No matter what the baseball venue, there’s no aspect of the game that captivates an admiring fan base quite like power, speed and velocity. In Saturday’s action at the 10th annual Perfect Game National Showcase, being held this weekend at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, all three attention-getting tools were prominently on display.
With the cream of the crop in the 2010 high-school class showcasing their impressive raw skills in a seven-game session, interspersed with the event’s 60-yard dash and Home-Run Derby, there was plenty of power, speed and high-end velocity to soak in for some 400-500 scouts and college recruiters in attendance.
In the end result, shortstop/righthander Justin O’Conner (Cowan HS, Muncie, Ind.) gained the distinction of being the event’s top power hitter; outfielder Mitchell Shifflett (Cosby HS, Midlothian, Va.) the fastest player, and righthander Stetson Allie (St. Edward HS, Olmsted Falls, Ohio) the hardest-throwing pitcher.
Against the backdrop of a major-league stadium, the feats of the three players were big-league quality all the way.
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound O’Conner made the Metrodome, home of the Minnesota Twins, look surprisingly small in the Home-Run Derby as he went deep to every part of the park, hitting 15 homers in all. He narrowly defeated the pre-Derby favorite Kris Bryant (Bonanza HS, Las Vegas, Nev.) in an extra session after the two finalists were deadlocked after hitting six homers apiece (before 10 outs were recorded) in both the first and second rounds. O’Conner out-homered Bryant 3-2 (before five outs were recorded) in the overtime round.
The righthanded-hitting O’Conner, who topped all Indiana high-school hitters this spring with 18 home runs, had the longest homer of the 16-man competition, driving one ball an estimated 450 feet to left-center. He also went deep twice to dead center and even smashed a ball in excess of 420 feet over the Metrodome’s baggy fence in right-center field.
The 6-foot-5, 205-pound Bryant essentially matched O’Conner, with 14 homers overall, and he hit several balls that were caught on the warning track in center field. To scouts, he may have had the most impressive raw power of anyone in the Home-Run Derby as many of the balls he took out of the Metrodome were high, towering blasts that looked like they may hit the roof. He was described by some veteran scouts on hand as a more athletic version of former big-league slugger Dave Kingman, and a much better hitter overall.
Shifflett, meanwhile, ran the 60 in a lightning-fast 6.11 seconds—the fastest time ever recorded at a Perfect Game event. It broke the existing mark of 6.18 seconds, held by Georgia outfielder Xavier Avery, a second-round pick of the Baltimore Orioles in the 2008 draft. Shifflett’s electrifying time may have been marginally aided by the field-turf surface at the Metrodome and the laser timer used by Perfect Game to measure 60 times, but Shifflett is also one of the top sprinters in Virginia and was one of the favorites to win the event.
He easily outdistanced a field that included 12 players who were clocked in 6.50 seconds, or faster. His nearest competitor, outfielder Travis Brewster (John Horn HS, Mesquite, Texas), was timed in 6.28 seconds—a full 0.17 seconds behind Shifflett’s record time.
Allie’s appearance on the mound in the final game of the day Saturday came with a heightened sense of anticipation as he was clocked as high as 98-99 mph earlier in the week in a game at the Metrodome that preceded the start of the National Showcase. Allie again touched 98, the fastest-recorded velocity recorded at the four-day showcase. But Allie’s serious heat came at a cost as he had great difficulty throwing strikes—and even hit the backstop several times. Moreover, his breaking ball was a below-average pitch.
While Allie’s fastball was 2-3 mph harder than righthander Jameson Taillon (The Woodlands, Texas, HS), the second-hardest thrower to date, Allie’s command and secondary stuff were no match. Taillon may have solidified his spot as the No. 1 prospect in the 2010 prep class with his dominating two-inning stint Friday.
In all, 14 pitchers have been clocked at 93 mph and above through the first three days of competition.
Some 250 of the nation’s top rising seniors have been showing off their talent this weekend, in both game conditions and tools-specific routines and events, and O’Conner, Shifflett and Allie were the three that generated the most buzz among scouts Saturday. Of that trio, O’Conner probably did more to help his stock in the eyes of scouts, and it has now become apparent that he has moved into the first-round mix for the 2010 draft.
O’Conner merely added one more credential to his growing resume with his impressive power showing. He made his mark as a future power threat by homering twice at the Perfect Game/World Wood Bat Association fall championship in Jupiter, Fla., last fall, and enhanced it with his impressive all-around showing this spring as a junior at Cowan High. In addition to topping the state of Indiana in homers, O’Conner hit a robust .580 with 57 RBIs, while also going 7-0, 0.19 with 10 walks and 84 strikeouts in 38 innings as the top pitcher on his team.
O’Conner’s wide range of tools, not just his impressive power, had been very much in evidence this weekend prior to the Home-Run Derby as his arm strength was clocked at 95 mph across the infield during fielding drills, and at 93 off the mound in game competition. His speed is probably his weakest tool, but he was still timed in a commendable 6.72 in the 60. In addition to his superior arm strength, O’Conner has solid shortstop actions although his lack of raw speed (and range) may push him to third base down the road. But his power would clearly play there, based on what he showed all those in attendance Saturday night.
Not only has O’Conner (and numerous other prospects) firmly positioned himself as a top prospect for the 2010 draft, but his stellar performance served as an audition for this summer’s Aflac All-American High School Classic, scheduled for mid-August. The 38 players for that competition, with possibly one or two exceptions, will come from the players that participated in the National Showcase.
The four-day competition winds up today, but the Metrodome should still be a beehive of activity for scouts and recruiters through Monday as some 65-70 of the top prospects in the 2011 draft class with showcase their skills in a similar environment.