Seth Bernstein at Lowell Park
One of the most popular articles on this website in 2011 was my interview with Seth Bernstein and Zach Warren, the play-by-play duo of the Cotuit Kettleers in the Cape Cod Baseball League; the feedback I received was overwhelming, with most imploring me to do another interview and ask more questions about the draft prospects playing on Cape Cod. For those not quite as familiar, the Cape Cod Baseball League is a wood bat collegiate summer league comprised of the highest level of competition and number of quality major league draft prospects in the United States. In fact, Cotuit was recently ranked the #1 Collegiate Summer Ball team in the country by Perfect Game USA. I have been fortunate to keep in contact with Seth since last summer, and a few days ago he was generous enough to share some time with me to answer several draft questions and provide a few insights on the 2012 Cape Cod League. The transcript of my discussion with Seth lies below.
NatsGM: “Seth, thank you for joining me… Since you became part of the NatsGM family last summer with our first interview, fill us in on what have you been up to?”
SB: “Thanks for having me back, Ryan, it’s a privilege to chat with you again this summer. After last year’s CCBL season ended, I went home to Chicago and took a few weeks off to myself. Once school started, I jumped back behind the microphone for WNUR Sports and spent the school year calling games there. I finished up my term as WNUR Sports Director in March, and now I’ve got more time again to focus just on solely my broadcasting. I spent the spring as a News Writing Intern at WGN-TV in Chicago. Writing for the 5 PM and 9 PM News—not much sports stuff at all—gave me a look at a whole different side of this business. I had a blast doing it, and if my sports broadcasting career doesn’t pan out, I’d definitely move on over to News. I’m just so happy, though, to be back on the Cape and calling Kettleers games again. There’s no better way to spend a summer.”
NatsGM: “For those in our audience somewhat unfamiliar with the Cape Cod League, please tell everyone what your responsibilities and duties entail for the Cotuit Kettleers and if you could, briefly introduce the organization?”
SB: “There are ten teams in the Cape Cod Baseball League. The regular season is 44 games long, and then eight out of ten teams make the playoffs. The league champion ends up playing in three rounds of playoffs, each a three-game series. Every team has its own broadcasters who call the games on an internet stream. Zach and I broadcast games for the Cotuit Kettleers. Cotuit is the smallest town of all the Cape League teams, but has extremely passionate, dedicated, fans—and far and away the best ballpark. On the road we only broadcast audio, but we have a video stream to go along with the broadcast at home. Zach and I start preparing a month before the season starts, making notes about all of the players, and guides for each team. When player transactions are made before and during the season, we add or subtract notes. On game days, we arrive at the park an hour and a half before first pitch to set up our equipment, do pregame interviews, write down the lineup, and just get mentally ready to call a game. Once the game starts—that’s the easy part, especially in year two. It’s the prep you do to make sure you’re ready to call a game that’s the hardest part. Zach and I take turns as the lead broadcaster. One day I’m the lead, the next day he’s the lead. The lead does the first three and last three innings of Play-By-Play, while the other guy does the middle three.”
NatsGM: “What is the biggest misconception baseball fans have about the Cape Cod League?”
SB: “The biggest misconception is definitely that you can’t hit in the Cape League. If you’re a good hitter, you can hit in this league, period. Coming here separates the good hitters from the not-so-good ones. That’s the case even during seasons with “normal” levels of offense (a lot less than the current season). I’d say Victor Roache, Deven Marrero, and Logan Vick (all 2011 Kettleers) hit pretty darn well last season—and then did pretty well for themselves in this year’s draft.”
NatsGM: “Building on that theme, I have noticed that there has been an abnormal amount of home runs hit on the Cape this summer – if you’ve noticed this as well, do you have any thoughts or reasons why there has been such a power surge in summer 2012?”
SB: “There are all sorts of crazy theories about this. One thought I’ve heard is that the balls might be wound tighter, causing them to travel further, or that the core of the baseball is somehow different. Another idea that’s been thrown around is that most summer leagues use wooden bats now, even at lower levels. Players might just be more used to the wood bats coming in after playing with them in other leagues. I also wonder if the deadened metal bats the NCAA now uses make the transition to wood easier. Here’s one last thought, though, and this might be the key: the pitching just doesn’t seem to be anywhere near as good as it was last season.”
NatsGM: “In general, how would you compare the overall talent level this summer to last year?”
SB: “The offensive talent level is about the same, maybe a bit better. Offense is up across the league this year, obviously, and there are clearly some external factors that might have played a role in that. But there’s no question the talent is a factor there as well. On the flip side, this year’s crop of pitchers appears much weaker than last year’s. There were so many exceptional pitchers here a year ago, but this year, only a handful have stood out.”
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NatsGM: “As of now the Kettleers have the best record in the Cape League and Perfect Game has ranked them the best summer league team in the country. Getting to watch the well-stocked Cotuit roster each day, could you point out some players that have particularly caught your eye as potential draft picks in the future?”
SB: “The Kettleers starting pitcher with the brightest future is, without question, Kevin Ziomek. He’s was thoroughly dominant the first half of this season before heading home, with a 3-0 record, 1.27 ERA, and 36 strikeouts in 28.1 innings pitched. He’s got a really nice fastball, a solid changeup, and a crazy-good slider. Out of the relievers, it’s Dan Slania. He throws in the mid-90s with good off-speed and breaking stuff. He leads the league with 9 saves, and his ERA sits at 1.75. Picking a hitter isn’t quite as easy. There are a ton of really good college hitters on this team, but projecting them as pros is a bit more difficult. Tony Kemp hits for a real good average, takes a lot of walks drives in runs, and runs like the wind. Same thing for Jacob May, who has improved so much this summer as a ballplayer. Daniel Aldrich has incredible power and is a very good hitter, but has struggled hitting off-speed stuff. Cael Brockmeyer is a really good hitter with power, but doesn’t have a true home defensively. It’s really the intangibles that have made the Kettleers the best team in the league so far, though. Three of the best players on this team were passed over in this year’s draft: Patrick Biondi, who is leading the league in hitting, Adam Nelubowich, and Aldrich. And the team’s unsung hero might just be Ryan Connolly, a submarine relief pitcher who leads the league in wins (7), is second in the league in strikeouts (48), and is fourth in the league in ERA (2.27). It’ll be interesting to see if any of those undrafted guys sign professionally before going back to school—they still have time to do so under the new rules.”
NatsGM: “As we are late in the summer, have you noticed some players on other Cape League rosters that my audience should remember for the draft next year?”
SB: “There’s one guy who was in a different league, talent-wise, than everyone else on the Cape this summer and that was Austin Wilson (Harwich). His numbers were solid before he went home for the summer; he hit .312 with 6 HR and 20 RBI before calling it a summer. Wilson is just so big and strong compared to everyone else in the league and the sky is really the limit for him—he’s got to be a top ten overall draft pick. Tyler Horan (Wareham) is hitting .331 and now leads the league in homers with 11—he’s really, really, turned it on lately. One of the big time power hitters here this summer. Phil Ervin (Harwich) and Eric Jagielo (Harwich) have also been very, very, impressive. Ervin has been near the top of all the offensive categories all summer long. Daniel Palka (Wareham) and Conrad Gregor (Orleans) are right up there with them, as well. Former Kettleer Ryon Healy (Brewster) has upped his game to another level this summer. Brian Ragira’s (Harwich) batting average isn’t all that impressive—he’s at .248—but he has hit 8 HR, and really put on a show during batting practice at Fenway Park’s Cape League workout day in front of scouts. On the mound, well, there’s obviously Ziomek. Aaron Blair (Y-D) is 6-0 with a 1.24 ERA, but I’ve only seen him pitch one inning—at the All-Star Game, where he was hit around a bit. But he’s big, throws hard, and it’s clear why he’s so good. Sean Manaea (Hyannis) has been phenomenal, with a 1.44 ERA and a league-leading 75 strikeouts in 43.2 innings pitched. He’s a big left-hander with a quirky delivery who looks ready to take the next step. Manaea and Blair, with all of the offense in the league this summer, have somehow managed to dominate—and you know the scouts are bound to love that.”
NatsGM: “Who is the best non-draft eligible player that you’ve watched this summer?”
SB: “Robert Pehl (Y-D), Alex Blandino (Y-D), Kyle Schwarber (Wareham) and Mason Robbins (Bourne) before he went home, have all been very, very, impressive. The three of them have hovered near the top of most Cape League offensive categories throughout the season. There aren’t many freshman pitchers dominating the Cape this year, but Jared Ruxer (Wareham), Jeff Hoffman (Hyannis) and Adam McCreery (Cotuit) have stood out as freshmen. Like I said, the pitching is a bit thin league-wide this year.”
NatsGM: “Thank you so much Seth that was outstanding… Before we finish, where can we find you going forward?”
SB: “I’m very active on Twitter, so you should definitely give me a follow there. My handle is @sethbernstein67. I’m also a Play-By-Play Broadcaster for Northwestern’s student radio station, WNUR Sports. You can listen to me call games there all year long at sports.wnur.org. And, of course, tune in to Kettleers games the rest of the summer at kettleers.org/broadcasting.”
Thanks again Seth for spending some time with us talking Cape Cod League and future draft prospects, and a special thank you to the Cotuit Kettleers organization as well.
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