Draft Profile: - LHSP - Mathew Smoral

1)      Mathew Smoral

Ranked #103 in the 2012 Prospects List compiled by the All-American Athletic Foundation link

8-25-11: - http://sullydraft.blogspot.com  - This summer I went to the National Showcase, Prospect Classic, and the Under Armour All-American Game. Here is my updated top 50 HS prospects. - 13. Matthew Smoral- LHP, Solon HS

10-23-11: - http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/2011/10/smoral-stands-out-among-big-arms  - The World Wood Bat Association World Championship has long been a place where high school prospects can establish themselves as elite players against high-level competition. Matt Smoral, a lefthander from Solon (Ohio) High has always been considered to be among the top pitchers in the country, but he may have solidified himself as the top southpaw with an impressive outing on Friday. Smoral took the hill for the Midland Redskins/Royals Scout Team and lit up radar guns immediately, sitting 90-92 mph and touching 94 twice in the first inning. He remained in the low 90s for the first three innings before settling in at 88-91 in his final inning. He throws from a three-quarter arm slot and has a fairly easily delivery. His second-best pitch is a hard tilting slider in the low 80s.

10-28-11: - http://orioles-nation.com/2011/10/26/wwba-2012-highlights  - Matt Smoral (Solon OH) – Left handed pitcher that will run it to 94 mph and easily stay in the low 90s late into innings.  The slider shows solid bite and when on it has a crisp spin and could be difficult for lefties to hit when he learns to pound it inside to them.  His change up is a little better than “show me” stage, but needs some refinements.  Displays some late life sinking action on two seam fastball.  Loose and low effort for a 6’8” frame pitcher that is less mechanical driven and maintains decent balance.  Nice boring plane, even if the slot is closer to ¾ delivery. He still places his foot to third – mid rubber – and someone his size should try to work off the first base side to ride the arm angle and plane.

11-15-11: - http://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=6369  - Matthew Smoral (2012 LHP, Midland Redskins/Royals Scout Team)- Smoral is a rare talent in that he is a 6-foot-8 LHP who works comfortably in the 90-94 mph range. More importantly, he generates that impressive velocity with a low effort delivery that he repeats well for his size. Smoral did a good job of getting ahead with a first pitch strike in Jupiter and located his quality slider (up to 84 mph) very well, throwing it for a strike 82.4% of the time. Smoral did struggle with locating his fastball later in the count, leading to six walks in five innings. When he missed, he generally missed low, as the sink on his fastball tended to pull the ball out of the bottom of the zone. His legitimate swing and miss stuff allowed him make up for the walks by piling up eight strikeouts, thanks to a gaudy 39.1% swing and miss rate, good for fifth best in the entire tournament. Smoral has pitched effectively at several high level events this year and is one of the top left handed prep pitchers in the impressive crop of 2012 grads.