Brad Holt
The New York Post has checked in on former UNC-Wilmington ace Brad Holt who was picked with the 33rd overall pick by the New York Mets in the 2008 draft. I did not have the opportunity to see Holt pitch against Northeastern but from the reports that I received from the game was that Holt had a high 90’s fastball and did not show too much of a curveball. The New York Post recently talked to a Mets scout which said the following:
“In the regional, he must have thrown 110 pitches in the game, and out of 110, he threw about 108 fastballs,” the scout said. “The guy had no breaking ball. I never saw anything like it.
“I even made mention of that in my report.”
When asked about that, UNC-Wilmington head coach Mark Scalf had a simple answer: with Holt’s mid-90s fastball and his control, there was little reason to throw anything else.
“The issue most of his starts is he didn’t need to throw it because he only needed his fastball,” Scalf said. “Like the example the scout gave you, he threw 95 percent fastballs all year long.”
But after the same scout saw Holt twice with the NY-Penn League’s Brooklyn Cyclones several weeks later, he couldn’t believe the difference in the Mets New York Mets ‘ supplemental first-round draft choice in June’s First-Year Player Draft.
“The guy showed me a plus breaking ball, plus velocity on his fastball [and a] plus curve,” the scout said. “He threw strikes and while the second time the curve wasn’t quite as good, he had the makings of a very good curve.
“You’re talking two plus pitches – an above average fastball and an above average curve.”
The 21-year-old easily has been the Cyclones’ MVP this season. In 13 starts, the 6-foot-4 Holt has gone 4-3 with a 1.76 ERA. In 662/3 innings, he has struck out 84 and walked 31, and his opponents batting average is .175.
The full article from the New York Post is available here.
