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Preseason All-State Showcase Analysis: Left-Handed Pitchers (Class of 2016)

February 23, 2015

By Jacob Gill
Philadelphia Region Director of Scouting

Prior to embarking on their junior season, five left-handed pitchers descended on Keystone State Baseball Academy in Manheim to showcase their skills at the Preseason All-State Showcase. They are listed below in reverse alphabetical order. Why? I always felt bad for the guy in my elementary school with the last name Zyvert.

Aidan ZimmermanAidan Zimmerman, 5-10 175, Manheim Township
Zimmerman pitches out of an over-the-top slot from a simple, compact delivery that begins with a short, forward rocker step. He employs a high leg kick and strides slightly closed, but maintains good direction toward the catcher. Zimmerman showed a feel for throwing strikes with four pitches. His fastball clocked in at 77-80, with his best bolts actually coming out of the stretch. He has a very good feel for his change-up (67-69) that is fairly straight with some sink. He also throws a slow 11/5 CB (63-66) with good shape and a slider that has similar action to the curveball, just with a little more velo (66-68) and a little shorter break.

Drew MillerDrew Miller, 6-1 165, East Pennsboro
Miller pitches out of a three-quarter slot from a simple, no-rocker-step delivery with good direction toward home plate. His fastball registered at 81-84 with occasional cut action and he did not appear to be maxing out from an effort standpoint. His 66-68 curveball had solid 11/5 action and his straight 69-72 change-up had occasional sink. Miller's tall, lean frame has plenty of room to add strength and projection left in it.

Zack ConleyZach Conley, 5-9 160, Pennsbury
Conley works entirely from the stretch, employing a hip coil over the rubber and exploding toward home plate. He pitches out a three-quarter slot and has good armspeed. His fastball clocked in at 81-83 with occasional cut action. He demonstrated good feel for his 70-73 change-up with some sink, while his 65-68 curveball varied in shape from 1/7 to 2/8. If Conley works anywhere near as fast in game action as he did in his bullpen, his defenders will love playing behind.

Jordan AshbaughJordan Ashbaugh, 5-9 150, Central York
Ashbaugh starts a segmented delivery with a backward rocker step into a chest-high leg kick. He works around his front side a bit and a shoulder tilt has him working uphill with some recoil at the end of his delivery. From a low-3/4 slot, he featured a fastball at 65-68 with a little tail to it, a fading change-up at 62-64, and a slow curveball at 54-57 that tended to stay armside.

Brady AbelBrady Abel, 5-9 130, Central York
Abel begins his delivery with a short, sideways rocker step into a chest-high leg kick and gets good extension out front from his three-quarter slot. He threw lots of strikes and showed an especially good feel for his 11/5 breaking ball at 61-63. His fastball registered at 70-71 and his change-up, thrown with the same delivery and the same armspeed, at 60-61 has a chance to be effective.

Additional Preseason all-state NEWS: