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High School  | General  | 5/4/2018

High School Notebook: May 4

Greg Gerard      Vincent Cervino     
Photo: Cole Wilcox (Perfect Game)

The high school notebook is designed to share notes and video on players that stand out during the high school season and new features will be released regularly. This will include in-game looks, reports, analysis and video from Perfect Game's scouting staff. If you have news on a player in your area that is performing at a high level that we should have eyes on please reach out to Vinnie Cervino at vincent@perfectgame.org. Also feel free to share your video highlights on Twitter @vcervinopg.

High School Notebook: April 18


 Ethan Hankins, RHP, Forsyth Central HS (Ga.)



Lots of heat was in attendance last Friday afternoon to see what would be Ethan Hankins’ last high school start on the mound. Hankins featured velocity that scouts had not seen from him since last summer reaching a peak velocity of 97 mph and sitting 94-96 mph for multiple innings. From the first pitch on, it was evident that Hankins was going to be impressive on the mound. The extremely projectable righthander pounded the strike zone with his fastball all game long with plus life to the arm side.

Hankins’ arm speed is lightning quick and his arm action works very well. Generating plus velocity and the aforementioned plus life, it is obvious why hitters had trouble making contact with Hankins’ fastball. In 5 2/3 innings of work on the mound, just one barrel was put to the baseball. That came late in the game when his velocity was then sitting 90-94 mph. Along with his arm speed, the little effort that is present in his delivery is really what stands out about Hankins. From a mechanical breakdown standpoint, there is really not much to Hankins that scouts can do but dream on what the ceiling for him might be.

He mixed in a pair of different breaking balls during this outing with both showing average and the slider showing more potential than the curveball. The curveball had plenty of depth, but broke early out of his hand with a top velocity of 74 mph. The slider was more tight and showed some frisbee-type movement with its peak velocity being 79 mph. The Vanderbilt commit also flashed a changeup in his outing. He only threw the pitch once during his start flashing 84 mph on the radar gun. It was to a lefthanded hitter, but the pitch is evidently still developing and with the development of a changeup Hankins could be an even more lethal arm.

Ethan Hankins is a special pitcher in this year’s draft and will likely hear his name called early on. Although he has not been as dominant this spring as he was during the summer circuit, Friday’s start gave scouts a glimpse of what Hankins can be when on the mound.


Gavin Collyer, RHP, Mountain View HS (Ga.)



Matching up against Hankins in the first round of the Georgia state playoffs was Mountain View High School’s Gavin Collyer. Collyer was outstanding on the mound and featured good velocity to go with his advanced command of the strike zone. Collyer topped out at 92 mph while sitting in the 89-91 mph range for the duration of his outing. His fastball is mostly straight, but it was located well and blanked hitters all game long. To accompany his fastball, Collyer featured a slider that was a big-time wipeout pitch and helped him tally a total of 8 strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. The pitch is above average and may be considered plus in the eyes of some scouts. The pitch has late Frisbee bite that missed bats constantly in this game.

Collyer has a unique frame as it is very skinny, but the projection is intriguing. With some added strength to his build, Collyer could improve that already impressive velocity. The Clemson commit has a quick arm that gets through the circle continually on time helping generate that good velocity and command. Collyer is a high ceiling pitcher with his projectable frame and quick arm. What he showed in this game makes for lots of interesting components to his pitching repertoire moving forward.


Cabera Weaver, OF, South Gwinnett HS (Ga.)


With the Georgia High School playoffs in full swing, Perfect Game’s coverage landed at Mill Creek High School for an all Gwinnett County matchup between Mill Creek and Cabera Weaver’s South Gwinnett. Weaver, a 2017 PG All-American, was very impressive throughout the first game specifically at the plate. The first at-bat of the day belonged to Weaver and with the second pitch he laid down a perfect drag bunt. The Georgia commit showed off his plus speed sprinting down the line for a 3.88-second home to first time for a bunt single. His next at-bat he followed that single up with another single of his own. Ripping a line drive into center field, Weaver sat back and showed his good barrel skills and quick hands to the ball. Weaver has now shown, in two viewings this spring, a confident approach with the ability to swing the bat for contact as well his well-known run tool.

– Greg Gerard


 Cole Wilcox, RHP, Heritage HS (Ga.)

The high school pitching matchup of the year might have occurred on Thursday in Ringgold, Ga. as Cole Wilcox and Heritage squared off against North Oconee and Kumar Rocker; Rocker is currently slotted at No. 17 and Wilcox at No. 46 on the Top 350 MLB Draft Prospects. Wilcox outshone Rocker on Thursday night. Wilcox finished the day allowing three runs in a complete game effort, while racking up eight strikeouts on the afternoon.

Wilcox started off the game in electric fashion as all of his fastballs registered above 95 mph and topped out at 98 mph once in the frame. The velocity has been in the upper-90s previously for Wilcox, though for the majority of the spring he’s been sitting in the 92-94 mph range which is where he settled in at once he found his groove. The pitch was its usual self, lots of heavy arm side life that played to both sides of the plate with conviction. The command of the pitch was pretty solid as he got the pitch to whichever quadrant he wanted, though the overall control was only okay on the day.

His fastball brings up an interesting quirk in Wilcox’s profile in that he doesn’t get a ton of swings and misses on the pitch, lest he’s facing a subpar team. He only notched one swing-and-miss on the heater, but the life, velocity, and location of the pitch were all pretty impressive during the outing.

The slider has been the key to Wilcox’s profile for some time and the pitch showed both the potential and setbacks of it. Wilcox flashed as good as an above-average, if not one or two sliders that flashed plus, slider with late, biting life to it. However, he would hang or get under sliders as well which allowed the pitch to stay up in the strike zone and get hit around. The development of the pitch has been something to follow over the past year, and in this scout’s look the best ones he turned in today were some of the best he’s thrown to date; Wilcox picked up an impressive twelve swings-and-misses on the pitch.

The development of Wilcox’s changeup has also been a key pitch, and is what makes Wilcox looks the part of a future starting pitcher in professional ball. The Georgia signee might have thrown around nine or ten changeups on the afternoon, but he registered six swings and misses with the pitch. The changeup showed above average consistently and was a huge weapon against lefthanded hitters as with two strikeouts he tripled up on changeups for six total swings and misses.

Wilcox’s trajectory is trending upward, and he had a very good outing in front of multiple high-ranking executives and directors during the game on Thursday. The arm speed, frame, and projection for potentially three above-average or better future pitches end up resulting in a first-round evaluation; obviously you cannot base a prospect based on one look, but Wilcox was very impressive and will likely not have to wait too long to hear his name called in June.


Kumar Rocker, RHP, North Oconee HS (Ga.)



North Oconee ace Kumar Rocker squared off against Heritage’s Cole Wilcox in front of numerous high-ranking executives and although he was dealt the loss he still showed off the present stuff, frame, and presence that makes him a potential first rounder in June.

Rocker worked up to 95 mph with his fastball in the first inning and sat in the 90-94 mph range throughout his start, he looked a bit off mechanically at times, and battled through a small strike zone as well, which led to some command inconsistencies. Regardless, the fastball is pretty similar to what we have seen in the past: a future plus fastball with life. One start does not a profile make, as Rocker in the past has shown the ability to have above-average control and strike-throwing ability, despite the six three-ball counts and two walks during the game today.

To Heritage’s credit, the Generals came to play and came out of the gate swinging as the leadoff man crushed a Rocker fastball for a home run. There are some concerns with Rocker’s ability to miss bats with the fastball, however, as too often late in the game the pitch flattened out up in the zone which resulted in some hard hit contact.

Rocker’s breaking ball has bounced somewhere between a slider and curveball over the past year-plus on the scene, however during this look it was a traditional, 11/5 curveball and would manipulate shape with in on occasion. He got around the pitch from time-to-time, but when it was best it flashed plus with sharp break and lots of depth to the pitch. Rocker has shown a changeup with potential in the past but did not show one during this outing.

The Vanderbilt signee only lasted four innings on the bump, but he’s had a very strong spring both in terms of numbers and his draft stock. He’s a definite first-round talent on the mound, and North Oconee lost both games of the double header and are now eliminated from the playoffs, so Rocker will now have to wait and see to see where he lands in June (to go with some workouts along the way).


Anthony Seigler, C, Cartersville HS (Ga.)

One of this scout's favorite players to watch, Anthony Seigler and Cartersville HS made for a nice double-up opportunity for most scouts as the Hurricanes were playing a doubleheader home game that we were in attendance to catch game two of. The Florida signee has had a very strong spring, establishing himself with perhaps the best hit tool in the state, and had another good game during the second in a losing-effort.

The big question with regards to Seigler’s draft stock is how good of a catcher you believe he will be at the professional level. He is a good athlete, with impressive flexibility, arm strength, and blocking skills behind the plate. The receiving skills are okay, but Seigler is a good enough athlete behind the plate with requisite feel for the position that he profiles nicely as at least an average professional catcher. Seigler handled the pitching staff nicely in this look and blocked the ball well in the dirt and turned in a very impressive pop time at 1.90 seconds on a stealing attempt that he released from his knees.

The first two at-bats of the night were lackluster with a six pitch walk and then an intentional walk that had the opposing dugout pointing to first before the last batter was even out of the box. The third at-bat, Seigler got a 1-0 fastball about belt high that he deposited way out deep to the pull side. Seigler also delivered an easy plus-plus stare and bat flip as he knew he got all of it as soon as the ball left the bat.

Seigler’s spring is culminating with some helium at the right time, as he could go as high as the late-first to the comp round. He boasts a bevy of impressive tools with a potential plus future hit tool leading the way and Seigler still has work to do for his Hurricanes squad as they are looking for a deep playoff run.

– Vincent Cervino
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