Eric
Silva

UCLA commit. Got eyes on Silva in the 16U Championship Game which he started on the mound where many see him in the future thanks in part to his fast, lively, and loose arm. Silva worked his fastball up to 90 mph on the hot day and showed the ability to spot it early. Working from a quicker delivery, Silva attacked hitters down and in showing hints of run on his fastball from a 3/4 slot. It was his slider at 76-80 mph that was working this outing showing late diving action to the back foot of lefties and sharp fading action to righties. Silva used the pitch in any count showing supreme confidence in it. He also hit third in the lineup and while he didn’t register a hit in this viewing, he shows fast hands and an aggressive approach.

Silva was a locally known name prior to becoming a known name nationally after pledging a commitment to UCLA last week. The sophomore showed why there's such a buzz surrounding him. On the mound he shows a loose, clean, easy arm with little effort in his delivery. Gets good drive down the mound and lower half works in sync with the upper half. His fastball shows run back to the arm side as it nears the plate with life. He has the type of commands that allows him to spot it in all quadrants of the strike zone. His curveball is a present above average pitch with plus potential. He showed a true two-plane 12-6 shaped curveball that he dropped in the zone for strikes. It's tight and sharp with late action. It's nasty. His changeup flashes above average at times too with it's late deceptive sinking action back to the arm side. He kept the pitch down each time he threw it and induced swing-and-miss results each time as well. At shortstop Silva shows to be a highly athletic player who is highly instinctive and sure of himself. Made a play to his right - showing off his range and arm strength - that was eye opening. Will be interesting which direction his development takes him, whether it's to the mound or on the dirt Silva is highly projectable at both positions.