Via Lindsay Berra of MLB.com, here's the scouting report on right-hander Josh Stevens of Vestavia Hills High School in Alabama ...
Stevens, who has committed to play for Division III Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Ala., throws four-seam and two-seam fastballs with a lot of movement in on right-handed hitters, an effective curveball and a changeup. As a senior, he compiled a 5-1 record, 37 strikeouts and a 3.23 ERA in 56 1/3 innings pitched. He has a shock of curly blond hair that protrudes from under his cap, an easy and infectious smile and only one arm.
That's worth repeating: Stevens has one arm. Here's a look at Stevens plying his trade despite a biological impediment that would've prevented most of us from even trying in the first place ...
Alabama is a prep baseball hotbed, so it says a lot that he was able to become a starting pitcher in that environment. It says even more that Stevens will continue pitching at the college level.
It's obvious to draw comparisons to Jim Abbott, the one-armed pitcher who played in the majors for parts of 10 seasons and threw a no-hitter for the Yankees in 1993. Stevens, though, lost even more of his non-throwing arm, as he had it amputated two inches above the elbow at birth.
Berra's story has much more on Stevens, including the challenges of throwing hard and with command while having the manipulate the glove with one hand. So far, though, Stevens has met every baseball challenge that's come his way.
