Shortly after the Florida Burn 2021 National had captured the title at the Ultimate Baseball Championship powered by Baseball America & Perfect Game on July 15 in Hoover, Ala., Burn general manager/head coach Mark Guthrie had this to say about his PG All-American third baseman Tommy White.
“He is maturing his approach as a hitter,” Guthrie told Baseball America at the conclusion of the championship game. “I told the Florida coaches this in the past too, he reminds me of Pete Alonso at that age. A very similar type hitter. I have immense respect for Pete, not just as a power hitter but a hitter with a tremendous approach who can hit each pitch; Tommy’s gaining that.”
That’s a comp that should get everyone’s attention and coming from a man with the baseball knowledge that Guthrie possesses, it shouldn’t be dismissed. It’s also the sort of praise to be expected when a top prospect puts together a blazing four-week stretch like the one White enjoyed from mid-June through mid-July.
Tommy White has been a revelation while excelling at the PG National Showcase and three elite tournament championships this summer. PG scouts have identified the 6-foot-1, 220-pound athlete as one of the best bats in the 2021 class, and he’ll go into the Sept. 4 PG All-American Classic in Oklahoma City as the No. 9-ranked overall prospect in the class and No. 1-ranked third baseman. His No. 9 ranking is up 46 spots from the No. 55 ranking he held last August.
In 17 games played with the Burn in June and July, White went 19-for-47 (.404) with seven doubles, a triple, eight RBI, 11 runs scored and a 1.077 OPS. He was 6-for-13 (.462) with three doubles, three RBI, five runs and a 1.281 OPS on his way to earning MVP recognition at the UBC powered by BA & PG.
“I was seeing the ball really well all summer,” White told PG during a mid-week telephone conversation. “I just kept the same approach and it stuck with me through all the (elite) pitching I faced. These pitchers are the best pitchers that even most college guys will see. Our pitching class is just ridiculously good, and with (it) being so good gave me a competitive edge to want to do better.”
White, a North Carolina State commit, was speaking from his home in St. Pete Beach, Fla., about two weeks before he’ll head to Bradenton, Fla., to begin his senior year of classes and training at IMG Academy. He had attended Calvary Christian High School in Clearwater before making the move to IMG for the 2020-21 school year.
“I just wanted to be able to work-out every single day and get training every day,” White said of the reason for his relocation. “Get bigger and stronger and faster so I can be ready for the draft, hopefully.”
Since making his PG debut at the 13u East MLK Championship in Jan. 2016, White has performed at 30 events, a number that includes WWBA, BCS, World Series, Super25 and PGBA tournaments, prominent showcases and the 2016 13u PG The Series Classic.
He’s been named all-tournament at 18 of those events, including 14 at WWBA, BCS and World Series national championships while playing with the Burn (11) and 5 Star National (3) from 2017-20.
White’s most prominent AT selections came while playing with Florida Burn Platinum teams at the 2018 WWBA Sophomore World Championship; the 2019 WWBA World Championship and at the 2020 WWBA 17u National Championship; the 2020 PG 17u National Elite Championship and the 2020 Ultimate Baseball Championship.
“I love facing good competition and I feel like I do better against good competition; something just clicks when we’re playing a good team,” White said. “I’ll strike out against a really good pitcher but I always strive to do better than I did the last at-bat even if it was a home run.”
Although every travel ball program White has played with is outstanding in its own right, he found home-sweet-home when he hooked up with Guthrie, Craig Faulkner and the rest of the staff with the Florida Burn in 2018. They made sure college coaches and MLB scouting departments knew about White and his potential, which helped with his commitment to N.C. State and his rapid rise up MLB Draft boards.
“They put me on the biggest stages to help me succeed and get my name out there,” White said. “(The coaches) know so much and they feed their knowledge into me just to help me to perform better. They don’t beat around the bush or anything; they tell me what I need to hear, which I love.”
Speaking of big tournament stages there are none bigger than the one provided at the PG WWBA World Championship held annually in Jupiter, Fla. Florida Burn Platinum teams have won the last two Jupiter championships and White was an underclass member on both teams; he was named all-tournament last year.
The WWBA World is the epitome of a baseball grind with the two teams facing off for the championship playing as many as nine games in four days but White and his Burn teammates have proved they can thrive in that environment.
“I love it at Jupiter,” White said. “Sometimes you might wakeup and you’re like, ‘I don’t know if I want to play today’ but as soon as I step on the field it’s go-time; I love it. I might need a little kick-start to go in the morning but after that as soon as I step on the field it’s go, go, go until we get the win.”
Several of PG’s most high-profile showcase events also provided White the opportunity to, well, showcase his over-the-top abilities.
He turned in Top Prospect List performances at four of the five events he attended, including the 2018 PG National Underclass-Main Event in Fort Myers, Fla., the 2019 PG Underclass All-American Games in San Diego and the 2019 PG Fall Top Prospect National in West Palm Beach, Fla. His selection to the PGAAC made him a TPL performer at the PG National, as well.
“It was the best of the best there, too,” White said of the PG Underclass All-American Games experience. “It really showed me that I’ve still got to work hard to narrow it down to the top-50 so that I could hopefully play in the (Classic) this year.”
White went into June’s PG National Showcase relaxed and ready to perform. His approach going in was to just get down to the brass tacks of the events and show that he belonged among the nation’s best.
“I was just hoping I could knock out a few hits and get my name out there a little more,” he said. “I wanted to show everybody I was there to compete and that I can be a top prospect.”
White also stood-out at both the East Coast Pro Showcase and the Area Code Games, non-PG national showcases that were held over the last couple of weeks in Alabama and Georgia.
The PG scouting reports from this summer’s events paint a pretty clear picture of the type of high-level prospect White is, with an emphasis on his bat. The write-up from the National, for instance, speaks to his “outstanding rhythm at the plate in his swing” and his “quick and explosive hands. It also called White a “highest level hitter with some projection remaining as he further learns his swing and how to adjust to different pitches.”
But there’s more in there and it doesn’t address the hit tool. Remember that White is not only ranked the No. 9 top prospect overall in his class but is ranked the No. 1 third baseman prospect which means he handles himself with as much aplomb at the hot corner as he does at the plate.
White is “light on his feet for his size and moves well to the ball, soft hands, has playable arm strength … and can make athletic plays” in the field, the National report read. White takes a lot of pride in his ability to field his position.
“I’ve put in so much work on my defense,” he said. “It’s really been about my hitting for a while because everybody’s just seen the bat but now the defense is starting to come back up and everybody’s starting to notice it a little bit. It’s good to see that I’m getting some recognition from the defensive side because I’ve been putting so much work in at third base.”
White told PG that he has personal coaches that work with him on his fielding and his speed and conditioning but most of what he learned about playing third base came with a lot of help from an old teammate of his at Calvary Christian HS.
2019 infielder Christian Cairo – a fourth round pick of the Indians in the 2019 MLB Draft – was that teammate. Cairo is the son of Miguel Cairo, who spent parts of 17 seasons playing in the big leagues and Miguel would sometimes show up at CCHS practices and work with the infielders to the benefit of everyone.
“He is like an infield genius; he knows everything there is to know,” White said of the elder Cairo. “Being with him for three years and having him show me a lot of stuff made me a completely different third baseman.”
He has enjoyed great guidance throughout his career and it started at an early age. His dad, Tom White, is a former high school football coach who played football in college but also helped his son get started on his baseball journey. Coaches are coaches, regardless of the sport, and Tommy learned a lot from his old man.
“He constantly pushes me but he said, ‘If you don’t ever want to do this just let me know and I won’t be mad’,” White said. “It’s good that I have a dad who pushes me but is also supportive of my decisions no matter what.”
Tommy White will be in Oklahoma City for the PGAAC in two weeks and when he gets there he’s going to see dozens of familiar faces, including that of outfielder Jay Allen, a teammate of his with the Burn. New IMG teammates Mason Albright, a lefthander, and James Wood, an outfielder, will also be in OKC.
It’s been a goal of White’s to make a PGAAC roster ever since he started playing travel ball and he called his selection a “real honor.” He’s going to approach the event like MLB players approach the All-Star Game and he’s looking forward to hanging with friends and having fun while playing the game they all hold so close to their hearts.
All 54 players that will be in attendance have done some pretty special things during their PG careers or they wouldn’t have received an invitation in the first place. But it can probably be said with some certainty that White is the only one, at least to this point, to have been compared with Pete Alonso.
“Pete, he’s really good, and I don’t know if I’m that but it was good to hear; I wasn’t expecting that,” White said with a laugh. “He’s a top, top baseball player so it was kind of cool to see that.”