Nick Northcut’s Rhythm On Display

Nick Northcut (Photo courtesy Wilson Premier)

Baseball is all about rhythm. Pitchers have to understand how their bodies work, how their lower halves sync up with their torsos and arms. Hitters have to recognize patterns on a spinning baseball and time their swings to drive the ball. Defenders have to position their feet to surround a ground ball, and they need the internal clock to understand how much time they have to make each play.

Evoshield Canes third baseman Nick Northcut understands these principles well. He’s the son of two professional musicians and his father, Tim Northcut, is a professor of music at Cincinnati.

“Music and baseball to me are kind of the same thing to me,” Northcut said. “Everything is about rhythm when you think about pitching and hitting.”

Northcut’s upbringing allowed him to develop his timing and feel for hitting. While he can play the piano and the guitar, Northcut’s rhythm is most on display in the batter’s box. He’s a natural hitter, gifted with quick hands and natural timing. He showed an intriguing blend of pure hitting ability and raw power at the Perfect Game National Showcase, then went 7-for-20 at last week’s Wilson Premier East Classic.

2018 OH 3B Nick Northcut with an RBI single for the @EvoshieldCanes. #WP pic.twitter.com/fxYR29BO20

— Hudson Belinsky (@hudsonbelinsky) June 24, 2017

Northcut credits his father for much of his development to this point.

“I was fortunate enough to have a dad who’s a college professor at the University of Cincinnati and he’s a fantastic teacher and he could teach anything,” Northcut said.

Northcut is also an advanced defender at third base. He has quick reactions and soft hands. The Vanderbilt recruit, who’s also a pitcher, has above-average arm strength at third base as well.

Growing up in Ohio, Northcut, who attends Mason (Ohio) High, doesn’t get as many opportunities to field ground balls in the infield, but he’s been able to develop his defense indoors.

“Growing up, my dad would get one of the pitching machines and take the wheels off it and put it on the ground and shoot ground balls,” Northcut said of his winter routine. “So we’ll be inside on the turf, take the legs off and crank it all the way up and start shooting ground balls and working.”

Northcut will play for the Evoshield Canes this summer and is expected to be invited to many of the top showcases for professional evaluation, including the East Coast Pro Showcase and/or the Area Code Games.

Wherever he ends up, Northcut’s rhythm and instincts will play.