Meet the Prospects: Eric Arnett (Pitcher, IU)

Today, Dave had some business to take care of, so I will sub in with a small "Meet the Prospects" edition post. Luckily Indiana University was in town to take on my Purdue Boilermakers. This meant that the one of the biggest prospects in the Big Ten, Eric Arnett would be pitching for the Hoosiers. Coming into the game, Arnett was 9-1 with a 2.49 ERA in 10 games, with 58 hits and 24 walks in 76 IP for a 1.08 WHIP in 10 games started. Last year Arnett was 4-5 with a 5.45 ERA, so this has been something of a breakout season for him. His velocity has jumped up a couple mph to around 93-96, instantly making him draftable. He is projected to go anywhere from late first round to middle second round. This was made obvious today by the fifteen or so scouts with radar guns trained on his every pitch early in the game.

He has a great fastball that was able to blow away most Purdue hitters early, but there is little to no movement on it. He mainly relied on the fastball the entire game, and when it was kept low he was able to induce ground out after ground out. Still there was no noticeable backup pitch that he could go to for the strikeout. He started off well, allowing only 1 run through six on a solid double followed by a somewhat dinky run-scoring single. However, the more hitters saw of Arnett, the better they hit off of him. He gave up five runs in the seventh due to a loss of control and five singles by the Boilers. The first time around the order, hitters were 1-11 with 3 K. The second time, hitters were 3-9 with 2 2B, 2 K, 2 BB. After that, hitters were 6-17, 2 BB, 4 K. Hitters seem to be blown away by the speed somewhat the first time around, but after an at bat or two, they are able to catch up to the speed. If that happens on the Big Ten baseball level, he will be no better in the professional ranks. On the day, Arnett went 9 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 8 K. He could be solid in a relief role in the pros, and if he can pick up a reliable go-to pitch after the fastball he could be a good pitcher in the future.

YouTube video link because I can't figure out how to make the video itself show up