A familiar face to the Prospect Report continues to post zeroes. Cam Lejeune (West Virginia) has now pitched 19 2/3 innings and has not allowed an earned run. In 11 appearances the 6-foot-4, 230-pound right-hander has struck out 23, walked just six and allowed 11 hits for a .159 batting average against. He’s a strike-thrower with a 70.6% strike rate overall on his five pitches that include a fastball, slider, curve, changeup and cutter. His mix is led by a mid-2300 rpm fastball that has been up to 96 mph and averages 91.5 mph for the season. It has registered strikes 72.9% of the time and it has an impressive in-zone whiff rate of 21.4% (Z-whiff). His next best offering is a slider with an 80.5% strike% – MLB average is 60.6%. Lejeune’s slider has averaged 84.3 mph and spins into late, sharp depth at times. If that dominant two-pitch arsenal wasn’t enough, he’s also had success with an 86-88 mph cutter that spins near 2500 rpm and has a current movement profile of 4.2” VB / -2.8” HB.
Mahoning Valley’s Cole Cheatham doesn’t have the same perfect ERA, but the recently turned 22-year-old left-hander from UAB has struck out 19 in 14 2/3 innings. His strikeout rate of 27.7% is a rarity for a sinker-led arsenal. An outlier production for a strikeout sinker that has averaged over 92 mph this season. Cheatham has also pounded the zone with a firm changeup that boasts a 62.5% strike percentage and 34.3% Z-whiff, as well as a quality, 80 mph sweeping slider at 2500+ rpm and a 15.5” HB that has produced a 25% Z-whiff. His left-handed stuff is just too good to be passed over by MLB affiliated clubs much longer.
Another Draft League talent is Frederick’s Davis Smith. At 6-foot-6, 210 pounds, he powers a 94-96 mph fastball down the hill. It, along with an upper-80s cutter and mid-80s slider have produced 22 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings. His sinker with a movement pattern of 16.6” HB and -5.2” VB has a Z-whiff of 20.6%. His cutter that has averaged 87.3 mph is the nastiest of his arsenal with an eye-catching Z-whiff of 41.2%. And with an overall strike rate of 60.1% there’s room for improvement making Smith even more interesting as a future MLB affiliated arm.
Trenton’s Miles Garrett has plenty of good stuff in his arsenal. With a lively fastball that tickles 95 mph, an 83-mph slider and 80-mph curve, he’s made two consecutive scoreless appearances in the past week. The 5-foot-10 right-hander’s low release height of 5-foot-3 makes him an ideal candidate to continue the development of his heater to the upper part of the strike zone, while enhancing the up/down (vert) movement of his curve to the lower third.
West Virginia’s Austin Eaton has a 93-96 mph fastball that sets the table for his two-pitch mix with a mid-80s slider that has limited opponents to a .220 batting average against and 2.45 ERA. His slider has produced a 55.1% whiff rate and he’s struck out 14 in 11 innings, but he will need to improve upon eight walks and just a 55.7% strike rate overall.
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David Seifert is the current Scouting Director for D1Baseball and the Director of College Scouting for Prep Baseball. Seifert is a former college coach and crosschecker and scout for the Philadelphia Phillies.
