FORT MYERS, Fla. – Rossville, Tenn., right-hander Weston Bizzle knows the drill. A veteran of 25 Perfect Game tournament events since the summer of 2013, Bizzle showed up at JetBlue Park Sunday for his two-day turn at the PG Junior National Showcase eager to see how he stacked up against some of the other top pitchers from across the country who, like Bizzle, will be high school juniors in the fall.
“I thought this was pretty important (to be here) because it’s a good thing to see everybody else from my class that’s good,” Bizzle said. “These are kids that will be my competition all year long and it’s just good to see everybody that’s out here. I just want to get bigger and better; I know I can get a lot better.”
Bizzle came into his first showcase event ranked No. 21 nationally in the class of 2017. He sits toward the top of a group of other highly ranked 2017 right-handers given the opportunity to throw over the last three days, including No. 17 Nicholas Storz from Brooklyn, N.Y.; No. 27 Brandon McCabe from Boynton Beach, Fla.; No. 28 Tyler Ahearn out of Jupiter, Fla., and No. 40 Trent Vietmeier from Pittsburgh, Pa.
It’s a solid group, but just how strong was this gathering of 15- and 16-year-old arms PG put on display the last three days? PG National Scouting Coordinator Jheremy Brown spent the three days sitting under a tent directly behind home plate and took careful notes on every pitcher that walked to the mound.
“You’ve got some of the power arms with Vietmeier hitting 92 (mph) and Storz hitting 91, but the more impressive thing is the progression you see in the kids from year to year,” Brown said. “You see the velocity jumps but you also see the better mechanics – more fluidity in everything that they do.”
It is the development aspect with these young pitchers that Brown finds intriguing, especially those that might not be lighting up the radar guns. As a hypothetical example, he suggests a mid-80s left-hander who is easy to project because he still has two more high school years to grow, years that are almost certain to produce high yields.
“There is a lot of projectability with this group, whereas (Wednesday at the PG National Showcase) you’re going to see a lot of power arms, and that might be the theme for the 2016 class – power,” Brown said. “We’re still trying to figure out the arms for this class. I don’t know if it’s going to be as deep as (2016) but there are some interesting arms that still project.”
Brown made special mention of Bizzle and his long track record of success at PG tournaments. Bizzle, who pitches for the Georgia Jackets organization, has been named to 11 PG all-tournament teams in two years and was the Most Valuable Pitcher at the 2014 15u BCS Finals. A blog entry after his appearance here on Sunday noted:
(Bizzle) struck-out four in his two innings of work. He presents a different look for opposing hitters with his up-temp delivery and can prove to be an uncomfortable at-bat. Bizzle ran his fastball up to 90 mph and showed solid feel and good arm-speed for a 79-81 mph changeup with fading life.”
McCabe was another pitcher who threw either Sunday or Monday that Brown took note of. In his one inning of work, McCabe worked 88-92 downhill with his fastball, delivered one of the better curveballs of the entire event and made a lasting impressive with his loud grunt-slash-yell.
As far as any noticeable trends developing among the 2017 collection of arms, Brown said it’s really too early to tell. The only trend he can detect is that he’s seeing some traits move to the forefront at a younger age than what was the norm in the past.
“It does seem like kids are starting to throw harder earlier but there’s also still some projection left with them,” he said. “Maybe it’s because there’s more of the specific training towards pitching now … and they’re focusing solely on it. The game’s getting younger overall; the recruiting is getting younger.”
Of the 2017 pitchers mentioned here, only Storz remains uncommitted. Bizzle (Vanderbilt), McCabe (Miami), Ahearn (Florida State) and Vietmeier (Louisiana State) have all verbally committed to prominent NCAA Division I programs.
Brown may have been more impressed with the athleticism of some of the 2017 position players at the event. No. 5-ranked Alex Toral (Davie, Fla., uncommitted) showed nice power from the left-side of the plate, dropping three long bombs during BP.
Outfielder/right-hander Jordan Adell (Louisville, Ky., U of Louisville) set an event record with a 97 mph throw from the outfield and ran an event-best 6.47-seconds in the 60-yard dash. Outfielder Brad Czerniejewski (Lake Forest, Ill., Texas Christian) was right on Adell’s tail with a 95 mph throw from the outfield and a 6.64-second 60; Mark Vientos (Pembroke Pines, Fla., U of Miami) drew rave reviews for his all-around play. All three of those athletes also swung the bat well.
“There are definitely some good power bats (in the 2017 class),” Brown said. “There is a just a lot of projection in this class. I know I keep saying that but I think it really holds true in this case. They’re all a step away, but it’s a step where it’s easy to say that it’s going to happen. … This class has a lot of bats in it. It’s got its arms but I think it’s going to be a lot of bats.”
Brown, who pays especially close attention to the underclass prospects in PG’s database, enjoys being at the Jr. National simply because it’s so much fun. He likes that he has the opportunity to see “the best against the best” and also likes to look behind him and see all the college coaches and recruiters lined up like ducks in a row. “It’s definitely good for them to be here, for sure,” he said.
It’s good for the players to be here, too, even those who have already verbally committed to their respective schools.
“I just hope to take away all the friendships with everybody I’ve met,” Bizzle said. “Everybody is here just battling it out, trying to see what everybody’s got. Most of the time you look at things and it keeps you humble because there are great kids out here who I’ve never seen in my life before.
“You look at them and you go, ‘Golly’, and you think about how you have to step up your own game because they’re always working to get better.”