Daily Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4




In a tournament full of 2016 and 2017 stars, it was a 2018 prospect that stole the show on Tuesday morning. 2018 shortstop Ryan Bliss of the East Cobb Astros has college coaches buzzing with excitement about his present game and overall future potential. Bliss is far from physically imposing, but given his advanced approach to baseball in every facet of the game as well as his overall skillset and tools, he certainly plays above his 5-foot-8, 150-pound stature. With advanced tools defensively at the shortstop position, Bliss shows very quick feet regardless of which direction he’s moving in to go with excellent overall footwork in terms of fundamentals. He’s a very quick-twitch athlete with range in every direction. He fields cleanly with easy, smooth actions; and shows an advanced feel for positioning to go along with plus instincts for the shortstop position. He is the type of prospect who will have impact potential in the middle of the diamond at the next level, a rarity in any class.

While the profile is defensive-first right now, he shows projectable hitting tools with the kind of overall hitting profile that could develop into a leadoff hitter. He starts with a very narrow base then shifts forward well into a larger stride, showing good overall feel for the barrel with quick hands and projectable bat speed. He will drift to the front side some, and struggles a bit recognizing spin, but it’s important to remember that at his age he has the most important things down: Overall approach, quick swing with quality overall mechanics, and feel for the barrel. He’s a highly projectable hitter to go along with that high-end defensive profile mentioned above, making him certainly one of the top prospects in the class of 2018, albeit at a very early stage.




2017 righthander Mark DiLuia of the Top Tier Americans 16u team is a highly projectable righthanded arm with a big frame, and he showed off some serious arm strength to go along with that frame on Tuesday. Working in the 85-87 range and topping at 88, DiLuia flashed impressive arm speed with an overall projection and upside to his game that will certainly pique the interest of colleges. He pitches from a three-quarters slot with some effort, uses his lower half well into a bit of drop-and-drive, but still manages to get on top of the ball and generate some plane. His primary off-speed offering was a slider that showed very good two-plane tilt with tight spin at times, though he often would get to the side of it and leave it flat and up in the zone. Overall, he shows the arm strength, arm speed, size, and feel for generating spin that could make him into a high-level prospect moving forward in his development.

The Home Plate Chili Dogs Searcy 16u team came into the 2015 16u WWBA loaded with talent, which they put on display on Tuesday afternoon both on the mound and at the plate.




2018 righthander Jordan Armstrong started for the Chili Dogs, and showed impressive overall stuff and projection, making him a top 2018 prospect. With an arm action requiring minimal effort to go along with excellent arm speed, Armstrong worked in the 82-85 range, touching 86 often throughout his start, holding the velocity well over his outing. The fastball also comes with quality sinking/running action, making it nearly impossible to square up when located down in the zone, and eliciting several swings and misses as well. He has an online delivery with good balance, and with his body showing lots of room for projection at 6-foot-1, 145-pounds, he could end up with a lot more velocity as he physically develops. He has very good feel for the curveball as well, with excellent 12-to-6 shape with snap and depth, thrown in the low-70s with command of the offering.




Following Armstrong was 2018 righthander Garrett Brown, an uber-projectable prospect standing 6-foot-5 with broad shoulders and lots of room for added build/strength on his frame. With a long arm action and whippy arm speed, Brown worked 83-86 and topped at 87 with downhill with hard cutting action and easily projectable velocity. Brown threw fastballs for the vast majority of his outing, and while all of them featured cutting action, he showed the ability to manipulate the amount of cut he generated depending on the velocity with which he threw the pitch. At the lower velos (83-84), the pitch looked nearly like a slider, with more cut and even a bit of depth, while at the higher velos (86-87) the pitch was a bit straighter and flatter, though still with some cut at the end. On the whole, Brown is a highly projectable pitcher with nearly limitless upside on the mound.

2017 shortstop prospect Devonte Brown impressed in nearly every possible facet of the game on Tuesday. At 5-foot-10, 170-pounds, Brown is a highly athletic prospect with solid present build and good projection remaining as well. At shortstop, he shows quick feet with range to both sides and the kind of easy arm action, when coupled with his quick release, that projects well to the left side of the infield moving forward. At the plate he hits from a semi-squatted, squared stance with quick, strong hands to and through the zone. He hits with leverage in his swing, generating good bat speed as well, squaring up balls all over the field with projectable gap-to-gap power. He also got on the mound for the Chili Dogs, showing impressive raw arm strength in a mostly-upper body delivery, topping at 88 mph. He’s a very interesting prospect both positionally and on the mound, with high upside in both spots.

2017 catcher/first baseman Zach Feaster has perhaps the most perfectly suited last name of the tournament, as he truly feasted on opposing pitching throughout the game on Tuesday. With advanced strength and bat speed from a 6-foot-2, 195-pound build, Feaster showed a very clean swing highlighted by the aforementioned bat speed, explosive hands, and a well-leveraged overall swing with easy power. He murdered three balls in the game we saw on Tuesday, easily backspinning balls into the gap with impressive exit velocity and carry, and showing an advanced feel for the barrel as well as knowledge of the strike zone, giving him a very high offensive upside.

In a rain-shortened, one-inning stint, lefthander Cole Daniels did a good job establishing a national following as well as making himself one of the top 2018 prospects in the state of Michigan. With a large, well-built frame, Daniels showed impressive arm strength, topping at 86 mph with his fastball from the left side to go along with good feel to create spin. Daniels struggled a bit with command after a long delay, but given the circumstances, the stuff he showed in the first inning before the rain are what is taken into consideration here. Despite the very abbreviated look, Daniels vaulted himself high up onto follow lists, and since he plays for Michigan baseball powerhouse Saline High School, he should have no problem continuing to showcase that coveted lefthanded pitching ability moving forward in his prep career.

– Brian Sakowski




Every year at the Perfect Game Junior National we see pitchers who show some ability on the mound and all the indicators that more is on the way, whether it be with a year or two or even a couple of weeks. For the young righthander Cole Beavin (2017, Ocoee, Fla.) it was a matter of a couple of weeks for his stuff to take a jump. Just a couple of weeks back in Fort Myers Beavin was living in the 82-84 mph range with his fastball but it was easy to see more was on the way given his long and loose 6-foot-3, 165-pound frame.

Jump to yesterday morning and the uncommitted Beavin came out of the bullpen sitting in the 84-87 mph range with his fastball and still projects as much as he did in Fort Myers. Beavin jumped on the mound and immediately went to work, breaking the bat of the first batter to dig thanks to the last life he’s able to generate on his fastball when down in the zone. Staying short to the back the Florida native shows a quick arm and at times showed cutting action though the fastball generally showed running life to his arm side. He does a nice job of elevating his fastball and changing the hitters' eye levels while showing a full four-pitch mix.

Of the three secondaries Beavin’s slider showed the most potential and it was that pitch that he showed most frequently throughout his couple of innings. Up to 81 mph, which is also an indicator of more fastball velocity due to the hand speed required to get a breaking ball up to that velocity, Beavin is able to generate late life with the pitch which helps stay off the barrel while keeping batters off balance. He only flashed a curveball a time or two at 72 mph but did show depth and 11-to-5 shape. To round out his arsenal Beavin showed a quality changeup at 77-78 mph with late diving life down in the zone while inducing weak contract.

Another player who impressed during the Junior National was Beavin’s teammate Brady Smith (2017, Niceville, Fla.), a middle infielder who has continued to make noise while down in Georgia. With solid athleticism and instincts up the middle, it was with the bat that the uncommitted Smith made the loudest impact Tuesday morning. A righthanded batter, Smith shows a short path to the ball and uses his strength well as he connected his first two at-bats for loud singles up the middle, some of the harder hits balls in the game.

Harrison Francis (2017, Tallahassee, Fla.) took the mound to start the game for the Orlando Scorpions Prime 16u, and like Beavin, showed a quality mix and projects well moving forward as he continues to fill out. Francis currently stands 6-foot-1, 180-pounds but with his broad shoulders and high waist it’s easy to seeing him continuing to grow and fill out his frame with additional muscle mass.

Another Floridian arm who’s currently uncommitted, Francis began to dial it once he found his release point and from that point forward filled up the bottom of the strike zone with his heater. In the first inning Francis came out working in the 84-87 mph range with his fastball showing a quick arm through the back with a high three-quarters release point. Once he found his mechanics Francis began working to either side of the plate and picked up two of his strikeouts in the same inning by locating to his glove side black with an 85 and 86 mph fastballs, each freezing the hitter. Francis continued to fill up the zone and induce weak ball contact and part of the reason for that was his feel for a three-pitch mix.

Francis got under his first curveball of the game but from that point onward he did a nice job of working on top and in turn was able to generate some sharp depth and 12-to-6 shape on the low-70s offering. He also does a nice job of turning over his changeup at 74-76 mph and while maintaining his high three-quarters slot he’s able to create some diving life down in the zone.




Continuing with the theme of uncommitted 2017 arms out of the state of Florida, Tampa native Conor Grady (2017, Tampa, Fla.) impressed last week during the 17u WWBA World Championships and has carried his stuff over from last week to the present one. I was first able to see Grady last fall at the WWBA Florida Qualifier and since then he’s continued to get stronger physically and shows more overall fluidity in his delivery.

With a strong yet loose and athletic 6-foot-2, 185-pound build Grady came out showing a whippy arm action and in turn was able to generate -and sit- a fastball in the 87-90 mph range, once touching 91 in the opening frame. He lands a bit upright at release but in doing so he’s able to create solid sinking life on his fastball and did so with relative ease. The ball comes out of his hand with relative easy which allowed him to hold his velocity out of the stretch and helps envision that more is on the way. Grady’s best life, as you could imagine, came when he was down in the zone which induced weak ground ball contact though he has the ability to miss bats with his fastball, especially when he began to locate down to his glove side.

The fastball is just a fourth of the story with Grady as he shows a full arsenal of pitches and has the comfort and feel to throw any of the four. Not only are his curveball and slider separated by a couple of ticks on the radar gun (curveball 72-74, slider 76-77) but each showed distinctive difference in shape and life. The curveball is the pitch that I saw most frequently last fall and the one he threw last week with some depth whereas his slider showed more sweeping life away from righthanded hitters, proving to be an effective offering. He also showed a comfortable feel with his changeup, a 77-80 mph offering that showed solid fading life from the same loose and whippy arm action with the only difference being the 8-10 mph difference.

The skill level and high-end athleticism of outfielder Jacob Pearson (2017, West Monroe, La.) haven’t ever been in question, especially after his first Perfect Game event a month back. He hasn’t stopped hitting since arriving in the Peach State and the Mississippi State commit had another loud game with his lefthanded swing yesterday afternoon. A plus-runner who turned in a 4.09 down the line (major league average for a lefthanded hitter is 4.20), Pearson twice hit the ball hard in his first two at-bats with his loudest contact coming in his second trip to the plate. Even when he makes just average contact the ball jumps off his barrel differently than most. That wasn’t the case however with his triple down the line as he squared up the ball for a hard line drive showing off fast hands and a shorter bat path with solid bat speed.

Tanner Allen (2017, Theodore, Ala.) has continued to have a strong tournament in his Perfect Game debut and shows a similar tool-set to the previously mentioned Pearson. With a strong 6-foot, 180-pound build Allen shows off an advanced hit tool on a consistent basis, lining the ball hard into center field for a couple of singles. Currently uncommitted, Allen showed off quick and explosive hands to begin his swing, whipping the barrel through the zone with very hard and loud contact coming off. Like Pearson, Allen possesses the type of speed that can impact a game and put it on display after his first single as he stole second within a pitch or two before coming around to score to give Marucci an early lead.

Ladarius Woods (2017, Decatur, Ala.), currently ranked No. 133 in the country for the 2017 class, has been known for his big righthanded power ever since the beginning of his freshman year of high school and he showed it plays while swinging wood too. With Marucci already plate a run or two in the top of the first the right-handed Woods got his pitch on a 2-0 count and didn’t miss.

– Jheremy Brown