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Tournaments  | Story  | 7/26/2019

17u PGWS: Day 1 Scout Notes

Vincent Cervino      Connor Spencer      Steve Fiorindo     
Photo: Luis Guerrero (Perfect Game)

Day one of the 17u PG World Series got started with a bang, quite literally, as Kemp Alderman (2020, Decatur, Miss.) hit the ball hard and often during BPA’s opening game in Scottsdale. Alderman is a physically imposing righthanded hitter, and at a listed 6-foot-4, 240-pounds he has a strong claim to being the strongest high school prospect in the draft. The strength gives him massive power at the plate and allows him to really drive the ball, especially when he gets his wrists out and extended to leverage the ball. The bat speed is superb as well and all the hitting tools are there of a high-end prospect. Alderman collected a double and a triple during game action with the triple being a screamer that banged off the base of the batter’s eye in dead centerfield. The Mississippi commit has always had a strong arm and with him in right field there’s reason to believe he could profile as a power hitting corner outfielder. The bat is the main draw of the profile and if he can continue to improve and develop athletically, he could go very high as one of the highest impact righthanded bats in the class.



Speaking of high impact righthanded bats, Ostingers’ third baseman Brock Wilken (2020, Valrico, Fla.) has had a terrific summer at the dish and he continued to show why during the opening game of the tournament. The 6-foot-4, 205-pound Wake Forest commit looks every bit the part of his size and of a professional prospect, with well-proportioned strength and surprising athleticism too. The swing is compact and simple with very good bat speed through the hitting zone. Wilken goes up to the plate with a plan: he can recognize pitches, jump on fastballs, and controls the barrel head well to manipulate well-struck contact to all fields. The hand-eye coordination and barrel skill are obvious positives to the profile and on Thursday he rocketed two doubles, one to the pull side that got out for a ground-rule double and another with two strikes to the opposite field alley. He’s played third base well and he’s been experimenting with some reps behind the plate too, another wrinkle that could be a boon for Wilken come draft time as he’ll already be 17 on draft day.

Showing some of the louder pure stuff of the morning slot was Texas Tech commit Marco Raya (2020, Laredo, Texas) as he ran his fastball up to 93 mph in a strong effort on the bump. Raya is a bit undersized on the mound and throws with some effort but shows off plus arm speed and is able to really generate some late life on the fastball as well. He worked mostly in the 88-92 mph range, sinking the fastball to either side of the plate with intent, and though he walked the first batter of the game he settled in nicely after that. Raya gets good extension toward the plate, which allows his stuff to play up and his arm to generate some whip upon release. The velocity ceiling is higher than most 6-foot righthanders as the athleticism and arm speed are very good factors to work with. The breaking ball showed some slider sharpness to it and he did a very nice job at burying it low in the dirt to get some chases. Raya competed well against a very tough lineup and it’s easy to see the positive traits to the profile.

Canes National closed the game out in impressive fashion as Kentucky commit Wyatt Hudepohl (2020, Mason, Ohio) showed some loud stuff out of the pen. Hudepohl finished his outing with four punchouts in two scoreless innings on the mound and the stuff certainly looks as good as the stat line did on this outing.



Hudepohl is a big and durable righthander with a prototypical 6-foot-3, 195-pound frame that has a good amount of strength proportioned throughout. The Ohio native pounded the strike zone early as his first inning was wildly impressive, needing just eleven pitches to strike out the side and generating four empty swing during the frame. He throws from a high three-quarters slot with a fairly efficient arm action, working his fastball in the 90-93 mph range right at hitters and generating a good amount of swing-and-miss in the process. Hudepohl showed more of a slider in Hoover last week but the breaking ball looked like a power curveball in this look, with sharp downward action in the 78-80 mph range. The pitch showed above average on the Major League scale and it’s not hard to imagine Hudepohl being a power-armed righthander with two plus pitches at the next level.

A couple of bats launched some loud home runs during the first time slot of the day as the Canes’ Mac Horvath (2020, Rochester, Minn.) and US Elite’s Bobby Duffy (2020, Street, Md.) both hit screaming solo shots during their games on the day.



Horvath has come back strong after missing an early part of the summer and Horvath had a very efficient day at the dish, going 1-for-1 with a solo shot and two walks. The North Carolina commit is a very athletic up the middle player, with a good arm too as he’s a highly touted two-way player. The righthanded hitter has very good bat speed and he’s able to torque his hips and lower half to finish and drive through the ball nicely. The home run came on a hanging breaking ball that he demolished to the pull side and his home run is a nice start out to what hopes to be a loud week for Horvath.



Similar to Horvath, Duffy also took advantage of a hanging breaking ball and crushed a solo shot deep to the pull side. Duffy is a big, physical prospect with a 6-foot, 215-pound frame and can get his hands out to extend and leverage the ball to the pull side. Duffy is an interesting uncommitted infielder with clear strength and power to pull that we’ll be sure to keep an eye on as the tournament progresses.



PG All-American and Rawlings Arkansas Prospects’ third baseman Cayden Wallace (2020, Greenbrier, Ark.) had a big day at the dish, going 2-for-3 including a rising line drive of a solo shot to tie the game in the seventh inning.

Wallace, the 14th overall player in the class, is a physically advanced prospect with a well-proportioned 6-foot-1, 205-pound frame and sneaky athleticism to the build as well, he ran a 6.69 second 60-yard dash at PG National. He made a couple of nice plays over at third and has excellent arm strength while his athleticism should allow him to profile well at third base at the next level. The main calling card of his profile, however, is his bat and the amount of impact he generates off the barrel. Wallace creates easy plus bat speed through the zone with a bit of a steeper entry through the zone. When the barrel path is clean the ball absolutely jumps off the bat as evidenced by his screamer of a home run. The power is impressive for Wallace and the consistency of the hit tool is one of the more consistently impressive tools we’ve seen over the course of the summer.

Showing some impressive stuff in a short two-inning stint was Wallace’s teammate Jaxon Wiggins (2020, Roland, Okla.) who ran his fastball up to 93 mph to close the game out. There’s a lot to like about the profile but there are some signs of rawness, Wiggins is a high-level basketball prospect as well, that will likely iron themselves out as he continues to get innings on the bump. The 6-foot-5, 205-pound righthander has a fairly straight forward delivery and the arm works really well; he’ll over rotate his torso around his lower half and cut balls to the glove side at times with effort but the fastball coms out of the hand well. Wiggins sat 90-93 mph over the course of the two innings, working almost exclusively 92-93 in the first inning, and the fastball flashed some hard life. He mostly attacked with fastballs and mixed in a changeup in the low-80s with some fading action and a mid- to upper-80s cutter/slider that had short bite. The athleticism and arm strength presently are very impressive foundational tools to the profile and as he continues to get his innings and refine his secondary stuff it’s not hard to see him being a physical monster with loud stuff at maturity.

Looking the part of a fascinating draft prospect was NorCal Prime righthander Andrew Owen (2020, Turlock, Calif.) as the USC commit tossed five no-hit frames during the last time slot. Owen’s stuff was filthy early in the game and it was a quality look at a prospect who has the makings of a prospect who can rise as the spring gets going.



Owen had a very loud first inning, working 90-92 mph and showing a pretty hard-biting slider to complement the heater. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound prospect has an athletic frame and delivery with room for physical projection within the build. The arm works, and though it’s a bit long in the back, the stroke is loose and whippy throughout, coming out from a high three-quarters arm slot on the heater. Owen got a good number of swings-and-misses on the heater, particularly up in the strike zone, and he extends well toward the target which allowed his stuff to play up. Owen’s plus arm speed allows for a high velocity ceiling while the slider showed the makings of a potential plus pitch at maturity. He got a couple of ugly whiffs on the pitch in the first as it looked like a fastball for 75 percent of the path before darting down and toward the glove side late. There were some issues with control of the strike zone but the stuff was absolutely electric, he also flashed a changeup in the mid-80s, and the two-pitch mix has good upside as he continues to fill out and retain strength.



There is a lot to like about San Diego State commit Ricky Tiedemann (2020, Norwalk, Calif.) and the projectable lefthander put together a loud performance in front of a good number of professional scouts during game action on Thursday. Tiedemann is an eminently projectable 6-foot-3, 192-pounds with good athleticism and tons of room to fill out further. The delivery is fairly straightforward with fluidity but there’s a bit of inconsistency to his replication of mechanics, something that can be further refined to help his ability to control the zone. The arm path is loose and easy, albeit with some length on the back-side, but the fastball comes out clean and worked in the 87-90 mph range with good run on the fastball. Both the changeup and slider come out of a similar tunnel from his three-quarters arm slot and both show good potential. The changeup works in the mid-70s with a good amount of life and a slower arm stroke while the slider gets good sweeping action in the low- to mid-70s. Tiedemann is a young for the grade projectable lefthander with good present stuff and is a firm candidate for a pop come the spring.

Dante Jackson (2020, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) relieved Tiedemann for MVP Hustle during the final game of the day and Jackson showed a lot of intriguing potential for the San Diego State commit lefthander. He’s an extremely high-waisted, long-limbed southpaw with lots of upside as he fills out and adds strength to the frame. The low three-quarters arm slot adds some natural running life on the fastball that worked mostly in the 82-85 mph range and topped out at 86 mph. Jackson has a bigger breaking slider and a very good changeup with lots of life and tumbling action. He’s a fascinating  prospect and one that posits big upside.

– Vinnie Cervino


The morning slots on day one started as expected with a flurry of big arms and high-profile talent taking over in their games at both complexes.



US Elite 17u National received a solid outing by power righthander Luis Guerrero (2020, Miami, Fla.). Guerrero has a jerky delivery with a leg lift that shakes at his apex and his delivery seems to become even more violent and unorthodox as his outing went on. He has a longer arm from a three-quarters arm slot and he opens early making him land open down the hill, finishing towards the first base line. Moreover, at times his arm really tends to flare as he has a tough time tucking the glove and finishing with his front side. His fastball sat 91-94 and he was touching 95 mph. There’s some serious downward angle on his fastball and at times has solid two-seam action, especially when locating to his arm side. His high 11-to-5 shaped curveball sits around 83 mph, but he seems to slow his arm action down on the pitch as its smaller shape lacks depth and simply floats down and away to righthanded hitters. Similar to Hansel Robles, Guerrero likes to double pump his leg lift or hold his leg lift, to mess with the timing of hitters, and he especially likes to use this tactic with two strikes. Guerrero is currently uncommitted and will hear his name called next June.



Team Ohio Pro Select tied BPA 17u and a pair of Ohio Pro Select teammates impressed at the plate and behind the dish. South Alabama commit Aries Gardner (2020, Southfield, Mich.) went 2-for-3 on the day with a hard hit top spun double into the right field corner. Gardner has a large projectable frame with present athleticism at 6-foot-4, 220-pounds. He uses an open stance with a small leg kick trigger. His hands work well to the ball and on his double he was caught out in front but was still able to keep his hands back and find barrel. His lower half works well to fire quickly and his back-side stays tall throughout. His hands make an excellent first action from launch as his barrel gets on plane and his knob works to the inner half. There’s plenty of pop to spray balls into either gap or carry a ball over either wall as well.



Gardner’s teammate and Alabama commit Grant Knipp (2020, Louisville, Ky.) went 1-for-3 on his day and looked good behind the plate. Knipp has soft and crisp framing actions, paired with an excellent arm that he’s not afraid to use in any situation. In the third inning, he showcased his plus arm by back-picking the runner at second base with a 2.19 pop time. Prior to the pickoff play he was sitting in the 1.9-second range with his pop times. At the plate, he has a hunched, very open stance with a very high leg kick trigger. His hands work in sync with his leg kick trigger. However, his hand coil can be late at times causing his swing to feel like it starts and stops twice. Moreover, Knipp needs to be careful of how far his weight shifts back onto his backfoot with his leg kick as sometimes he’ll get his weight back behind his back foot, making it difficult for him to fire from his instep. His hands do work well though, and when on time he has no problem getting the head out on inside pitches.



Future LSU Tiger Blake Money (2020, Spring Hill, Tenn.) looked strong with his 89-91 mph through three full innings for East Cobb Astros 17u. The tall and bulky righthander throws from a high three-quarters arm slot and gets a lot of downward angle on his fastball thanks to his length. Money has the capability of touching 94 mph and at times his fastball has some strong two-seam action. Money likes to use his changeup, although, it can be inconsistent out of the hand and when the spin changes, it clues in the hitter half way to the plate of what pitch it is. Moreover, he can sometimes push the pitch instead of trusting it and letting it fly. His 11-to-5 shaped curveball has solid depth. All in all, Money’s action on his fastball is his bread-and-butter and is what’s going to give him success in the SEC.



Speedy and athletic Stanford commit Tommy Troy (2020, Los Gatos, Calif.) continued to build off his performance at the PG National with a solid 2-for-3 day, slashing a triple into the right-center gap. Troy has unbelievably athletic actions in every aspect of his game, showcasing his speed with an 11.40-second time to third base on his triple. At short, he moves very well into either hole and has soft hands that field out in front and funnel quickly into separation. Troy uses a spread even stance at the plate with a slow vertical bat wag as he slightly sways back-and-forth in the box. At launch he uses a short toe-tap trigger and lands with a firm front leg that helps his lower half to explode and launch his hands. Troy has great hands that look to backspin early but then work for contact late. His triple Thursday was a two-strike, put-it-in-play hack that his hands were able to split the center and right fielder. There are many impressive and projectable measurables for Troy that have to leave the Cardinal faithful excited.



The San Diego Show started off their 17u World Series with an 8-4 win. LSU commit and PG All-American Jordan Thompson (2020, Chula Vista, Calif.) played a strong roll going 2-for-3 with a double. Thompson has an upright stance with high hands that fall back and down with a strong coil into his load. As he lifts his front foot he gets a heavy linear weight shift and his knees buckle in towards each other as his weight shift comes forward. His back-side then fires, clears out, and he throws his hands at the ball with solid whip thanks to his strong coil. His lengthy feel and whippy barrel generate impressive pop for his build and his middle-of-the-field approach put his hands in a good position to hit every time. At short, Thompson has good feet, soft hands and makes a good first step towards the baseball. He’s a high profile, high ceiling ballplayer.

Sticks Baseball Academy/NorthEast Baseball continued to get production out of infielder Seth Sweet-Chick (2020, Goodyear, Ariz.). After hitting .333 with a 1.012 OPS in the WWBA 17u West National Championship, Sweet-Chick started right where he left off in the 17u PG World Series hitting a moonshot that bounced 25 feet up a light pole past the wall in dead left. He was able to pull his bottom hand hard to force his barrel down and he got the head out on a low-inside fastball that was a good pitch. Again, he’s still understanding his leg kick trigger before he gets to two strikes, but when he gets his timing right, his Longoria-like whip can really unload on a baseball. He finished his day 2-for-3 with the homer and two RBIs.



An interesting uncommitted player for college coaches came in the late morning slot in righthanded pitcher Cooper Rons (2020, Carlsbad, Calif.). Rons has a conventional motion with a longer sweeping arm action from a high three-quarters to over-the-top slot. He works straight down the mound with balance and he shows ability to spot up well when he needs to. His arm has vastly improved over the past few years, sitting 86-88 mph while touching 89. His fastball does not possess much action but he has an ability to spot up with it well. Rons primarily pitches with his fastball, although he does have an 11-to-5 shaped curveball that sits around 74 mph. He ran into trouble against a talented Sticks Baseball offense when his command began to waver in the fourth. Ultimately, he finished going 3 1/3 innings, giving up three while fanning three.



In the late afternoon, once the semifinal teams from the WWBA 17u West National Championship made their way to Scottsdale from Surprise, runner-up AZ T-Rex Easton took on the Chicago Cubs Scout Team. LMU commit Grant Weiss (2020, Valencia, Calif.) helped the Cubs to a win, driving in two runs off a smoked double. In his second at-bat, Weiss again found barrel and laced a line drive to left that the left fielder had make a great play on to get the out. With an upright stance and a simple toe-tap trigger, Weiss gets great extension with his hands through the zone and explodes his lower half at launch. He does a great job of getting his back-side through, even allowing his back foot to slightly lift off the ground. He creates a slightly uphill barrel plane through the zone that still is plenty flat to leave him room for error and to backspin baseballs that he gets in to with consistency. His physical and lengthy frame is very projectable and LMU may have found a gem of a backstop in the Valencia California product.

– Connor Spencer
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