One of the biggest advantages of viewing prospects at a young age is the ability to track them from viewing to viewing and year to year. Such is the case with young 2019 righthander Javier Felix (Watsonville, Calif.) who is already a household name among college recruiters and is currently ranked 51st in the national class rankings. We at Perfect Game got our first look at Felix last summer when he topped out at an impressive 85 mph as a rising freshman but the velocity came more from pure arm strength rather than his overall delivery.
Jump to this summer and Felix began to show more fluidity and comfort with his mechanics, a trend that continued throughout his start on the opening day of the tournament. Currently uncommitted, Felix is a physical specimen and the type of arm coaches and scouts alike would love to dream upon with with broad shoulders and long limbs on a frame that appears much taller than his listed 6-foot-1. What he’s able to produce with his right arm is just as impressive as the physical portion of his game as he opened the game up at 85-87 mph, bumping a couple of 88s and showed relative ease in doing so.
His fastball proved to be a pitch that he could simply overpower the opposition with and after walking the first two batters of the game Felix settled in and proceeded to fire six no-hit innings. When everything was on though, a reoccurring theme as the innings wore on, Felix showed the ability to work his fastball to either side of the plate with heavy life down in the zone and occasional cut action when working to the glove side. The tempo through his delivery is very methodical with balance and it’s easy to envision continued climbs in velocity, not only with natural growth, but also with better directionality from his lower half.
And while he could, and did, miss several bats with his fastball, Felix showed an uncanny feel for his slider, a pitch that was equally as impressive as his heater at times. He shows plenty of hand speed on the pitch as it steadily crossed the plate at 74-75 mph with short but late tilt and 10-to-4 shape. It proved to be a consistent offering for Felix and could very well develop into a power secondary, a scary thought given his comfort with the pitch as tripled up with it in the middle inning and showed no hesitation in doing so.
The progress that he’s made in terms of fluidity to his overall delivery, plus the up-tick in velocity, make him one of the more intriguing prospects in the entire event and there’s plenty of reason to believe he’s not done yet.
I’ve probably watched hundreds of games this summer and the first two innings I caught from uncommitted 2018 righthander John Neeley (Mesa, Ariz.) were among the best I’ve seen. Ideally built at 6-foot-3, 175-pounds, Neeley came out and absolutely pounded the strike zone as he threw just one ball over the first two frames, a slider that popped out of his hand and hit the batter in the back. Aside from that pitch however Neeley spotted his fastball in and out sitting in the 84-86 mph range while showing a quick arm stroke with some whip and extension out front. He works from a higher three-quarters sot and regularly worked on top of the ball allowing for solid angle and plane, especially to the glove side. And though he attacked predominately with his fastball in my quick look, he did flash a short and tight slider at 75 mph that mimicked the fastball very nicely out of the hand and featured late bite down in the zone.
We’ve seen 2019 righthander Sean Rimmer (Mesa, Ariz.) do his thing on the mound this summer where he’s been up to 86 mph but the ultra-impressive 6-foot-4, 200-pound build allows the uncommitted Rimmer to do damage in the batter’s box too. Hitting in the heart of the order for T-Rex the righthanded hitting Rimmer jumped all over an elevated fastball and put his strength to work, connecting for a long and loud double that burned the center fielder with big jump off the barrel.
Another uncommitted 2019 arm who drew in college recruiters to behind the backstop on the first day of the tournament was righthander Hunter Cranton (Yorba Linda, Calif.) who’s currently ranked No. 204 in the national class rankings. Cranton looks to grow another inch each time I see him and despite the growth he’s able to regularly repeat his delivery and fill up the strike zone, speaking to his overall athleticism.
Frequently up to 86 mph with his fastball in this particular outing, Cranton shows a full and fluid arm action through the backside and uses his length nicely to create solid extension out front prior to release. He’s able to create some deception to his delivery with a high leg lift and though he lands slightly open with his strike foot he finishes through the ball nicely and shows cut action to the fastball while living down in the lower third of the zone. He mixed in both a changeup and breaking ball for strikes and the changeup, a 75-77 mph pitch, featured short fading life to the arm action from a similar release point. And on top of what he proved capable of doing on the mound, Cranton also hits in the five-hole for BPA and connected for a double in the opening game, pulling the pitch down the left field line.
The first four hitters in the BPA lineup all did something during the opening day of the tournament and aside from Brooks Lee (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) who’s a Cal Poly commit, Niko Santamaria (Yorba Linda, Calif.), C.J. Rodriguez (Whittier, Calif.), and Joshua Hahn (Huntington Beach, Calif.) are all currently uncommitted. Santamaria gets things going for the offense from atop the lineup and he’s a lefthanded hitter who shows present strength to his build and patrols centerfield where he put a quick first step on display and easily tracks down fly balls with athleticism and looseness.
Lee follows in the lineup and is a switch-hitting shortstop who already already excels with the glove up the middle and even between innings will show off with the glove and just makes it look fluid. His approach at the plate is sound as he won’t willingly expand the strike zone and shows an advanced overall feel for the game. Rodriguez is a strongly built catcher and has been a consistent performer each time I’ve seen him dating back to this spring and may offer the best all-around package from a catcher in this tournament. He frequently gives sub-2 second pop times in between innings and those catch-and-throw skills translate nicely to live action, as does his short, quick, and strong stroke from the right side. And speaking of strong swings, Joshua Hahn might be listed as a primary lefthanded pitcher per his Perfect Game profile but he can swing it with the best of them in this tournament. His swing is fairly simple as he stays direct to the ball and is able to produce natural leverage and fluidity, just as he did on the triple his pulled down the right field line.
What 2018 lefthander and Dallas Baptist commit Patrick Wicklander (San Jose, Calif.) is capable of doing on the mound is far from a surprise at this point as he’s already participated in 15 Perfect Game events, but he, like Javier Felix, was identified early and has continued to make nice overall progression on the mound. A long and projectable 6-foot-3, 185-pounds, Wicklander continues to grow but nevertheless he still shows a three-pitch mix, all of which feature plenty of life and an equal amount of comfort in throwing them for strikes. Sitting in the 84-87 mph range (he’s been up to 89 mph this summer), Wicklander comes after hitters from a lower three-quarters arm slot, which helps add some deception, especially when you consider his ability to live down in the lower third of the strike zone. The California native regularly mixed in an upper-60s curveball and mid-70s changeup, both of which showed proper rotation and short, sound life through the zone to keep hitters off balance and guessing at the plate.
Currently ranked No. 159 in the 2019 class, this weekend serves as my first look at Edward Pelc (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and after a handful of at-bats you can see why the Sage Hill High School product is regarded on the national scene. Though not overly physical at 5-foot-9, 170-pounds, Pelc put a rather consistent feel for the barrel on display throughout the opening day of the tournament as he stays very short and direct to the ball with his path which helps him spray the ball to all parts of the yard, including a standup double which he shot past the third baseman on an outer third pitch.
Charles Acker (Pasadena, Calif.) isn’t a finished product on the mound yet in terms of delivery but he does provide more than enough intrigue present day. With a strong, broad shouldered build the uncommitted 2019 lefthander ran his fastball up to 87 mph while sitting in the 83-86 and did so with relative ease. A little inconsistent with his lower half right now in regards to his delivery, when Acker landed on line with his strike foot and stayed on top of the ball he was able to create sharp angle and short running life to his fastball, especially when busting righthanded hitters in. He also maintained his three-quarters slot well on his curveball, a pitch that offered 1-to-7 shape and tight rotation with bite out of the hand, showing some feel for the pitch within the zone. He’s an arm colleges will be certain to follow based off of what he can show now and how he projects moving forward.
You’ll be hard pressed to find a player in the tournament that had a further trip than Jake Andresen (Anchorage, Alaska) and his Gamers Baseball teammates as most made the trip down from Anchorage. Listed as a primary third baseman in the program, Andresen got the start on the mound in the night cap and ran his fastball up to 85 mph, showing a clean path while working up to a high three-quarters release point. He sat comfortably in the low-80s without exerting much effort in his delivery and showed a feel for a breaking ball in the low-70s with tight rotation and short 11-to-5 shape.
Not listed in the program, 2018 third baseman Cederick Perez (Santa Ana, Calif.) had a nice opening day at the plate for Garciaparra Baseball and he showed some tools in the box that are certain to intrigue college coaches. In each of his three at-bats Perez found the barrel and was able to drive the ball to the middle of the field showing loose hands and a sound feel for the barrel.
Another bat on that GBG Marucci Navy roster who impressed is 6-foot-3, 210-pound Sawyer Chesley (Laguna Beach, Calif.) who’s already committed to the University of Arizona. An intimidating presence in the box, Chesley begins with his hands away from his body but does a nice job of getting them to a good position prior to showing a short and direct path to the ball with leverage and strength out front. That’s just the swing he showed on a long and high fly ball, which was misplayed by the center fielder but also enabled us to see Chesley run the bases and despite his physicality he moves well and accelerates from first to third rather nicely.
Limited to a pitch count during his start, TCU commit and 2019 righthander Riley Cornelio (Monument, Colo.) impressed once again on the mound, just as he did this past summer at LakePoint. At 6-foot-3, 170-pounds it’s easy to envision the rising sophomore adding at least another 20 pounds prior to graduating though there’s already plenty to like on the mound. He does a nice job of putting his length to use on the mound as his right arm resembles that of a whip through the back prior to generating solid extension out front, helping his 83-86 mph fastball seemingly play up based off some of the swings-and-misses he induced.
Along with the extension Cornelio was able to regularly work on top of the ball and produce sound plane out of the hand with solid running life through the zone. Currently ranked No. 66 in the 2019 class, Cornelio showed plenty of comfort in throwing his curveball, a low-70s pitch that offered tight rotation and late bite down in the zone. He worked quickly on the mound and filled up the strike zone, mixing frequently all the while missing bats.
Squaring off against Wicklander in the 6:00 slot, uncommitted 2018 lefthander Sasha Sneider (Peoria, Ariz.) got the start for the Warriors Baseball Academy 2018 squad and impressed during the couple of frames I saw. Strongly built at 5-foot-10, 190-pounds, Sneider shows plenty of strength to his lower half and he utilizes it well in his drive to the plate while showing a short and clean arm stroke in the back. He ran his fastball up to 87 mph in the first couple of innings while working exclusively out of the stretch and did a nice job of repeating his delivery, one that doesn’t involve many moving parts. Sneider did a nice job of working on top of the ball, which helped generate steady plane and short running life to the arm side on his heater and also displayed a feel for both a changeup in the low-70s and a curveball in the mid-70s.
– Jheremy Brown
On Day 1 of the PG/Evoshield Underclass National Championship, an event that could be described as the WWBA of the West, several players stood out in various ways.
Luke Pryor (2019, Md.) started on the mound for Crab University Black, a team out of the Baltimore area, and showed well in a quick outing as his team built a commanding lead and he was pulled to save pitches. He worked in the 79-82 mph range with his fastball, generating lots of leverage in his arm action via a deep hook through the back, and using that leverage to create power sink on his fastball. He worked all over the strike zone with the pitch and was able to get weak contact on the pitch. He’s definitely a young righthander to follow in the coming years.
The Lot/Eveland Athletics won a close 4-3 decision over the Saddleback Cowboys 2019 on Friday morning, in a game that featured several intriguing talents.
Rhys Stevens (2019, Calif.) started for Saddleback, and though he struggled with command, the young righthander showed some interesting stuff and potential. Working 82-84 mph early with big-time intent in his delivery, his arm is quick and definitely projects for more velocity in the future, and he also showed advanced feel to spin his curveball. Once he found the curveball, it was a weapon for him, sharp with two-plane shape and snap, throwing it with success to both righties and lefties.
Bronson Yager (2019, Calif.) came on in relief of Stevens and was excellent over his 3 2/3 innings of relief. The projectable, 6-foot (looks bigger) lefthander struck out nine over those 3 2/3 frames, allowing only a single unearned run while scattering three hits and a walk. Working in the upper-70s to low-80s with his fastball velocity, he was consistently able to get swings and misses up in the zone. The fastball jumps out of his hand from a very quick arm action, and this evaluator would bet that his four-seam spin rate is above average.
Dawson Dimon (2018, Calif.) started behind the plate for The Lot, and the San Diego State commitment showed extremely well defensively and looks to be a future impact glove at the catcher positon for the Aztecs. He’s got good size already and definitely projects to add mass, and when he’s physically mature in combination with his athleticism, arm strength, and feel for the positon, he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with. He likes to throw, back-picking often with good arm strength, and he popped as low as 1.98 in game. He absolutely looks the part of a big time catching prospect at the next level.
The SACSN National Team may be in the running for “most loaded roster” of the event, featuring 15 Division I commitments with lots of big time talent. They won their first game over GBG Marucci on Friday afternoon to move to 1-0 in the tournament.
Conner Thurman (2018, Ariz.) started on the mound for SACSN and was dominant, allowing only a single baserunner across three innings with six strikeouts. He worked consistently 87-89 mph with good arm speed from a tough three-quarters arm slot, generating good angle to the plate and filling up the zone. He works with a very disrupting up-tempo demeanor on the mound, grabbing the ball and seemingly already being into his delivery before he even finishes catching the throwback from the catcher, keeping opposing hitters off balance as a result. He showed good feel for his changeup with deception off the hand and sinking life at the plate, in addition to a sharp slider.
Owen Meaney (2018, Texas) is a big, 6-foot-5 righthander committed to Louisiana State, and looks the part of the next big, hard-throwing ace of the Tiger staff. His arm is very quick and he gets downhill with authority, albeit with some violence to his delivery, and the fastball showed extremely heavy sink when located down in the zone. He worked in the upper 80’s consistently with that heavy fastball, and while he struggled a bit with location to start his outing, he found his command and more or less overpowered the opposing hitters to work his way out of danger. The curveball was very sharp in the mid-70s, and while the shape was a bit inconsistent as he would occasionally get to the side and sweep the pitch, it maintained sharpness and the feel to spin the baseball in undeniable, giving him very good curveball projection into the future. He struck out four over his two innings, allowing no runs and only a pair of walks.
Raved about for months now due to the prowess of his bat, Nolan Gorman (2018, Ariz.) has continued to make impressive strides defensively in the middle infield, and certainly looks like he has a shot to remain at shortstop at the next level as of now. The feet are plenty quick and the actions are advanced, with easy hands out front, a lightning-quick transfer, and enough arm strength to make firm throws from the left side of the infield. His progression over the past 6 months has been extremely fun to watch from an evaluative standpoint.
Anytime you see a big lefty with a clean arm action and good arm speed on the mound, you have to stop and watch, and that’s exactly what took place on Friday with Kyler Bush (2018, Utah). At 6-foot-4 inches tall and a well-proportioned 200 pounds filling his frame, he’s got the size and projection necessary to be a big prospect. He didn’t find the results he wanted on Friday afternoon, as he struggled mightily with command, but the raw tools he works with on the mound are undoubtedly intriguing. He worked 82-85 mph early on with his fastball, getting downhill with an extremely clean arm action to a high three-quarters arm slot with big downhill plane at release. The fastball features excellent arm-side life, so much at times that it inhibits his ability to throw strikes, and he mixed in a good-spinning curveball at 70 mph with good depth. He’s most definitely a name to follow moving forward.
– Brian Sakowski