Next up in out draft conference previews, we have the America East Conference. The AmEast is mostly headlined by some big time arms and powerful bats. Hopefully, there are some names on here that you aren't so familiar with so when your team potentially takes them next month, you'll know what you're gonna be getting out of them.

Top 10

Holden deJong - NJIT LHP

First up in the America East conference, we have Holden deJong, a junior lefty from New Jersey Tech. deJong has a 6’4” lean frame with a lot of room to grow and a ton of projectability. He excels in using both hit upper and lower halves to get the most out of his body. He’s got a smooth delivery with a short, whippy ¾ arm angle. He also pitches with a little bit of crossfire, but it’s not as exaggerated as we’ve seen from some. His body frame and delivery scream starting pitcher. 

His arsenal features a three pitch mix. His fastball sits around 90-92 mph and can top out at 95. It has a lot of natural lefty arm side run which gets him a lot of swings and misses and he elevates it well. Next, his slider comes in at around 79-81 mph. It’s more of a tight breaking ball with depth than a big sweeper. It plays off the fastball well and he’s able to get a good amount of chase with it. Finally, he throws an 83-85 mph changeup that he locates arm side well with a decent amount of fade. There is no doubt he has bat missing stuff that plays up to what the velo numbers say.

deJong had made six starts for the Highlanders before his season was cut short due to injury. In those six starts, he went 29 innings with 31 strikeouts, 17 walks, and a .225 batting average against. To go along with those numbers, he was also posting the highest strikeout rate (23.1%) and lowest walk rate (12.7%) of his career. Not only was he showing some of the best command he ever has, it was getting better each outing he had. We will likely see deJong go somewhere early-to-mid day two in the draft. 

Caleb Leys - Maine LHP

The next player is another lefty arm, this time from the University of Maine. Caleb Leys is a redshirt junior pitcher from Rhode Island. He missed his 2024 season due to having Tommy John Surgery and he came back this year and proved that he is still the draft prospect he was before the injury. Leys pitches with a 6’1” frame that is strong, but still has room to get stronger. He has a long, quick arm swing from a ¾ to high-¾ angle and the ball seemingly jumps out of his hand. 

Leys has real arm talent and that is on display with his high octane and high spin stuff. He throws a classic three pitch mix that is a fastball, slider, and changeup. His fastball usually sits around 91-93 mph and he has been up to as high as 95-96 on the year. The slider is more of a true slider coming in at 82-84 mph. Finally, he throws a changeup with a pretty good amount of arm side fade to it at 81-83 mph. 

Leys started gaining more attention with his velo early in the year but it was late in the year when he started putting up big numbers statistically. From the start of April through the end of the year, he threw 40 innings with a 1.80 ERA. Also during that time, he racked up 39 strikeouts and only allowed 13 walks. It’s also worth mentioning that he didn’t allow a single home run all season. The stuff is legit and he does an excellent job at deceiving hitters and inducing weak contact. I’d expect him to go somewhere in the same range as deJong, early-to-mid day two. 

Carlos Martinez - UMASS Lowell OF