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2,619 MLB PLAYERS | 16,397 MLB DRAFT SELECTIONS
College  | Story | 3/10/2018

Linginfelter slams door for Vols

Photo: Tennessee Athletics



Weekend PreviewPerfect Game College Player Database
Quick Takes: Houston
| Vanderbilt | Sam Houston State

During the season Perfect Game scouts will be traveling to some of the top series to watch the very best players in college baseball. Those observations, captured with both written notes and video, will be shared in the College Player Database as linked above, notes that can also be accessed on the players' individual PG profile pages. Throughout the season select reports will be shared in feature format to promote the players, the teams and college baseball as a whole.


Zach Linginfelter, rhp, Tennessee



Tennessee's Friday starter for the first three weeks of the season, Linginfelter did not get the Friday start vs. Cincinnati, rather he was called on to pitch out of the bullpen. He picked up the win anyway, coming on in the 10th inning and going the final 2 2/3 frames, allowing only a walk while striking out four. 

Linginfelter is an XL-framed, burly and physical righthanded pitcher who looks like he should throw pretty hard, which he does. He's cleaned up his delivery some since his prep days, getting a little better rotated in his hips and downhill more online, though there is still some closed-landing there. The back elbow does get pretty high through the back of the arm stroke, and can create some timing issues coming through. 

Linginfelter worked 92-95 mph with his fastball, coming right at hitters and attacking the strike zone with above average to plus life on the pitch, running it in on the hands of righthanded hitters and basically just not messing around. He has a live arm and always has, but it's likely a reliever profile long term, given the delivery's red flags, command inconsistency, and lack of a plus off-speed pitch. Linginfelter ranked No. 153 on the most recent Top 250 Draft Prospects List, which would put him roughly in the 5-6 round range right now, a pretty good estimation based on what he showed Friday afternoon.


Garrett Crochet, lhp, Tennessee



A true freshman in head coach Tony Vitello's first recruiting class, Crochet made the first start of his collegiate career against Cincinnati on Friday, and really delivered on the faith the coaching staff put into him. He didn't factor into the decision as Tennessee took 12 innings to beat UC, but he did go eight full innings, allowing only a single earned on run five hits while not walking anyone and striking out eight. 

He did a very good job of attacking hitters right from the get go, not messing around and more than willing to come inside with the fastball early and often. The delivery as a whole works pretty well too, working from the extreme third base side of the rubber and creating slight crossfire through release, Crochet is pretty consistently on time, and while his command was fringy overall, his control was plus and he had no problem filling up the strike zone. He creates very good angle from a high three-quarters slot, powering the ball downhill to both sides of the plate. He worked 88-91 mph with his fastball for essentially the entire game, bumping a 92 early on and doing a fantastic job of holding his velocity throughout. The pitch lacks much in the way of life, occasionally cutting inside to righthanded hitters, but the angle he creates and the deception by which he delivers the ball both allow for the pitch to play up in effectiveness. 

His curveball, which he didn't consistently have the release point of, flashed 55 on the 20-80 scale, thrown in 78-81 mph range with 1-to-7 shape and power depth when spun correctly. He had a tendency to release it early and cast it a bit, so while the consistency with the pitch needs tightening up, there is definitely feel for it and it has a chance to be a weapon for him as he continues to develop. Only 18 still, Crochet will still be just 20 years old at the time of the 2020 draft, making him potentially extra-enticing to teams at that point.


J.T. Perez, lhp, Cincinnati



Cincinnati's senior Friday starter, lefthander J.T. Perez, was excellent against Tennessee, allowing only a single earned run over the course of an 88-pitch eight innings while scattering five hits and punching out five as well. It's all pretty fluid and easy for Perez, with a simple delivery that gets a little crossfire due to the closed landing but does add pretty good deception in addition to low-three quarters, slinger slot that Perez throws from. This delivery and arm action are especially tough on lefthanded hitters, as it feels like Perez is releasing the ball from behind them, and he's unlikely to get hurt too badly this year by any lefthanded hitter. 

Perez's fastball worked anywhere from 83-88 mph on the day, preferring to get early strikes at 83-85 and then reaching back for 88 mph later in the count, at will. The fastball has good arm-side life to it, and the angle Perez creates, while allowing the pitch to flatten out a bit at times, was impressive, especially when he got it in on the hands of righthanded hitters. He showed a shorter frisbee slider that he really wanted to land over the arm side corner for a called strike, and also mixed in a changeup. Neither pitch projects above average, but he did mix and match them to good effect.


College | Story | 8/7/2026

Cape Cod League Notebook: August 7

Perfect Game Staff
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RHP Jason Flores (@BaseballUGA) Showed some electric stuff, up to 98 several times CT, SL, CH to round out the arsenal in his 5IP 9K performance. @HarwichMariners So./‘27 elig pic.twitter.com/p2nTvkFnWh — PG College Baseball (@PGCollegeBall) August 5, 2026 Jason Flores | RHP | University of Georgia | Harwich Mariners  Flores heads to Georgia this fall looking to reestablish himself as one of the premier arms in the 2027 draft class after showing significant promise during his freshman season at Texas. Flores posted a 2.78 ERA over 32.1 innings as a freshman before a limited sophomore campaign in which he logged just 12 innings. The stuff was on full display this summer, highlighted by a dominant five-inning, nine-strikeout playoff performance in which he touched 98 mph five different times. His fastball averaged nearly 96 mph throughout his time on the Cape, pairing the...
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Tyler Henninger
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General | General | 9/3/2026

Class of 2029 Rankings Update

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Dave Durbala
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Softball | Softball Tournament | 9/3/2026

Iowa City Scouting Showcase 18U Division

Ashley Mears
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Perfect Game Iowa City Scouting Showcase August 29-30 Ashley Mears It was a great weekend to kick off the Fall 2026 tournament campaign in Iowa City. The fields were packed with college coaches from across the Midwest, providing a great opportunity for players to showcase their talents. Both hitters and pitchers put on quite a show, and there were plenty of standout performances to take note of. We are excited to continue following these players and see what the rest of the fall has in store! Gillian Hansen (2028 New Brighton, MN) of the 18u MN Force Impact Standering was an absolute force to be reckoned with at the plate this weekend. Hansen possesses a strong, athletic build that translates into impressive power. Standing parallel to the plate, she utilizes her lower half effectively and does an excellent job of staying through the ball and extending through the zone. Hansen led the...
Press Release | Press Release | 9/3/2026

PG Launches Global Country Partner Program

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  667 Progress Way | Sanford, FL 32771 | 319-298-2923 www.perfectgame.org | facebook.com/perfectgameusa | @PerfectGameUSA     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   PERFECT GAME LAUNCHES NEW GLOBAL COUNTRY PARTNER PROGRAM TO EXPAND INTERNATIONAL BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL PATHWAYS   Sanford, Florida (Thursday, September 3, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced the launch of its new Country Partner Program, an initiative designed to expand Perfect Game’s international presence while creating new opportunities for aspiring athletes around the world.  Through the Country Partner Program, select organizations will become the exclusive Perfect Game partner within their respective countries through annual licensing agreements. Each Country Partner will be responsible for managing local...
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PG Hires Nuovo-Golden in South Carolina

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  667 Progress Way | Sanford, FL 32771 | 319-298-2923 www.perfectgame.org | facebook.com/perfectgameusa | @PerfectGameUSA     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   PERFECT GAME SOFTBALL EXPANDS REGIONAL TOURNAMENT OPERATIONS WITH KEY HIRE IN SOUTH CAROLINA   Greenville, South Carolina (Monday, August 31, 2026) - Perfect Game, the world’s largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, today announced an addition to its Southeast tournament operations team with the hiring of Michelle Nuovo-Golden as Operations Director.   In her role, Nuovo-Golden will oversee regional venue management, team relations and event logistics across South Carolina focusing on expanding Perfect Game’s fastpitch footprint within the core markets which include Columbia, Lexington, Greenville, Anderson and the surrounding regions.   Nuovo-Golden transitions to...
Draft | Rankings | 8/28/2026

2027 MLB Draft Board

Tyler Henninger
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The 2026 MLB Draft is official in the books as those players have been signed and have begun their pro career. That means it is time to turn the page and dive into the 2027 class. This class features an intriguing mix of arms both from the prep and college ranks, along with an enticing position player pool. Today, we unveil our first 2027 MLB Draft Board, ranking the Top-100 prospects in the class. There is still plenty of time for new names to emerge and established ones to rise or fall, but here is where things stand as we begin this cycle.  Rk. Name Level Pos. B-T School Hometown State Commitment 1 Dylan Seward H SS S-R Norco Eastvale CA Tennessee 2 Brendan Lawson C SS L-R Florida Toronto ON 3 Dax Whitney C RHP R-R Oregon State Blackfoot ID 4 Gavin Kelly C C/UTL R-R West Virginia Presto PA 5 Tomas Valincius C LHP L-L Mississippi State Lockport IL 6 Malachi Butler H SS L-R...
Tournaments | Story | 8/26/2026

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Joey Cohen
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Year in and year out when the best young talent from across the country is packed into one national-level event the arms tend to win the week. That feels especially true in today’s amateur game where velocity, pitch design and high-level training in general are being introduced earlier than ever, allowing young pitchers to develop impactful stuff at a faster rate than younger hitters can consistently catch up to it. The Underclass Area Code Games are no exception and this year there was no shortage of arms that made you stop and take notice. Narrowing it down to 10 was difficult, but I focused on the pitchers who either displayed starter-type traits, brought something genuinely different from a delivery standpoint whether it was slot, height, crossfire or deception or simply possessed an outlier element of stuff that separated them from the pack. These are the 10 arms that stood...
Draft | Story | 8/23/2026

2026 MLB Draft Report Cards: NL East

Tyler Henninger
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With the 2026 MLB Draft officially in the books, it’s time to evaluate how each team performed. Every draft class was graded using the standard 20-80 scouting scale with risk factor assigned. While these grades won’t be proven right or wrong for years, they reflect the overall talent, value, and upside each organization added to its system. NL East Atlanta Braves  Grade: 55 Risk: High Notable Selections: OF AJ Gracia (1st rd) | OF Carter Beck (PPI) | RHP Kaiden McCarthy (2nd rd) | RHP Jensen Hirschkorn (3rd rd)   OF AJ Gracia (@UVABaseball) is seeing the ball really well & picked up a couple of hits, including a 2B into RCF. Smooth LH stroke & easy impact. Showed + pwr in BP, 46 BB: 36 K. Jr./'26 elig. @PG_Draft pic.twitter.com/C4rSc0ZNIc — PG College Baseball (@PGCollegeBall) May 30, 2026 Atlanta had $15,870,800 to spend in this year’s draft,...
Draft | Story | 8/22/2026

2026 MLB Draft Report Cards: AL East

Tyler Henninger
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With the 2026 MLB Draft officially in the books, it’s time to evaluate how each team performed. Every draft class was graded using the standard 20-80 scouting scale with risk factor assigned. While these grades won’t be proven right or wrong for years, they reflect the overall talent, value, and upside each organization added to its system. AL East Baltimore Orioles Grade: 50 Risk: High Notable Selections: OF Eric Booth Jr. (1st rd) | OF Ty Head (2nd rd) | OF Kevin Roberts Jr (4th rd)  Eric Booth Jr. (26 MS) goes big fly 💣 that carried out oppo. Explosive athlete w/ huge LH juice & tools. Big time in several facets. #NatElite #Vandy commit. @PG_DeepSouth pic.twitter.com/kXl7ZVyD9G — Perfect Game Scout (@PG_Scouting) July 12, 2025 Baltimore was about middle of the pack in terms of money available this year, having $13.1m to spend on their class. Booth Jr. is a...
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