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Physical Profile
Prototype left-handed hitting second baseman with big-league tools. Nic Pepe's profile reads the way scouts want a modern 2B to look: elite speed (3.7 H2F, 6.5 sixty), real pop from the left side (37" vert, 78-80 W/kg force plate), and — critically — an elite walk rate and on-base skill that projects to gain even more value under the new ABS electronic strike zone. Hitters with this level of plate discipline have historically been penalized by inconsistent umpiring on the edges; the ABS challenge system, now live in MLB for 2026, corrects that. A disciplined, high-OBP lefty bat at a premium position is exactly the archetype front offices are building around.
The Anchor Skill
.508
Career OBP
∼966 PA · 240+ games · 99% from the leadoff spot
OBP is the most stable predictor of future offensive value. Nic has sustained .500+ across the longest scouting sample available — wood bat, JUCO, D1, and ACC competition.
.579
Wood Bat Career
#2 NWL 2023 · 122 BB / 434 PA
.480
Seminole Y2
2025 · 47 GP · 32 BB
.445
Seminole Y1
2024 · 44 GP · 33 BB
.571
vs ACC Opponents
2026 · 5 G · 12 OB in 21 PA
.432
Maine 2026 Full Season
42 GP · 34 BB · 13 HBP · 6 SF/SH
Sources: goblackbears.com · Northwoods League · Seminole State Athletics
Pro-Grade Profile
The metrics that pro scouts grade on — captured by his advisory team across the 2026 season because most America East venues do not yet track them publicly.
50+
95 MPH+ Exit Velo
events in 138 AB · 2026 season
40%+
Hard-Hit Ball Rate
2026 season · pro tier
4+
Pitches Per PA
career-long approach
Methodology: Exit velocity and Hard-Hit Ball rate are not yet captured at most 2026 America East venues. These metrics were tracked manually by Nic's advisory team across every game. Pitches per PA is independently verifiable from publicly available box scores.
He doesn't chase out of the zone — the .508 career OBP is the proof.
The Cerebellar Edge
The cerebellum runs predictive visuomotor loops in the first 50–80 milliseconds of a 400ms pitch flight. Elite vision feeds the prediction. Cardiovascular efficiency keeps the system clean under load. The result is what shows up on the scoreboard.
20/10 L
20/15 R
Visual Acuity · Naked Eye
MLB average is 20/12. Ted Williams was 20/10 — documented by his Marines ophthalmologist as “a 1 in 100,000 occurrence.”
Mid-40s
Standing Heart Rate
Standing — not resting. Documented across wearable continuous data, multiple physicals, and bloodwork. Upper tier of elite-athlete cardiovascular efficiency.
Sub-10%
Chase Rate, 2026 Season
MLB average is 28.5%. Juan Soto career is 17.2%. Deduced from advisory tracking; fewer than 10 confirmed out-of-zone chases all year.
The .508 career OBP is the outcome. Elite naked-eye vision, cardiovascular efficiency, and a chase rate that bends the league curve are the documented inputs that produce it.
Methodology: Vision tested naked-eye via standard Snellen chart in a medical setting. Standing heart rate documented across wearable continuous data, multiple physicals, and bloodwork. Chase events tracked manually by Nic’s advisory team across every 2026 game. The cerebellar science framework backing these inputs is published in “The Cerebellar Edge” (Breathing Lion Investments · Performance Partnership Division, June 2026 · 19 peer-reviewed studies audited).
The Journey
37" Vert
Built on Grit
1st & 2nd HR
Travel Ball
Same Swing
IMG Academy
On Deck
Raiders #4
#3 NJCAA Region 8
Full Swing
Turning Two
3.7 H2F
Diving Stop
Competitor
~90 MPH Arm
#2 OBP
Head First
.495 OBP
Game Day
Film Room
Performance
Final 2026 (through AE Championship 5/23/2026 — Maine eliminated by Binghamton in the Final) · Source: goblackbears.com
Methodology: FanGraphs-style linear-weight wOBA vs estimated D1 mid-major league baseline of .330. Components: batting (wRAA), baserunning, fielding (FLD% & chance workload at 2B/SS), positional adjustment, replacement-level credit. Runs-per-win = 10. Small-sample caveat applies; the value is real, the per-600 extrapolation is illustrative.
Final 2026 regular season · Source: goblackbears.com
Six top-15 conference rankings — with 14 games missed mid-season due to injury.
Pre-injury (Feb 13–25, 9 games not at leadoff): 2–7. Missed 14 games during the posterior-chain injury (Feb 27–Mar 27): team went 1–13. Returned to the leadoff spot Mar 28 at UMass Lowell.
Final — 5 games at the Binghamton Baseball Complex (5/20–5/23). Maine fell to No. 1 Binghamton in the Championship; Binghamton claims the AE auto-bid to the NCAA Regionals. Sources: AE Championship Central · goblackbears.com
Career Numbers
Recognition
The People Behind the Player
HS Coach, College Placement & Advisor
Nic's high school coach at IMG Academy who also guided his college placement — and remains a trusted advisor to this day. Winningest coach in Pitt Baseball history with 588 wins across 21 seasons. Six Coach of the Year awards. Over 70 players sent to professional baseball. Inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame and the Italian/American Sports Hall of Fame.
National Team Head Coach, IMG Academy
Former New York Yankees farmhand drafted out of Davidson College. National Champions at IMG in 2023 and 2025. Previously coached at Duke, UConn, and USA Baseball. Davidson College Hall of Fame inductee. Shaped Nic's development as a hitter and competitor at IMG.
Head Coach, University of Maine
Named the 25th head coach in Maine baseball history in 2017, now entering his ninth season. A former catcher, Derba has built a competitive culture at UMaine and brought a new standard to Black Bear baseball. Currently coaching Nic at the D1 level.
Mentor — Former MLB Manager
1,269 career wins as MLB manager. Led the Colorado Rockies to the 2007 World Series and the Pittsburgh Pirates to three consecutive postseason appearances (2013-15), ending the longest losing-season streak in North American pro sports history. 2013 NL Manager of the Year. 10-year MLB playing career. A guiding voice in Nic's development on and off the field.
2026 MLB Draft
Three-year college starter. Left-handed bat. 2B / SS / OF coverage. Conference numbers, wood-bat track record, and big-stage performance documented throughout this site. Round doesn\'t matter. Just looking for a uniform — the performance will earn the position.
Strong D1 season could push to Rds 5–8
2026 MLB Draft · Organizational Fit
Organizations whose system needs, development model, and culture line up with what Nic brings.
Long-term LHH middle-infield runway · Rays archetype fit
Zero LHH 2B prospects in the pipeline · Pedroia profile
OBP-first front office · same profile that drafted McDaniel out of Maine
Organization prioritizes contact, OBP, and infield versatility
Bat-to-ball profile aligns · LHH look adds depth to the infield mix
The Mentor
Clint Hurdle — Special Assistant to the GM — has mentored Nic since IMG. The lifelong relationship that designed this entire development path now sits inside the organization.
The Maine Pipeline
Jeremy Peña was drafted out of Maine (Rd 3, 2018) and became a World Series Champion / ALCS MVP. The Astros have institutional knowledge of the program and the development model that built Nic.
Nic Pepe's lifetime umpire strike zone error rate (SZER) and umpire ratings tell a clear story: a disciplined hitter consistently penalized by human zone inconsistency. Under ABS, those stolen at-bats come back.
Research shows only 5 of 293 MLB hitters studied would see a larger zone under ABS — nearly every batter benefits. But the effect is not evenly distributed. Hitters with elite plate discipline — who work deep counts, take close pitches, and earn walks — are the most penalized by human error and therefore gain the most from ABS.
Nic's JUCO numbers tell this story: a .310/.317 batting average paired with .881/.983 OPS and walk rates that drove OBP well above his average. Umpire scorecards from those seasons show a consistent pattern of edge pitches called strikes that weren't — pitches that, under ABS, would have been balls. Conservatively, this projects to 15–25 additional walks per 500 PA under a correct zone, pushing an already elite OBP into rare territory.
Had ABS existed during his JUCO career, the on-base numbers would have positioned him as a top-of-the-draft-board prospect. The technology now exists. The player already does.
