One
of the most interesting aspects of a regional qualifier like this one
is finding new players who haven't had much exposure on the national
scene to this point. An especially interesting player from this
demographic was 2015 outfielder Dustin Lacaze (Lake
Jackson, Texas), a Texas A&M-Corpus Christi commit who is making
his first appearance at a PG event. Lacaze is not only new to the
showcase circuit, but also to the mound, but he showed eye opening
potential there.
He
dominated through four shutout innings, allowing just one hit and
striking out nine without issuing a walk, topping out at 90 mph and
flashing hard arm-side life. He worked mostly in the mid- to
upper-80s and was able to live off of his fastball blowing it past
hitters consistently. He rarely went to his breaking ball and it was
inconsistent, but he has plenty of arm speed to develop a quality
breaker. We are told this won't be the last appearance Lacaze makes
on the mound, as he's been invited to the WWBA World Championship in
Jupiter.
Lacaze
opposed another interesting raw upside arm in 2017 righthander Taylor
Morgan (Missouri City, Texas) who has a fast, loose arm. His
mechanics are still a work in progress and hold him back at times, as
his best bolt of the day came on a throw to the plate when he fielded
a comebacker. Without the restraints of having to go through a
delivery he uncorked a howitzer back to the plate that looked to be
well over 90 mph. On the mound he sat in the mid-80s early on and
showed hard spin on his breaking ball at times. As is the case with
nearly all of his 2017 prospect peers, Morgan is a work in progress
from a skills development standpoint, but in terms of arm speed and
projection he's right up there with the best of the best, and if he
works hard to learn to harness his raw talent he could develop into a
high level prospect.
The
top velocity of the tournament to this point came from a lefty
imported from Southern California, 2015 lefthander Jacob Hughey
(Long Beach, Calif.). Hughey threw 25 pitches as part of a committee
approach to the Houston Banditos Black opener which saw them use five
pitchers in their tournament opener on Friday. Hughey opened eyes at
the PG/EvoShield National Upperclass Championship last week and is
currently being recruited by a number of high end Division I
programs. He backed up his upper-80s fastball, which touched 90 a few
times and peaked at 92 mph, with a sharp 1-to-7 curveball which he
showed good feel for.
Sinkerballer
2015 righthander Nolan Bond (Spring, Texas) got the start for
the Banditos in the opener and sat in the mid-80s with heavy sinking
life and pounded the bottom of the strike zone with sinkers with 19
of his 26 pitches for strikes.
The
Banditos offense has been paced by 2015 first baseman/catcher Joe
Davis (Austin, Texas) who crushed two home runs in his first
three games. His first one was a screaming line drive to center field
that clearly had the distance off of the bat but the low trajectory
left some doubt as to whether it would be high enough to clear the
tall center field fence. However, he squared it up with enough
backspin that it carried well and the defending champs pulled away in
their first game on the power of that impressive shot.
He
and teammate 2015 catcher/firstbaseman Michael Hickman (Katy,
Texas) provide major punch to the Banditos Black lineup. Hickman
showed explosive hand speed with plus strength at contact and has
shown a good approach. The sound when he squares a ball up echoes
throughout the park, and while he hasn't gone deep yet, he's put a
charge into several balls already.
The
Banditos Black's underclassman to watch is 2016 outfielder Conner
Capel (Katy, Texas) who started out 3-for-6 at the plate and
played a solid defensive center field. None of that is news for the
highly ranked junior, but his ability on the mound was impressive as
well filling in as a secondary pitcher, working 89-90 with good
control from the left side.
2016 righthander John Michael Rodriguez (Corpus Christi,
Texas) makes up for his lack of size with big arm speed. He has a
long, loose arm action and gets good extension out front. He sat
86-89 with feel to both sides of the plate and backed it with a pair
of quality off-speed pitches that he also had feel for. He showed
hard spin on his mid-70s curveball with bite and feel to both sides,
and he maintains his arm speed well on his changeup up to 80 mph with
sharp, darting action to the arm side. He retired the first 16
batters he faced in order before running out of gas.
It
was a brief look but 2016 righthander Frank Sheehy (Houston,
Texas) was impressive in his one inning stint in relief. The tall
lanky hurler worked 86-88 from a high three-quarters arm slot and
occasionally dropped down lower. His arm is quick and loose and
projects well.
While
it's not a major point of emphasis in the scouting world, the
defensive prowess on display at first base by 2016 Lael Lockhart
(Friendsport, Texas) was highly impressive. He showed the ability to
utilize his length well to stretch for close plays as well as picking
low throws, often combining the two. He moves well around the first
base bag and has good reaction time on balls hit his way. He also
showed an advanced approach, and when necessary utilized a low effort
swing to go the opposite way for singles when his team needed a
baserunner. He then got on the mound and worked 82-84 with good
control in relief and located his deep 1-to-7 curveball well.
Lockhart's
Banditos White teammate, 2015 righthander Karan Patel (Sugar
Land, Texas), impressed on the mound as well. He sat at 84-88 mph
with arm-side life and advanced feel for a sharp 78-80 mph slider
that allowed him to dominate opposing hitters. He struck out nine
over six innings and worked around three errors behind him. His
battery-mate, 2016 catcher Jaxx Groshans (Magnolia, Texas),
also showed off a strong arm as well as good athleticism behind the
plate.
Arguably
the best all-around present ability player in attendance this weekend
is 2015 middle infielder Ford Proctor (Beaumont, Texas). He
lacks the size and strength of some of the other elite prospects in
attendance, but he utilizes the strength he has well and showed
doubles power to all fields at the plate along with high level
defensive ability up the middle. He had a huge game at the plate on
Saturday, going 3-for-4 with a double off the wall to both left and
right fields, as well as a single, and his only out was a loud fly
out to center. He plays a high energy shortstop with a quick first
step and light actions. If his arm strength develops he has a chance
to stay at shortstop, and even if he doesn't, he has plenty of
athleticism to stay up the middle at second base.
Starting
the first game of the tournament for the Houston Heat was Jordan
Hicks
(2015, Houston, Texas), a University of Tulane commit, who was
appearing in his first Perfect Game event in a exactly a year. Hicks
threw at the 2013 WWBA South Qualifier as well, topping out at 87 mph
while working in the mid-80s. Since then, Hicks has grown an inch and
sat comfortably in the 86-89 mph range, touching 90 mph once Friday
evening.
Over
the course of his four innings on the mound, Hicks showed a strong
feel for the strike zone with all three of his pitches, spotting up
in the lower quadrants of the zone. Showing a small hip turn at the
top of his delivery, Hicks loads his weight up on his backside before
driving to the plate, showing a fast arm and creating excellent
downhill plane on his fastball. His fastball comes out of his hand
cleanly, showing late run and sink to his arm side and projects for
more velocity as he continues to incorporate his lower half,
especially given how live his arm is.
Helping
him to pick up nine strikeouts was not only his fastball but a sharp
12-to-6 curveball, which like his fastball, he kept low in the zone
and featured late, sharp life at 73 mph. Rounding out his three-pitch
mix, all of which he located well, was a changeup that shows slight
fade to his arm side at 77 mph.
If
one was to judge righthanded pitcher Stephen
Keller
(2017, Huffman, Texas)
and guess the year in which he would be graduating, odds are they
would say he was a 2015 and beginning his senior year, not sophomore
year. Standing at 6-foot-2 with broad shoulders and a physical
220-pound build, Keller is able to maintain looseness in his actions,
which when combined with his strength, made for interesting stuff on
the mound.
Keller
came out from the shoot and set the tone with his first warmup pitch
of the game, coming in at 89 mph and repeatedly pounded upper-80s
fastballs, which he carried into game action. Over the course of the
first two innings, Keller sat at 88-90 mph with his heater, working
downhill nicely with the pitch while generating late sinking life.
With those two factors working, along with the velocity, Keller was
difficult square up – evidenced by the two hits he scattered over
four plus innings – and when the batter did put the ball in play,
more often than not it was pounded into the infield grass for a
routine ground ball. There is some drop and drive to his delivery,
but his arm is quick coming through the backside and the ball leaves
his hand cleanly, so with a slight adjustment in his lower half, it’s
easy to project more velocity on its way.
As
the game wore on, Keller settled into the 85-87/88 mph range, still
showing the ability to get to his glove side, but began in mix in his
off-speed pitches more frequently. The pitch he showed regularly and
had the strongest feel for was his slider, which he worked at 77-78
mph and featured short, late 10-to-4 break to it. Like his fastball,
Keller did a nice job of getting on top of his curveball, which has a
noticeable difference in shape and depth when compared to his slider.
Thrown more in the mid-70s, he was able to generate consistent
12-to-6 shape on the pitch with nice depth and ability to locate it
in the zone.
The
loudest tool in Donovan
Langston’s
(2017, Frisco, Texas) toolbox is his speed, with which he can impact
a game on both sides of the ball with it. After a strong showing last
weekend in Arizona at the PG/EvoShield National Underclass
Championship, Langston hasn’t slowed down a step this weekend.
Already showing average speed for the next level with a 4.28
home-to-first time, Langston projects for more as he continues to
gain strength on his 5-foot-9 frame, which is full of quick-twitch
muscle. It’s that speed that also puts pressure on the defense
whenever he puts a ball in play, taking fielders out of their comfort
zone and making them do things a little quicker on a ground ball. He
moves well on his feet at shortstop with light actions to either side
and a strong arm across the diamond with nice carry.
Per
his Perfect Game profile page, Montana
Ellstrom
(2015, Cypress Lake, Texas) is an uncommitted senior who is making a
strong impression in his Perfect Game debut. Batting in the middle of
the lineup for Alex Cintron Baseball, Ellstrom shows a balanced,
rhythmic swing with a fluid stroke while showing nice control of the
barrel head and interesting strength off his barrel to his pull side.
Jump towards the bottom of the fifth and Cintron found themselves in
a bases loaded, two out jam and summoned Ellstrom in to help get out
of it. He did just that, showing a 85-87 mph fastball, which he
bumped to 88 mph to record the third out via strikeout, and showed a
sharp, late breaking 11-to-5 curveball low in the zone at 72 mph.
Another
player who is beginning his sophomore year of high school, Mason
Vicknair
(2017, Mandeville, La.) showed strong promise on the mound with a
projectable frame and stuff. The Louisiana native stands 6-foot-3,
190-pounds with long, loose limbs, which he controls well throughout
his delivery, remaining balanced and shows an easy arm action coming
through.
Throwing
a steady diet of fastballs in the first inning, Vicknair sat at 83-85
mph from a high three-quarters arm slot with a compact takeaway and
a short arm action in the back. Against the first batter of the game
Vicknair was opening his front side just a bit early which had him
missing up and out to his arm side, and ended up walking the batter.
Once he got to the stretch however, Vicknair was able to simplify his
delivery and began to get on top of the ball much better, working
downhill and pounding the strike zone. He carried the momentum
through the rest of his outing, picking up five strikeouts over his
three innings of work.
As
he began to establish his fastball, Vicknair started to mix in his
off-speed, both pitches he showed a strong feel for. His curveball
shows 11-to-5 life with late break and depth to it at 68 mph and kept
the pitch low in the zone. The righthander also flashed a changeup in
the low-70s which showed fade back to his arm side.
Playing
shortstop for the Austin Banditos, Ricky
Martinez
(2016, Pflugerville, Texas) can grab your attention defensively with
a single play on a ground ball. With his lean 5-foot-11, 150-pound
build, Martinez shows very smooth and easy actions to and through the
ball with extremely fast hands and solid arm strength across. The
uncommitted Martinez shows a quick first step to the ball with sounds
actions and range to either side as well.
One
of only two current sophomores on the roster for the Columbia Angles
this week, left fielder Cole
Turney
(2017, Richmond, Texas) finds himself not only playing, but also
batting in the heart of the Angles lineup. At 5-foot-11, 180-pounds,
Turney shows nice balance with fluidity in his lefthanded stroke. He
has been putting the ball in play consistently throughout the
weekend, displaying a strong feel for the barrel with the ability to
drive the ball to the opposite field gap. He moves well in the
outfield with solid routes to the ball and showed a strong, accurate
arm on the few throws he made during Friday’s action.
Mitchell
Walter (2016,
Baytown, Texas) may not be showing the velocity of the pitcher’s
mentioned above just yet, but he shows plenty in his delivery which
point to him throwing harder in the future. During his Friday night
start, the righthanded Walter topped out at 84 mph and worked
comfortably in the 81-83/84 mph range throughout his three innings
while striking out seven batters. Using his long, loose limbs, Walter
shows an easy arm action with very nice extension out front upon his
release of the ball. He stays a bit tall with his lower half at
release, but with the extension he creates, Walter consistently gets
on top of the ball and worked his fastball to both sides of the plate
knee-high extremely well. Walter also mixed in a changeup at 76 mph
which he showed a feel for, and if his pitching wasn’t enough, he
also picked up three singles in the game.