Eric Cerantola

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #198 prospect in 2021 draft
  Cerantola was a super-projectable arm out of high school in Canada and was actually a more advanced hockey player at the time—he was selected in the eighth round of the Ontario Hockey League draft in 2016. Scouts figured that he would grow into his 6-foot-5, 200-pound frame, improve on a fastball that touched 93 mph and further refine a big-time breaking ball that was already getting plus grades. Well, those scouts were right—in part. Cerantola has added strength to his frame and is now listed at 6-foot-5, 222 pounds, and his pure stuff is some of the best in the class. Area scouts this spring thought he had the best pure arm talent of anyone outside of Louisiana State righthander Jaden Hill and prep lefthander Maddux Bruns. Cerantola’s fastball now sits around 95 mph and he has touched 99-100. His curveball has an argument as the best curve in the draft class, a low-80s power hammer with extremely hard and sharp downward biting action. The pitch gets plenty of 70-grade reports and he’s also gotten plus grades on a low-80s changeup, though he has little feel to consistently land the pitch. In terms of pure stuff, Cerantola stacks up with anyone, but his control is well below-average, to the point that Mississippi State quickly moved him from the starting rotation to the bullpen and only had him throw 17.1 innings. He struck out 24 batters (12.5 K/9) but also walked 11 (5.7 BB/9) and allowed 11 earned runs, good for a 5.71 ERA. Cerantola is a solid athlete (as evidenced by his hockey background), but his mechanics are all over the place and his release point wanders significantly.
• Ranked #323 prospect in 2018 draft
  A projectable Canadian righthander who stands 6-foot-5, 200 pounds, Cerantola might be a more polished hockey player than baseball player, and he was selected in the eighth round of the Ontario Hockey League draft in 2016. The OHL is one of the three major junior hockey leagues in Canada and a training ground for future NHL players. Cerantola has his sights set on baseball, however, and the Mississippi State commit has tremendous potential on the mound thanks to fantastic feel for a massive, 12-to-6 breaking ball that is a plus pitch or better at times. He touches 92-93 mph with his fastball, though he sits a few ticks below that and struggles to throw strikes and locate his breaking ball regularly. Because of his athleticism and relative inexperience on the mound--he's only been pitching for a few years--he has significant upside remaining, especially as he continues to fill out a frame that can easily add 20 more pounds of strength.