Jersey Shore lefty Jason Groome, 16, already a huge talent

FORT MYERS, Fla. - With straw-hatted scouts clustered like ants in JetBlue Park's shade, hundreds of sweating, sunbaked high school baseball players gathered in June for the Perfect Game National Showcase, and overexerted themselves on nearly every throw and swing.

Then, like a welcome breeze amid all the sweat and struggle, Jason Groome coolly took his turn on the mound. If, in their zeal to impress, his pitching peers' efforts seemed grossly exaggerated, the New Jersey native's were as smooth and sweet as the nectarines in an adjacent orchard.

As the scouts ceased chattering and aimed a barrage of radar guns at him, the 6-foot-6, 220-pound teenager looked unaffected. If it weren't for the resounding spank each pitch gave the catcher's mitt, he could have been mistaken for someone playing catch.

"It's a beautiful thing to throw 97 and look effortless doing it," said Steve Frey, the former Phillies pitcher who was Groome's pitching coach last season at IMG Academy in Bradenton.

The lanky lefthander who has committed to Vanderbilt and isn't yet 17 was far and away the most impressive arm at this showcase run by Perfect Game, an amateur baseball scouting service.

With his silky motion, his mid-90s fastball, his plus curve and change-up, and a physique that is not yet fully developed, Groome is already being mentioned as a potential No. 1 overall pick in next June's draft.

"This kid was born to throw a baseball," said Dan McCoy, his coach when Groome was at Ocean County's Barnegat High as freshman and sophomore. "He looks like he's throwing batting practice, but his stuff is electric."

With the Phillies destined for a high pick - perhaps even No. 1 overall - it wouldn't be a shock if the Jersey Shore youngster, who says his goal is to land in Cooperstown, ends up in red pinstripes.

But whether he's in their system, with another big-league team, or pitching for Vanderbilt's powerhouse program, he has a once-in-a-generation arm.

"He's a tremendous talent," said Dan Simonds, the baseball academy director at IMG, a finishing school for elite scholastic athletes. "Whether it's collegiate or professional baseball, in the last 25 years he's one of the best I've seen in terms of pure stuff. He's a lefty who's only going to get bigger and stronger. Right now he's sitting consistently between 93 and 95 [m.p.h.] and there's more room in there."

The fact that he's still 16 helps explain why Groome recently decided to leave IMG after just one season and return to Barnegat for his senior year. Extremely close to his parents, older sisters and twin brothers, he got homesick in Florida.

"His parents did come down and visit him often," Simonds said. "But it was an adjustment for him. He's only 16 and we had to bring him along, especially the first few weeks. You could see it was tough for him. He struggled."

But that struggle didn't carry over to baseball. Groome worked diligently in the weight room, built up his leg strength, added 15 pounds, and refined his ability, trading in a knuckleball he threw in off-speed situations for a slider and change-up.

He overpowered the top-quality national competition IMG schedules. Groome went 5-0 with an 0.98 ERA. In 43 innings, he struck out 77 and walked just nine. In one seven-inning game, he fanned 19. Opponents hit .154 against him.

"It's just not about him being able to throw hard," said Frey, who pitched for the Phillies in 1995-96 and for four other major-league clubs in a seven-year career. "That's a plus. But the fact that he can take his ability and he can actually pitch with it, that's what takes him to a different level. A professional level. He can do that right now and that's why he's had so much success against high school players."

McCoy said Groome arrived at Barnegat in the fall of 2012 as a fully finished product.

"He was already like 6-2 and you could see he had a special, special arm," he said. "As a freshman, we held him back a little. He might have pitched like 40 innings and had an ERA under 2.00. But his sophomore year he just dominated. He pitched 60 innings, had an 0.80 ERA and 101 strikeouts."

With little left to prove there, last January Groome moved on to IMG, where as a junior he pitched on a staff with lefthander Logan Allen, an eighth-round pick of the Red Sox in June.

"I felt like I had to make the move to improve, but it was hard," Groome said. "I got a lot of help and support from my family but I really missed them."

The lifestyle at IMG is more like college than high school, Simonds said. Groome's schedule was intense. He took classes from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. After 45 minutes for lunch, practice lasted until 4. Then came yoga, Pilates, and sessions on such topics as leadership and nutrition. Dinner was followed by a 90-minute team study session.

"It's a lot for a 16-year-old away from home," Simonds said.

Not surprisingly, what most impressed Simonds, Frey and manager Chris Sabo, the ex-Reds third baseman, was Groome's stress-free motion and delivery.

"Back in the day, we called guys who threw 200 innings every year horses," Frey said. "I think he's going to be a guy who throws 200 innings year after year in the big leagues because of his size, stamina, and delivery. When you look at an easy motion like that, you know you're not looking at long-term wear and tear."

Simonds said that in addition to his physical gifts, Groome handles adversity well and is a good teammate. If the 16-year-old had a shortcoming, he said, it was his preparation habits.

"He needs to mature a bit," Simonds said. "I think he needs to understand how to work the right way, whether in the weight room or in mentally preparing. But those things will come."

Groome first surfaced on Perfect Game's prospect rankings - No. 14 - after his sophomore season at Barnegat. Three months later, he was No. 9 and recently jumped to No. 4, the highest ranking for any lefthanded pitcher.

Since IMG's school year ended, Groome has hit the showcase circuit. He retired all three batters he faced Sunday in the Perfect Game All-American Game at Petco Park in San Diego. Groome's fastball reportedly was clocked at 96 m.p.h.

It's all heady stuff for someone who won't turn 17 until later this month, but he's as cool in reaction to it as he is on the mound.

"Ever since I was a little kid," said Groome, "I've wanted to pitch in the major leagues and become a Hall of Famer."

That kind of confidence doesn't surprise Frey, who has studied Groome's mound demeanor closely.

"When he's out there, you see two people," Frey said. "He can be very cool-looking when he gets in a groove. But when he gets people on base, he's able to take it to another level. It's hard to describe but he's able to say. 'OK, now I've got to use everything. I've got to make sure these guys don't score.' It's a different type intensity, not something you see often in high school pitchers."

"But he's got it. He's the total package."

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RHP Riley Pint (St. Thomas Aquinas High in Overland Park, Kan.) - No high school righthander has ever been drafted first overall, but Pint has a chance to become the first. The LSU recruit is said to boast a fastball in the mid-90s with a plus curveball.

LHP Jason Groome (Barnegat High School, N.J.) - Groome is back at Barnegat after pitching at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. A Vanderbilt recruit, he mixes a mid-90s fastball with a curveball and change-up.

LHP A.J. Puk (University of Florida) - The 6-foot-7 Puk was 9-4 with a 3.81 ERA over 78 innings of his sophomore season for the Gators.

RHP Alec Hansen (University of Oklahoma) - Hansen, like Puk, is also a hard-throwing 6-foot-7 pitcher. He is said to have a nasty slider.

RHP Robert Tyler (University of Georgia) - Tyler battled injuries this season but has a lot of potential if he can prove that he can stay healthy.

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