Mack’s Apples – Gavin Cecchini, Griffin Roberts, Matt Liberatore, David Peterson, Bat In Hand

Fangraphs   Top 18 Mets Prospects -

photo by Reese Kaplan

       17. Gavin Cecchini, 2B

      Drafted: 1st Round, 2012 from Barbe HS (LA)

      Age   23       Height           6’2      Weight          196     Bat/Throw   R/R

      Tool Grades (Present/Future)

       Cecchini has had tastes of big-league time each of the last two years. His minor-league peripherals are spectacular, but there’s doubt about his ability to handle either middle-infield spot. He’s had arm accuracy issues and his flat-planed swing yields very little impact contact.  (Note:  Cecchini left last night's game after fouling a ball off his foot a'la Bryce Brentz.  He was assisted off the field due to the pain in his instep.  He is headed for a medical evaluation today -- RK)

Draft Prospects Trending up    -

        

   

         Griffin Roberts (Wake Forest) - Roberts continues to get overlooked, but he has pitched more innings and struck out more batters than Casey Mize and Logan Gilbert. All he did this past week was pitch 8 innings of 1 hit ball and striking out 11.

Baseball America’s  Top 500 Prospects –

        

   2 –(Last: 2) - Matthew Liberatore  HS LHP  School: Mountain Ridge HS, Glendale, Ariz.

Ht: 6-5 | Wt: 200 | B-T: L-L | Committed/Drafted: Arizona

Scouting Report: During the summer of 2017, Liberatore was an uber-projectable lefthander with great feel for three pitches that scouts could project to become plus down the line. At that time, Liberatore was sitting mostly in the upper 80s and low 90s with his fastball and had a low-70s, 12-to-6 curveball, as well as a changeup in the low to mid-80s. He performed well on the showcase circuit and with USA Baseball’s 18U National team, pitching in the USA’s 8-0 win over Korea in the gold medal game. During his first outing this spring, however, he was up to 96 mph with his fastball, a sharper curveball and a plus changeup. The 100-plus scouts could confidently leave that game and project three plus pitches on the prep lefthander who stood 6-foot-5. While the stuff hasn’t been quite as loud for Liberatore since then—his fastball in particular hasn’t held that velocity—he still has the frame and pitchability that teams can dream on, with a fairly clean and quick arm as well as makeup that scouts rave about. The Arizona commit pitches with a bulldog-like mentality on the mound but also brings a cerebral approach to what he’s trying to do, with an advanced understanding of how to attack hitters and how to manipulate his pitches. During the spring, Liberatore added a low-80s slider that he showcased to a large group of evaluators at USA Baseball’s National High School Invitational. The pitch is currently behind his curveball and changeup—both of which project as plus offerings—but showed some promise and he seemed confident with the offering given that he added it to his now-four-pitch mix about a week prior. While Liberatore’s stuff and control isn’t currently as loud as MacKenzie Gore’s (the top lefthander in the 2017 draft class) was at this same point last year, the combination of his size, projection, makeup and pitchability should have him off the board early in the first round.

Monday's top prospect performers -

         

   Mets No. 2 prospect David Peterson turned in his best professional start as he set career highs with eight strikeouts in seven scoreless innings in a no-decision for Class A Columbia. The 2017 first-rounder permitted just three hits and one walk in the outing, as he also induced eight ground-ball outs while throwing 55 of 76 pitches for strikes. Peterson, 22, lowered his ERA to 2.28 with the stellar performance.

Why a youth baseball coach —  

bat in hand  — ran from the dugout to confront a parent –

          

  The head coach of the Cincy Flames U13 team grabbed a bat and ran out of the team's dugout. A video of the moment went viral.

The coach is seen in the video headed for a parent who was cheering for the other team. Scaringe said the parent had been drinking and being antagonistic for some time before the confrontation.