Daily Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2




It’s rather remarkable to think about the jump Ian Anderson (2016, Rexford, N.Y.) has made within the last calendar year, going from a relatively unknown from the outskirts of Albany, N.Y., to becoming one of the top overall arms in the country. The buzz on Anderson was just beginning to pick up around the middle of last summer and it was easy to see why as the ultra-projectable Anderson was living in the mid- to upper-80s and showed rather advanced pitchability for a player his size and age.

Listed at 6-foot-3, 170-pounds Anderson, a Vanderbilt commit, still projects very nicely with long and loose limbs, a high waist and a lightening fast right arm though his overall stuff has already taken several steps forward. With two strong pitching performances from the summer circuit notched in his belt, the Perfect Game National Showcase and the Tournament of Stars, Anderson can add the 16u WWBA National Championship to that list as he took his stuff to the next level with arguably his best performance to date.

Lately Anderson has been runnings his fastball up to 92-93 mph on a consistent basis, that is until last night when he came out in the first inning and virtually sat at 94 mph and touched a 95. The fastball alone screams high-end talent, but when you take into account the command, downhill trajectory, and late, subtle running life to his arm side you’re talking about something special. As the innings wore on Anderson began to pitch in and lived rather firmly in the 91-93 mph, showing little sign of fatigue while still working either side of the plate.

He did allow a couple of base hits including a triple but once he began to throw his curveball or changeup first pitch the contact seemed to disappear. As mentioned above the arm action is a thing of beauty and looked as though he was playing catch while exerting limited effort and did an excellent job of maintaining his arm speed regardless of the pitch he was throwing.

Anderson snapped off a handful of curveballs in the first inning, each as impressive as the last which wasn’t a good thing if you were a batter. Showing one of the better curveballs in the 2016 draft class, college or high school, Anderson continued to drop them in the zone in the upper-70s, peaking 78 mph with consistent life. An easy above average pitch, Anderson showed little trouble mixing and wasn’t afraid to double up as he picked up a handful of strikeouts with the hammer.

The changeup may not be quite at the level of his curveball, yet, but it projects to be another above average pitch with the same levels of swing and miss potential as his other two offerings. After flashing just a couple of quality ones early at 82-83 mph, Anderson began to show it off in his final inning of work and was up to 84 with it. The arm speed and arm action remains very consistent and that’s key as he is able to get hitters out front with it looking like a fastball coming out, only to have it be 10 mph slower with late diving life down in the zone.

Overall he threw five quality innings, surrendered one run on two hits, struck out nine and most impressive was that 51 of his 67 pitches were for strikes, good for a 76 percent mark.




He may have been handed the ball for the 8:00 a.m. game but Tanner Burns (2017, Decatur, Ala.) showed no sign of it being early morning with the performance he turned in early yesterday. Already established as one of the top arms in the 2017 class, though still early in the process, Burns continues to show why he’s such a highly regarded arm whether it be running his fastball up to 94 mph or the advanced command and pitchability he showed this particular outing.

Listed at 6-foot-1, 170-pounds, Burns shows strength in his forearms and lower half at present and still has room to fill out in his upper body with additional strength. Working from a rather simple set of mechanics which he repeats well, Burns shows a clean and quick arm action coming through the back before delivering a crisp fastball to either side of the plate. Burns sat comfortably in the 88-91 mph range throughout the run rule shortened game and bumped a couple of 92s early in the outing. The limited amount of effort at his release is noteworthy but even more impressive was the advanced command of his fastball and his ability to miss barrels with the pitch.

Burns, a University of Alabama commit, was able to work with consistent downhill plane on his fastball to either side in part to how short the arm action is in the back and how well he repeats his mechanics. With a majority of his fastball coming across at 90 or 91 mph in the early frame, Burns was able to generates solid running life to his arm side at times, particularly out of the stretch. The combination of velocity and command would have probably been enough to get through his time on the mound but Burns showed his off speed which was nearly as impressive as the previously mentioned tools.

Throwing both a curveball and a slider he was able to generate distinguishable shape on the two and showed high levels of pitchability as he’d use either to set up his fastball which he simple overpower hitters with. His curveball showed big depth in the upper-70s and like his slider he did a nice job of maintaining his arm slot on the pitch. Burns went to his slider more often than the curveball and displayed a strong feel for the late tilting pitch that climbed as high as 82 mph. His slider remained a consistent pitch and he was able to execute with command pretty steadily, giving him three weapons at his disposal.

We spoke briefly about Jose Ciccarello’s (2017, Tampa, Fla.) bat in a previous recap and touched briefly on his defense though not in much detail. Yesterday it was his defense that stood out at shortstop early before the rain came as the University of Florida commit shows light actions with his footwork and a bounce in his step as he circled the ball well and consistently showed off a strong arm across the diamond.

It was a quick three inning look as the sky shortly opened up after the top of the third inning but Altoon Coleman (2017, Sanford, Fla.) continued to do what he’s shown throughout his extensive Perfect Game career. Throwing the first three hitless innings of what became FTB Pride’s second no-hitter of the tournament, Coleman showed a fastball/curveball combination that kept hitters off balance and induced steady ground ball contact.

Still looking as though he’s playing catch on the mound with little effort at release, Colman ran his fastball up to 91 mph while sitting steadily in the 87-90 mph range. His mechanics remain very simple and repeatable and with a quick arm coming through the back he’s able to get his fastball on hitters quickly with heavy life, leading to the aforementioned weak ground ball contact. A Florida State University commit, Coleman did a nice job of incorporating and working over his front side, something that allowed him to hold his velocity out of the stretch and get stronger as the innings wore on.

After falling behind in the count 3-1 and working exclusively off his fastball, Coleman dropped in his first curveball of the afternoon at 71 mph, catching the hitter off guard. While the velocity still projects on the pitch as it sat in the 70-72 mph range, Coleman has made noticeable strides with the pitch since last fall as both the shape and depth have improved as has his overall feel for the pitch.

Chase Sanguinetti (2018, Tampa, Fla.) and Donnie Gleneski (2016, Orange Park, Fla.) each helped the FTB Pride offense early with a double a piece to their pull side. Gleneski showed quick hands on his as he line a pitch down the left field line for a two bagger while Sanguinetti went to his pull side gap. Just completely his sophomore year Sanguinetti has already committed to Florida State University and continues to swing a loud stick from left side with fluidity and interesting strength coming off the barrel.

Currently uncommitted, righthander Zachary Dreznin (2017, Saddle River, N.J.) performed well over his time on the mound and even carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before a single to the opposite field broke it up. Dreznin hails from the state of New Jersey and with his long 6-foot-4, 185-pound frame he attracted a bevy of onlookers yesterday afternoon.

Dreznin came out bumping his fastball up to 89 mph while sitting in the 86-88 mph range early from a long and loose arm action. Showing some tempo to his delivery, Dreznin works from a high three-quarters arm slot and when he remains on top of the ball he’s able to generate nice downhill plane with slight running life to his arm side. The ball comes out pretty well at present and projects nicely for more velocity as he continues to fill out though he has already shown the ability to miss bats with his fastball.

His curveball was a solid secondary offering at 72-73 mph and though the velocity may not suggest it Dreznin’s curveball showed solid depth with late bite while maintaining his arm speed nicely on the pitch. He was able to pick up more than a handful of strikeouts as he incorporated a third pitch, his changeup, in the upper-70s all while remaining balanced and showing the same high three-quarters arm slot.

Starting at shortstop for Dreznin’s Tri-State Arsenal team was quick-twitch and currently uncommitted Kevin Welsh (2016, Columbus, N.J.). His defensive actions have stood out in each of the two games I’ve seen as he moves well on his feet both up the middle and on the bases. Listed at 5-foot-10, 165-pounds, Welsh also made some noise with the bat yesterday as he stung a double into the opposite field gap to plate a couple of early runs for the Arsenal.

Another uncommitted arm from the Northeast who threw last night at LakePoint was Pennsylvania native Brendan Cellucci (2017, Wyncote, Pa.), a projectable lefthander who is listed at 6-foot-3, 180-pounds. With a high leg lift at the start of his delivery Cellucci shows a very quick arm coming through the back and was able to generate some nice angle on his fastball that worked in the 84-87 mph range rather comfortably. Cellucci came out attacking with his fastball and did a nice job of work down in the zone while showing occasional cutting life. He showed both a slider at 77 mph and a curveball up to 69 mph, each of which project with continued refinement.

– Jheremy Brown




2017 righthander Justin Bullock (Creedmor, N.C.), a North Carolina State commit, started on the mound for Team Elite Prime 16u and was pretty good overall. Bullock is an athletically built rising junior, with serious quick-twitch in his overall physicality that translates to the mound. His uptempo delivery with whippy arm speed allows him to generate that type of velocity—as well as projection for more—but at the same time he tends to get a little bit too uptempo, which can cause him to lose control of his overall delivery and rush, impacting his command. He has a longer arm action with some hook in the back and worked 90-92 early—a new high in velocity for him—Bullock settled in around the 88-90 range and held it deep into his start. He is in the early stages of having the ability to command fastball downhill to both sides of the plate, as an inconsistent release point as well as the overall control of delivery impacted his ability to command the fastball on this day. When online with his delivery and consistent with his arm slot and release point, the fastball is downhill with life and command, and nearly impossible for opposing hitters to square up or oftentimes even make contact with.

He complements that fastball with a power curve, showing excellent feel and an innate ability to spin the pitch, even if the command is a bit loose at present. At it’s best; the curveball is a true snapdragon pitch with hard, late bite with 11-to-5 shape. It’s a bat-misser in every sense of the word, eliciting weak swings and buckled knees on several occasions, showing as a potential future plus pitch.

Bullock’s teammate, 2016 outfielder Terence Norman immediately impresses with his physicality, but what really makes him special is his potential with the bat. He has a lot going on with his swing, with some complicated mechanisms in place, but when he’s on time with his swing it’s very synchronized and the results can be impressive. After battling off about a half dozen tough pitches in one at bat on Sunday, Norman finally got a pitch he could drive and drilled it down the left field line for a double. With hand speed in spades, Norman generates solid bat speed as well with natural loft and overall strength, giving him excellent present gap-to-gap power with more home run power on the way.




2016 righthander Anthony Locey is a well-built, broad-shouldered prospect with a durable, innings-eater frame and overall physicality. After touching 96 in recent weeks, Locey was very good one again on Sunday, running his fastball up to 94 and living 90-93 for the entirety of his start. Effectively pounding the bottom of the zone with his fastball to both sides of the plate, Locey was able to get ahead of hitters often and then put them away with a good off-speed combination of a curveball and slider. He employs a longer, easier arm action with some effort but no mechanical red flags, uses his lower half well and generates good plane to the plate with a bit of tailing life on his fastball at the bottom of the zone. His curveball shows very tight spin with 11-to-5 shape, and though he left a few up in the zone that were pretty hittable, the pitch showed a potentially above average future. He also flashed a slider that was a little harder than the curveball, but not as effective. It’s a mostly horizontal breaking pitch that can run away from righthanded hitters, but the lack of depth and overall sharpness can hurt it’s effectiveness. Still, there’s quality feel for a second breaking ball in there, which can’t be discounted.

2016 uncommited righthander Christian Camacho (Elk Grove, Ill.) took the mound for Team DeMarini Illinois Kout on Sunday night, and despite having to work through some rain/lighning delays, was very solid. Camacho employs a hands-over-head delivery with good balance and tempo, showing good arm speed and creating angle from a three-quarters slot. He worked in the 81-84 range, touching 85, with projection remaining in his arm. His curveball had huge break in the in the 70-72 range, showing 11-to-5 shape with quality command and legitimate snap. He was able to throw it for strikes as well as bury it down and out of the strike zone to get swings and misses. He’s an interesting under-the-radar arm in the class of 2016.

– Brian Sakowski