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High School  | General  | 3/29/2018

NHSI Day 1 Notes

David Rawnsley      Vincent Cervino     
Photo: Perfect Game

The first day of the seventh annual NHSI at the USA Baseball complex in Cary, N.C., was fully loaded in national level talent, not to mention national level scouts from across baseball, but Day 1 was a day to watch pitchers, as most of the 16 high school teams from around the country threw their best arm in this single elimination four-day event. So we'll concentrate almost solely on pitchers in the Day 1 recap and start working in some of the many talented position prospects starting on Day 2 after additional looks.




Righthander Cole Winn (2018, Anaheim, Calif.) moved from Colorado to Southern California and Orange Lutheran High School for his senior year and the decision has done wonders for his exposure in the scouting community. He was the star of the day on Day 1, throwing six seemingly effortless shutout innings, working consistently at 92-94 with his fastball, with just as many 94's as 92's, over the first five innings. Winn threw two types of curveballs, a bigger early count offering that changed hitter's eye levels and a shorter and sharper version that was his swing and miss pitch, along with a short slider and filled up the strike zone with all his pitches. He seems to have significantly calmed down his delivery since last summer and his dramatically improved command and pitchability was the most important takeaway from this outing, as the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Winn has always had top drawer stuff. Winn is currently ranked 23rd in the PG national class rankings and one can see him moving into back of the first round consideration based on this outing and the number of scouts who saw it.




Lefthander Matt Liberatore (2018, Peoria, Ariz.) has been a popular name in speculation about the top five picks in the June 4-6 draft and while he did some very good things in throwing seven one-hit, two-run innings in a game that his Mountain Ridge team eventually won in extra innings, the outing was unlikely to solidify or raise his already high draft stock. Liberatore worked primarily in the 90-92 mph range the first two innings, touching some spots in the 93-95 range a couple of times and notably hitting 95 immediately after allowing a first inning run. He settled into the 88-90 mph range during the middle innings and didn't display his normal advanced feel for spotting his changeup and curveball, although one important development in his arsenal since last summer has been the addition of a 81-84 mph slider that flashed quality but is still inconsistent. In the bottom of the seventh in a tie game, Liberatore attacked with his fastball for perhaps the only stretch in the game, pumping 90-91 and hitting 93 mph with his last pitch of the game, while showing his most competitive body language of the game as well.

PG All-American southpaw Luke Bartnicki (2018, Marietta, Ga.) had an outing he will likely want to forget, lasting only four innings in a loss to North Carolina's Green Hope High School. Bartnicki worked in the 87-91 mph range, touching higher twice on 0-2 counts, and got good cutting action at times on his fastball. However, his low to mid-80s slider was loose and ineffective and virtually indistinguishable from his changeup at times and this was the pitch that was a big separator for him last summer. Finding that pitch again will be key for his future development.

Bartnicki was matched up against an extremely impressive sophomore lefthander in Liam Norris (2020, Cary, N.C.), the ninth-ranked player in the PG Class of 2020 rankings. After a nervous start where he walked two of the first three hitters, Norris settled down quickly and was in complete control for the rest of his outing. He worked in the 88-91 mph range, touching 92 at least once, with a loose easy arm action and a equally low effort and under control delivery. His 75 mph curveball and 81 mph slider were especially effective against lefthanded hitters. Norris resembles a taller Ryan Weathers physically and is similar in not only his body and general stuff but also in his athleticism. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Norris fielded his position very well in many opportunities and also lined two hard singles up the middle against Bartnicki fastballs.

Another very impressive youngster on Day 1 was Florence High School freshman Grant Taylor (2021, Florence, Ala.). Taylor is the sixth-ranked player in the PG Class of 2021 rankings and topped out at 90-92 mph at all eight PG events he pitched in during 2017. He didn't quite have that velocity on Wednesday, working 86-89 mph out of the bullpen, but his most impressive tool was actually the tight spin he generated on a 75-80 mph breaking ball that took both curveball and slider shapes at different times, although unlikely with intent at Taylor's young age. Taylor is listed at 6-foot-3, 215-pounds in the PG records and that weight looks to be on the high side. He has an athletic and projectable build with a very fast and loose arm both front and back.




Taylor's Florence High School teammate, senior Cole Henry (2018, Florence, Ala.) showed the arm strength he's known for, working 91-93 mph early from an extended three-quarters release point before setting down to more 89-91 after the first inning. Henry had some difficulty working down in the strike zone with both his fastball and 75 mph curveball, which led to some hard contact, and his changeup was his best pitch on the day and could have been used more frequently.

One position prospect who definitely warrants Day 1 mention in addition to all the pitchers is Green Hope High School centerfielder Jordyn Adams (2018, Cary, N.C.). Adams is a football first athlete whose father, Deke, is an assistant football coach at North Carolina. He's ranked as the 58th best prospect and eighth best wide receiver prospect in the 2018 class by one football recruiting service and it's easy to see why looking at his athleticism. Adams is listed on the baseball program at 6-foot-3, 195-pounds, although his listed football size of 6-foot-2, 175-pounds seems like a more realistic present number, and much of that is in his very long and strong legs. Adams showed much better right handed bat speed than this scout saw last summer, with a projectable pull-centric approach, but his best tool is his explosive speed. He ran a 4.00 home to first on a routine ground ball to shortstop and did it easily without any perceivable dig and effort. While Adams name doesn't circulate much nationally in baseball, if he was a baseball first athlete who had more national exposure and experience, it's easy to see him as a potential top 50 player in baseball as well as football. He is signed to play both sports at North Carolina and time will tell about how much baseball he does eventually play.

– David Rawnsley



Starting off the first game of the 2018 NHSI was Hanover (Va.) against No. 22 John Curtis Christian (La.) and Hanover righthander Jack Dragum (2018, Mechanicsville, Va.) provided a solid start and showed off a pretty well-rounded arsenal on the hill. The righthander worked up to 92 mph early on in the game before settling in the 88-90 mph range for the rest of the way. The Virginia signee works from a shorter arm action, but has some funk to his overall delivery, which aids in deception and helps his fastball to play up some.

The frame is pretty physically mature, however the present stuff is pretty solid. The curveball worked in the mid-70s for most of the affair with tight rotation and sweeping 11-to-5 shape including lots of depth. The curveball worked as the primary out pitch for Dragum during this look, but he also had no issue pumping fastballs by opposing hitters as well. Dragum showed a couple of changeups too and was dealt a hard luck loss by finishing with six innings and striking out seven batters.

George Jenkins (Fla.) earned a hard fought win over Mount Carmel (Ill.) and lefthanded starter Daniel Batcher (2019, Lakeland, Fla.) was masterful for the Eagles during their victory. The southpaw struck out 10 batters and earned the win for George Jenkins as the junior lefthander stood out among the top underclass performers on the day. The West Virginia commit is the ideal picture of physical projection, at a listed 6-foot-4 and only 160-pounds with very long limbs and tons of room for additional strength and increased velocity to the frame.

Batcher recorded what would be his highest velocity per his Perfect Game profile as he touched 87 mph early on and sat comfortably in the 82-85 mph range. Everything is pretty clean about the delivery from the fluidity and rhythm to the timing and ease of the arm stroke through the point of release. Batcher throws a considerable amount of strikes and mixed in a big breaking 1-to-7 curveball with lots of depth in the 68-72 mph range that could be thrown for strikes. The changeup was arguably his best weapon on the day as it worked in the upper-70s and was a neutralizing weapon against righthanded hitters.

Tossing a gem to give the sixth-ranked American Heritage Patriots (Fla.) an opening game victory over Sanitago (Calif.) was lefthander Ryan Cabarcas (2019, Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and the lefthander has shown off his outstanding pitchability before but he was very close to untouchable today. The Florida commit worked up to 89 mph early in the first inning before settling more in a 84-87 mph range on the afternoon. Cabarcas is a bit undersized, under 6-foot per his PG profile, but commands and mixes his pitches extraordinarily well. He is best when he is attacking hitters ahead in the count and can get hitters to roll over on his secondary pitches, which is what happened a lot on Wednesday as Cabaracas surrendered just one hit on his six shutout innings. The breaking ball worked well but he also featured a changeup on the afternoon, and all in all it was another classic showing by a pitcher who has some of the best feel for pitching in the 2019 class.




On a day that featured a ton of top talent pitching, Christian Scott (2018, Parkland, Fla.) was one of the top draft prospects to take the mound and he certainly didn’t disappoint. The Florida commit worked his fastball up to 94 mph and struck out nine batters over seven frames while pounding the strike zone. For the early portion of his start Scott was predominantly 90-93 mph flashing hard run on his fastball as the pitch is a high spin rate fastball. Scott worked side to side with the pitch and routinely ran it by hitters.

Scott is a very lean and projectable righthander with extra-long limbs and looks a bit gangly in terms of body type on the mound. He projects immensely to add velocity with lots of arm speed although he does throw with a bit of head whack. The curveball was the put away pitch for Scott and even though it didn’t have premier velocity of tight rotation, he commanded the pitch very well and went to it often on two strikes. Scott would bury the pitch low and to the glove side with 11-to-5 shape and he kept the pitch in the strike zone long enough to induce swings before it disappeared into the dirt.




Certainly one of the performances that drew the most eyes was that of Mater Dei’s (Calif.) Hunter Cope (2019, Newport Beach, Calif.) as the 6-foot-11 righthander put on a pretty impressive display. He is uber-athletic for his size as Cope spends his offseason on the basketball court, as you might expect a 6-foot-11 high schooler to do, and repeats his delivery pretty well for someone his size. There are some checkpoints to the delivery and he does collapse his front side early, which takes away from some plane or leveraging with his fastball, but he is able to run the pitch in the 88-91 mph range while bumping 92 once. Cope throws a lot of strikes and generates easy plus extension down the mound, which allows his fastball to play up as he’s releasing very close to the plate.

He showed two breaking balls, and flashed one 79 mph slider that showed some promise though he might have just cut it across his body, and utilized more of a short breaking curveball in the 73-76 mph range. It has the makings of a quality pitch but he throws it with a bit less conviction at times. The San Diego commit’s changeup was an effective neutralizing pitch, as O’Connor’s (Ariz.) top three hitters were all lefties, and he throws it with a similar delivery and arm speed as the fastball. Cope was hit with the hard luck loss, but there is a lot to like on the profile and the No. 72 prospect for the 2019 class looks to be one of the top underclassmen on the west coast for next year’s draft.

– Vinnie Cervino
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