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Tournaments  | Blog | 5/28/2017

Memorial Day West Days 1-2 Notes

Photo: Perfect Game


Well-known to Perfect Game, having participated in nearly 30 events thus far in his baseball career, Matthew Liberatore (2018, Ariz.) took the mound in game 1 for Wilson Sandlot and was dazzling. The long, lanky lefthander was his usual self, working 87-90 mph throughout the day with his fastball. His control was fine, though the in zone command came and went a bit; but per usual, Liberatore showed the ability to work to all four quadrants of the strike zone with the pitch and get called and swinging strikes alike off of it. He's got advanced feel for both his curveball and changeup; giving him a dangerous three-pitch mix to play with. The curveball is thrown generally in the upper-70's and produces advanced spin metrics per TrackMan, clocking in around 2500 rpm, an excellent number for a high school pitcher. The pitch is sharp, with 1/8 shape and good snap just in front of the plate. Though he will occasionally drop his arm slot a bit on his changeup and therefore telegraph the offering; the changeup is very quality at this point in Liberatore's development. With good velocity separation from his fastball (thrown at 80-82 MPH), the changeup is thrown with good arm speed and is turned over well out front, resulting in quality fading life to the arm side. The entire arsenal projects here, as does the physicality, giving Liberatore a significant upside in what looks to be an absolutely loaded 2018 class. 

I know this is going to sound strange, but readers are just going to have to take my word for it when I say that Nolan Gorman (2018, Ariz.) hit several balls hard on Friday afternoon. All kidding aside, Gorman continued his seemingly lifelong assault on opposing pitching, squaring up several balls against the AZ Pilots (though making a few outs in the process), before hammering a homerun to right field into the teeth of a pretty firm breeze. The ball left the bat at 102 mph, an inside slider that did not quite get far enough inside. It's been written repeatedly over the years, but Gorman just has special hitting tools. The hands are lightning fast and strong, creating significantly above average bat speed, with an ideally-lofted path and the physical strength necessary to drive balls all over the ballpark. It's a lefthanded swing and profile that looks like it'll play both in terms of hitting for average and power at the next level, and he's shown as a quality defender at 3rd base over the years as well, easily justifying his lofty (No. 8 overall in 2018) ranking. 



Though taking the loss in his start against Wilson Sandlot, AZ Pilots starter Conner Woods (2017, Ariz.) showed some quality things and looks like he'll be a very good piece for UNLV over the next few years, where the righthander is signed. Woods is listed at 6-foot, 195-pounds and is pretty physical at that size; with good strength throughout his lower half and into his core. His fastball, which ranged from 85-89 MPH throughout the course of his start, was very heavy when located down in the strike zone, recording spin rates consistently below 2000 rpm, verifying the heaviness seen through the lens of a scout's eye. It's a tough pitch to square up even when in the middle of the zone due to the late action and life on the pitch. The length of his arm action can cause him to get a little mistimed with his arm/body in terms of his delivery, and that did effect his command a touch at a few points, but for the most part Woods was within the strike zone and attacking hitters. He's got a shorter slider that was inconsistent for him in terms of shape and spin; but flashed as a potential bat-missing pitch, especially when thrown in under the hands of lefthanded hitters. He also showed a changeup in the low-80's with solid fading life; though the pitch was left up a touch and would be better suited to be commanded down in the zone. 



Yet another University of Arizona commitment in the class of 2018, Wilson Sandlot went to their bullpen and brought out righthander George Arias (2018, Ariz.) to take over for Liberatore. Arias is not overly physical but has a good amount of deception in his delivery, hiding the ball pretty well through the back, and the quickness of his moderately-complex arm stroke also helps aid in said deception. The fastball worked 85-88 mph with some heaviness, and likely played up a few ticks due to the aforementioned deception. He's got some effort there and the arm stroke isn't of the traditionally "clean" variety, as he does hook relatively severely through the back, but it helps him generate leverage and adds to that heavy action. He showed both a slider and changeup to round out his arsenal. The slider varied in shape but flashed sharpness and two-plane break; while the changeup flashed solid sinking action to the arm side when turned over well out front. Arias is a twitchy, athletic prospect on the mound with good deception throughout and a body that projects a bit; and as such looks to be a good piece in the Wildcats' 2018 class. 

Later on Friday evening, the loaded Phenom Signature 16u club got their first win of the event, via a run-ruled 14-0 decision. They started out hot right out of the gate. Jacob Shaver (2019, Utah) got the ball rolling with a loud triple up the right-center field gap, making the turn around first base in 4.48 seconds by my watch. An Arizona commit, Shaver looks like he'll be able to impact the game in a variety of ways, with the strength and bat speed necessary to hit balls with authority up both gaps in addition to very good speed; which is especially evident once he gets underway and can kick it into another gear rounding the bases. 

Following Shaver's lead, Mateo Gil (2018, Texas) launched a triple deep into the left-center field gap, a ball that looked like it could have been gone off the bat. Gil is an extremely high-level two way prospect who we are excited to see a lot of this summer. He's got clean actions with more than enough arm from shortstop to go along with strength and bat speed at the plate; giving him legitimate upside as a position player; though he's also extremely intriguing on the mound, where his very quick arm is capable of running his fastball up into the low-90's at present with good projection for more. 





The LVR 16u club has yet to allow a run this tournament as of this writing, winning both of their games thus far by a combined 16-0 score. Early Saturday morning they secured their second 8-0 victory, with Cayden Castellanos (2020, Calif.) getting the shutout win on the mound. Castellanos is a solidly-built and still-projectable young righthander from California, making a name for himself with LVR. Castellanos really flies open with his front hip into his delivery and spins off at landing somewhat, but it's easy to see how he generates excellent sinking life on his fastball as a result. He worked 80-83 mph with his fastball from a moderately-extended three quarters slot, generating the aforementioned heavy sinking action on the pitch--so much so, in fact, that even fastballs center cut in the middle of the plate were tough for opposing hitters to square up. He struggled a bit in terms of finding his curveball feel, but did flash a few quality breakers that easily project to firm up and become out pitches for him in time. The best curves he threw were in the mid-60's with 10/4 slurvy shape; they flashed tightness and sharpness, and he did get a few empty swings with the pitch. 

Emilio Morales (2020, Calif.) just recently committed to Southern California a couple days ago, and in my first viewing of the young catcher, it's easy to see why USC wanted to lock him up early on. Morales is highly athletic behind the plate, moving well to both sides with easy blocking mechanics and the necessary quickness and flexibility to be a high level defender for a long time. He's an advanced receiver as well, framing and presenting Castellanos' heavy sinking fastball with no problem--something any catcher or catching coach will tell you is a pretty difficult task. He absolutely looks the part of an impact defender long term at a premium position. 

Offensively, the LVR team is pretty stacked top to bottom. Tyler Whitaker (2021, Nev.), Kade Higgins (2020, Nev.), and Carson Wells (2020, Nev.) all took good swings; with Wells leading charge collecting two hits. Whitaker is ranked 10th in the class of 2021 on the strength of his pitching ability; but the young Arizona Wildcat commitment can swing the bat too, with an easy, loose path and obvious strength throughout. This 16u LVR team is stacked throughout their lineup and pitching staff; and it's going to be extremely interesting to watch this group develop over the next few years. 

The LVR 14u team is likewise loaded, with young, highly talented athletes who look like one of the next waves of big time talent in the Southwest. Benjamin "Jax" Holzem (2020, Nev.) caught LVR's Friday game, and like his 16u catching counterpart Emilio Morales, looked very good behind the plate. He's bigger than he's listed in the program, with the beginnings of solid physicality throughout his frame and good projection remaining as well. His receiving is advanced, presenting and framing pitches of all varieties in all parts of the zone, and his movements behind the plate are advanced as well. He has a lightning-quick transfer and release down to 2nd base, popping 2.09 in-game to nail a runner. He shows some bat speed as well with a middle-field approach, and definitely looks like a quality collegiate prospect behind the plate at this juncture. 

The Banditos 14u club moved to 2-0 on Saturday afternoon as well with an 8-4 victory. 2016 PG Select Festival participant Parker Welch (2020, Calif.) is more known for his middle infield and offensive prowess, but he was interesting on the mound in his start. With a long, full arm action through the back and a body that has seemingly limitless projection, Welch worked 80-83 MPH with moderate sinking action at the plate. He extends well downhill and the fastball will jump out of the hand due to that extension. He showed a quality changeup with some fading action; and flashed a curveball with 10/4 shape and some bite when he really spins it. 

Cain Lusic (2021, Calif.) is a young middle infielder from California who certainly showed some things in my brief viewing on Saturday. He's stronger than his lean, young frame would suggest; with wiry strength throughout. He creates very quality bat speed and can jump on fastballs, launching a loud ground rule double to left field that scored a pair of runs and really got the Banditos rolling offensively.

-Brian Sakowski
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