[球探報告] Eric Smith
Round Overall Player Position
2 60 Eric Smith RHP
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BA:
Smith has made great strides in three years since arriving at Rhode Island as
a raw, immature freshman with mechanical issues and an 85-87 mph fastball. He
worked mostly in relief in 2007, then showed a glimmer of his potential that
summer in the Atlantic Collegiate League, where he ranked as the No. 7
prospect. He broke out this spring, opening eyes with eight shutout innings
in a win against Miami in early March, followed by a strong performance
against Cal State Fullerton when he allowed three runs over 6 2/3 innings.
Smith now pitches with an 89-93 mph fastball with power sink that he commands
at the knees. He adds and subtracts with his slider, sometimes throwing it in
the 84-86 mph range, and the pitch can be average or even plus at times,
though it remains a bit inconsistent. He also flashes a solid-average
changeup and is improving his feel for the pitch. He drops in a curveball
occasionally as a show pitch, particularly for a back-door strike against
lefties. Smith is a fierce competitor with a physical 6-foot-3, 213-pound
build, and he has the best feel for pitching in the Northeast. He's a safe
bet to go in the top three rounds, with a chance to go in the top two.
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SCOUTING PROFILE (3/1): His teammate, junior righthander Tim Boyce, may have
been the more effective Rhode Island pitcher in the New England Collegiate
League last summer as he topped the 12-team league in wins and strikeouts (65
in 57 innings), while posting a 7-1, 0.95 record. But scouts took a greater
shine to Smith, an athletic, 6-foot-3, 215-pound righthander with a higher
ceiling than Boyce. But Smith often baffled scouts as he was very
inconsistent in compiling a 3-2, 4.02 record with 16 walks and only 35
strikeouts in 40 innings. While Boyce routinely had command of four pitches,
including an 88-92 mph fastball, Smith's performance was up and down
throughout the summer. At his best, his fastball was in the 91-92 mph range,
and had significant running and sinking action. His changeup was also an
effective off-speed pitch. But when he struggled, his stuff would flatten out
and he was an easy target for opposing hitters. Smith was even prone to
losing his composure in the process. But scouts believe that Smith has only
scratched the surface of his ability, and he could take a quantum leap
forward this spring and even emerge as the ace of a surprisingly strong Rhode
Island pitching staff in the process after going just 1-5, 4.98 with 63
strikeouts in 72 innings as a sophomore.-ALLAN SIMPSON
UPDATE (5/15): Scouts were right in their hunch that bigger and better things
were in store for Smith. He elevated his game to another level this spring,
particularly in mid-season when he hooked up against national college powers
Cal State Fullerton and Miami. He was particularly brilliant against the
Hurricanes, when he tossed eight scoreless innings, only to lose the game in
the ninth when it was apparent to the many scouts in attendance in Miami that
he was victimized by a sudden-shrinking strike zone. Despite that setback,
Hurricanes coach Jim Morris said it was one of the finest pitching
performances by an opponent in his 16 years at Miami. Smith often overmatched
Miami hitters with his combination of an 89-93 mph fastball, an 83-84 mph
slider and an 80-82 mph changeup. He commanded all three pitches, and
routinely got ahead in the count. Though it wasn't overpowering, he got good
late sinking action on his fastball, his best pitch, and held his velocity
throughout. Smith didn't pitch that consistently well most of the season, and
was even sub-par in his final 3-4 outings, so his final line of 5-3, 4.08
with 29 walks and 56 strikeouts in 71 innings wasn't overly impressive. But
there were a lot of influential scouts on hand to see his epic outing against
Miami to almost assure his spot in the first 3-4 rounds.-AS
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