Editor's
note: Perfect Game recognizes that there are dozens of standout
performers at this year's 16u WWBA National Championship. The
thoughts provided below are first-hand observations from Scouting
Coordinator Jheremy Brown during the event's third day.
Brenden
Heiss (2016, Lake in the Hills, Ill.) is another young arm out of
the Midwest that shows high upside in the future, joining the likes
of Drake Fellows and Anthony Holubecki.
Standing
at 6-foot-1, 190-pounds, the righthanded Heiss shows a fast arm from
a three-quarters arm slot and pounded the lower quadrants of the
strike zone with his fastball which topped at 94 mph in the first
inning. Working in the 90-92 mph range early on, the uncommitted
Heiss has some Cobi Johnson to his delivery as he lands closed with
his front foot, forcing himself to work over his front side which he
was able to do. With that type of delivery, Heiss was able to create
nice angle on his fastball and consistently gets low to his glove
side with late life to his arm side.
He
repeats his delivery well and showed two off-speed pitches, with his
changeup being the more advanced pitch of the two. Throwing it at
78-79 mph, Heiss maintained his arm speed and action on the pitch
with late diving action down in the zone. His curveball shows short
11-to-5 break in the low-70s but he threw it for stirkes and it’s
easy to envision Heiss throwing a slider in the future with his
delivery and arm action.
Garrett
Gooden (2016, Decatur, Ga.) sports a very long and lean frame
which is extremely projectable, especially as he continues to add
strength. A quick-twitch athlete, Gooden has seen a steady rise in
his velocity, with him establishing a new personal high yesterday at
a Perfect Game event.
Standing
at 6-foot-4, 205-pounds, Gooden shows a fast arm with the ball coming
out clean and easy from his hand. He does a nice job of getting
extended down the mound with his lower half and staying online
through his delivery, and repeated it very well. In the early innings
of the game, Gooden was working his fastball in the 90-92 mph range
with nice run to his arm side before settling in at 88-90. He also
flashed a two-seam fastball at 87-88 mph with late tailing action.
Although
he didn’t throw it in game action, Gooden did show a changeup in
warm-ups that has a chance to be a quality pitch as he becomes
comfortable enough to throw it during the game. He maintained his arm
action on the pitch at 79 mph with fading life. His curveball clocked
in the low to mid-70s, showing 11-to-5 shape and a feel for the
pitch.
This is PG 'DiamondKast' Level content.
You must be either an DiamondKast, Crosschecker Rankings & Scouting Reports, or Scout subscriber to read the rest.
Sign in
DiamondKast