Scout Blog: Cambridge vs #14 Denmark

Thu February 9, 2023
Justin Goetz
Assistant Scouting Director

It’s the cross town rivalry that never was, but definitely should be! While Cambridge and Denmark are only miles from each other, they’ve never matched up before. But if Wednesday's game was any sign, this should be a yearly rivalry without question. Two passionate fan bases, beautiful campuses, and good academics, with plenty of talent coming up year after year. This was a pitchers duel for the ages between draft prospect ‘23 RHP Francesco Cappoci, and uncommitted ‘23 RHP Garrett Moody.

2023, RHP, Francesco Capocci, Denmark
North Carolina Commit. 6-foot-4, 210 pounds. This prototype RHS frame made vast improvements in the delivery over the winter with his pitching coach, former NY Mets RHP Johnny Magliozzi. While I haven’t talked to Mags about this, there is noticeably more backside connection in the delivery. The upper half is much more patient over the rubber, as his upper half used to follow the stride and force his arm to rush through the path. He’s now able to deploy the same aggressive tempo rolling his hips to the plate, while the stride stays separate from the upper half+backside. These adjustments compacted the delivery and gave him more body control+better sequence. The improvements were glaring in his first spring outing, as he really commanded the game with 4 pitches for strikes. We saw the FB at its highest spin to date (2750 RPM), coupled with encouraging bore on the pitch. Capocci has potentially opened up a more dynamic FB. The CB was MLB avg all night, and he landed it almost every single time with quite sharp, downer action. The spin was just as good here too, up to 2880. His SL was what really opened my eyes, going from a SLV at 77 in 2022 to a SL at 81 with huge potential and provides a different movement profile than his main 2 pitches. ‘Cesco” also flashed a nice CH to LHH, and the life was there in warm ups.
2023, CF, Kyle Henley, Denmark
Georgia Tech Commit. 6-foot-3, 180 pounds. Now there is some rawness to his game, but WOW is this a fun player to watch. Not only has the baseball version of Usain Bolt gotten stronger over the winter, but the swing has noticeably better rhythm & timing. While the bigger c load does promote some sweep to his path, it was very impressive to see Kyle’s approach developing quickly before our eyes. His first AB was a textbook inside out swing and he did a perfect job squaring the hips & shoulders to right center late in stride, allowing him to keep the bat path true and drove the ball to the wall. This is a move you typically see in top round college guys and pros only, so the impression there was lasting. AB 2 was a combo of a very good, focused bunt and his top of the scale run tool, which surely can’t be taught. Clocking in a 6.59 on a non drag is elite speed at the game’s highest level. But offensively, he was timed up on every pitch vs a very solid upper 80’s arm. We got to see him glide to a couple fly balls with ease, just a tease of his big time range. The next step for me is to see him show the aptitude to manipulate and flatten the path up in the zone vs big velo.
2026, C/OF, Geno Goralski, Denmark
Uncommitted. 5-foot-10, 165 pounds. As far as in-game mental makeup goes, Goralski is already elite to me. It was absolutely shocking how a player this young could face 2 college quality arms and look like he had been doing it for 10 years. Goralski shows on the money hip timing and pace with any pitcher’s delivery, which is really half the battle as a hitter. His 3 BB in 4 AB weren’t just him taking pitches, every take was aggressive with a YES, YES, NO mentality. His coaches even told me he has no fear facing Capocci in scrimmages, which to many freshman hitters would be a nightmare. Goralski relishes all challenges, and built up a solid track record for himself this summer/fall at LakePoint. The confidence and intensity he showed from inning 1 to 7 are traits you don’t see often in a player this young. We look forward to tracking his progress the rest of the season.
2023, RHP, Garrett Moody, Cambridge
Uncommitted. 6-foot-3, 205 pounds. This is a projectable arm with a high octane, drop & drive delivery. Moody absolutely dominated Denmark hitters to the tune of two hits, and only gave up one barrel the entire outing. It’s a quick arm action from an OH slot and he created steep plane on his 86-88 T89 FB when down in the zone. It also played up in the zone well off his low-mid 70’s 11-5 CB. The pitch had considerable depth all night and got a multitude of swing & miss. He creates serious torque in hip/shoulder separation due to his lengthy, aggressive stride and holds strong on the front side post landing. As the frame continues to fill out, this is a sure bet to be an arm sitting in the low 90’s and would not be surprised at all for him to climb past that in the future. Moody also impressed with a heavy CH in the upper 70’s that threw hitters off balance.

2024, RHP Josh Stewart, Cambridge
Uncommitted. 5-foot-11, 205 pounds. Without Stewart’s clutch 7th inning performance, Cambridge doesn’t pull out this win. It was a masterful performance with his riding mid 80’s FB and he peppered the edges with it, freezing multiple hitters as well as getting swing & miss. He was able to escape a 1 out jam with a man on 2nd and 3rd by executing pitch after pitch. Stewart mixed in a mid 70’s SL that swept across the zone and kept hitters off balance. To know you have a consistent strike thrower who doesn’t feel pressure in big situations bodes extremely well for this Bears roster.
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