World Underclass Day 2 notes

One of the top prospects in the 2014 class, Michael Gettys made his first of two appearances at the WWBA Underclass World Championship in 2011. On Friday his younger (lefthanded) brother Jonathan Gettys (2016, Gainesvillle, Ga.) did the same. Michael was a high level two-way prospect who was ultimately drafted as an outfielder by the Padres in the supplemental first round this summer. Jonathan is a pitcher only and has posted even better velocity at the same stage of development. In fact, his velocity puts him near the top of the 2016 class, and he has few lefthanded peers in the flame-throwing 2016 club.

The younger Gettys topped out at 93 mph in his start against the Easton Rockets, while working comfortably at 89-91 and pounded the strike zone, throwing 42 of his 60 pitches for strikes (70 percent) and issuing just one walk over four innings. He piled up 10 strikeouts in a dominant outing, while yielding just two hits over four scoreless frames.

Jonathan is slightly more physically developed at the same age than his older brother – who was known for his physicality – and the arm strength is top of the scale. He uses a low effort delivery and the ball explodes out of his hand, and with additional effort he could likely add a couple more ticks of velocity, though it would be counterproductive, given his present results, to do so. The breaking ball was also quite impressive, an upper-70s hammer with big 1-to-7 depth and hard bite His feel wasn't consistent in the early going but by the third and fourth innings he'd found the feel for his release point and landed a couple of filthy ones on the backdoor corner for unhittable strikes to righthanders. He also utilized an occasional changeup at 80-81, though his high velocity fastball and power curveball were more than enough to stifle the opposition.




Gettys wasn't the only impressive left \handed pitching prospect to take the mound for Team Elite 17's Prime on Friday, as they gave the ball to Justin Glover (2016, Buford, Ga.) in the opener. Glover worked 83-88 with his fastball from a compact delivery with good downhill plane and extension out front. He struck out the side to start the tournament off and finished with nine strikeouts over four scoreless one-hit innings. He has a clean tension free arm action with a compact arm circle. Glover also has a good pace to his delivery, working in the 1.35-1.45 second range out of the stretch, and 1.1-1.2 seconds with a slide-step with runners on base. His fastball tails late down and to the arm side, which should allow him to become more efficient as he matures as a pitcher to induce ground ball contact early in counts to keep his pitch counts low in order to go deeper into games.

Glover commanded the arm side of the plate well, although he was less comfortable working to the glove side and lunged a bit towards that side in order to get there, but did move the ball in and out in this outing. He showed a big bending 1-to-6 curveball that has some sharpness to the break and good depth, leaving the hand at 68-70 mph, though he worked primarily off of his fastball in this outing.




The position player who stood out most on a very talented Team Elite 17's Prime squad was shortstop Cam Shepherd (2016, Duluth, Ga.) who not only looks the part at a strong and athletic 6-foot-1, 180-pounds, but has the athletic actions at shortstop and offensive tools to match. His swing path is efficient and he generates solid bat speed with a low effort, well controlled swing with good feel for the barrel. Shepherd stayed on a curveball well and roped it for a single the first time he saw a breaking ball in the tournament. He also had a good take on one just off the corner before roping a line drive single up the middle on a fastball for his second consecutive hit to open the tournament 2-for-2.

The most impressive position prospect on the loaded EvoShield Canes roster is shortstop Grant Bodison (2016, Simpsonville, S.C.). The tall, lanky young shortstop has very long strides in the infield and accelerates well to create plus present range, and his coordination of those long levers allows him to make smooth transfers and get rid of the ball quickly while on the move. Bodison also has good arm strength, and he recently threw 90 mph across at the Atlantic Coast Top Prospect Showcase, and that arm strength showed in his defensive chances in the Canes' opener.

In addition to being an elite defender at the most premium of positions, Bodison offers long-term offensive upside at the plate as well. He has fast hands and an aggressive line drive swing. He also has good hand-eye coordination and a simple swing that is very hand reliant at present. While this creates a contact oriented approach, there is the potential for him to develop power as he gets stronger and fine tunes his swing, though the current approach is effective for making hard line drive contact and utilizing his speed. The defensive profile alone clearly puts him among the top prospects in the 2016 class nationally, and adding offensive upside to the profile only bolsters his case.




The 2017 class is still in the early stages of emerging and the WWBA Underclass World Championship is a stage that presents the opportunity for many of them to establish themselves among the top prospects. Righthander Hunter Perdue (2017, Chesapeake, Va.) certainly made the most of that opportunity. Perdue came on in relief with his team, the Richmond Braves National, up big in their opener. With a large handful of college recruiters on hand to watch the uncommitted hurler, Perdue came in and dominated. He worked two innings, striking out five of the six batters he faced on 23 pitches, throwing 18 of them for strikes, and the only non-strikeout was a weak popup to the first baseman off the handle of the bat.

Perdue has a young, athletic build that is still in the early stages of strength development and offers additional projection in his 6-foot-2 frame. His arm action is deep through the back and comes through fast and loose. His mechanics are still a bit raw but his natural athleticism allows him to throw consistent strikes, and as he matures both physically and as a pitcher he should be able to make the transition from controlling his arsenal to commanding it.

His catcher didn't vary his targets much in this outing, and while Perdue didn't move the ball around the strike zone much, he was consistently hitting his target and he threw all three of his pitches for strikes. His fastball sat at 84-88 mph with big tailing life sinking towards the arm side. His breaking ball was a hard slurve with a deep three-quarters break at 73 mph that flashed sever sharpness, and with improved spin direction could eventually develop into a plus offering, as the underlying spin rate is already highly advanced at a young age. Perdue telegraphs his changeup by slowing his arm down a bit, but the pitch gets good life out of the hand with arm-side tumbling action, and he threw it for strikes. While it's the least developed pitch in his arsenal, it is also relatively advanced for a 2017 grad.

There is still a significant amount of development remaining to become an elite prospect in the class at maturation, but so far Perdue is well ahead of the curve for his age and has the raw talent necessary to make that leap.




On a day loaded with impressive pitchers, there was the rare opportunity for righthander Mike Vasturia (2016, Medford, N.J.) to blend into the impressive crowd. That is typically a rare occurance for the 6-foot-6, 245-pounder who has a striking mound presence. And while on paper he looks like just another 2016 grad throwing stikes in the upper-80s, his ability to control and coordinate that massive body is highly impressive.

Vasturia's delivery and arm action are both clean and easy, and the body and delivery combination are reminiscent of Arizona Diamondbacks prospect Aaron Blair. He has a quick arm with developing strength coming from a high three-quarters slot with sharp downhill plane. He managed to throw a complete game on just 79 pitches and maintained his mid- to upper-80s velocity the entire outing.

His fastball is heavy, and while he didn't miss many bats, he induced a lot of weak contact. Vasturia showed the makings of a quality changeup, though he tended to bury it, and occasionally tipped it by slowing his arm down, but he managed to maintain his arm speed on several and the pitch gets good late dive. His curveball was inconsistent as well but flashed very good shape with 12-to-6 depth and sharpness at 73 mph at its best and has a chance to become a quality off-speed offering for him over time.



– Todd Gold


Jared Wetherbee (2016, Fiskdale, Mass.) is a lefty we’ve seen upwards of 87 mph with his fastball. He worked closer to 82-84 on Friday, but showed good command to both sides of the dish. He spun his breaking ball consistently and has a clean, repeatable arm action. He’s a polished Division I level college arm, who will impress with his ability to locate and mix his pitches.

When you look at a 2017 arm, if you can see a feel for pitching to go along with raw stuff, you have to take notice. Brady Netherton (2017, Decatur, Ga.) showed just that for the East Cobb Astros 16u team on Friday morning. Netherton, who is listed as a primary shortstop, shows above average athleticism on the mound, as he fields his position well. He worked mostly at 82-85 mph with his fastball and flashed a good feel for a sharp 70-71 mph curveball with lateral action. He proved adept at starting the pitch at the front shoulders of righty hitters and spotting it over the inside corner.

There have been some slick fielding shortstops on display in the early part of the Underclass tournament, but one of the smoothest we’ve seen is Florida Mustangs’ Derek Eberly (2016, Blountstown, Fla.). He has an above average throwing arm from shortstop and gets the ball out very quickly. He made consistently accurate throws on Friday and made some difficult plays look rather routine. We’ll need to see him more at the plate, but he shows flashes of good bat speed, and his wiry frame is sure to add some strength with maturity.

Jimmy Jeffries (2016, Mokena, Ill.) was one of the standouts of the 11:00 a.m. time slot, as he put a charge into two hard shots from the left side. He showed big carry on a long drive off the right-center field fence, showing low-effort power and a compact swing path. Behind the plate, he was near as impressive, showing a strong throwing arm and easy receiving actions. Particularly with the bat, he’ll be one to watch closely as the tournament moves along.

We’ve known about Justin Sorokowski (2016, Mechanicsville, Va.) and his athletic, high upside arm for awhile not, but Friday was the most raw velocity we’ve seen from him yet. The 6-foot-2 righthander came in to close out the game for the Virginia Cardinals and came out firing power fastballs. He worked mostly at 85-87 mph, mixing in only a couple breaking balls. He missed bats on the fastball and showed big life through the zone.

Conner Kimple (2016, Whitefish Bay, Wis.) showed off some of the liveliest tools we saw all day at the back fields at JetBlue, with one of his highlights being a 99 mph line drive off his bat. He has superb bat speed, and as the exit velocity would indicate, the ball has excellent life off his bat. He also shows off above average wheels and range in the outfield. His game action approach and discipline also stood out.

Cal Coughlin (2016, Lake Forest, Ill.) swung the bat exceptionally well on Friday in the Top Tier Americans’ game at JetBlue Stadium, consistently showing one of the most refined game approaches of any player in attendance. The 194th ranked player in the 2016 class, Coughlin earns that ranking on the strength of his polished bat. He produced two hard line drives on Friday, including a long drive to right-center field that resulted in a loud out. He stays inside the ball very well and adjusts well to off-speed pitches. This is a dangerous hitter against live pitching that will only increase his stock the more scouts see at-bats.

Lael Lockhart, Jr. (2016, Friendswood, Texas) is a talented two-way player that we’ve seen perform at a high level a number of times before. But, he was particularly impressive in the early innings of his Friday afternoon start. Working at 81-85 mph with his fastball, he topped as high as 86, and subtracted at times for two-seam movement. He missed bats on his 68-71 mph curveball, which flashed hard 2-to-8 depth. Lockhart is a strong overall athlete with prowess at the dish as well. He lined a hard shot to the opposite field in his first at-bat, showing good balance and bat speed.

Davis Daniel (2016, Montgomery, Ala.) worked from a number of different arm angles in his Friday outing, but showed good life on his fastball when he threw from his regular three-quarters slot. He topped out at 88 mph and worked consistently at 84-87. He generates some natural cutting action on his fastball and threw strikes at the corners and down in the zone. He’ll drop down to a low sidearm slot at times and work at 78-80 with his fastball as well. He also flashed a solid 73-74 mph curveball with good 11-to-5 shape. Daniel ended up tossing an absolute gem, throwing 97 pitches in a complete game outing. His last pitch of the game was 87 mph.

One of the cleaner lefthanded arms we saw on day two, Travis Hosterman (2016, Oviedo, Fla.) showed off an easy 83-86 mph fastball with late life through the zone. He pitches downhill and works consistently down in the zone to both sides of the plate.

Cody Cummings (2016, Cypress Springs, Texas) came in to close the game for the Houston Banditos and opened some eyes with his lively 85-87 mph fastball, which topped at 88 mph. He also flashed a hard, late biting 11-to-5 curveball at 74-75. Listed as a primary catcher, this is the first time we’d seen Cummings on the hill in tournament action. There will certainly be some demand in the scouting world to see his 6-foot-2, 215-pound frame out there again.

Michael Chambers (2016, Irving, Texas) made a big impression both with the bat and behind the plate in Friday’s game action for the Texas Stix. The righty swinging backstop has a projectable, lean frame but already flashes good pull-side power. Chambers hit a monster foul ball down the left field line that registered 95 mph off the bat, and later smacked a hard line drive single into left-center field.

We are never surprised anymore to see Anthony Molina (2016, Pembroke Pines, Fla.) cruising along with above average stuff. He once again brought his fluid, easy mechanics to the hill for the 9:00 p.m. slot at Terry Park Stadium. Molina lived mostly at 89-91 mph with his fastball, clearly holding some in reserve as he commanded well down in the zone and mixed his pitches like a far older, more advanced pitcher. He flashed a 75 mph changeup, but the biggest difference seen from past outings was his breaking ball.

The 6-foot-5 righty showed a hard and very consistent curveball at 73-75 mph with big 11-to-5 depth. Molina is going to pick up some velocity and fool more hitters with his fastball as he strengthens, and more importantly learns to use his lower half. He’s still a very short strider and generates his velocity mostly on the strength of effortless arm speed. When that lower half becomes more involved, the extension is going to come along and he’s going to see less aggressive swings off his fastball. In a number of ways, he’s now very similar in mechanics and stuff to Ole Miss 2014 Friday night starter and third round draft choice, Chris Ellis.

– Frankie Piliere


Since January, Perfect Game has been able to see two-way prospect Frank Vesuvio (2016, Armonk, N.Y.) evolve his game, seeing his best fastball jump from 83 mph (in January) to 88 mph (in August) to 90 mph this afternoon.

Physically built at 5-foot-11, 170-pounds, Vesuvio came out of the bullpen showing a fast arm with a long, full arm action coming through the backside. Releasing the ball from a three-quarters arm slot, the uncommitted Vesuvio worked is fastball in the 87-90 mph range with good life on the pitch. The more he threw his slider, the more his feel for the pitch progressed, showing short 10-to-4 break low in the zone up to 78 mph.

The arm strength transfers well into the outfield, particularly center field as he has above average speed as evidenced by the 6.62 60-yard dash he ran earlier this summer.

Weston Bizzle (2017, Lynn Haven, Fla.) came in for relief for the Evoshield Canes 2017’s yesterday morning, doing what he did all summer. A Vanderbilt commit, the young righthander worked his fastball in the 85-88 mph from an up-tempo delivery while showing an 11-to-5 curveball with nice depth at 72 mph.

The lone freshman listed on the Rawlings Hitters National Baseball Club 2016, center fielder Jarred Kelenic (2018, Waukesha, Wis.), is a name that will be circled in coaches programs over the next few years. A lefthanded hitter, Kelenic moves well and shows present strength on his 6-foot build and obviously projects with continued maturity. He shows solid bat speed and does a nice job of getting the barrel through the zone, showing speed that puts pressure on infielders when making throws across the infield.

Righthander Brian Brown (2016, Safety Harbor, Fla.) may end up being one of the more projectable pitchers that threw at the Port Charlotte complex yesterday, standing at 6-foot-5, 190-pounds. The uncommitted Brown has a high waist with long, lean limbs and repeatedly shows a loose, easy arm action which he used to work his fastball in the mid-80s, often times bumping 87 mph. Working exclusively from the stretch, Brown was working both sides of the plate with downhill plane exceptionally well with occasional run to his arm side and projects for more with better directionality out of his lower half.

Staying tall on his backside, Brown showed a feel for both of his off-speed pitches, with the strongest feel for his 11-to-5 curveball in the upper-60s to low-70s. Though he slows his arm action on his changeup, Brown threw the pitch for strikes well with fade down in the zone, and as he continues to throw it, the effectiveness will only increase.

It would be incredibly hard to miss lefthander Kyle Young (2016, Syosset, N.Y.) when panning across the Next Level Dugout as he stands 6-foot-9 with very long limbs and a lean, projectable frame. A young player with such a long frame usually correlates to the inability to repeat his delivery and fill up the strike zone. The Hofstra commit was the complete opposite, showing balance throughout his delivery, working downhill with his fastball showing life up to 84 mph. He repeats his delivery well, especially given his size, and showed a nice feel for a 70-71 mph change with some fade to his arm side.

Batting after Kelenic in the Hitters lineup was Dominic Clementi (2016, Hartland, Wis.), another projectable athlete with a smooth, lefthanded swing. A future Michigan Wolverine, Clementi already shows average speed down the line and projects for more as he continues to add strength to his 6-foot-1 frame. In his second at-bat of the morning, Clementi jumped on a pitch he could handle and drove it over the center fielder’s head for a triple, and seemed to accelerate first to third.

Daniel Bakst (2016, New York, N.Y.) has shown his ability to swing the bat all summer at numerous showcases and tournaments and did so again yesterday with Team Rawlings Citius. Currently ranked 91st in the 2016 class, the uncommitted Bakst shows nice balance in his swing with a strong feel for the barrel and turned on an inside pitch for a hard ground ball single through the 6-5 hole.

The Ohio Elite team rolled out two interesting 2016 arms late yesterday afternoon, both of whom are uncommitted. Cameron Junker (Liberty Township, Ohio) started the game, showing an easy arm action from a three-quarters arm slot that produced a fastball that sat 87-89 mph in the first inning, peaking at 90 mph once with the ability to bring his fastball in on lefthanded hitters. His feel for his curveball developed through his outing, peaking at 73 mph with short, slurvy action.

Relieving Junker was Damon Egnor (Paulding, Ohio), a strongly built, broad-shouldered righthanded pitcher who came in and shut down the opposition. Egnor showed a long, fluid arm action with a three-quarters release and did a nice job of generating downhill plane to his fastball that worked in the 85-87 mph range, topping at 88 mph. Uncommitted, Egnor pounded the strike zone and missed bats with his fastball due to some deception he creates in his delivery. He kept hitters honest by mixing in an 11-to-5 curveball with depth and feel in the low-70s and flashed a changeup at 81 mph.

Playing third base for Ohio Elite was Noah West (Westerville, Ohio) a quick-twitch athlete listed as a primary shortstop whose actions would play well there at the next level. West made his presence felt early defensively, charging in on a weakly hit ball, picked it up barehanded and delivered a strike to first base while his momentum was taking him away from first.

– Jheremy Brown