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2012 Top Prospects

Joe Powell  RHP - 2012 - Dallas, TX
St. Louis

Joe Powell – 2012 – RHP – 5-10/195 – Jesuit College Prep - Dallas, TX – Powell really impressed the PG scouts at this event. He’s a strong RHP with a clean fast arm action. He showed good command of his fastball (88-90 mph) and was even more impressive with the feel and quality of his breaking ball and change-up. He also threw 92 from the outfield and 90 across the infield. Here is a report from PG President Jerry Ford. “This event didn’t disappoint and got very interesting when a well built and athletic 5’10” RHP from Dallas took the mound on Saturday night on Roberto Clemente Field. Joe Powell went unbeaten last season for his HS team, a team that featured one of the drafts top prospects in Josh Bell. While he isn’t that tall RHP that most scouts fall in love with, he’s ready for success at the highest levels of college baseball” “Powell was an easy and consistent 88-90 mph, it’s a very good fastball that he seems to spot well, but it was far from the best thing about this young athletic pitcher. Powell displayed a very good and quick 3/4 arm action, and solid no frills balanced delivery with excellent arm speed. He attacks the plate! He showed an excellent curve ball in the upper 70s. It was a sharp breaker and he could really locate that pitch. Perhaps the best pitch Powell displayed was his changeup. It was a very deceptive, late dropping pitch that has to be one of the top changeups I’ve seen all year. (And I think I’ve seen most all of the top pitching prospects) That’s not all, even in the middle of winter Powell showed outstanding command of all three pitches in Ft Myers. He breezed through three innings in very short order using both sides of the plate. He did stick with the fastball for the most part and that was kind of disappointing only because I see lots of 90 mph fastballs, but not very many off speed pitches of Powell’s capability. Bottom line… This kid can be a starting pitcher at any college in the country right away and he is uncommitted.

Josh Brooks  RHP - 2012 - Oviedo, FL
Uncommitted

Josh Brooks – 2012 – RHP – 6-0/175 – Hagerty HS - Oviedo, FL – Brooks’ arm works well with good arm speed and looseness to it. He pitched at 84-86 MPH touching 88 MPH with his fastball. He has a clean delivery and his velocity projects to be 90+ mph, possibly in the near future. He also showed an 11/5 curveball and a change-up that show a lot of promise.

Mike Trefil  OF - 2012 - La Grange Highlands, IL
Florence-Darlington Technical College

Mike Trefil – 2012 – OF – 6-3/186 – Lyons Township - La Grange Highlands, IL – Trefil put up impressive numbers in the workout running a 6.87 and throwing 91 MPH from the outfield. At the plate, Trefil showed bat speed and some pop. He does have excellent raw hitting tools and should really come on in college over the next few years.

Gian Jimenez  C - 2012 - Barceloneta, PR
Brevard CC

Gian Jimenez – 2012 – C – 5-10/185 – Barceloneta, PR – Jimenez showed good catch and throw tools in the workout and in the games. He has a quick release with quick transfers and online throws. (Pop time 1.92/76mph) He has good rhythm to his swing and has some pop. Jimenez has the tools to develop into a high level catcher.

Clayton Payne  RHP - 2012 - North Fort Myers, FL
Daytona State College

Clayton Payne – 2012 – RHP – 6-4/175 – Riverdale HS - North Ft. Myers, FL – Payne has a very good pitchers build with a clean arm action. He sat at 84-85 MPH, top of 86, with his fastball and projects to be an 88-90 MPH guy in the near future. He throws a 12/6 curveball with good shape and it should develop into a strikeout pitch for him. He’s an interesting pitching prospect who could really develop in college.

Brian Almand  MIF - 2012 - Haddon Twp, NJ
Uncommitted

Brian Almand – 2012 – MIF – 6-0/175 – Paul VI HS - Haddon Twp, NJ – Almand showed good bat speed and some pop with good game at bats. Defensively he moves to the ball well with clean transfers and very good arm strength (87 mph across the infield). He showed good hustle all over the field and looks like he really enjoys playing the game.

Pavel Chavez-Rusova  C - 2012 - Miami, FL
Niagara

Pavel Chavez-Rusova – 2012 – C – 6-1/210 – Southridge HS - Miami, FL – Chavez-Rusova was very impressive in the BP portion of the workout. He showed a short swing with good bat speed. He has juice in his bat and the ball jumps. He carried that over in the games and made consistent solid contact. Defensively he receives well and has catch and throw tools. (Pop time 1.90/75 mph)

Christian Rivera  SS - 2012 - Loiza, PR
Uncommitted

Christian Rivera – 2012 – SS – 5-10/170 – Loiza, PR – Rivera put up some good numbers running a 6.84 and throwing 83 MPH across the infield. He has quick transfers with very good actions. At the plate he shows bat speed and the ball jumps. Excellent all around player.

Nicolas Zieniuk  C - 2012 - Margate, NJ
Bridgeport

Nicolas Zieniuk – 2012 – C – 6-3/180 – Holy Spirit HS - Margate, NJ – Zieniuk was impressive in the workout with his catch and throw tools popping a 1.93 with accurate online throws at 79 mph. He also shut down the running game in the games portion of the showcase. Zieniuk receives well and also showed bat speed and hitting potential at the plate. He could easily rank higher on this list based on his upside

Kenneth Pope  RHP - 2012 - Winston-Salem, NC
Uncommitted

Kenneth Pope – 2012 – RHP – 6-0/160 – North Davidson HS - Lexington, NC – Pope pitched at 82-84 MPH with his fastball using a long loose arm action. He’s got a little funk to his delivery that makes him very deceptive to hitters. Pope has good armside run and sink to his fastball and throws 3 pitches for strikes. With a few mechanical adjustments, he could make the jump to 86-88 MPH pretty quickly.