's electric arm throws a lively, moving low-to-mid 90s fastball from a 3/4 arm slot that can top out at 96 or 97 mph. His slider has been his go-to secondary pitch for awhile and it features good velocity and movement and he can often throw it for strikes. Recently he has begun to augment that with a strong, biting splitter. The splitter helps him deal with left-handed batters as it acts similar to a changeup. He doesn't seem to struggle pitching from the stretch. White is an excellent athlete who was good enough as a HS basketball player to draw mid-major recruiting interest. White has a strong, lean build and a good frame for pitching that could still fill out a small bit. He has really embraced his role this year as staff ace since Robert Woodard departed.
WEAKNESSES:
He could stand to be more consistent with his command and overall quality of pitches from start to start, mixing in a dud or two with otherwise brilliant pitching. Even in some dominating starts he got in trouble with walks (example - 5.2 ip, 1 hit, 5 walks, 6 Ks, no runs at Clemson). His arm slot is three-quarters, but it dropped has he fatigued as a freshman but - with some muscle added to his projectable, athletic frame - he has avoided that so-far as a sophomore. The fatigue caused a poor second half and poor postseason to mar a great start to his freshman year. His arm slot will occasionally vary even when (seemingly) rested, so tightening up the muscle memory there could largely eliminate much of his inconsistencies.
OMAHA UPDATE - White was lights-out in Omaha for the College World Series. He delivered a strong start against a good LSU offense and then was used in a multi-inning relief role for almost every game after that, something UNC head coach Mike Fox loves doing with his relievers (Wooten and Moran were used this way, and Jon Hovis and Matt Danford in the past). In his start White mixed his three power pitches well but he was electric in his relief outings by using his fastball almost exclusively. The combination of movement and velocity he had on it made it difficult to make contact with and, if you did make contact, hard to make the contact any good. He would have broken a bat or two if opponents were using wood. This year he was at his best in Omaha instead of his worst.
SUMMER UPDATE: White, expected to be ace for the Cape Cod League's Chatham A's, has shut things down for the summer to rest his arm.
NOTES:
-Drafted in Round 14 by Dodgers out of HS. Turned down a 6-figure bonus from them.
-A good enough athlete that he could have been drafted as a 3b out of HS and was a potential two-way player as a collegian.
-A few months younger than most players in his year.
-His brother Travis played at N.C Wesleyan (where UNC coach Mike Fox came from) and played one year of pro ball.
Statistics:
Player ERA W-L APP-GS CG IP H R ER BB SO 2B 3B HR B/Avg WP HBPFastball Velo: 65/70
2007 (fr.) 4.94 6-7 19-18 0 98.1 100 63 54 48 83 25 2 5 .277 6 7
2008 (so.) 2.83 13-3 20-15 1 101.2 78 43 32 42 113 15 0 6 .215 6 5
Accolades:
-Third-team BA HS All-American in 2006.
-Second-team Rivals.com Freshman All-America in 2007.
-BA midseason Freshman of the Year in 2007.
-Ranked by BA as #14 Cape Cod prospect in the summer after his freshman year
-2008 ACC Pitcher of the Year.
-2008 All-College World Series, after getting Win in all 3 of his team's CWS wins.
Movement: 65/65
Command: 40/50
Slider: 50/60
Split: 50/60
VIDEO: This is just some highlights of three years ago a HS championship game.
Dustin Ackley
Dustin Ackley
Class in 2009: Junior
Age on Draft Day 09: 21 years and 3-4 months
Positions: First-baseman and Outfielder
Jersey Number: 13
Bats: Left / Throws: Right
6-foot-1, 182
From: Walnut Cove, N.C -High School(s): South Stokes (fr.-jr.), North Forsyth (sr.)
Scouting Report: (video clip at bottom of post)
Strengths: He is a phenomenal pure hitter. Few players can match the quickness of his wrists.
He also has above-average speed and knows how to use it. Can steal some bases and is almost impossible to turn a double play on at the college level.
Excels at hitting line drives up the middle and to the gaps, and his speed allows him to get an infield single or two at the college level if the fielder hesitates or bobbles.
Rarely over-matched at the plate, even when a tough opposing pitcher is shutting down his teammates Ackley makes hard contact. Calm, fearless approach at the plate.
Aggressive enough to jump on first pitch if it is fat but will hold off otherwise. Can work count and draw walks well. Makes very good contact, doesn't try to do too much and doesn't seem to struggle with LHPs. Has a very focus, flat, calm business-like mentality.
Weaknesses: His problem is that he doesn't have the raw power or strength expected of a first-round 1b/OF and his ordinary, narrow frame does not project to add power (but then again I said the same about Sean Doolittle this time last year) which could leave him as a bit of a 'tweener. Though he has played mostly 1b in his first two years in college, and played it well, his speed plays well in LF, when he plays there. He probably is not a major-league centerfielder defensively, where his #2 hitter offensive game profiles best, but with UNC possibly losing all starting OFs he might get a chance to show scouts if he can play a good CF in 2009. His arm is below-average.
UPDATE: Absolutely scorched the ball in Omaha. Lined almost every pitch he got right back up the middle. His stock is only going up.
Comparisons
Physical: I've heard a less-toned Steve Finley, which is about right.
Playing Style: Mark Grace?
Draft forecast:
If he keeps hitting like this his batspeed, wrists and footspeed will put him in the middle or front of Round One despite his lack of first-base power.
Notes:
Father, John Ackley, was a minor league catcher for the Red Sox.
Claims to model his game after Pete Rose, which you can actually kind of see in his play.
Statistics:
#13 Dustin Ackley AVG GP-GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB OB% SLG% BB HBP SO GDP SF SH SB-ATT PO A E FLD%
Freshman (2007)... .402 73-73 296 70 119 20 3 10 74 175 .448 .591 30 1 21 2 8 1 11-14 538 37 6 .990
Sophomore(2008)... .417 68-68 278 82 116 21 4 7 51 166 .503 .597 53 1 27 1 6 1 19-25 488 22 1 .998
Accolades:
* National Freshman of the year in 2007. Also won First-Team All-ACC 1b in 2007 over Yonder Alonso.
* Led all of NCAA in total hits as a freshman and a sophomore.
* Second-Team All-ACC in 2008 and a Baseball America Third-Team All-American.
* Lead team in hitting both years, as a freshman his batting average was highest on team by over 60 points.
* Batting averaged ranked 17th in NCAA as a sophomore and 30th in NCAA as a freshman.
* Ranked 2nd in ACC in Batting Average both years.
* Top 30 in NCAA in On-Base Percentage as a freshman and a sophomore.
A clip from freshman year showing him knocking one out of the park despite his bat dying on him. Later in the video they a show a single or two of his.
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