Hey Guys-
There are two kids I've noticed while Umpiring games in an Independent League last year that left me wondering why these kids weren't in some minor league system already. I also ran into them at several baseball facilities over the winter working together to help each other improve.
One of them is a Pitcher at University Of Massachusetts-Boston. His name is Dan Rivkin. Last season I would estimate he was touching 90 with his fastball and 87 with his Slider, 82 with his curve. I was behind the plate in 2 games he started and he struck out 17 or so batters. He's a big 6-3 Right handed power arm which can be efficient out of the pen or starting I believe he is from Enfield, CT.
The other kid I actually got to talk to a lot since he is a catcher. So I know a little more info on him.
Lorenzo Conte- He resides in Somers, CT. I believe he is a 22 but I am not sure on his age. I know he was a graduate from Cheney Tech in Manchester, CT. This kid is by far the best catcher I have ever seen in any leagues.(That includes Legion, Twilight, HS, and any College Game I umpired in.) I Umpired about 40 percent of his Independent League games last year(25 game schedule). Out of those games he threw out roughly 87 percent trying steal on him. I looked up the league stats last year when looking at the schedule and his batting avg was .427 with 32RBIs. He also had a extremely high OBS. He has + speed and I have seen him play CF and LF as well. He easily can man either of the three positions with ease) Thing is this kid hasn't played college ball of any kind. He does lack size, being somewhere between 5-5 and 5-7 I'm not really sure.
I've seen these two practicing indoors at Extra Innings in Agawam, Mass. the past few Saturdays. So even though only one of them actually plays college ball. These two could easily main a spot for Minor League teams. (In Lorenzo's case someone needs to convince him to play some college ball because in all honesty he is the best catcher I've seen in the past 14 years I've umpired).
JR