Game Report: Noah Murdock Shows Promise

Colonial Heights (Va.) High ace Noah Murdock faced a difficult test on Tuesday night, matching up against Prince George (Va.) High, a team with a strong baseball tradition and a lineup filled with fundamentally sound players. Prince George eventually got the best of Murdock, but the righthander showed potential on the mound.

Murdock stands at 6-foot-7, 180 pounds. He’s as thin as high school pitching prospects come, but he has a high waist and wide, sloped shoulders. He has a projectable frame, one that looks like it could pile on some muscle as Murdock matures into a fully formed adult.

The righthander is committed to play for Virginia next year, and he’s been very clear about his desire to honor that commitment. As a result, not as many scouts have followed up on him this spring—at least not as many as his talent would indicate.

Murdock has a well-balanced delivery with an athletic motion, including a high leg kick, powerful stride, and short arm action. He throws from a lower arm slot, somewhere between three-quarters and side-arm. On Tuesday night, Murdock showed elite fastball movement in the early innings, with his fastball dancing around the zone, flashing late sink, arm-side run, or both. Despite the movement on his fastball, Murdock had excellent control of the offering at times, and of the 72 fastballs he threw, 53 were strikes.

“I think I had a lot more control, a lot more command,” Murdock said, when asked how Tuesday’s outing compared to his other starts this spring. “I could put pitches where I wanted to and I really attacked the batters today. I think other times I’ve tried to throw curveballs or sliders, but I really threw a fastball today and made them work.”

Murdock threw the pitch with an average velocity of 88.3 mph. He pitched mostly at 89-90 for the first few innings, touching 91 at times. Later in the outing, his velocity rested at 85-89.

The separator for Murdock, however, was his breaking ball. Early in the game, Murdock’s curveball featured plus bite and extremely late two-plane break. He was able to locate the pitch down and to either side of the plate. He threw the pitch at 74-78, once bumping 80 mph.

“I think it’s a real complement to my fastball. It really sets it up,” Murdock said. “Because after a fastball-fastball, I can throw that curveball and really catch them off guard, so it’s really nice having that in my arsenal.”

Murdock went to his curveball with two strikes on eight different occasions, showing the ability to lengthen the pitch’s break to his glove side as he attempted to garner chase swings-and-misses, or shorten the pitch’s break to slam it through the front door of righthanded hitters.

The future Cavalier generated 11 ground balls and six fly balls, with only three of those fly balls exiting opponents’ bats with backspin. The others were hit with topspin, softly floating into the gloves of Colonial Heights’ infielders. Murdock struck out four, but said that he was more content to pitch to contact.

“I realized that their approach at the plate was, ‘Wait until he throws a strike,’ so I got a lot of first-pitch strikes and I really trusted my defense today because they were making plays.”

As a result, it took Murdock just 89 pitches to get through 6 2/3 innings. With one out in the seventh inning, a curveball was turned into a slow roller up the third base line, and the runner reached on an infield single. Murdock then walked a batter before striking another out. With runners on first and second and two outs, Murdock surrendered a line drive against Prince George’s Noble Graber. There was a play at the plate, and the throw beat the runner but the tag did not. Murdock took the loss.

Scouts have seen Murdock’s fastball reach as high as 94 mph this spring, though he will need to add strength to sustain his velocity deeper into games. Murdock likely would be generating early-round buzz, but he’s all-in when it comes to Virginia.

“I’m definitely committed to college, but I’ve got to get through a high school season first, hopefully win a championship,” Murdock said. “But I’m pretty set on college right now.”

Murdock is not the first high-ceiling pitching prospect to make a firm commitment to Virginia out of high school, essentially placing himself out of draft consideration. In 2012, Nathan Kirby made it clear that he was unsignable out of high school, and in 2013, current Virginia ace Connor Jones did the same.

While Murdock’s outing was the top story of the game, two players also showed well for Prince George. Uncommitted sophomore shortstop Tevin Tucker showed intriguing defense instincts and squared up Murdock twice, lining out to first in his first plate appearance and flying out to deep left center later in the game. While it’s way too early in the process for pro scouts to consider Tucker, he could garner prominent interest from Division I programs.

In the top of the seventh inning, Prince George senior righthander Jackson Rivera took the mound. It was his first appearance since March 30, when a comebacker smashed into the left side of his face, posing a threat to his baseball career. Prior to the freak injury, Rivera’s fastball sat around 81-83, according to Prince George head coach Mickey Roberts.

After the injury, Rivera began working with Roberts’ son, Sam Roberts, who played at Virginia Military Institute and in the A’s farm system from 2011 through spring training this year.

Rivera pitched in the upper 80s, sitting at 86-88 in game action and touching 90 during warmups. His delivery includes a closed-off front side and a tilted shoulder, giving him a deceptive look that could give allow his fastball to play at a higher level. Rivera has received some interest from local Division I schools, though he is currently committed to play at Patrick Henry Community College.