6/6/2015 6:07:13 PM
It's always nice to see a catcher who can hit and
Keelyn Johnson (2016 C, Pineville, LA) certainly took a nice batting practice in the first group this morning. He has a nice stride into contact with good extension through contact and plenty of left centerfield power.
Grant McDaniel (2016 OF, Victoria, TX) is only 5-foot-8 but has a loose right handed swing with a short and quick hand path and lots of bat speed. He squared up almost everything and had nice jump on his line drives.
Ethan Blinka (2017 3B, Somerville, TX) is listed at 5-11/210 but has a solid well proportioned build that doesn't seem heavy, just strong. That strength translates well into a smooth and extended right handed swing, that projects lots of power.
Alekzander Brown (2017 3B, McKinney, TX) looks like he should be a 4-star football prospect at 6-4/250 with light athleticism on his feet. He tells us that he quit football this year to concentrate on baseball, though. He'll have to firm up his body a bit but he has a sweet right handed swing that is compact and under control. He probably hit 9 straight balls right on screws during his round.
Joey Gennusa (2016 OF, Kingwood, TX) has some strength gain to do but he has a loose left handed swing from the left side and made consistent hard line drive pull contact throughout his round.
Robert Malone (2016 SS, Houston, TX) ran a 6.56 and showed a good arm from shortstop, so we know he's a good athlete. He also showed he's a very good hitter, with a mechanically sound swing with nice quick hands to the ball and solid line drive contact.
Ben Ostrominski (2016 SS, Round Rock, TX) is another shortstop who graded out very well in the defensive drills then impressed in batting practice as well. His swing is a bit timing intensive but he has lots of lift and bat speed through the ball and is going to hit with some power.
Micah Lloyd (2016 MIF, Plano, TX) is only 5-7/160 but he's a switch hitter with lots of bat speed from both sides of the plate. Usually a player that size could be discouraged from having some lift in his swing but Lloyd drove it deep up the gaps from both sides of the plate and did it with little effort.
Trey Smith (2015 SS, Cypress, TX) is a senior without a college commitment who ran a 7.03, threw 85 in the infield and posted a 9/9 grade batting practice with lots of right handed bat speed, plus plenty of projection in his 6-2/175 build. Those are all college level tools and college coaches in Texas should take note.
Trevor Grabarkewitz (2015 OF, Luling, TX) is another senior who college coaches need to take quick notice of if they like 6-3/180 outfielder who runs a 6.6 sixty and who hits bombs, especially when he gets his left foot down in time.
Note: Both Smith and Grabarkewitz are solid students who have NCAA qualifier grades and test scores per the Perfect Game database.
Brad Demco (2016 OF, Austin, TX) is a left handed thrower, right handed hitter with a simple swing approach and a nice loose, extended swing with bat speed.
Jackson Nichols (2016 C, Nacogdoches, TX) hit two BP home runs and generally made the field look pretty small a few times with his pull power. His swing approach is balanced and simple and he showed some high average hit tools as well.
Corben Henry (2016 OF, Alvin, TX) does a very nice job of staying inside the ball without becoming obsessive about it, which enables him to turn and drive the pitches he's capable of with compromising his bat speed. He had a solid round of hard line drives to all fields.
Connor Noland (2018 RHP, Greenwood, AR) is a freshman primary pitcher who is going to have to be a very good pitching prospect to surpass his hitting tools. He plays left field and third base in addition to pitching and has a very strong right handed swing with present bat speed and lots of projection.