From what I've heard, he's been his old self in bullpen sessions the past several weeks. Here's the premium content "draft buzz" post...

http://www.d1baseball.com/the-buzz/prosp...peak-form/

Quote:Roll the clock back to last offseason and Rice righty Jon Duplantier was one of the most highly touted pitchers in college baseball. Expectations were high, to say the least, as he headed into the 2015 season. But the injury bug hit hard for Duplantier, and he ended up missing the entire spring with lingering arm issues. Scouts were deprived of a look at arguably the most exciting draft-eligible sophomore in the class, but now he’s primed to come back strong in 2016.

Early indications this fall are that Duplantier could in fact come back even stronger than ever. Scouts have come away thrilled with the 6-foot-4, 210 pound righty’s performance this fall, and they are already speculating about where he could fit in the early draft picture in 2016.

Duplantier took the ball on Sunday with a number of interested scouts looking on. He had reportedly been impressive the week prior as well, so there was already significant buzz building on his return to action. And he did not disappoint in front of the curious crowd. The deceptive Duplantier showed off big life on a 92-94 mph fastball, hitting as high as 95 mph on some guns. Scouts in attendance made sure to note that Duplantier’s command was clearly not all the way back, but they were quite pleased overall with how his stuff had rebounded and how crisp he looked.

“His command is not there yet, but the ball is coming out well,” said one scout in the area. “If he’s healthy he’s a major, major factor in the (2016) class.”

The secondary pitches appeared sharp for Duplantier as well, as he showed off his full three-pitch arsenal. He mixed a sharp 79-81 mph curveball that showed big league average action. He showed solid feel for his changeup at 82-84 mph. The location will come as he logs more innings, and it’s often easy to forget that Duplantier’s 59 innings pitched as a freshman are all he has to his name while pitching for Rice. This is still a relatively inexperienced arm with room to grow and develop as a pitcher. He’s flashed above-average secondaries in the past, and if the command continues improving, he’s an easy arm for scouts to project as a future starter at the professional level.

With Blake Fox returning to anchor the rotation, Rice has to be thrilled with the prospect of a fully healthy Duplantier returning to form a highly formidable 1-2 punch. And scouts in the region are already picturing Duplantier as one of the highest upside arms in the area, and perhaps the nation.

This is very encouraging, because the way things have been going, we need all the quality pitching we can get.

Like, Cardinals-level quality.

Jon comes in at #47 on D1baseball's Post-Summer Top 50 college prospects list....

http://www.d1baseball.com/the-buzz/post-...prospects/

...I'm sure he'll move up the list if and when the scouts are convinced he's fully healthy.

(10-07-2015 11:33 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  Jon comes in at #47 on D1baseball's Post-Summer Top 50 college prospects list....

http://www.d1baseball.com/the-buzz/post-...prospects/

...I'm sure he'll move up the list if and when the scouts are convinced he's fully healthy.

They might also want to see that he has gotten his control back.

(10-07-2015 11:46 AM)temchugh Wrote:  

(10-07-2015 11:33 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  Jon comes in at #47 on D1baseball's Post-Summer Top 50 college prospects list....

http://www.d1baseball.com/the-buzz/post-...prospects/

...I'm sure he'll move up the list if and when the scouts are convinced he's fully healthy.

They might also want to see that he has gotten his control back.

Yup, but I consider the two go hand in hand. Remember, his problem his freshman year was with his control, with the light bulb going off during his Summer in California.

I'm concerned our highest ranked prospect didn't pitch last year.

It will be good to have him backkkkkkk though...given he's "summer ball back" I think we really need him to have a great season for this team to stay in the top 25 the whole year. A top prospect arm is a must for this squad, not a luxury. Don't count me as excited or sold yet on Big John or this team.

Time will tell.