Another round and another college right-handed starting
pitcher for the New York Yankees. I have to admit that it is an interesting
strategy the Yankees have been working with the last two MLB Drafts. Stockpile
the system with experienced right-handed arms that can be groomed quickly either
to help out at the Major League level or to use as trade bait in potential
trades. The latest arm to join the organization was that of Connor Van Hoose
who the organization selected with their 8th round pick, 247th
overall. Let’s meet him. This is Meet a Prospect: The Connor Van Hoose Edition.
Van Hoose stands 6’1” and weighs in at 175 lbs. which
projects him to be more like Luis Severino, size wise anyway, than the power
forwards and linebackers the team had selected in the previous rounds before
him. Van Hoose came from Bucknell University where he took home Patriot League
Pitcher of the Year honors here in 2018. Van Hoose posted an 8-4 record with a
2.36 ERA during the regular season only to turn it on for conference play
posting a dominating 6-1 record with a miniscule 0.57 ERA.
Van Hoose has a fastball that touches 88-89 MPH and a
curveball that sits around 75 MPH or so. The right-hander also uses a low
80-MPH changeup to keep batters off balance and from sitting on his fastball.
Here is what the Bucknell University athletics page had to say about Van Hoose
since Baseball America did not have him ranked prior to the draft:
“TURNED IN ONE OF THE FINEST SEASONS IN BUCKNELL BASEBALL
HISTORY … PATRIOT LEAGUE PITCHER OF THE YEAR AND FIRST TEAM ALL-PATRIOT
LEAGUE SELECTON … BECAME THE FIRST BUCKNELL STARTING PITCHER IN THE PATRIOT
LEAGUE ERA TO BE A TWO-TIME FIRST TEAM HONOREE … TWO-TIME PATRIOT LEAGUE
PITCHER OF THE WEEK … ON APR. 21 VS. LEHIGH PITCHED THE FIFTH NO-HITTER IN
BUCKNELL HISTORY … NAMED NCBWA NATIONAL PITCHER OF THE WEEK FOLLOWING THAT
PERFORMANCE … MADE 12 STARTS AND WENT 8-4 WITH A 2.36 ERA … IN PATRIOT LEAGUE
PLAY WENT 6-1 WITH A MINISCULE 0.57 ERA, WHILE HOLDING OPPOSING HITTERS TO A
.151 AVERAGE … IN HIS SEVEN STARTS IN PL PLAY, ALLOWED ONLY 24 HITS, AND 22
WERE SINGLES … FOR THE FULL SEASON, STRUCK OUT 108 BATTERS, THIRD-MOST IN
SCHOOL HISTORY AND THE MOST SINCE DON RICHARDS IN THE MID-1950S … OPPONENTS HIT
ONLY .201 AGAINST HIM WITH ONLY 12 EXTRA-BASE HITS … LED THE NATION WITH SIX
COMPLETE GAMES.”
Connor has already signed with the organization, so welcome
to the family and congratulations! Unfortunately, Van Hoose does not have a
known Twitter account at this time… or maybe he is smarter than us all (aside
from Anthony Seigler who also does not have one).
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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)