His Reward May Be a Chance to Pitch in the Majors
By. Rodger M. Wood
On each pitch, the scout next to me in the press box spoke into his computer, "96, 88, 93, 97............." .and kept track of the speed the 18 - year Frederick Keys southpaw, Ronan Kopp was throwing his four - pitch arsenal at to opposing Mahoning Valley Scrapper hitters.. In 3.2 innings the youngster pitched that Sunday afternoon, he struck out 9 batters, walked 3, and allowed only one hit and two earned runs.
Ronan Kopp Fires a Fastball to the Batter
PDR Plus reported in its May 18th "Draft League Spotlight" the LHP, throws a 93-97 mph fastball, a sweeping slider, curve, and a cutter. Although his fast ball is his out pitch, he showed that afternoon at Frederick he was not afraid to break off a curve or slider to strike a batter out.
The 6-7, 240, the youngster has a Randy Johnson look - a - like physical presence on the mound, which will only get more intimidating as he gets older and bulks up even more. When he is throwing to them from the mound, batters see all arms and legs coming at them in the batter's box. The pitch comes at them from an exaggerated downhill direction.
The Youngster has a Physical Presence on the Mound
After the COVID pandemic brought his high school career to an abrupt end, the left hander attended South Mountain Community College, where in 10 appearances the 2021 school season, Kopp started 6 games and completed the season with a 0-1 W-L, and a save in 25.1 innings pitched. School teams scored 8 earned runs off him while he struck out 38 batters and had a very respectable 2.84 ERA.
In the new Major League Draft League, Ronan is holding his own against mostly older, more experienced college hitters, who are vying for major league scouts attention and hoping to be drafted in the July MLB draft . In 12. 5 IP he's struck out 32 batters or double the number of sixteen batters he has walked and averaged 2.5 K an inning pitched.
The Young Southpaw is Learning the Science of Baseball at Frederick
He likes pitching in the new MLB Draft League. "I love the team, all of the guys are really great, we're really meshing together well so far. I was surprised to see everybody become so close so quick because normally you get to a place and the first week is kind of weird but we all meshed together well pretty quickly. All of the guys on the team have been pretty good and it's been a fun time."
While dwarfed by his K count, his walk count of 16 is an atrocious average of 1.9 batters walked an inning, but find him a savvy pitching coach who can steady down his youthful tendency to overthrow and vary his delivery and you may have a refined Bob Feller or Nolan Ryan throwing from your team's pitchers' mound.
Ronan Uncorks Another 97 MPH Fastball
Keys pitching coach Glenn Dishman is getting the youngster started on the right foot. Under the tutelage of the former Padres, Phillies, and Tigers LHP, Ronan is learning to respect the value of sabermetrics in improving his pitching, After games he pitches in, Ronan said, "I like to focus on my spin rate, and what speed I'm throwing my off speed pitches at. It's definitely something that because I think it is the future of pitching with the analytics and saber metrics, I am doing my best to learn it at a young age."
Ronan has won his share of accolades in his eighteen years, 2019 PBR Arizona Player of the Year, Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year, a verbal scholarship offer to Arizona State, and a chance to pitch in the new MLB Draft League. In July, he may be rewarded for his effort with a another. He could be drafted high by a MLB team and get a good chance to pitch someday for a major league team.
