LHP Luke Little, San Jacinto CC [TX]
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DoB: 8/3/2000. Commitment: South Carolina.
2020 Stats: 1-0, 2.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 17/3 K/BB in 9 IP.
There are four frontrunners for the top junior college arm in the class, and somehow, three landed right next to each other in my rankings. Though McLennan's Connor Phillips, Northwest Florida's Beck Way, and San Jacinto's Brandon Birdsell are more complete pitchers, Birdsell's teammate Luke Little is easily the most famous. That's because earlier in the spring, he hit 105 MPH in a bullpen session and turned heads around the country. Yeah. That happened. He's had significant control issues in the past – Little walked 36 batters in 35.1 innings as a freshman – but he was off to a strong start in 2020 and walked just three in nine innings.
Luke Little is a 6'8" lefty that can hit 105. That alone makes him unique in the history of baseball, seemingly maxing out three of the more important aspects scouts look for in pitchers velocity, height, and handedness. He maxes out those three categories to the point where it sounds like a joke, but it's real. Little more often sits in the mid to upper 90's in longer stints with that fastball, but he has consistently shown the ability to run it into triple digits and in that famous bullpen session, he was consistently sitting 101-102 throughout. Not only does it have top of the scale velocity, but his long arms and crossfire delivery help him get great angle on his pitches, so when he locates it, it's probably the best fastball in the class, period. Little also throws a slider, which is fairly inconsistent, but he can flash some good ones.
The command has been more of a question. It's pretty evident that Little, who will be just 19 years old on draft day, is still growing into his body. He struggles to keep his very long arms and legs in sync, which has given him 35 grade (non-playable) command in the past. He only threw nine innings in 2020 due to missed time with back issues, but the command looked closer to 45 grade (simply below average) in that stint. If he maintained that 45 grade command over the course of the spring, he could have moved up boards considerably more than he did, and it would have inspired a lot more confidence that he could fill up the zone in pro ball. Still, without significant further refinement of his command and developing a changeup, he more than likely ends up in the bullpen.
Personally, I'm on the optimistic side here – Little is young for a college sophomore and still figuring himself out, and the progress he's already made both in velocity and mechanics is very promising. I doubt he ever ends up a starter, but with a little more mechanical cleanup, the idea of a 6'8" lefty sitting in the triple digits out of the bullpen is a scary thought. If he were on the older side for his class, say an August '99 birthday rather than an August '00 birthday, I might be a bit less optimistic about his future, but I think the youth is key here and that he's only scratching the surface of his potential. I think he would be best off fulfilling his commitment to South Carolina and putting in a full year in the SEC to grow, but that's his decision to make. A team buying into the elite fastball could pop him as early as the late second round, but he more likely ends up in the three to five range.
Hitting 105 in a bullpen
Pitching in the fall
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