| Player: Matthew Shorey | |||||||||||
| School: Vanderbilt | Position(s): LHP | ||||||||||
| Height: 6’2” | Weight: 176 | Bats: Left | Throws: Left | ||||||||
| Summary: In an environment where left-handed pitching is one of the most valuable commodities in baseball, Vanderbilt has themselves a good one in Matthew Shorey. Shorey had a so-so freshman campaign in Nashville, operating exclusively out of the Vanderbilt bullpen, but a stellar summer (2.37 ERA) with the Bourne Braves on Cape Cod has him poised to make an impact in whatever role Tim Corbin chooses to deploy him in for the Commodores this spring. Delivery wise, Shorey certainly makes the most of his frame and wingspan with a lower arm slot and release point. He is deliberate from the windup, turning his back almost entirely to the hitter before swinging his leg forward to initiate delivery. He delivers across his body, with the ball appearing to come from the first base side of the diamond, moving towards right-handed batters. He will work from both the windup and stretch comfortably, though he is certainly slow to the plate from the stretch. Despite its quirks, Shorey repeats the delivery very well, and is consistent across all of his pitches. In his repertoire, Shorey has 3 solid pitches at his disposal. His fastball sits in the high 80’s to low 90’s with good arm-side run, and when combined with his unique arm slot, is a tough offering for hitters on both sides of the plate. He combines the fastball with a changeup that is still developing, but has shown flashes of brilliance. It moves down and to the arm side as it approaches the plate, and tunnels very well with his fastball. However, his best pitch is his slider, sitting in the mid to high 70’s with devastating movement, no doubt helped by his lower slot arm angle. He locates the pitch very well, and looks identical to the other pitches out of the hand. For Shorey, like so many other pitchers that dominated on the Cape, the question is whether or not they can recreate their performances on campus. If Shorey can do so, he could be a huge part of a Vanderbilt team looking to atone for their Regionals exit from the CWS last summer. | |||||||||||
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