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November 1, 2012

Scouting the Draft

High School Left-Handed Pitchers

by Nick J. Faleris

Part four of our first draft series takes a look at five left-handed high school arms who made a name for themselves this past summer. The goal of the series is not to cover every name worth knowing for next June, but rather to serve as an introduction to the draft class for those who have not yet begun following the action, and to pool in one place a rundown of some of the top performances over the past three to four months once we start parsing the class in more detail.

Trey Ball | OF/LHP | New Castle HS (New Castle, IN)

The Basics: 6-foot-6, 180 pounds; left/left profile; draft day age 18y 11m; University of Texas commit

Brings to the table: Athleticism on the mound with a projectable frame and arsenal. Ball ended the summer at 88-91 mph on his fastball and already shows some feel for an upper-70s 1-to-7 curve and an 80-81 mph change that he turns over well. He will occasionally show a fringy slider that is still in its infancy. The Indiana two-way talent makes use of his long limbs with a solid stride and good extension, helping his current fringe-average velocity to play up. He repeats his delivery well and his athleticism should aid him in tweaking his mechanics as he progresses. Throwing out of a three-quarter slot, Ball does a good job of creating tough angles, especially for hitters out of the left-handed box.