12/11/20

Scouting Report - RHP - Eric Cerantola


 

Eric Cerantola

 

RHP 6-5 195 Mississippi State


 

11-23-20  -  lookout landing -

 

Eric Cerantola (6-5, 222 pounds) is a tall, imposing right-handed pitcher with an arresting way about him to go with his trademark fiery red hair. He’s got a bit of a mean streak on the mound -- a sublime competitor with the intensity and grit to match what’s under his hat. A native of Oakville, Canada, Cerantola seems to bring that northern hockey self-assertion with him to the bump.

 

He’s got a track record of success in the SEC with 31.2 innings pitched and eight starts. Certantola tallied 44 strikeouts in his first two years on campus, though he has issued 22 free passes, a bit of a concerning figure. That said, he’s found a way to work himself out of trouble on most occasions, posting a 3.69 ERA over his collegiate career.

 


11-19-20 -  draftsite

 

1.20 Eric Cerantola RHP Mississippi State

 

robmorrison14's comments: Yankees need pitching. No offense needed at the moment so just load up with as many good pitchers as you can and see which pan out down the line.

 


11-11-20 - Prospects Live Top 300 Prospect List -

 

22. Eric Cerantola - RHP

 

Bio:

 

Height: 6-5

Weight: 195 lbs

Hits/Throws: R-R

Hometown: Oakville, ON

School: Mississippi State

 

A college arm you can throw under the category of impacted by the shutdown. Cerantola possesses great stuff in his three pitch mix. Sitting 92-96 mph on his fastball with an above average slider and a changeup that flashes nice downward fade. His command has been an issue and he's prone to center-cut fastballs too often, making him more hittable than he should be. In that way he shares some similarities to 2020 first rounder Cade Cavalli.

 

 

11-9-20 - Ian Smith Mock 1.0 -

 

17. Cincinnati Reds

 

The Pick- RHP Eric Cerantola • Mississippi State

 

            6’5” • 195lb

 

This was a pick that some could call a reach, but I can’t find a pick in the first round that makes more sense than this Cerantola and Cincinnati match. A raw, high velocity pitcher with feel to spin secondaries is a match made in heaven with a highly advanced and progressive pitching development organization. Big projectable frame with a fastball that is already touching 96 on the gun with more in the tank. Shows flashes of a wipeout slider and a potential out pitch in his changeup. Currently 40 grade command, but the natural stuff is too good to pass up, and I have full trust in the Reds’ player development.

 


Prospects Live -

 

Mississippi State RHP Eric Cerantola really popped for us on film and in pitch data evaluations. It’s been difficult uncovering guys with a strong track record and equally impressive pitch data to project into the next level. Cerantola checks both of those boxes and vaulted into first round projection for us.

 


Prospect Live -

 

*Eric Cerantola (R)

 

6’5’’ 222

 

Mississippi State

 

Cerantola is a very exciting prospect for the 2021 draft. With a solid, athletic frame, and a fastball in the mid to upper 90s, he has the physical attributes of a Major League starter. Cerantola has an elite curve (avg spin rate of around 2650) to go along with his heater, and an average change.

 

His delivery is a little slow for my liking, with a slow paced stride that results in a shorter than preferable extension. This windup suits a sinker baller better than his own profile, which is four seam dominant. He stays closed with his front shoulder until the very last second prior to release, which helps him get great torque and hide the baseball well.

 

He’s a good comp to Cade Cavalli (R1 P22) from the 2020 draft class, and if a coaching staff worked on speeding up his delivery a little on his drive downhill, his release height would go down. I feel that the lower release height would benefit him particularly based on how his offspeed tends to play. The sped up drive downhill would give him more potential energy to work with, resulting in him likely flirting with triple digits on the fastball.

 

In this clip you can see the slow speed of his drive downhill, along with his solid breaking ball coming from a 10 o’clock axis. One thing of note on the breaking ball: it plays better with the shorter stride due to its axis being at 10, not 12. This gives it more horizontal run (Slurve like), which is beneficial for pitchers with shorter strides (sinker/slider vs fastball/curve paradox). If he were to speed up his motion (hello triple digits), he would probably need to shift to a 12/6 curve for a more complementary pairing-it would still be effective at 10 though.

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2 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

Cerantola sounds great if he is still around in round 2. Maybe he shows he is good enough for the Mets to pick him in the first round with an impressive spring.

Mack Ade said...

If we have a round two pick.