Daily
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In
a tournament full of 2016 and 2017 stars, it was a 2018 prospect that
stole the show on Tuesday morning. 2018 shortstop Ryan Bliss
of the East Cobb Astros has college coaches buzzing with excitement
about his present game and overall future potential. Bliss is far
from physically imposing, but given his advanced approach to baseball
in every facet of the game as well as his overall skillset and tools,
he certainly plays above his 5-foot-8, 150-pound stature. With
advanced tools defensively at the shortstop position, Bliss shows
very quick feet regardless of which direction he’s moving in to go
with excellent overall footwork in terms of fundamentals. He’s a
very quick-twitch athlete with range in every direction. He fields
cleanly with easy, smooth actions; and shows an advanced feel for
positioning to go along with plus instincts for the shortstop
position. He is the type of prospect who will have impact potential
in the middle of the diamond at the next level, a rarity in any
class.
While
the profile is defensive-first right now, he shows projectable
hitting tools with the kind of overall hitting profile that could
develop into a leadoff hitter. He starts with a very narrow base then
shifts forward well into a larger stride, showing good overall feel
for the barrel with quick hands and projectable bat speed. He will
drift to the front side some, and struggles a bit recognizing spin,
but it’s important to remember that at his age he has the most
important things down: Overall approach, quick swing with quality
overall mechanics, and feel for the barrel. He’s a highly
projectable hitter to go along with that high-end defensive profile
mentioned above, making him certainly one of the top prospects in the
class of 2018, albeit at a very early stage.
2017
righthander Mark
DiLuia of
the Top Tier Americans 16u team is a highly projectable righthanded
arm with a big frame, and he showed off some serious arm strength to
go along with that frame on Tuesday. Working in the 85-87 range and
topping at 88, DiLuia flashed impressive arm speed with an overall
projection and upside to his game that will certainly pique the
interest of colleges. He pitches from a three-quarters slot with some
effort, uses his lower half well into a bit of drop-and-drive, but
still manages to get on top of the ball and generate some plane. His
primary off-speed offering was a slider that showed very good
two-plane tilt with tight spin at times, though he often would get to
the side of it and leave it flat and up in the zone. Overall, he
shows the arm strength, arm speed, size, and feel for generating spin
that could make him into a high-level prospect moving forward in his
development.
The
Home Plate Chili Dogs Searcy 16u team came into the 2015 16u WWBA
loaded with talent, which they put on display on Tuesday afternoon
both on the mound and at the plate.
2018
righthander Jordan Armstrong started for the Chili Dogs, and
showed impressive overall stuff and projection, making him a top 2018
prospect. With an arm action requiring minimal effort to go along
with excellent arm speed, Armstrong worked in the 82-85 range,
touching 86 often throughout his start, holding the velocity well
over his outing. The fastball also comes with quality sinking/running
action, making it nearly impossible to square up when located down in
the zone, and eliciting several swings and misses as well. He has an
online delivery with good balance, and with his body showing lots of
room for projection at 6-foot-1, 145-pounds, he could end up with a
lot more velocity as he physically develops. He has very good feel
for the curveball as well, with excellent 12-to-6 shape with snap and
depth, thrown in the low-70s with command of the offering.
Following
Armstrong was 2018 righthander Garrett
Brown,
an uber-projectable prospect standing 6-foot-5 with broad shoulders
and lots of room for added build/strength on his frame. With a long
arm action and whippy arm speed, Brown worked 83-86 and topped at 87
with downhill with hard cutting action and easily projectable
velocity. Brown threw fastballs for the vast majority of his outing,
and while all of them featured cutting action, he showed the ability
to manipulate the amount of cut he generated depending on the
velocity with which he threw the pitch. At the lower velos (83-84),
the pitch looked nearly like a slider, with more cut and even a bit
of depth, while at the higher velos (86-87) the pitch was a bit
straighter and flatter, though still with some cut at the end. On the
whole, Brown is a highly projectable pitcher with nearly limitless
upside on the mound.
2017
shortstop prospect Devonte Brown impressed in nearly every
possible facet of the game on Tuesday. At 5-foot-10, 170-pounds,
Brown is a highly athletic prospect with solid present build and good
projection remaining as well. At shortstop, he shows quick feet with
range to both sides and the kind of easy arm action, when coupled
with his quick release, that projects well to the left side of the
infield moving forward. At the plate he hits from a semi-squatted,
squared stance with quick, strong hands to and through the zone. He
hits with leverage in his swing, generating good bat speed as well,
squaring up balls all over the field with projectable gap-to-gap
power. He also got on the mound for the Chili Dogs, showing
impressive raw arm strength in a mostly-upper body delivery, topping
at 88 mph. He’s a very interesting prospect both positionally and
on the mound, with high upside in both spots.
2017
catcher/first baseman Zach Feaster has perhaps the most
perfectly suited last name of the tournament, as he truly feasted on
opposing pitching throughout the game on Tuesday. With advanced
strength and bat speed from a 6-foot-2, 195-pound build, Feaster
showed a very clean swing highlighted by the aforementioned bat
speed, explosive hands, and a well-leveraged overall swing with easy
power. He murdered three balls in the game we saw on Tuesday, easily
backspinning balls into the gap with impressive exit velocity and
carry, and showing an advanced feel for the barrel as well as
knowledge of the strike zone, giving him a very high offensive
upside.
In
a rain-shortened, one-inning stint, lefthander Cole Daniels
did a good job establishing a national following as well as making
himself one of the top 2018 prospects in the state of Michigan. With
a large, well-built frame, Daniels showed impressive arm strength,
topping at 86 mph with his fastball from the left side to go along
with good feel to create spin. Daniels struggled a bit with command
after a long delay, but given the circumstances, the stuff he showed
in the first inning before the rain are what is taken into
consideration here. Despite the very abbreviated look, Daniels
vaulted himself high up onto follow lists, and since he plays for
Michigan baseball powerhouse Saline High School, he should have no
problem continuing to showcase that coveted lefthanded pitching
ability moving forward in his prep career.
– Brian
Sakowski
Every
year at the Perfect Game Junior National we see pitchers who show
some ability on the mound and all the indicators that more is on the
way, whether it be with a year or two or even a couple of weeks. For
the young righthander Cole Beavin
(2017, Ocoee, Fla.) it was a matter of a couple of weeks for his
stuff to take a jump. Just a couple of weeks back in Fort Myers
Beavin was living in the 82-84 mph range with his fastball but it was
easy to see more was on the way given his long and loose 6-foot-3,
165-pound frame.
Jump
to yesterday morning and the uncommitted Beavin came out of the
bullpen sitting in the 84-87 mph range with his fastball and still
projects as much as he did in Fort Myers. Beavin jumped on the mound
and immediately went to work, breaking the bat of the first batter to
dig thanks to the last life he’s able to generate on his fastball
when down in the zone. Staying short to the back the Florida native
shows a quick arm and at times showed cutting action though the
fastball generally showed running life to his arm side. He does a
nice job of elevating his fastball and changing the hitters' eye
levels while showing a full four-pitch mix.
Of
the three secondaries Beavin’s slider showed the most potential and
it was that pitch that he showed most frequently throughout his
couple of innings. Up to 81 mph, which is also an indicator of more
fastball velocity due to the hand speed required to get a breaking
ball up to that velocity, Beavin is able to generate late life with
the pitch which helps stay off the barrel while keeping batters off
balance. He only flashed a curveball a time or two at 72 mph but did
show depth and 11-to-5 shape. To round out his arsenal Beavin showed
a quality changeup at 77-78 mph with late diving life down in the
zone while inducing weak contract.
Another
player who impressed during the Junior National was Beavin’s
teammate Brady Smith
(2017, Niceville, Fla.), a middle infielder who has continued to make
noise while down in Georgia. With solid athleticism and instincts up
the middle, it was with the bat that the uncommitted Smith made the
loudest impact Tuesday morning. A righthanded batter, Smith shows a
short path to the ball and uses his strength well as he connected his
first two at-bats for loud singles up the middle, some of the harder
hits balls in the game.
Harrison
Francis (2017,
Tallahassee, Fla.) took the mound to start the game for the Orlando
Scorpions Prime 16u, and like Beavin, showed a quality mix and
projects well moving forward as he continues to fill out. Francis
currently stands 6-foot-1, 180-pounds but with his broad shoulders
and high waist it’s easy to seeing him continuing to grow and fill
out his frame with additional muscle mass.
Another
Floridian arm who’s currently uncommitted, Francis began to dial it
once he found his release point and from that point forward filled up
the bottom of the strike zone with his heater. In the first inning
Francis came out working in the 84-87 mph range with his fastball
showing a quick arm through the back with a high three-quarters
release point. Once he found his mechanics Francis began working to
either side of the plate and picked up two of his strikeouts in the
same inning by locating to his glove side black with an 85 and 86 mph
fastballs, each freezing the hitter. Francis continued to fill up the
zone and induce weak ball contact and part of the reason for that was
his feel for a three-pitch mix.
Francis
got under his first curveball of the game but from that point onward
he did a nice job of working on top and in turn was able to generate
some sharp depth and 12-to-6 shape on the low-70s offering. He also
does a nice job of turning over his changeup at 74-76 mph and while
maintaining his high three-quarters slot he’s able to create some
diving life down in the zone.
Continuing
with the theme of uncommitted 2017 arms out of the state of Florida,
Tampa native Conor Grady
(2017, Tampa, Fla.) impressed last week during the 17u WWBA World
Championships and has carried his stuff over from last week to the
present one. I was first able to see Grady last fall at the WWBA
Florida Qualifier and since then he’s continued to get stronger
physically and shows more overall fluidity in his delivery.
With
a strong yet loose and athletic 6-foot-2, 185-pound build Grady came
out showing a whippy arm action and in turn was able to generate -and
sit- a fastball in the 87-90 mph range, once touching 91 in the
opening frame. He lands a bit upright at release but in doing so he’s
able to create solid sinking life on his fastball and did so with
relative ease. The ball comes out of his hand with relative easy
which allowed him to hold his velocity out of the stretch and helps
envision that more is on the way. Grady’s best life, as you could
imagine, came when he was down in the zone which induced weak ground
ball contact though he has the ability to miss bats with his
fastball, especially when he began to locate down to his glove side.
The
fastball is just a fourth of the story with Grady as he shows a full
arsenal of pitches and has the comfort and feel to throw any of the
four. Not only are his curveball and slider separated by a couple of
ticks on the radar gun (curveball 72-74, slider 76-77) but each
showed distinctive difference in shape and life. The curveball is the
pitch that I saw most frequently last fall and the one he threw last
week with some depth whereas his slider showed more sweeping life
away from righthanded hitters, proving to be an effective offering.
He also showed a comfortable feel with his changeup, a 77-80 mph
offering that showed solid fading life from the same loose and whippy
arm action with the only difference being the 8-10 mph difference.
The
skill level and high-end athleticism of outfielder Jacob
Pearson
(2017, West Monroe, La.) haven’t ever been in question, especially
after his first Perfect Game event a month back. He hasn’t stopped
hitting since arriving in the Peach State and the Mississippi State
commit had another loud game with his lefthanded swing yesterday
afternoon. A plus-runner who turned in a 4.09 down the line (major
league average for a lefthanded hitter is 4.20), Pearson twice hit
the ball hard in his first two at-bats with his loudest contact
coming in his second trip to the plate. Even when he makes just
average contact the ball jumps off his barrel differently than most.
That wasn’t the case however with his triple down the line as he
squared up the ball for a hard line drive showing off fast hands and
a shorter bat path with solid bat speed.
Tanner
Allen
(2017, Theodore, Ala.) has continued to have a strong tournament in
his Perfect Game debut and shows a similar tool-set to the previously
mentioned Pearson. With a strong 6-foot, 180-pound build Allen shows
off an advanced hit tool on a consistent basis, lining the ball hard
into center field for a couple of singles. Currently uncommitted,
Allen showed off quick and explosive hands to begin his swing,
whipping the barrel through the zone with very hard and loud contact
coming off. Like Pearson, Allen possesses the type of speed that can
impact a game and put it on display after his first single as he
stole second within a pitch or two before coming around to score to
give Marucci an early lead.
Ladarius
Woods (2017,
Decatur, Ala.), currently ranked No. 133 in the country for the 2017
class, has been known for his big righthanded power ever since the
beginning of his freshman year of high school and he showed it plays
while swinging wood too. With Marucci already plate a run or two in
the top of the first the right-handed Woods got his pitch on a 2-0
count and didn’t miss.
– Jheremy
Brown