Day 1 Recap
| Day 2 Recap
| Day 3 Recap
| Day 4 Recap
| Day 5 Recap
Pitching
for the SoCal NTT Blue team Graham Ashcraft (2016, Brownsboro,
Ala.) threw an impressive seven inning complete game on Wednesday
morning. Ashcraft participated in the National Showcase last month in
Fort Myers and ran his fastball up to 93 mph. The strong-bodied
Ashcraft has a sturdy build and some thickness and strength in his
torso and legs. He works to a three-quarters arm slot and can drop
down a bit lower occasionally.
In
the early going Ashcraft had some issues repeating his delivery and
was a bit stiffer at landing, but he did show the same low-90s
velocity that he had displayed at the PG National. His heater shows
natural tailing action from the lower slot, although at times the
pitch can flatten out or run too far to the arm side when he falls
out of his delivery.
As
the game progressed, Ashcraft got into a better rhythm and was able
to repeat his mechanics and throw more strikes. He showed some feel
for a mid-70s breaking ball that had some depth and two-plane break
with predominately 10-to-4 shape. At times he lost the pitch to his
arm side as he got on the side or underneath the offering, but he did
flash some sharp, late-breaking pitches that induced swings and
misses. He also flashed a few developing changeups in the mid-80s.
In
the later innings Ashcraft ramped up his velocity and began to empty
the tank as the righty hit 95 at least once in each of his last three
innings pitched and lived more consistently in the 92-94 mph range.
Even more impressively was the fact that he was able to still throw
strikes and keep the ball down in the zone within that velocity band.
Ryan
Rolison (2016, Jackson, Tenn.) also pitched well at the National
Showcase, and he threw a typically efficient and clean four innings
on Wednesday afternoon. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound southpaw has a
projectable frame with a lean build, high torso and tapered waist.
The Ole Miss recruit has good feel for his simple, repeatable
delivery and the ball comes out of his hand pretty clean. As he did
last month, Rolison showed an advanced feel to locate his fastball to
both sides of the plate and he looked extremely comfortable throwing
to his glove side, something that many pitchers need to develop later
in their college or professional careers.
While
he was able to cruise through his four innings largely off of the
location of his 87-90 mph heater, Rolison has shown feel for an
upper-70s curveball with 1-to-7 shape and a low-80s changeup. He has
advanced pitchability for his age, with an astute ability to change
eye levels and move the ball around to either side of the plate with
any of his three offerings, but most especially his fastball.
Delvin
Perez (2016, Loiza, Puerto Rico) made quite the splash at the PG
National, displaying some of the loudest overall tools in the entire
event. He showed off great foot speed, turning in a 6.53 60-yard dash
and impressed in the defensive workouts with good range, soft hands,
and plus arm strength. At 6-foot-3, 165-pounds, Perez has an
extremely projectable frame and lots of present quick-twitch
athleticism. He has good present bat speed that allows him to whip
the barrel through the zone with authority, and while at times he can
work around the ball, he displays juice to his pull side with the
ability to impact the baseball.
One
can expect Perez to flash in the field, and he’s made a number of
plays look easy over the course of the tournament. He has a quick
first step, extremely smooth actions, soft hands and a predilection
for flash and flair that makes him a fun player to watch. With such
high-level tools and a lean, projectable frame Perez has one of the
higher ceilings in the 2016 class, and he could make some serious
noise with additional experience, maturation and strength.
Perez’s
teammate at the International Baseball Academy and on the SoCal NNT
Blue, Alan Marrero (2016, Bayamon, Puerto Rico), also showed
off intriguing defensive tools. The compactly built 5-foot-8,
185-pound catcher certainly looks the part behind the plate and he
showed good lateral movement, footwork and the ability to explode out
of his crouch. Marrero threw out a runner trying to steal second
base early in the game, showing off a strong, accurate arm and
turning in a 2.0 second pop time. He also showed that he wasn’t
scared to throw behind runners, doing so on a number of different
occasions. That aggressiveness paid dividends as Marrero was able to
take advantage of a high and outside fastball and quickly fire down
to second base in just 1.83 seconds to backpick a runner that had
taken an aggressive secondary lead. The righthanded hitter also has
some hitting tools, with some bat speed and strength and he flashed
the ability to use the entire field, hitting a single to right field
in his first at-bat.
Trey
Morris (2016, Katy, Texas) is a long, lean projectable
righthanded pitcher committed to Texas Christian. At 6-foot-5,
200-pounds, Morris has long levers and to go with broader shoulders
and he should be able to add significantly more muscle mass over the
next few years without any issues. Morris has a high leg lift
delivery out of the windup with a slight hunch over the raised knee,
and his arm works pretty well to an arm slot at three-quarters or
just slightly above three-quarters. The lanky righty showed good
stamina and arm strength, sitting consistently in the 88-89 mph
window over much of his start. The heater showed good downhill plane
and angle and was especially tough for hitters to pick up and do
anything with when he was able to locate it at the knees, which he
did particularly well in the middle innings.
Morris
also has a deeper release, really driving out off of the rubber, so
his fastball jumps on hitters and resulted in some uncomfortable
swings. While the fastball was his predominant pitch, Morris flashed
some quality breaking balls in the 69-72 mph range, with the offering
mostly showing 11-to-5 shape and solid depth. He also worked in a few
rare breaking balls in the mid-70s, in which he was able to maintain
decent arm speed and generate some fading action that played well off
of his fastball plane and movement.
After
throwing one inning in relief earlier in the tournament, Tyler
Baum
(2016, Ocoee, Fla.) earned the victory with six strong innings in
Scorpions Prime’s first-round playoff victory. Baum’s exploits
earlier in the tournament were touched upon here
and the athletic, slender righthander also worked in the 88-92 mph
range for much of his outing on Wednesday. The North Carolina commit
still was able to pound the strike zone with his lively heater, which
showed good arm-side run and sink down at the knees. His mid-70s
breaking ball also flashed more consistent downer action, and while
the tilt still varied at times, he showed some feel for spinning it
and using it to get both called strikes and chases out of the zone.
While
players like Carlos A. Cortes, Chase Cheek, and Drew Mendoza have
been touched upon previously a few other Scorpions Prime position
players showed well at the plate on Wednseday and helped to provide
Baum some run support.
Jared
Herron (2016, Orlando, Fla.) continued his hot hitting in the
tournament by ripping a double to left-center field in his first at
bat. The physical, strong 6-foot-1, 215-pound catcher has been on a
tear for much of the event, showing off an ability to both ambush
fastballs and keep his hands back and hit breaking balls sharply as
well. The Florida State commit hits from an open stance with a lower
hand set, and when he’s able to get into solid hitting position and
maintain good timing and rhythm—as he has been able to do all
event—Herron displays the ability to impact the baseball and create
natural carry off of the barrel.
Spencer
Taylor (2016, Sorrento, Fla.) hit a loud, long home run off of an
elevated fastball in the middle part of the plate. Taking advantage
of a hittable pitch, Taylor—also a National Showcase
participant—showed off some natural bat speed and strength and an
ability to generate natural loft from a deeper load.
– Andrew
Krause
In
perhaps one of the more impressive WWBA upsets of recent years, the
Evoshield Canes 17u lost on Wednesday morning, eliminating them from
contention for this year’s title. Despite the loss, the Canes still
put several high-end talents on display, including 2016 righthander
Evan Odum (Lumberton, N.C.). Odum, at 6-foot-3, 180-pounds, is
long and lean with excellent physical projection remaining on his
frame. He employs an exaggerated long arm action with good arm speed,
working in in the 88-89 range with his fastball. He throws from a
high three-quarters slot, really driving downhill and generating
excellent plane to the plate when he locates his fastball down in the
zone. He complemented the fastball with an excellent 11-to-5
curveball, thrown in the mid- to upper-70s with plus depth and spin,
generating easy swings and misses when he really got on top of the
pitch.
2016
lefthander Matthew Cronin (Navarre, Fla.) came on in relief,
and despite battling his command at times still showed legitimate
high-end Division I stuff. He’s a very deceptive lefthander, hiding
the ball well until release and generating good hip torque and
overall leg drive to the plate. Touching 91 a few times, Cronin
worked mostly in the 88-90 range. His arm is very loose and quick,
and he creates good angle to the plate from an extended slot, despite
sacrificing some plane at times. He showed the ability to command the
fastball down in the zone to both sides, as well as the ability to
elevate the pitch when necessary. He showed a 12-to-6 curveball with
excellent depth to complement the fastball, though he did get to the
side of it some and leave it flat and up in the zone. When it’s on,
it shows hammer depth and snap, and he got several flails at it.
2016
outfielder Seth Beer (Suwanee, Ga.) has always flashed
intriguing (and exciting) tools, but this week he really put them all
together, especially at the plate, making him a very interesting 2016
MLB Draft prospect. He generates excellent leverage and strength in
his swing from his 6-foot-3, 205-pound frame, showing off plus raw
power with consistency. He pulled his hands in nicely on an
inner-third fastball and launched it off of one of the merchandise
stands beyond the right field fence in Wednesday’s game, putting a
cherry on top of what was a very good tournament showing for him.
In
what was a long-awaited showing, 2016 righthander Austin Bergner
(Windemere, Fla.)—the No. 2 overall prospect in our class of 2016 rankings—took the mound for the Florida Burn in their
first round playoff matchup with FTB. Bergner was very good. He worked 91-93
with his fastball throughout his entire outing, showing solid life on
the pitch to the arm side and solid command. His
arm speed is near plus-plus, and his exaggeratedly short arm action
creates some deception. He uses his lower
half extremely well and generates excellent drive..
His
curveball worked anywhere from 74-78, showing more 12-to-6 shape and
get-me-over action at the lower velocities, while the higher velocity
breaker had more 11-to-5 shape with very sharp break and lots of
swings and misses, even when not close to the zone. He flashed good
feel for the change as well, throwing a few that would grade as above
average with excellent tumbling action and deception. Overall, it was
a very good showing for Bergner, which keeps him in legitimate
first-round conversation as we begin to look towards the 2016 draft.
2016
catcher Jake Sullivan (Valrico, Fla.) continues to impress
with the bat, hitting another monster home run to the pull field on
Wednesday evening at Lake Point. He has done an excellent job putting
his name on the radars of several scouts, with potential plus power
to go with a solid overall feel for hitting.
2016
lefthander Jonathan Gettys (Gainesville, Ga.) has been on
Perfect Game’s radar for quite some time now, and it doesn't hurt
that he’s the younger brother of 2013 PG All-American and 2014
second-round pick Michael Gettys. At 6-foot-2, 215-pounds, Jonathan
is thickly built with excellent strength throughout his frame, and he
has plus raw arm strength to go along with it. Working 93-94 with his
fastball in a short stint out of the bullpen, Gettys’ fastball can
be overpowering all over the zone, and his excellent arm speed and
physical build suggest that even more velocity could be in the tank
moving forward.
– Brian
Sakowski