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Tournaments  | Story  | 10/18/2016

Freshman World Days 3-4 Notes

Jheremy Brown     
Photo: Perfect Game


Days 1-2 Scout Notes | Championship Feature | Daily Leaders

Of the 64 teams in attendance there might not have been a single player who stood taller than lefthander Jake Berry (2020, Va.) as he’s listed at a more than believable 6-foot-7 in the program, especially when you stand up close to him. After a quick tune up during the opening day of the tournament in which he bumped an 87 with his fastball, Berry was once again summoned for a start and this time it was a potent Team Elite offense. Needless to say Berry rose to the occasion as his Richmond Braves were playing in the championship game and in the process the long and lanky lefthander was able to leave a lasting impression on all college recruiters who were looking on. A simple math equation of young age and a 6-foot-7 frame don’t often equal balanced and fluidity but Berry proved to be an exception as he did an excellent job of repeating his overall mechanics, regularly getting on top of the ball and pounding it to the lower third while moving it to either side with intent and feel. He sat in the 82-84 mph range over the first couple of innings, touching an 85 in the opening frame and while he will need to work on some things mechanically out of the stretch he was still touching 83 mph in the third inning with runners on. Just as impressive as the velocity he showed this weekend is, the fact that the last time we at Perfect Game saw Berry was at a showcase this August where he topped out at 76 mph with his heater. The arm action through the back shows plenty of quickness to it and he does a nice job of maintaining the release point on his curveball which featured solid depth and 1-to-7 shape in the upper-60s. Lefthanded or right, the uncommitted Berry did a nice job of moving the ball around the zone, showed the comfort to bust in with the fastball and sequence the breaker with feel.

My first look at Alek Boychuk (2020, Ga.) came last fall at the PG WWBA Underclass as a then rising eighth grader and without knowing his age you would have assumed he was at least a 2018 with his physicality and skillset. That obviously wasn’t the case and he’s now the No. 9 ranked prospect in the 2020 class. Despite missing most of the summer Boychuk appeared to be back in the swing of this throughout the weekend and with additional live reps it’s scary to think about what he will bring to the plate. Already more physical than your typical freshman Boychuk employs a high leg lift trigger at the start of the swing, a mechanism he managed to stay on time with while showing a full and rather fluid path through the zone. With the bat Boychuk featured plenty of bat speed and an overall smooth path to the ball and though he was slightly misfiring the barrel and just missing the ball, it’s easy to envision (as we’ve seen in the past) Boychuk as one of the premier talents in class. He did some light catching as he worked a few innings behind the plate and showed no signs of rust as he did a nice job of framing and moving on his feet and still showed an above average arm from behind the dish for his age.

He may not be as physical as some of these other players who are mentioned but Christian Knapczyk (2020, Ill.) knows how to play and handles himself very well on both sides of the ball. Full of quick-twitch muscle, the 5-foot-7, 130-pound Knapczyk hit atop a talented Chicago Scouts Association lineup, a team that advanced to the elite eight in the tournament. A lefthanded hitter, Knapczyk can quickly erase any notion his frame may instill upon you as he shows loose wrists at the plate and is able to produce solid life off the barrel while quickly getting it through the zone. He’s also an instinctual player as he has the feel to read a defense and drop down a bunt just as he did while getting down the line in 3.93 seconds. The instincts continue to show defensively up the middle as the legged down a chopper while ranging to his left behind the second base bag, fielded the ball barehanded, then shovel passed the ball to second base to get the force out.

Speaking of instincts, Robert Moore (2020, Mo.) has a feel for the game that you just don’t typically see in players at this level. The No. 25 ranked player in the 2020 and a PG Select Festival member, the switch-hitting Moore is already an advanced defender up the middle despite not playing a high school inning. His hands are incredibly soft and on turns up the middle it looks like the balls out of his glove before ever even entering. Mentioned prior Moore can dig in from either side of the plate and did so regularly as him and his Team Elite teammates featured a steady mix of lefthanded and righthanded arms. Almost as one would expect Moore appears to be a tick more natural from the left side given the additional reps but he stills shows barrel skills from either side of the plate. There’s more bat speed from the left side at present but from either side he remains short to the ball and with added physical strength it’s easy to project upon Moore moving forward.

No relation to Robert Moore, Grayson Moore (2020, Fla.) is one of the more projectable bats in the FTB Select lineup with a very long and angular 6-foot-1, 150-pound frame but he continuously showed he was more than capable of driving the ball, matching the strength in the middle of the lineup. And given the way the ball comes off his barrel now, it will be very interesting to see how the bat continues to develop with additional strength gains. Throughout the weekend Moore did a nice job of staying fluid with his swing path and regularly created extension, driving the ball gap-to-gap with line drive contact and occasional leverage to the pull side. He also jumped on the mound early in the tournament where he ran his fastball up to 82 mph while showing a quick arm through the back which helped allow for a barrage of strikes. Like the bat there’s more there with physical gains though he does already show a nice feel for turning over the changeup at 70 mph and spinning a short breaker in the mid-60s.

There was a lot to like with outfielder Alex Greene (2020, Md.) with his offensive potential that he showed throughout the weekend but come the playoffs he added another element that will certainly intrigue coaches and that’s his ability on the mound. One of the stronger yet still highly projectable players in the tournament with a long and athletic 6-foot, 170-pound frame, Greene showed off plenty of bat speed throughout the weekend with a feel for the barrel and as he continued to create extension in his swing it’s easy to envision the ball going a long way. Then he took the hill against a loaded FTB Select club and pounded the zone with his fastball while racking up the swings-and-misses. Similar to Berry above, we saw Greene at the Atlantic Coast Underclass showcase back in August and he’s just another example of how quickly young players can develop as he topped out at 78 mph then, a far cry from the 88 mph he flashed on the radar gun yesterday morning. The uncommitted Greene came out pounding the strike zone with a fastball that sat in the 84-87 mph range early on and showed on of the quickest arms in the entire tournament with firm life through the zone. While there’s still come cleaning up to do with his lower half (hardly an issue now given his age and the fact he’s a secondary arm), Greene still was able to work downhill with the heater consistently and showed the comfort to work to the glove side. His curveball worked in the 72-74 mph range with tight rotation and a strong feel as he did a nice job of maintaining his arm speed and slot on the pitch.

Another name on the Richmond Braves who made noise throughout the weekend was shortstop Quade Tomlin (2020, Va.) as he impressed on both sides of the ball. Both his instincts and first step, along with the athleticism, help Tomlin’s speed play up some defensively from what he shows down the line and it felt as though the 6-foot, 176-pound Tomlin made a “wow” type player in every game I watched. Perhaps the most impressive of them all though came when he, normally a shortstop, was over at third base and he made a diving play down the line on a ground ball, sprung to his feet, and delivered a strike across the diamond with plenty of carry to finish the play, a throw not many players his age could complete. The fact that he’s also a lefthanded hitter adds value and he’s no slouch the bat as he hit in the three-hole for a talented Braves team all weekend long. His overall bat path is relatively short and direct to the ball and he shows lift in his plane as well as sound bat speed through the zone. Right now his best strength is to the pull side and it’s where he doubled during the playoffs but he also shows the comfort to work the opposite field right now.

Checking in a No. 9 in the initial 2020 class rankings, Josh Shuler (2020, Ga.) had a later start in the tournament than most as he’s also an accomplished football player who is already on varsity and suits up under the Friday night lights. On the baseball field though Shuler’s future appears just as bright as those gridiron lights as he already shows high level skills and still has room to grow which only makes him all the more interesting. At 6-foot-2, 184-pounds Shuler oozes athleticism with a long and loose build and easy actions overall to complement his skill set. A lefthanded hitter, Shuler shows a rather short and direct approach at the plate with some of the quicker hands in the tournament and though there is currently more of a hit tool than power tool it’s only a matter of time until he’s launching balls out to all parts of the yard. He sees the ball well out of the pitcher’s hand and can work to the opposite field with balance in his swing just as he did with an outer half fastball that he lined into left field for a double. There’s a solid speed component to his game and while there’s a chance he could profile as a center fielder the arm might end up pushing him into right field and that’s where we got a glimpse of it. On a ball hit moderately deep to right field Shuler came in to make the catch then proceeded to deliver a strike to home to get the runner who attempted to tag up. More impressive though was the fact he made the throw across his body and still threw the ball on a line with plenty of carry and arm strength.

As I’ve written about in the earlier recap as well as this one, plenty of players at this age show true two-way ability and that certainly applies to Lukas Cook (2020, Tenn.). More than looking the part with broad, angular shoulders and an athletic 6-foot-1, 175-pound build, Cook impressed during his time on the mound showing off plenty of arm speed and strength as he ran his fastball up to 87 mph with a short and compact arm stroke through the back. His delivery is fairly simple and though he swings his front hip open early he still does a nice job of getting on top of the ball to generate quality plane with short running life. And though he slows his arm action some on his breaking ball he’s still able to spin it up to 70 mph with nice shape and later bite. Listed as a primary shortstop, Cook also showed off his strength with the bat with solid hand speed and life off the barrel, drilling a home run on the second day of the tournament.

We might have Nolan McLean (2020, N.C.) ranked as high as we do in the 2020 class rankings, No. 20 to be exact, based heavily off of his abilities on the mound but there’s plenty more to his overall package. One of the more physical players on a deeply talented Dirtbags 2020 roster the 6-foot-1, 187-pound McLean also showed some of the bigger bat speed in the entire tournament and that’s saying something given the depth of overall talent pool. Using his physicality McLean is able to create that immense bat speed with relative ease and when he stayed on time with his balance he was able to rocket the ball to all parts of the field with big jump off the barrel. On top of the offensive potential the uncommitted McLean also showed the type of arm strength across the diamond that you would expect from a pitcher who has been up to 90 mph with big and easy carry and plenty of accuracy out of the hand.

Yet another physical bat for FTB, 6-foot, 185-pound Connor Morgan (2020, Fla.) has shown interesting tools in the righthanded batter’s box and helps made a formidable middle of the order with Anthony Shaver who had been mentioned in the recap prior and triple deep the left center field gap at the start of the championship game. Morgan more or less delivered the same hit following Shaver’s triple as he blasted his own three-bagger deep to the left center field gap, registering 95 mph off the barrel. With plenty of physicality Morgan shows fast and loose hands at the plate, traits that helped him drive the ball with regularity throughout the tournament. He was also up to 83 mph on the mound and showed his athleticism as he was able to change his looks and delivery literally pitch-to-pitch and sometimes in the middle of his delivery whether it was a Cueto-esque shoulder shimmy or a quick drop and drive to the plate. Defensively at third base Morgan made all the plays, including a diving play to snag a line drive to his left, and showed obvious arm strength given what bumped on the mound.

He might not be as physical as Moore or Shaver but lefthanded hitter Joshua Allen (2020, Fla.) offered one of the smoother and prettier swings in the tournament and it’s not just because he’s lefthanded. Listed as a primary outfielder at 6-foot, 170-pounds Allen showed quality looseness to his hands and plenty of fluidity from the start to finish of his swing. Though most of the contact I saw came to the pull side for Allen it came off the barrel very clean with occasional leverage while showing interesting carry and jump. Allen also took to the mound in one of FTB’s playoff games and showed a full array of pitches, all of which he showed comfort in throwing for strikes including his fastball up to 80 mph with running life, a low-70s breaking ball with subtle depth, and a changeup at 70 mph.

Tyler Cacciatori (2020, Ark.) definitely made for one of the more uncomfortable at-bats of the tournament and that’s not even considering his 6-foot-3, 185-pound frame. Working with an up-tempo pace Cacciatori is able to hide the ball with a hip turn at the top of his delivery before attacking hitters from a very tight but lower arm slot, something that helped create arguably the best sinking life on a fastball that I’ve seen in the 2020 class to this point. Aside from the release point Cacciatori is able to create such advanced sink and heavy life due to the fact that he lands closed off with his front side and works across his body but it works for this young righthander as he pounded the strike zone, created angle, and appeared to simply be playing catch while missing bats. Up to 85 mph with his best fastball, Cacciatori lived in the 81-84 mph and was able to generate the velocity with relative ease while showing little hesitation to get to his glove side. He also frequently mixed in a short slurve in the 68-71 mph range and not only did he throw the pitch for strikes early and often, it also allowed his fastball velocity to play up and get on hitters even quicker. While there are some mechanical things that Cacciatori can smoothen out, the current product of what he can produce is definitely intriguing.

Jumping back to the two-way theme, Nick Regaldo (2020, Fla.) did a little bit of everything for Coach Ray DeLeon and the Banditos Elite, the eventual champions, but nothing was more clutch than his at-bat to finish the team’s first playoff game. Down 1-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh Regaldo came to the plate with two runners on and with a single swing of the bat sent the Banditos on to the next round as he connected for a three-run home run down the left field line which registered 91 mph off the bat and traveled an estimated 385 feet per TrackMan. He also impressed during his time on the mound as he ran his fastball up to 85 mph with a short and quick arm action with which he’s able to create late sinking life down in the zone. The 6-foot-2, 192-pound Regaldo did a nice job of staying balance and on line with his drive towards the plate and though he would tend to slow his arm action on his mid-60s breaking ball he was still able to throw the pitch for strikes while creating some depth.

It’s not much of a surprise for an arm to see their velocity tick down a mph or two come the fall, especially in this age group, but the opposite was true for young righthander Alex Edmondson (2020, S.C.) as he saw his velocity climb in his first inning of work. Up to 84 mph in my initial look this past summer Edmondson came out and popped an 86 while living in the 82-85 mph range from a lower and extended three-quarters slot. Though he will occasionally get under the ball and lose some plane the pitch, when he remained on top he proved capable of creating some serious angle and short running life down in the zone. There’s plenty of arm speed as Edmondson’s arm resembles a whip through the backside and he showed three different pitches from a similar arm slot. Despite the release point and arm slot the 6-foot-1, 185-pound Edmondson flashed a quality slider, perhaps the best of the tournament, up to 74 mph with late tilting life and bite down in the zone when everything was on time. He also flashed a changeup at 75 mph which proved to be a sound offering this summer to give the young righthander a three-pitch mix with plenty of projectability to go with the arsenal.

It was a quick look at recent Texas commit Dalton Porter (2020, Texas) but he’s already shown solid improvement from when we first saw the young lefthander earlier this August on the showcase circuit. After playing the outfielder and showing his ability with the bat Porter jumped on the mound where he showed the same quick and loose arm action he did earlier in the summer. There’s already been an uptick in velocity to this point in the year for Porter as he topped out at 82 mph in my first look before sitting in the 83-86 mph range in his most recent appearance. With a wiry and twitchy 6-foot, 165-pound frame Porter shows quality arm speed on the mound and he did a nice job of maintaining it when throwing his 71-73 mph curveball. He was able to throw the pitch for strikes and back doored on to end his first inning of work, freezing the righthanded hitter. Given the jump he’s already made, his ability to miss bats with the fastball, and the physicality projectability Porter is an arm who should continue to see his velocity climb which will be interesting given the rate of swings-and-misses he’s already able to gather.

I only managed to get a quick glance at righthander Ty Collins (2020, Calif.) of the MLB-Breakthrough team but he’s certainly worth following and appears to have as big of upside as any arm in the tournament. Already featuring plenty of length to his frame as he checks in at a believable 6-foot-2 with long limbs and big feet, Collins offers plenty of projection as he’s listed at just 135-pounds. Despite being a primary outfielder per his Perfect Game profile Collins showed a compact and quick arm stroke which produced a fastball that bumped 85 mph and displayed nice balance on the mound given his side and age.

The eventual MVP of the tournament, catcher Carlos Perez (2020, Fla.) was mentioned in the prior recap for his abilities both behind the dish and at the plate. Well not much changed during the final two days of the tournament as Perez continued to barrel up the baseball hard and though he caught in six of his team’s game he still showed off a hose of a right arm. Leading up to the championship game Perez showed he was able to sit back on spin and did so as he lined a double down the left field, staying balanced through his swing as he did a nice job of keeping his weight back and recognizing the rotation out of the pitcher’s hands. Come the championship game Perez continued to hit and did so with power, connecting for another double into left field as well as his lone home run of the tournament, a moonshot over the left field fence that registered 91 mph off the barrel and bounced off a kiosk roof 353-feet away.

The first two days were no fluke for the lefthanded hitting Austin Hendrick (2020, Pa.) as I would be willing to bet that of the top five hardest hit balls at least two or three belong to the uncommitted outfielder. The whip to the barrel and overall bat speed are things you just don’t find in hitters of this age and he showed just as much comfort and strength digging in against a quality lefthander as he took a pitch to the right field wall for a line drive double that registered 98.5 mph off the barrel. As an encore while facing a righthander in his next at-bat Hendrick drilled a pitch over the center fielder’s head for a triple, this time coming off at 91 mph and was nonetheless impressive with the shear strength he’s able to produce in his swing.
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