Daily
Recaps: Day 1
It
wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Elijah Cabell (2018,
Winter Park, Fla.) has some of the most impressive bat speed in the
2018 prep class. The outfielder carries a well-proportioned 6-foot,
175-pound frame with broad shoulders, a high waist and quick-twitch
athleticism. The righthanded hitter is currently uncommitted, but he
had many college coaches buzzing after a very strong showing at the
plate on Sunday. In his first game, Cabell singled up the middle on
a hard ground ball that deflected off of the pitcher, rounding the
base with an easy pace at 4.78 seconds. After a solidly-struck fly
out to center field in his second at bat, Cabell stroked a double
directly over the center fielder’s head.
In
his second game for Central Florida Gators 15u team, Cabell turned a
lot of heads with a home run to left-center field that rivaled that
of 2017 outfielder Jordon Adell’s blast mentioned in Saturday’s recap. Simply put, Cabell has easy bat speed and a solid feel for
the barrel. The double and home run were perfect examples of how
much strength, carry and backspin Cabell is able to generate with
said bat speed when he maintains solid balance and is able to square
balls up.
Chase
Hacker (2017, Farmersville, Texas) had a solid day at the plate
on Saturday for the Academy Select Sun Devils Ingram but was not
mentioned in the recap. After showing solid strength, athleticism and
barrel utilization in Saturday's win over Team California, Hacker
again flashed with the bat on Sunday. The 6-foot, 180-pound catcher
turned some heads of his own with a well-struck home run to
left-center field. Hacker also generated loud contact in a later
at-bat, striking a single into the left-center field gap to drive in
two runs. The uncommitted prospect shows solid physicality and
explosion in all aspects of his game, and while his swing is a bit
rotational, his strength has repeatedly shown up in game action.
Furthermore, Hacker shows good agility and lateral quickness behind
home plate, and he has the requisite athleticism to profile at other
positions on the diamond as well.
Mason
Denaburg (2018, Merritt Island, Fla.) toed the rubber for the
aforementioned Central Florida Gators 15u team in their first game of
the day. Denaburg, who is uncommitted, is a highly regarded catching
prospect and was recently ranked as the 35th overall
player in the class of 2018. On Sunday Denaburg showcased some solid
stuff from the mound and showed that he may very well profile as a
two-way player at the collegiate level in years to come. The
6-foot-3, 170-pound righty is still a bit raw but he has some
deception in his delivery with a hunch over his front side and
slightly crossfire release. With all of the funk, Denaburg’s 83-87
mph fastball tends to jump on hitters, and the offering showed solid
late life from his three-quarters arm slot. He didn’t allow a hit
until the fifth inning, and while his command wavered a bit, and he
had tendency to fall off to the first base side, Denaburg showed a
solid enough feel for his delivery for a player of his age that is a
primary position player. With a fast arm and an athletic projectable
frame, there is certainly reason to believe that Denaburg has a good
chance of pitching effectively at the next level.
Nolan
Crisp (2019, McDonough, Ga.) also showcased a very fast arm on
Sunday. Despite not yet being a high school student, Crisp ran his
fastball up to 87 mph and sat comfortably in the 84-85 mph. While he
looks a bit shorter than his listed 6-foot frame, Crisp’s stuff
measures up just fine. While there is certainly some effort to his
delivery with a notable head whack and recoil at release, Crisp did
not show any ill effects and he maintained his velocity well.
Additionally, Crisp has a loose and clean arm action in working to
his high three-quarters arm slot. He also is a good overall athlete
with advanced body control for someone his age, showing an adept feel
for repeating his delivery and the ability to hop off of the mound
quickly and field at an impressive level.
Davis
Sharpe (2018, Dacula, Ga.) pitched opposite of Crisp for much of
the Houston Banditos/East Cobb Braves 15u matchup and he also
impressed. The uncommitted righty has a different look than Crisp,
as Sharpe is long and lean at 6-foot-2, 170-pounds, but he also
displayed good fastball velocity, working his heater up to 86 mph and
sitting in the 84-85 range in the early going, before settling in
more in the 82-84 range in the later innings on a hot day. Sharpe has
some funk and deception in his delivery with a slightly closed
landing and crossfire release, and his fastball not only missed some
bats but also induced weak contact, as he showed the ability to run
and cut his fastball. Additionally, Sharpe flashed solid feel for a
mid-70s slider.
Griffin
McLarty (2016, Buckner, Ky.) is young for his grade and may be a
late bloomer, as the College of Charleston commit ran his fastball up
to 88 mph on Sunday. McLarty has a slender, athletic build and is
listed at 6-foot-2, 175-pounds. His fastball flashed late cutting
action and proved to be a difficult pitch to hit when it was located
down in the strike zone. The righty also broke out two distinct
breaking balls; an upper-70s slider with short depth and late
glove-side slice and a true curveball thrown in the 73 mph range. The
slider had decent late tilt and played well off of the fastball, as
the offering came out of the same arm slot while the curveball showed
more depth and was used to change hitters’ eye levels and timing.
Another
uncommitted pitcher, Brian Morrell (2017, Wading River, N.Y.),
turned some heads on Sunday. Morrell, who was a Junior National
Showcase participant last month has been clocked as high as 91 mph by
Perfect Game, touching 89 on Sunday while turning in a gritty
complete game, six-inning effort. Morrell has an athletic build and
solid present strength in his 6-foot-1, 180-pound frame. With a high
waist and broad shoulders Morrell looks like he could easy carry more
weight and continue to get bigger over the next few years. He settled
in to more of the 85-86 mph range with his fastball, dipping down
lower at times, but when he needed it the pitch was always there for
him and he was particularly effective with the offering when he was
able to locate the pitch down in the zone. At times that can be an
issue as he labored a bit with his delivery, not always incorporating
his lower half enough, but the pitch gets on hitters quickly and is
the solid foundation of his arsenal. Morrell also featured a slider
in the mid-70s, which he showed solid feel for, and a curveball with
more depth in the 69-72 mph range that showed flashes, and an
occasional low-70s changeup.
– Andrew
Krause
The
last time I saw righthander Boyd
Vander Kooi (2017,
Mesa, Ariz.) the University of Oregon commit threw a complete game
no-hitter at the Coach Bob Invitational earlier this spring while
pitching for Skyline High School. While he didn’t throw another
no-no he still impressed and it wasn’t until the fifth inning that
opposing bats were finally able to figure him out and pick up a base
hit. A strongly built 6-foot-5, 200-pound rising junior, Vander Kooi
has not only continued to grow and add physicality to his frame since
we first saw him at a regional showcase a few years back, but he’s
also continued to become more fluid with his mechanics while still
pitching at a high level.
Even
as most recent as last summer Vander Kooi, whose pure stuff has
continued to increase, would land very closed with his front foot
which cut off extension but allowed for some hard angle on his
fastball. This spring there was a noticeable difference in his
landing spot and yesterday it appeared as though he was landing
online and driving towards the plate while still creating some heavy
angle to his fastball. Vander Kooi remains very balanced through his
delivery, especially for somebody who’s 6-foot-5 at his age, and in
turn was able to pound the strike zone over the course of his
complete game. He sat comfortably in the 85-88 mph range throughout
but more impressive was the downhill plane he’s able to generate
due to his length, and it looks as though he’s just dropping the
ball on hitters as he gathered a healthy amount of uncomfortable
swings.
Vander
Kooi continued to show a low effort, steady tempo’d delivery on the
mound well into his final frame and his command never wavered. Facing
a lefthanded hitter Vander Kooi worked his fastball away until he got
two strikes on the batter and then busted him in with an 87 mph
fastball with heavy and late running life. His fastball induces
consistent ground ball contact when located down in the zone thanks
to the life, and though he didn’t really need it, he showed both a
curveball in the low-70s and a changeup at 79 mph.
It’s
not often you write about a young player from the state of Idaho,
though good players most certainly come through, and it looks as
though Jacob Pfennigs
(2018, Post Falls, Idaho) could be the next in line. Pfennigs is
physically what you’re looking for in a young pitching prospect
regardless of the state he’s from as he stands 6-foot-6, 180-pounds
with long and loose limbs and a sense of athleticism in what in he
does. Once he takes to the mound he continues to show attributes that
evaluators look for as he shows a short and quick arm action coming
through the back that produced a fastball that topped out at 89 mph
early and sat in the 84-88 mph range throughout the first couple.
There would be times where he would pull out his front side early and
cause him to miss up and out to his arm side but there were also
other times where he’d show hard cutting life to his fastball while
still producing his velocity rather easily. Pfennigs showed both a
changeup in the mid-70s and a slider in the upper-70s and as he
continue to fill out physically it’s easy to envision his fastball
getting into the 90’s rather easily.
Austin
Mihlbauer
(2017, Mukwonago, Wis.) impressed during his time on the mound at the
Junior National and last night was no different as the Texas
Christian University commit was handed the ball for a key pool play
game against FTB Pride. Throughout the early and middle innings of
the game Mihlbauer sat in the 85-88 mph range, bumping some 89’s
and did so from a difficult and extended arm slot which helped create
angle and some sink to his heater. He shows some whip to his arm
action and also exhibited the ability to locate his fastball to
either side of the plate, coming out of his hand cleanly while
inducing several uncomfortable swings.
His
go-to secondary early on was his 73-76 mph slider which as you could
imagine with an arm slot like Mihlbauer’s would be difficult for a
hitter to square up especially as he holds his slot on the pitch. A
pitch that may go undetected some or looked at as a potential
two-seamer due to the low-80s velocity is his changeup, an offering
that looks like his fastball in almost every way out of his hand
until the last few feet as it begins to fade away from the hitter.
I’ve
spoken about the high level of pitchability Landon
Marceaux (2018,
Destrehan, La.) shows on the mound despite heading into just his
sophomore year of high school. Working out of the ‘pen last night
on a team that’s made up exclusively of 2017 graduates the
uncommitted Marceaux delivered perhaps the most impressive pitch of
the night and possibly the tournament as he executed a 3-2 80 mph
changeup in the top of the seventh with FTB threatening. The arm
action remained the same as on his 87-89 mph fastball which come out
cleanly and with downhill plane and though he didn’t have to show
it Marceaux possesses the same type of feel for his curveball as he
does the two previously mentioned pitches.
Every
time I see Matthew Cooper
(2017, Virginia Beach, Va.) play he hits the ball hard and with
authority, regardless of which part of the fields it’s barreled to.
A recent Clemson University commit, the strongly built 6-foot-3,
210-pound Cooper got his arms fully extended on an outer half
fastball and drove the ball hard into the right center field gap for
a standup triple. Not only did Cooper show off his impressive
strength but also put his run tool on display which stands out for
somebody with Cooper’s physicality.
In
yesterday’s recap we touched on how Weston Bizzle is able to
produce very consistent results every time he take the mound and
left-hander Jordan Butler
(2017, Tampa, Fla.) is very similar. A University of Florida commit
with true two-way potential at the next level the 6-foot-1, 190-pound
Butler again turned in a solid complete game performance in which he
punched out eleven and walked just one.
Working
with an up-tempo pace to his delivery Butlers able to create solid
deception on his already difficult to his 86-89 mph fastball due to
the near side arm release point and his ability to work either side
of the plate. Incorporating his lower half into his delivery well,
Butler shows a loose and whippy arm action coming out clean and with
late life to his arm side. The sink he generates on his fastball is
enough to stay off barrels and induce ground ball contact but the
young left-hander also shows a full array of off-speed, each coming
fro the same slot with equally as impressive amounts of life.
His
changeup shows similar life to that of his fastball with fading life
down and away from right-handed hitters in the low-70s and like his
other two pitches he fills up the zone more often than not. Butler’s
slider is the off speed pitch that appeared most frequently in the
low-70s and proved to be more than effective, especially against
lefthanded hitters as he is able to locate the pitch to either side
of the plate. The pitchability was on display throughout the game as
Butler continued to mix and after just missing off the arm side black
to end the game with his fastball the future Gator came back and back
doored a 3-2 slider to a righthanded hitter for a called third
strike.
Though
they don’t play on the same summer travel team as Matheu
Nelson
(2018, Largo, Fla.) plays for the Florida Burn and Alec
Sanchez
(2018, Jacksonville, Fla.) plays for FTB Pride, both are rising
sophomore who are committed to Florida State University. Each also
showed they known how to hit the ball hard though that comes as
little surprise after what they’ve done in the past.
Nelson,
a 5-foot-11, 180-pound catcher, shows nice balanced with solid timing
in swing and similar to the result of Matthew Cooper from above
Nelson showed a short and quick path to the ball which resulted in a
hard line drive double to the right field gap, without any tail, and
came off the bat at 96 mph.
Sanchez
has one of the more advanced hit tools in his class and possibly the
tournament as he time and time again finds the barrel and hits the
ball hard. Last night was no different as Sanchez jumped all over the
first pitch of the game from Mihlbauer for a line drive single into
right field, showing no hesitation or discomfort facing he lower
slotted left-handed. Showing the same quick hands and barrel skills
later in the game Sanchez turned on another fastball and ripped it
into right field, jumping off the bat at 100 mph.
A
strongly built 6-foot-3, 195-pound righthander, Bayden
Root
(2018, Kokomo, Ind.) made his way to the Orlando Scorpions via the
Hoosier State and impressed during his two innings of relief out of
the bullpen. Already committed to the University of Miami, Root came
out sitting in the 86-89 mph range and did so from the first to last
pitch of his outing. Showing a full and fluid arm action through the
back Root is able to generate his velocity rather easily as his arm
remains quick and the ball comes out cleanly. Though he’s already
showing solid velocity for a player heading into his sophomore year
of high school it’s easy to project more en route for Root who
already showed the ability to miss bats and challenge hitters based
on the strength of his fastball. Root’s fastball shows some short
running and sinking life to it due to his release point and to
complement his fastball he also showed a mid-70s curveball which
featured short depth.
– Jheremy
Brown