Scout The Cape: My 2018 Summer Adventure – Chasing The Cape Cod League; Part I

I, like a lot of you, am obsessed with prospects. Otherwise you wouldn’t be perusing the pages (screens?) of Prospects1500. Right? Over the years, my obsession has grown. It started back in the late 80s-early 90s catching Pawtucket Red Sox games with my dad. Watching future Sox players like John Valentin, Phil Plantier, Scott Cooper, and of course future MVP Mo Vaughn, break into the majors.  It was more than just watching them become members of my favorite major league squad. You felt invested. This feeling never left me, and like any good addiction, I’ve spent the bulk of my time in the years since chasing the dragon. However, and it’s the reason you’re even reading me today,  I am ashamed to admit I had never, IN MY LIFE, been to a Cape Cod League game. Here I was, a baseball obsessed kid living growing up in Taunton, Massachusetts, literally 30 minutes from Spillane Field in Wareham, home of the Gatemen, and I had never been. That however changed tonight. I’ve now made it my life’s mission to know the Cape Cod Baseball League in and out. To cover it each week of the 2018 season, and give you the highlights, as well as the summaries of my live looks. This is Chasing The Cape Cod League, Part 1.

For those of you unaware of the Cape Cod Baseball League, it’s the premier summer league for collegiate talent, and is typically populated with talent from the top 5 rounds of the next two draft classes. The unique twist with the Cape Cod League is they use wooden bats. So for many players it’s the first opportunity for MLB scouts to get game looks on some the top prospects swinging wood. This is why you’ll often hear Cape League stats mixed into scouting reports pre-draft. Now that you’re familiar with our subject let’s get into it.

 

Week 1 (June 14th – June 19th) Performers and Names of Note: This will summarize players that performed over the last week, as well as some of the top draft names. This week is almost entirely hitters. I want to become a bit more familiar with the layout, and what each pitcher’s arsenal is before diving in.

 

Spencer Torkelson, 1B – Chatham (2020 Draft) The Arizona State star has 3 homers in his first 7 games on the Cape. Voted PAC-12 Freshman of the year with Arizona State, hit .320/.440/.743, with 25 homers in 55 games. I got a live look at Torkelson in last night’s Wareham vs. Chatham matchup. I got a great look at Torkelson at the plate, and I came away impressed. Prototypical power hitters build, great bat speed, stays pretty compact, able to drive the ball to all fields. I was shocked that he was just 19. This is a man in a teenager’s body, easily would standout on a short-season squad right now. Here’s Torkelson knocking a double in his third at bat on the night vs. Wareham.

Spencer Brickhouse, 1B – Bourne (2019 Draft)  Another Spencer, Spencer Brickhouse, one of the top 20 college bats in next year’s class. Brickhouse hit .409 with a homer through 6 games. The 5 Ks to 0 Bbs is a bit concerning, looking forward to getting a look at The Brick (owww) House in the flesh. 80 grade name and already has a walkup song for life.

Austin Shenton, 3B/OF – Wareham (2019 Draft)  Finished the first week locked in a three way tie for the league lead in hits. Shenton slashed .344/.417/.524 for Florida International in 2018 after transferring from Bellevue Community College. He went 3-for-4 in the game I caught last night, with a double, a pair of singles, and a stolen base. He was one of the more professional hitters I saw with an inside-out lefty swing. Plan on catching a bit more of Shenton, I’ll go into him a bit more following my next Gatemen game. Any video I took of Stenton was ruined by some glare early in the game. Sorry…

Alika Williams, SS – Bourne (2020 Draft)  A freshman starter at Arizona State, Williams logged 55 games with the Sundevils hitting .280/.333/.333 with 0 homers, and 5 steals. A 32nd round pick of the Yankees, he was a high school teammate of the Pirates Cal Mitchell at Rancho Bernardo. Considered a glove first shortstop, Williams showed well in the opening week, going 7/19, with 2 runs, 4 RBI, and 3 steals. Solid performance from the underclassman.

Cam Thompson, SS/OF – Harwich (2019 Draft)  A Junior out of Kansas State, Thompson went 7/16 with 2 runs, a pair of doubles, 2 RBI, 4 Bb, 1 SB. He struggled at the plate in 2018 following a solid freshman year with the Wildcats. A basestealing threat that walks as much as he’s strikes out, Thompson is an interesting player to monitor.

Andrew Vaughn, 1B/3B – Wareham (2019 Draft)  An absolute masher that hit three homers in his opening week, Vaughn is fresh off a Sophomore campaign where he hit .402/.531/.819 with 23 homers and 63 RBI, while walking 44 times to just 18 strikeouts. Wow. Listed at 5’11 208, he’s not the Giant you’d expect behind those numbers. Got some good looks at Vaughn, and he was everything I thought he’d be. Short and stocky, definitely not your prototypical build. He hit the ball a hard as anyone, including Torkelson, connecting for a homer, and a single. Quickest hands I’ve seen in weeks, tons of bats speed, and made contact with any ball he wanted to. Elite hand-eye coordination is an understatement. His swing is a bit long, and there’s a lot of moving parts with a leg kick and some what noisey hands, but it all syncs up time and again. Here’s a backside look at Vaughn’s single.

Hayden Cantrelle, SS – Falmouth (2020 Draft)   An on base machine in the first week, the switch-hitting middle infielder out of Louisiana Lafayette reached base in 13 of his 23 plate appearances, due in large part to 9 walks. He stole 4 bases and scored 5 runs on the week. A 40th round pick of the Yankees in 2017, Cantrelle was a solid performer for the Ragin’ Cajuns, hitting .287/.407/.426 with 18 steals on 21 attempts, a pair of homers, and 40 walks to 47 Ks. Had a somewhat legendary prep career in Louisiana, winning consecutive state championships his final two years, including hitting a game winning homer in the state championship his senior year.

Oscar Serratos, SS/3B – Bourne (2020 Draft)   The righthander hitting under classman collected his third multi-hit game through the first six on Monday night, but doesn’t have much to show for it, with zero runs scored. The former 14th round pick of the Cleveland Indians, Serratos had a strong freshman year in the ACC, hitting .311/.393/.437, with 3 homers, and 7 steals. A two way talent in high school, his 3 innings with the Yellow Jackets didn’t go so well.

Will Robertson, OF/1B – Cotuit (2020 Draft)   A big week from the Creighton underclassman, as he went 11/27, with 6 runs, 3 doubles, a homer, and a steal. For some reason he’s listed as Jonathan despite being Will everywhere outside the Cape. Perhaps a less original Rob Mexico-esque alias? I’ll get to the bottom of this. He hit .333/.412/.641 with 12 homers and 59 RBI earning Big East first team, and conference player of the week in mid-May.

Thomas Dillard, OF – Cotuit (2019 Draft)  An 8-for-23 showing in the first week racking up 6 runs, a pair of doubles, 4 BBs and 3 steals. Coming off a big season for Mississippi where he hit .310/.439/.563 with 13 homers, 59 RBI, and 17 steals in 20 attempts. He’s built like a bowling ball, but he’s athletic, a long uppercut swing from both sides of the plate, but looks a little more powerful from the right.

Greg Jones, SS – Chatham (2019 Draft)   A switch-hitting shortstop right from Baseball America and USA Baseball’s backyard, Jones had a noisy week hitting 2 homers, stealing 3 bases, scoring 6 runs, and getting on base 14 times. A former 17th round pick of the Orioles, the UNC Wilmington Sophomore hit .278/.412/.370, with 4 homers and 16 steals. His pre-draft scouting reports mention surprising “wiry strength” and good bat speed. The power outburst this weekend, especially considering they’re hitting with wood, is a very positive sign for an exciting athletic talent. I got some great looks at Jones tonight, and he was another impressive specimen. By far the best athlete on either team, and had a bit of a Buxton-esque quality to him. Similar from the sense that they’re both tall, wiry strong athletic types. He’s a quick twitch athlete and that shines on both sides of the ball. A switch-hitter, I got see him hit from both sides of the plate. He walked in the righthanded at bat I saw, striking out, and hitting a single in the two lefthanded bats. The single is included below. He has a clean balanced stroke with lightning quick hands, and great bat speed. There’s power, speed, polish, and premium position, this is a name to watch over the next year.

Peyton Burdick, OF – Cotuit (2019 Draft)  It was an all or nothing week for the outfielder from Wright State. The Good: he homered three times, adding a double, drove in seven, and stole a couple of bases. The Bad: He struck out 9 times in 27 at bats. This was a somewhat unusual phenomenon based on a quick glance at his 2018 numbers. Now let me say, I also have no intimate working knowledge of the Horizon Conference beyond a glance, so take this with a grain of salt. He hit .347/.437/.569 with 9 homers, 65 RBI, and 15 SB. Struck out just 35 times and walked 31 times in 279 plate appearances, which isn’t concerning at all, it’s actually pretty impressive. All this to say, I’ll be watching to see if this is trend or aberration.

Jaxx Groshans, C – Orleans (2019 Draft)  The catcher from Kansas had a productive week despite getting on just seven times; he drove in five, scored five times, and slugged a pair of homers. Groshans, and second time Caper, had a solid Sophomore campaign with the Jayhawks hitting .313/.355/.464, with 4 homers in 2018. The older brother of 12th overall pick Jordan Groshans of the Toronto Blue Jays Organization.

Bryson Stott, SS – Wareham (2019 Draft)  Likely the top draft prospect coming into the Cape League season, Stott is a UNLV star, and was ranked as the top player staring in the Cape in Fangraphs most recent 2019 draft ranking. His Sophomore season was very solid slashing .365/.442/.556, 4 HR, and 14 SB. I got a good look at Stott, compact lefthanded swing, had a single in the game last night, but was far more impressive with glove, making several diving plays early in the game. Range to both sides. Here’s an at bat that ended in a strikeout.

Nick Quintana, 3B/2B – Yarmouth-Dennis (2019 Draft)  One of the top draft prospects in the 2019 class, his first week has been a struggle as the righthanded hitting Quintana has started 2-for-21, with 10 strikeouts. This from a player that slashed .313/.413/.592 with 32 BBs to 47 Ks, and 13 homers for the University of Arizona.

Zach Thompson, LHP – Brewster Whitecaps (2019 Draft)  Pitched on the Cape last year, considered to be one of the top arms in the 2019 draft class, instead will head to North Carolina to join the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. Could pop back up on the Cape later this summer.

Other Names Still On My List: Graeme Stinson, LHP Orleans, Will Matthiessen, IF/RHP Harwich, Zack Hess, RHP Harwich, Kyle Brnovich, RHP Harwich

 

You can follow me on Twitter @ProspectJesus, or catch a majority of my Fantasy Baseball prospect writing on Razzball.com, including the Razzball Prospect Podcast, as well as The Fantrax Baseball Show with Andy Singleton. My weekly Reddit AMA is from 2-4 PM est every Friday. 

 

Featured image – via http://designista.me/cape-cod-summer-baseball-league/




2 Comments

  1. Great stuff Ralph! Thanks for taking the time to do this. Did you know that the Cape Cod League is coming to Hartford this summer? Yarmouth-Dennis is playing Wareham at Dunkin’ Dounts Park at 12:30pm on Tuesday, July 24th. Sounds like a weekday long lunch break, doesn’t it?

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