AusTexDawg
08-21-2017, 12:53 PM
I know Pilkington's stats for the summer were summed up in a recent baseball thread, but here is a blurb about Pilk from Aaron Fitt's piece on the top 10 prospects from this summer's Team USA (https://d1baseball.com/usa-baseball/team-usa-top-10-prospects-2/). Pilkington is listed as # 4:
"Pilkington has performed well over his first two seasons in Starkville, posting a career 2.80 ERA and a 153-62 K-BB mark in 151.1 innings, and he emerged as a quality Friday night starter as a sophomore. He emerged as a legitimate first-round candidate last summer in the Cape League, but he was worn down this summer for Team USA, though his stats were solid (2.65 ERA, 12-5 K-BB in 17 IP). At his best in the spring, Pilkington ran his fastball up to 95-96 early in games and pitched comfortably at 91-93, though his stuff tended to drop off in the middle innings. He did touch 94 for Team USA, but he pitched mostly at 88-91. He located his fastball very well to the glove side against Cuba?s all-righty lineup, retiring the first eight batters of the game on just 27 pitches (22 strikes), but then his commanded started to falter. His stuff dropped off more at the end of the summer as fatigue took its toll. But Pilkington has a physical 6-foot-3, 225-pound build and obvious arm strength, and he impressed scouts and the Team USA coaching staff with his willingness to learn, work ethic and ability to stay in attack mode on the mound. His best secondary pitch is his 79-82 changeup, which projects as a slightly above-average pitch with a chance to be plus. His 74-77 mph breaking ball can flash solid-average with good depth, but its bite is inconsistent and it needs refinement. Pilkington has the makings of a quality three-pitch arsenal, and his arm strength and makeup give him exciting upside."
Here's the top 10 from the article for comparison:
Casey Mize, Auburn
Nick Madrigal, Oregon
Tim Cate, UConn
KP
Steven Gingery, TX Tech
Travis Swaggerty, South AL
Jeremy Eierman, MO State
Luca Dalatri, UNC
Sean Wymer, TCU
Braden Shewmake, TAMU
"Pilkington has performed well over his first two seasons in Starkville, posting a career 2.80 ERA and a 153-62 K-BB mark in 151.1 innings, and he emerged as a quality Friday night starter as a sophomore. He emerged as a legitimate first-round candidate last summer in the Cape League, but he was worn down this summer for Team USA, though his stats were solid (2.65 ERA, 12-5 K-BB in 17 IP). At his best in the spring, Pilkington ran his fastball up to 95-96 early in games and pitched comfortably at 91-93, though his stuff tended to drop off in the middle innings. He did touch 94 for Team USA, but he pitched mostly at 88-91. He located his fastball very well to the glove side against Cuba?s all-righty lineup, retiring the first eight batters of the game on just 27 pitches (22 strikes), but then his commanded started to falter. His stuff dropped off more at the end of the summer as fatigue took its toll. But Pilkington has a physical 6-foot-3, 225-pound build and obvious arm strength, and he impressed scouts and the Team USA coaching staff with his willingness to learn, work ethic and ability to stay in attack mode on the mound. His best secondary pitch is his 79-82 changeup, which projects as a slightly above-average pitch with a chance to be plus. His 74-77 mph breaking ball can flash solid-average with good depth, but its bite is inconsistent and it needs refinement. Pilkington has the makings of a quality three-pitch arsenal, and his arm strength and makeup give him exciting upside."
Here's the top 10 from the article for comparison:
Casey Mize, Auburn
Nick Madrigal, Oregon
Tim Cate, UConn
KP
Steven Gingery, TX Tech
Travis Swaggerty, South AL
Jeremy Eierman, MO State
Luca Dalatri, UNC
Sean Wymer, TCU
Braden Shewmake, TAMU