Editor's
note: Perfect Game recognizes that there are dozens of standout
performers at this year's 16u WWBA National Championship. The
thoughts provided below are first-hand observations from Scouting
Coordinator Jheremy Brown during the event's fourth day.
One
of the top pitcher’s in the 2016 class, Anthony Molina
(2016, Pembroke Pines, Fla.) took the mound for Elite Squad 16u Prime
and turned in one of his better performances to date. Standing at
6-foot-5, 190-pounds, the University of Miami commit threw three
innings of no-hit baseball, missing bats and mixing speeds well.
Throwing
from a long, loose arm action, Molina seemed as though he was on
cruise control over his outing, sitting 89-91 mph and touching 92 in
both the first and second innings. His arm is lightening quick and is
how he generates his velocity, and he will throw even harder once he
begins to incorporate his lower half in his delivery more and
lengthen his stride. The biggest difference in this outing for Molina
that I noticed was his ability to spot his fastball to either side of
the plate with intent, locating knee high consistently with the
pitch.
To
make a statement that he would be able to throw any pitch for strikes
when he wanted to, Molina started the game off with an 89 mph
fastball, a 71 mph changeup, and for strike three threw a curveball
at 74 mph. He does slow his arm action down slightly on his
off-speed, but he showed such a feel and ability to throw them for
strikes and mix three pitches that it was a non-factor yesterday. His
curveball shows 11-to-5 life, topping at 74 mph, and the changeup,
although a developing pitch, showed promise with fading life to his
arm side and proper spin on the pitch.
Alejandro
Toral (2017, Davie, Fla.) may only be a rising sophomore, but the
only thing that would suggest his age would be his graduation year.
At 6-foot-1, 205-pounds, Toral is more physical than most players his
age and also plays at a higher level. He shows an advanced approach
at the plate, never expanding the zone and is selective to make sure
he gets his pitch. When he does find the one he likes, he whips the
barrel through the zone and generates hard contact, doing so again on
Monday, driving a pitch deep to the right-center field gap for a
stand-up triple.
Standing
at 6-foot-8, Mitchell Stone (2017, Edmond, Okla.) is well
coordinated for his size, controlling his long levers well. Although
listed as a primary lefthanded pitcher, Stone showed well with the
bat from the left side of the plate showing a short path to the ball
with natural lift and drove the ball over the right field fence.
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