Friday night's matchup between two of the top left-handed pitchers in the MLB draft class, South Florida's Shane McClanahan and Connecticut's Tim Cate, was one of the most anticipated of the year in the scouting community -- a pairing of potential first-round picks and a chance to see Cate without having to find Storrs on a map. (Hint: It's far. It doesn't matter where you are; it is far from there.)

McClanahan came into the game with an ERA of 0.00, allowing just three unearned runs in 30⅔ innings in his first five starts. UConn hung a six-spot on him in the second inning and he was outpitched by Cate in front of a crowd that featured at least 10 scouting directors and one GM.

McClanahan hit 99 mph in the first inning and was throwing 93-99 across his four innings, also showing an above-average changeup at 84-86 with good arm speed and a willingness to use that pitch to both sides of the plate. His fastball is straight, and he really did not locate it well at all, giving up two homers on the pitch and too much hard contact. At best, you might say there's some arm-side run to his fastball that pulls the pitch away from right-handed batters. He showed a fringy curveball at 80-84 mph that seems to come out of his hand at a higher release point than the other two pitches, and I believe he threw one slider at 90 mph. He lands stiffly on his front leg and doesn't get quite the extension out front that he could, which may also be part of why his fastball was hit hard Friday ... or perhaps the Huskies had a plan to look fastball early in counts and attack it.

Cate went five innings in the Huskies' victory and his fastball sat at 90-94 mph. He was elevating the pitch and working it in and out to hitters on both sides of the plate. His money pitch is a grade-70 curveball that comes in at 82-84 that he will throw for strikes and also get batters to chase, although the pitch wasn't entirely consistent and he pitched around trouble a few times in the middle innings. He threw just two changeups, and it's hard to truly project him as a starter unless he starts to throw that pitch more often this spring -- but with it he has No. 3 starter upside. He struck out 11 of 20 batters he faced, getting outs on both the fastball and the breaking ball.

McClanahan was getting some 1-1 (first pick, first round) buzz early, although I think that's entirely speculation at this point. Friday couldn't have helped him with teams drafting near the top, as his main calling card, his big fastball, was vitiated by the lack of life on the pitch. He's still a first-rounder but may slot in closer to pick No. 10 than pick No. 1, behind a few other college starters like Casey Mize and Ryan Rolison. Meanwhile, Cate fits near the back of the first round, especially if teams push college arms up the board when we get close to draft day.

• Merritt Island High School right-hander Mason Denaburg pitched Thursday night against Eau Gallie, which has a first-round candidate of its own in Carter Stewart but instead threw right-hander Nick Pogue, who is committed to Florida along with Denaburg. (Stewart is committed to Mississippi State.) Denaburg was disappointing in this outing after hitting 97 mph a few times earlier this spring, pitching at 91-94 instead and throwing a ton of curveballs in the 74-80 range to get more swings and misses. He looked like he couldn’t get completely comfortable on the mound, twisting and stretching frequently before pitches. His delivery is abrupt, with no windup and little momentum coming off the mound toward the plate. His outing was short but he did limit the damage to one run and helped himself with a three-run homer in his last at-bat before he was replaced by a reliever.

Pogue pitched at 90-93 mph and showed a better curveball, 78-81 with some late bite to it, and a consistent if slightly below-average changeup. He has a traditional delivery with a long stride and good projection in his frame. If he ends up at Florida rather than signing -- which would be my bet -- he's a name to watch for the top two rounds in 2021.

• Shortstop Addison Barger of King High School in Tampa is a potential top-100 player (so roughly top three rounds) for this year's draft. I caught his first four plate appearances in a game Saturday morning at Lennard High in Ruskin while en route to the Rays' minor league camp. He showed good hands at short and a 60-grade arm, below-average speed and trouble picking up the ball from the two left-handers he faced while I was there. Those four trips resulted in one infield single, a semi-intentional walk, a lineout, and a fly out, along with two swings and misses on fastballs in which he was well out in front.