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College  | Story  | 3/9/2017

College Spotlight: Texas A&M

Jheremy Brown     
Photo: Thomas Campbell/Texas A&M Athletics
 


Perfect Game College Player Database
Weekly Spotlights: Week 1 | Week 2 | Frisco Classic | Dodgertown Classic
Shriners Classic Spotlights: LSU | Baylor | Texas Tech

Every week during the 2017 college baseball season we will be pulling at least one report, and corresponding video when available, of a player entered into the College Player Database. This week will be a little different given Perfect Game's presence at three major college baseball tournaments, including the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic held at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. Below we will share two detailed reports of players from each of the six participating teams (Baylor, LSU, Ole Miss, TCU, Texas A&M, Texas Tech) continuing with Texas A&M. All of the reports entered into the database can be found in one, easy-to-find place as linked above, and can also be accessed off of the individual PG player profile pages.

To access all of the reports you will need a College Baseball Ticket (CBT) subscription. To learn more about the CBT and to sign up today please visit this link.


The Aggies came within three outs of going undefeated at the Shriners Classic, but after blowing a five-run lead in the ninth to top-ranked TCU on Saturday before being walked off on by a surging Baylor team on Suinday, they finished the weekend with a 1-2 record. While the losses show some potential holes in the back end there’s also plenty of talent there to finish games and solidify themselves over the rest of the 2017.

Junior righthander Corbin Martin was electric against the Frogs Saturday night as he sat in the 94-96 mph range with both a slider and curveball he threw for strikes but wasn’t quite as sharp when called upon for the second time in less than 24 hours against the Bears. There’s not reason for concern though for Coach Rob Childress and the Aggies as there is plenty of talent throughout the bullpen, while the starting rotation was plenty sharp with the trio of Brigham Hill, Stephen Kolek and Mitchell Kilkenny.

The freshman duo of Braden Shewmake and Logan Foster were exhilarating throughout the weekend, squaring up what appeared to be virtually everything thrown their way. Foster is the more physical of the two and he incorporates that strength into his swing generating big-time bat speed and consistent, hard contact. Shewmake is a star in the making for the Aggies as his skills are apparent on both sides of the ball and should be a cornerstone piece over the next couple of seasons. Take the youth and throw in experienced talent like Nick Choruby and Joel Davis and you have a potent top of the lineup that can beat you in a variety of ways.




Braden Shewmake, 2B/SS

All the buzz surrounding freshman Braden Shewmake in the fall pointed to him being a high end, superstar type player based off what he had shown. And so far, three weeks into the season, he hasn’t shown much to make you think otherwise. A bit under the radar coming out of high school Shewmake went undrafted though he was ranked No. 392 in the 2016 national rankings, and that’s good news for the Aggies staff as he’s a cornerstone type talent that you can build a nationally ranked club around.

Listed at a long and rangy 6-foot-4, 180-pounds, everything Shewmake does is loose and athletic whether it’s taking ground balls at second base or digging into the lefthanded batter’s box. Having already added roughly 10-15 pounds of physical strength since stepping foot on campus, Shewmake’s frame can still withstand another good chunk of strength without inhibiting his abilities anywhere on the field. He is also a 6.6 runner (he had a 3.79 home-to-first on a bunt) and showed consistent times down the line, still running a 4.25-second home-to-first time on a 6-3 putout in the 11th inning of Saturday’s 15-inning affair against TCU. 

Currently Coach Rob Childress’s starting second baseman, all signs point to him moving to the opposite side of the bag where he could play lock down defense either at shortstop or third base, especially if he continues physicality as expected. He’s exceptionally smooth and athletic on his feet which is even more impressive when you consider his 6-foot-4 frame. He throws from a lower arm slot but shows plenty of quickness and arm strength to his throws, a trait that’ll suit him well upon shifting to the left side of the infield. 

It’s scary to think that his offense is only going to improve with added strength as he already shows an advanced feel for the barrel and rarely seems to misfire through the zone. On the weekend Shewmake picked up another five bats hits, including a two-run home runs and a triple to the pull side to bump his average to a team best .410 thus far. The swing path is full and fluid coming through and he’s able to keep the barrel in the zone for a long time, part of the reason why he’s able to square it up time and time again. It’s more a contact approach in the box as opposed to power as we saw this past weekend with a smooth path and loose hands, but he sees the ball well enough out of the pitcher’s hand that he can jump on a mistake pitch just as he did on an elevated changeup in the first game of the series.

To make a long story short, Shewmake has lived up to all the preseason hype and if possible maybe even surpassed it. That said, we are still only three weeks into the season and it’ll be interesting to see how the youngster adapts in conference play.




Corbin Martin, RHP
The strong contingent of scouts on hand waited in the wings in hopes of seeing Texas A&M’s power-armed reliever Corbin Martin and he made sure his performance was worth their wait. Electric is the best adjective to describe what Martin produces on the mound as he’s able to generate premium velocity with relative ease with a pair of breaking balls that’ll show you above average life at any moment. And though there have been command issues in the past, Martin’s rather simple delivery and advanced athleticism should help iron out those flaws and appeared to have already started to do so Saturday night against top-ranked TCU.

Called in out of the bullpen by Coach Rob Childress to thwart a Horned Frogs threat, Martin was able to get his man rather easily as he blew 95-96 mph fastballs by the hitter and flashed a hard and late slider at 87 mph. Jump to the next frame, his first full one of the night, and it was more of the same as Martin showed the ability to move the fastball to either side of the plate with some plane while still maintaining the effortless, plus velocity. And if the velocity alone wasn’t enough for hitters to worry about the Aggie righthander was cutting the ball pretty hard anytime he worked to his glove side to get in on lefthanders. 

Martin’s calling card in the past, aside from the big fastball, has been his power curveball, a pitch that will show you plus on the scouting scale and it was on this night. A mid-80s pitch with very tight rotation the pitched showed hammer depth to the bottom of the zone and is a true swing-and-miss pitch. He throws his slider a tick harder as he showed against the first batter that he faced and there’s no confusing the two as there’s clear differential in life, though both do come from the same slot.

The overall athleticism, ease in which he creates his premium arsenal, and his ever evolving command will have some scouts wondering if he can start at the next level, though his stuff may be just too valuable in the backend for the Aggies to make that move.


Other Texas A&M players added to College Player Database:

• Kaylor Chafin
• Nick Choruby
• John Doxakis
• Logan Foster
• Brigham Hill
• Stephen Kolek
• Cason Sherrod
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