Baseball Recruiting: Commits from Coast to Coast

A quick recruiting detour here from football to baseball. Michigan received four verbal commitments in November and December. I'm late in posting this, but here's a summary: three new commits for 2017 bring Michigan's total for that class to ten, and Bakich and company also picked up commit #3 for 2018. Details:

Dillon Nowicki (2018): 6-1, 180-lb. RHP/OF/1B, Stoughton HS (WI). Prep Baseball Report (PBR) ranking: #4 in WI, #104 overall in the 2018 class. PBR post-commit Q&A. D1Baseball ranking: #4 in WI, #247 overall. Perfect Game grade: 8.5. Here's PG's scouting report (Aug. 2015):

Medium frame, athletic build, room to fill as he continues to put on additional muscle. Primary right-handed pitcher, throws from a 3/4 arm slot, long arm action, high energy delivery, works quickly. Fastball is straight with occasional cut to it. Curveball has 12/6 shape, big depth. From the outfield, long lose actions, fields the ball in front, uses legs well to drive toward target, long over the top arm action, has raw arm strength with carry to bases. Arm projects as he continues to develop. Very good student.

Nowicki is a travel ball teammate of Michigan freshman Jack Bredeson.

Angelo Smith (2017): 5-10, 160-lb. LHP/OF, Richards HS (Oak Lawn, IL). PBR ranking: #21 in IL, #232 overall in the 2017 class. Scouting report (Sept. 2014):

. . .  impresses with legitimate two-way ability. Worked at 79-81 mph off the mound from quick, loose, high ¾ arm slot. Flashes 67 mph slurvy breaking ball, and 70-73 mph change. Repeats delivery well, athleticism evident throughout. Hits from a tall, narrow setup, slightly open, pull tendencies, above average bat speed.

Cameron Tomaiko (2017): 5-11, 175-lb. OF, St. Anthony's HS (Long Island, NY). PBR and Perfect Game have little info on him. Video is available on this profile page. A Long Island–based scouting service offers this brief eval:

Smooth LH hitting prospect with all the tools. Has + bat speed with power. Runs well. Covers a lot of ground defensively. Well above average arm. 

Danny Zimmerman (2017): 6-5, 245-lb. RHP/OF, Redondo Beach HS (Redondo Beach, CA). Perfect Game grade: 10. First Michigan recruit I've come across with a PG 10 (which means "potential very high draft pick and/or elite-level college prospect"). Scouting report (Aug. 2015):

Extra big and strong build. Works from the stretch, well paced deliberate delivery, gets downhill well from a 3/4's arm slot, maintains arm slot and arm speed well on all pitches. Upper 80's fastball, topped out at 89 mph, has been seen in the low 90's, heavy fastball with good sink and consistently down in the zone. Very good curveball, has power and some will call a slider, tight spin with late bite but gets over it out front, created bad swings by good hitters with his curveball. Very interesting raw stuff, especially his breaking ball, but cannot afford to get any bigger. Good student.

PG lists other colleges interested as Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Nebraska, and Oregon—a pretty solid list. The Daily Breeze ran an article on Zimmerman in June of last year.

CA to AA pipeline: Michigan's 2016 roster includes seven players from California. With Zimmerman's commit, there are four Californians in the 2017 class.