LHP Ian Seymour, Virginia Tech
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DoB: 12/13/1998.
2020 Stats: 3-0, 2.21 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 40/5 K/BB in 20.1 IP
Of course, I spent four years at Virginia Tech from 2016-2019, and in that time the highest drafted players we had were Packy Naughton (9th round, Reds, 2017), Andrew McDonald (9th round, Reds, 2018), Aaron McGarrity (15th round, Yankees, 2017), and Kerry Carpenter (19th round, Tigers, 2019). I enjoyed watching Naughton during my freshman and sophomore years, though he put up ERA's north of 6.00 in both seasons and has been much, much better in pro ball. In 2020, though I wasn't there to see it, the Hokies finally have a top three rounds draft prospect, as Worcester, MA native Ian Seymour broke out with a big Cape performance and a louder, if shorter, junior season. He put up decent number as a sophomore (3.97 ERA, 81/24 K/BB), though I didn't make it to as many games that year as I would have liked, then he came out and dominated on the Cape (2.48 ERA, 39/6 K/BB in 25.1 IP). Coming out in 2020, he was even better, putting up a 2.21 ERA and a 40/5 strikeout to walk ratio across just 20.1 innings, finishing off his VT career on a loud note with 14 strikeouts against Georgia Tech. I was planning on heading to Blacksburg to watch his next start against Miami, but that one never happened.
Seymour is one of those guys where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. He added a tick of velocity this spring and sat consistently in the low 90's, and also throws a slider and a changeup. The slider stands out more for its velocity than its movement, but it tunnels well with his fastball and has some nice two-plane bite. The changeup is easily his best pitch, coming in with great arm-side fade and missing a ton of bats both on the Cape and in NCAA play. Everything he throws plays up because of his funky left handed delivery, which helps him, hide the ball, disrupt timing, and get good angle on his pitches. Throw in above average command, and he's suddenly a very tough pitcher to square up.
In the past, there have been significant reliever questions with Seymour, as he's shorter for a pitcher at six feet tall, has that funky delivery, and didn't throw all that hard. The Cape performance and especially his spring performance have helped shed that "funky lefty" label and made him into a legitimate starting pitching prospect. He'll still face some reliever questions until he sharpens up that slider, but they don't dominate the discussion anymore. There are a lot of similarities to Wake Forest lefty Jared Shuster here, including that they're both ACC lefties from Massachusetts, though Shuster throws a bit harder.
Seymour has quietly worked his way from fourth/fifth round discussions up into the second/third round. He has the upside of a #3/#4 starting pitcher who could fall back as a funky, fastball/changeup lefty reliever, and he's trending more quickly towards the former than the latter. His three pitch mix, combined with a delivery that makes it tough to pick the ball up and the ability to spot his pitches generally where he wants them, not to mention his handedness, makes him a very intriguing arm that a lot of teams could try to jump at. I'm still disappointed I didn't go see him as often as I could have during my senior/his sophomore year.
Cape Cod action
More Cape action
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