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Jon Illif
Starting Pitcher | Port Hope Battery
Pitching He has the ability to coax groundballs, which helps him succeed. Illif also has a decent changeup. He can hit 90 MPH but is too smart to try to get his fastball past most hitters. If you're going in to face Illif, better be wearing plenty of protection. He's wild. He's almost as effective against lefthanders as he is versus righthanders.
Defense & Hitting He tends to fall off slightly to the first-base side of the mound, making him vulnerable to bunts toward third base. He makes up for that minor flaw by being aggressive in fielding his position. Illif has a lousy move to first, and opposing managers will run against him all day. Illif is a surpisingly good hitting pitcher. And I'm not sure you can say this about a pitcher, but Illif has some pop in his swing.
2025 Outlook I can't say I know what The Port Hope Battery were doing locking this guy up to a long term contract. A questionable call at best. AA isn't the right place for Illif. Expect the Port Hope Battery to send him down for some minor retooling. I just don't know if The Port Hope Battery are ever going to get what they expect out of him.
-- Emu Nyman, AA/AAA Scout
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