Aflac All-American Game

8/16/2010 1:28:43 AM

The East led by Florida preps  Francisco Lindor, Tyler Marlette and Sean Trent won the 8^th annual Aflac game tonight at Petco Park in San Diego.  Marlette blasted a two run home run for the East team to give the East its first lead.  Marlette was named the games MVP.  Lindor had two hits including a triple and stole a base.  He also looked great at shortstop and 2B in the game.   Trent actually drove in the winning runs with a double on a two strike count.

The pitching stood out despite the fact that 3 or 4 of the nations top prep pitching prospects who were on the two teams didn’t pitch in the game.  Those who did pitch, all 16 of them, threw 91 or better. 

Here are the top velocity readings on scouts Stalker guns behind home plate…

Robert Stephenson RHP (Martinez, CA)  – 95 mph, he also flashed three quality pitches tonight with outstanding life on his fastball.

Daniel Norris LHP (Johnson City, TN) – 94 mph

Daniel Mengden (Houston, TX) – 91 mph

Michael Kelly (Boynton Beach, FL) – 94 mph

Ricky Jacquez (El Paso, TX) – 94 mph

Dillon Maples (West End, NC) – 94 mph

Tyler Beede (Auburn, MA) – 93 mph

Archie Bradley (Broken Arrow, OK) – 95 mph

Deshorn Lake (Newport News, VA) – 92 mph

Daniel Camarena (Bonita, CA) – 91 mph

Jose Fernandez (Tampa, FL) – 94 mph

Dylan Davis (Redmond, WA) – 96 mph

John Magliozzi (Milton, MA) – 94 mph

Henry Owens (Huntington Beach, CA) – 91 mph

Jake Cave (Hampton, VA) – 93 mph

Though they were all in uniform top pitching prospects, Dylan Bundy (Owasso, OK), Dillon Howard (Searcy, AR), Christian Montgomery (Indianapolis, IN), Joe Ross (Oakland, CA), Andrew Suarez (Miami, FL) did not pitch in tonights game.  All of them have been 94 or better in the past.  Bundy and Howard pitched in the Connie Mack World Series this past week.  Bundy actually wanted to throw, but after a 100+ outing in winning a Connie Mack game a couple days ago it was decided he wouldn’t throw tonight.  Howard had a 120+ outing in winning the Connie Mack Championship game on Friday.  The others are all suffering from minor injuries of one sort or another.  Bundy and Howard are in great shape, but didn’t throw for precautionary reasons.

The 2010 Aflac Game was a classic with very few walks, plenty of great plays and pitching and several key hits.  There were no errors in the game that featured several highlight type plays all over the field.  A well played game aired on national television by a bunch of very good prospects resulted in a 5-3 victory by the East Team.

More to come!

8/16/2010 12:50:14 AM

Francisco Lindor won today’s Home Run Derby at the Aflac All american Game at Petco Park in San Diego.  Petco is generally considered one of if not the very hardest parks in the Major Leagues to hit home runs.  Lindor blasted four out including one that was measured at 390 feet. Lindoe also hit the most (4) at Cunningham Field ( U of san Diego) in the first round and those were hit into a very strong wind bblowing straight in.

Today’s most impressive shot was hit by Travis Harrison who crushed one onto the upper deck of the Western Metal Building in left field at Petco.  It was measured at well over 400 feet.

Josh Tobias, who easily won the HR contest at the PG National at Tropicana Field in June, didn’t hit any out, but did bounce one off the 401 sign in left centerfield.

Chistian Lopes hit a couple, but fell short of Lindors total.

BTW, Lindor has been the most impressive player here all week.  He features true MLB shortstop tools and actions and squares the ball up from both sides of the plate.  He made a play in tonights game that some MLB shortstops can’t make.

Far from the favorite to win the HR Derby, he ran away with it.  It’s entirely possible, maybe even likely, that Lindor made a lot of money with his performance in San Diego over the past few days. He really stood out!

8/15/2010 1:48:53 AM

Hall of Famer Andre Dawson is this years honorary chairman for the Aflac All american Game.  Tonight he started with what I thought would be a boring speech.  However it ended up being one with a powerful message to everyone in attendance.  Dawson is one Hall of Famer that remains humble and he doesn’t have an ounce of big shot in him.  This is a man who is a great representative for the game of baseball and who tells a great story.   Baseball people have to appreciate Andre Dawson.

One of Andre’s former teammates with the Cubs, Shawon Dunston, was at the Hall pf Champions in San Diego.  Dunston’s son Shawon Jr. is playing for the West Team.  I’ve always admired Shawon, his tools are amongst the best ever, but his 100% effort is the cause for respect and admiration.  Shawon Dunston played the game as hard as anyone has ever played the game.  A first pick of the draft, a superstar athlete, who never dogged it once on my watch. 

Daron Sutton, play by play announcer for the Dbacks, and Don Sutton’s son, was the MC. 

The proceeds from the game are to benefit the children’s hospital.  The main reason for the Aflac game is to raise money to help find a cure for pediatric cancer.  The Aflac All american Classic has raised nearly a million dollars for this cause.  It’s a real eye opener for all those who participate in this event.  Each year the Aflac players visit the Children’s Hospital and it’s a great experience for the children and the players.

Tonight’s awards…

Every Aflac All American received an award.  They all join past Aflac All Americans that include 80 first round picks and already 29 former Aflac players who have appeared in the Big leagues in just 7 draft years.

The Baseball America Pitcher of the Year award went to Daniel Norris from Science Hill HS in Tennessee.  Norris plays for the East Cobb Yankees in the summer.

The Perfect Game “Nick Adenhart Award” went to Jose Fernandez who escaped Cuba on a small boat a couple years ago.  The boat capsized in rough seas tossing his mother overboard.  Young Jose dove into the ocean and saved his mother who couldn’t swim.  He is now one of the nation’s top pitching prospects.  The award goes to the player that best exemplifies the spirit, character, and perseverance that Nick Adenhart displayed as a former Aflac All American.  Nick was the starting pitcher for the East Team in the very first Aflac Classic in 2003.

Mark Kramer from Rawlings then announce this year’s top defensive prospect.  California catcher Austin Hedges got the Rawlings Gold Glove Award.  Hedges is an outstanding catcher with outstanding catch and throw skills.

Then Jackie Robinson’s grand daughter, Sonya Pankey, came to the podium to announce this year’s recipient of the nation’s most prestigious high school baseball award, the Jackie Robinson Award.  Former winners include Justin Upton, and Bryce Harper from last year’s event.  This year’s winner was Daniel Norris from Tennessee.  Norris will also be the starting pitcher for the East Team in Sundays nationally televised game. 

Four of the nation’s top prospects flew into San Diego this afternoon and were at the banquet.  All four played in last nights Connie Mack Championship Game in New Mexico.  Midland won the CM World Series defeating Dbat 5-4 in the final championship game.    RHP Dylan Bundy (DBat), RHP Archie Bradley (DBat), RHP Dillon Howard (Midland) and C Brandon Sedell (Midland) will all be available for tomorrows nationally televised (FOX) game at  Petco Field.  The three pitchers are all mid 90s types among the best HS prospects for next years draft.  Bradley will throw for sure, while Bundy and Howard are questionable on the mound for tomorrows game.  Howard threw the championship game yesterday for Midland, while Bundy threw a complete game on Thursday for DBat.  Daniel Norris also threw in the CM World Series for East Cobb, but he is well rested and will start tomorrow at Petco Field.

Home Run final at 4:00 PM tomorrow and the Aflac Game starts at 5:00 PM on FOX.  If past results mean anything, this is as good as it gets in high school baseball.

Here are a few past Aflac All Americans to prove that point…

Jason Heyward

Buster Posey

Andrew McCutchen

Mat Latos

Rick Porcello

Ike Davis

Jeremy Hellickson

Neil Walker

Justin Upton

Brett Anderson

Gio Gonzalez

And many others

8/14/2010 5:37:07 PM

Obviously we have seen most of these Aflac All Americans perform many times in the past.  However here are a few notes/observations based on the past couple days here in San Diego at the Aflac All American Classic.

Billy Flamion creates more bat speed than any high school player in this class.  That is the general consensus among the scouts here. 

Travis Harrison is not just a power hitter, he hits rockets on the line.

Javier Baez is one of the most overall talented players in the country.

Josh Tobias has great power/speed tools and you can't help to think centerfield could end up being his destination.

Larry Greene is really strong, he has outstanding power potential but his compact stroke is more condusive to producing line drives.

Jake Cave is an outstanding all around player and one of the top two way guys in the class, throws 94 left handed from the mound.

Tyler Marlette can mash and he's so much more athletic than you would ever think.

Austin Slater does everything well

Sean Trent has shown off his amazing arm and line drive stroke.  Trent throw upper 90s across the infield.

Daniel Camarena can really hit and play, he also is a very talented left handed pitcher.

Dylan Davis was selected because he throws mid 90s from the mound, but he is an outstanding athlete who might create serious draft interest as an outfielder. He is a plus runner, obvious plus arm and he can hit.

Matthew Dean looks the part, very smooth defensively, love to watch him throw.  He also projects serious power.

Shawon Dunston Jr does everything well and might just be the most projectable position player in the class.  He even hit one out during BP today.  He has "serious" bloodlines as his father was one of the top "tools" guys ever.

Phillip Evans is this year's Tony Wolters, except a bit bigger and more power.  Simply one of the best true baseball players in the country.

Austin Hedges has been hitting some hard line drives here, scouts already know he's arguably the best defensive catcher in the country.

Ricky Jacquez might not be very big, but he is one of the most talented kids in the country.  Big arm, outstanding defensively and he hits.  Can't forget he's mid 90s from the mound.

Christian Lopes we've been told has gone backwards this summer.  We've had him highly ranked for a long time.  He looks like the same highly ranked guy in all ways other than he has increased his power a lot this year.

Daniel Megden has shown some serious power here to go along with the rest of his overall game.  Another one of the best arms in the country, we expect him to throw mid 90s from the mound at Petco tomorrow before catching a few innings.

Henry Owens is a nut!  in a good way along the lines of other great left handers.  This kid has fun, he's going to make a great club house teammate, not to mention he is a 6-7 lefty who throws 90+ now with much more to come.

Blake Swihart might be the top hitting prospect in the 2011 class, he squares the ball up as good as anyone.  He's also a very good athlete and defensive player.

OH! let's not forget previously blooged on shortstop Francisco Lindor.  He stands out here in San Diego in every conceivable way, on and off the field!
 Some of the best SS actions we have seen in 8 Aflac events.

More about these players and on the pitchers tomorrow.

Getting ready for the big banquet tonight.  Who will win the Rawlings Gold Glove award as the countries top defensive prospect?  Or the Nick Adenhart award? Or the Jackie Robinson award as the nation's top high school prospect?  Or the other awards?

We already know, but can't reveal the results.

8/14/2010 4:59:19 PM

The winds were howling in from left field at Cunningham park for todays homerun contest.  This led everyone to believe that the left handed hitters would have a gigantic advantage.  However two switch hitters both hitting from the right side and two right hand hitters became the qualifiers for tomorrow's final at Petco Park.

Javier Baez hit one out into the teeth of the wind. Several other well hit balls fell short of the spacious outfield walls.  Cameron Gallagher also hit one and had a couple blown back to the wrning track.  Gallagher suffered a sprained thumb during yesterday's workout and it seemed to affect his swing a bit.  Austin Slater also hit one out.  Josh Tobias a switch hitter who put on a big power display at Tropicana Field (PG National) in June, hit two out and just missed a couple more.  

Smooth shortstop Francisco Lindor is an outstanding hitter, but scouts wouldn't have picked him to make the HR finals, let alone hit more than anyone.  Especially hitting right handed into a howling wind.  However, Lindor hit four out and hit another off the wall.  That little power display had to impress every scout in attendance, especially coming from one of the top true shortstops to ever play in the Aflac All american game.

The West team had right handed hitters Christian Lopes and Travis Harrison make the finals.  Harrison looked great today in BP before the HR contest.  Lopes hit three out and one was a tape measure shot.  Daniel Camarena also hit a long one off the top part of the building in right field.

There were some that just narrowly went foul, but overall, the concern was whether anyone would be able to hit one out to left field.  Lindor hit four!  We have him ranked very high, but we don't have him ranked high enough.  That is going to change.  There is no question that he will get bigger and stronger.  He is putting on quite a show in San Diego and it appears that he is absolutely loving the stage.  This kid loves to be on a baseball field whether it's shagging balls or playing the game.

8/14/2010 4:34:30 PM

Well over 100 scouts watched the Aflac players workout and the home run contest today.  Four Aflac All americans will arrive today.  Those four played in the Connie Mack Championship game last night.  Midland defeated DBat in that final.  DBat won the first game against Midland with Aflac All American Dylan Bundy on the mound.  This forced an extra game and this time Aflac All American Dillon Howard went the distance for Midland.  Archie Bradley and Brandon Sedell also played in the championship game.  All four will arrive in San Diego today and hopefully Bradley will be able to pitch in tomorrow's nationally televised game.  He only threw to one hitter last night.  Bundy, Bradley and Howard are three of the nation's top prep pitchers this year.  All three throw in the mid 90s and Bradley was up to 97 last Tuesday in the Connie Mack finals.

While we are disappointed that these players missed the first few days of the Aflac event, we very much respect their commitment to their teams. Congratulations to both DBat and Midland.  Our people there reported that both teams were very impressive, especially the four Aflac All Americans on those two teams. 

8/14/2010 3:52:17 PM

Both teams were back at the University of San Diego for a morning practice and also the first round of the Home Run Derby. Both teams took infield and then a quick batting practice before the Home Run Derby. Francisco Lindor really stands out in the infield and is outstanding with the glove at SS.

 

32 of the Aflac players took part in the Home Run Derby and we are now down to the four finalist who will compete at Petco Park tomorrow before the Aflac All American Game. Francisco Lindor hit the most himeruns knocking four out. He will be joined in the finals by Christian Lopes (3), Travis Harrison (2) and Joshua Tobias (2).

 

The Aflac banquet is tonight were the awards will be announced including the Jackie Robinson award. We will post the winners later on the blog after they are announced.

8/14/2010 3:51:48 PM

A few more notes from yesterday's scrimmage at Cunningham Field on the beautiful U of San Diego campus.

Phillip Pfeifer threw a tuneup inning for the East team, showing great command and throwing in the high 80s with a sharp breaking ball.  Jake Reed also threw three innings for the East team.  He gave up a grand slam to Billy Flamion, but settled down and looked very good the last inning he was on the mound.  Flamion hit a laser off the building behind the right centerfield wall.

Josh Tobias had a couple hits and stole two bases.  Sean Trent, Austin Slater, and Cameron Gallagher all had hits for the East and Franciso Lindor drove in a run with a sac fly.  Blake Swihart, Phillip Evans each had a hit, while Shawon Dunston Jr. doubled along with Flamion's homerun for the West team.

Other highlights included Cameron Gallagher throwing out a runner trying to steal with a quick, accurate, strong throw.  Javier Baez made a big league play at 3B on a slow roller.  Francisco Lindor looks very much like he might be the top true shortstop in next year's draft.  He has plenty of arm, outstanding actions, soft quick hands and feet.  He also can hit from both sides of the plate.

8/14/2010 10:39:41 AM

Aflac weekend kicked off this morning with the first practice at the University of San Diego. The West team kicked things off with batting practice this morning and the standouts were Blake Swihart, Billy Flamion, Philip Evans, Matt Dean, Daniel Camerena and Travis Harrison. The East team was up next and the guys who really stood out included Javier Baez, Joshua Tobias, and Cameron Gallagher.

 

After both teams took infield the scrimmage began. Matt Troupe (Granada Hills, CA, Northridge HS) was brought in to pitch for the West team in the scrimmage and he showed he could hold his own with the talented group of Aflac players. Troupe’s fastball was 90-92 mph and the Oregon State commit did a nice job of holding the big hitting East team in check in his three innings of work.

 

The West bats came out hot as Phillip Evans opened things off with a hard hit single and Billy Flamion roped a home run to RF as the West team put up 5 runs in the first inning. Shawon Dunston also ripped a double later on in the game for the West team.

 

Daniel Norris pitched a quick tune up inning for the East team and shut the West bats down with his fastball sitting 93-94 mph.

 

2012 Lucas Giolitto (Santa Monica, CA, Harvard Westlake HS) came in after Troupe for the West team and was very impressive. The younger Giolitto was very impressive fitting right in with the group of Aflac players with his fastball touching 94 mph. Giolitto will be watched very closely over the next two years as he is one of the top players in his class.

 

Dillon Maples relieved Norris and his fastball also was up to 94 mph in his inning of work before Philip Pfeiffer closed out the came for the East with a nice breaking ball and a fastball that was up to 88 Mph.

 

Henry  Owens was the lone Aflac pitcher to pitch an inning for the West team in the scrimmage and worked a quick inning mixing his fastball touching 90 mph and a big breaking curveball.