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Tournaments  | Story  | 3/26/2017

Rawlings Select Scout Notes

Vincent Cervino     
Photo: Perfect Game



2017 Rawlings Select Classic Event Page

The PG Rawlings Select Classic #1 wrapped up on Saturday afternoon and the theme of the entire event was the talented arms that toed the rubber for their respective teams. The first pitcher to throw in the event on Thursday was towering lefthander Hugh Fisher (2017, Eads, Tenn.) and there were numerous scouts on hand to watch him throw. He has a very tall, lean, and projectable frame at a listed 6-foot-5, 185-pounds. The athleticism stood out on the mound throughout his delivery and although he had some timing issues, he was able to repeat it fairly well. The arm moves quickly, almost whipping across, and he releases from a lower three-quarters arm slot. The arm slot allowed Fisher to get occasional run on his fastball to the arm side but it would look true often. The fastball sat 89-91 mph in the first inning and he was able to maintain that through the outing. In the fifth, Fisher got in a bit of a jam and rattled off four straight fastballs at 92 mph to escape trouble. The Vanderbilt commit got solid extension down the mound but he would leave pitches up at times when he fell behind. He showed a solid approach on the mound offering different looks multiple times through the lineup and throwing a lot more breaking pitches the second time through. Fisher’s breaking balls showed two different movement paths to them. He was able to manipulate shape and throw it as more of a curveball with greater depth or as a pitch with more slider-like action to it. Fisher remains an interesting play for June’s draft with an advanced approach on the mound coupled with immense physical projection.

Righthander Connor Noland (2018, Greenwood, Ark.) got the start on the mound for Greenwood Thursday night and one of the more intriguing aspects of Noland’s athletic history is his football career. He is currently committed to Arkansas for baseball and football where he is a four-star quarterback recruit. You can certainly see why he’s a highly-sought after quarterback with his athleticism and arm strength really standing out on the mound in addition to his physical 6-foot-2, 200-pound frame. The arm worked well off the mound coming pretty full and into a three-quarters arm slot upon release. There’s some shoulder dip in the back of his delivery and he got downhill pretty consistently to create plane to his fastball. The pitch was true in movement and sat in the upper-80s throughout his performance touching 90 mph in the first few innings. He showed good confidence in the curveball, a pitch that he went to early and often in counts. Noland had some feel to spin the pitch and it was thrown for strikes. The arm talent alone makes Noland a good follow for the junior class and as he continues to refine his command and arsenal he will continue to develop as a pitcher.

Another upper-80s arm that impressed on the opening night of the event was O’Fallon righthander Hayden Juenger (2018, O’Fallon, Ill.). He has a shorter frame on the mound, only being listed at 6-foot and 165-pounds, but the build is lean with the ability to add strength. The arm was mostly clean through the back despite a slight hook and he used a drop and drive mechanic to generate momentum toward the batter. Early on what caught this scout’s eye was the quick pace and sharp command. Juenger filled up the lower third of the strike zone and lived there for the majority of his four-inning outing. The delivery was easy to repeat and showed off more of the uncommitted junior’s ability on the mound. The go-to pitch on the evening for Juenger was his fastball. The pitch sat from around 85-88 mph during his outing and he touched 89 mph a couple of times in the first inning. The pitch was pretty straight but when he was locating low in the zone it was very effective. Juenger threw a handful of curveballs and the development and refinery of his secondary pitches will likely determine where his development goes from here.

DeMatha Catholic brought one of the younger teams to the tournament with just three seniors listed on the roster. Their underclassmen shined, guiding them to a 3-1 record over the weekend, and two of those underclassmen who stood out were shortstop Thomas Keehn (2019, Highland, Md.) and outfielder Trendon Craig (2018, Columbia, Md.).

Keehn is no stranger to Perfect Game events, having recently attended the 2016 Fall Academic Showcase, but he once again stole the show. The Duke commit looked noticeably stronger as compared to previous viewings, but was still to retain his athleticism and quick reactions. He had one of the most important hits of the tournament for the Stags as his home run in the bottom of the sixth on Thursday tied the game and eventually propelled the Stags onward in the playoffs. The swing has natural lift to it which allows him to drive balls into the air. The bat speed is there as well which gives Keehn solid power to the pull side. The strength in his swing flows well through the point of contact and the overall approach was line drive oriented. Keehn was sound at shortstop with quick hands and turns on double plays and highlighted his arm strength. He was also up to 88 mph on the mound during the weekend.

The starting right fielder for the Stags was Craig and he showed potential at the plate throughout this weekend. He has a projectable frame with long legs and has some speed as well. Craig was timed at 4.4 seconds to first base from the right side. He takes aggressive swings at the plate and is looking to hit the ball very hard. The bat speed stands out in the swing and he is able to keep the barrel of the bat in the hitting zone for a long time. When Craig squared balls up the contact was loud and generated some backspin as well. The stance is wide and looks a bit stiff at times but the raw hitting tools and potential are there for success offensively.

One of the more dangerous hitters throughout the tournament was Enterprise Wildcats’ first baseman Santiago (Santi) Garcia (2017, Daleville, Ala.). The Alabama State commit is listed at 5-foot-11, 205-pounds and has immense physicality present on the frame with a strong lower half in particular. Garica has very good raw bat speed at the plate and the approach is power-oriented and he showed the ability to drive the ball very loudly off the barrel. Very few of the balls put in play by Garcia were weakly hit and one hit that stood out was a loud double off the wall in left-center field on Friday afternoon. One of the strengths that he showed was the ability to cover the plate and avoid strikeouts. He can effectively fight tough pitches on the outside corner and wait for a pitch middle-in that he can drive. Garcia finished with zero strikeouts and put on an offensive show at PG Park.

For the second time in three weeks, lefthander and no. 15 ranked prospect for the 2017 class Jacob Heatherly (Cullman, Ala.) took the mound for the Cullman Bearcats. The Alabama commit showed off his typically strong mechanics and clean arm through the outing. He again worked exclusively in the 90+ mph range, topping out at 94 mph multiple times, and only dipping below the 90 mph mark a few times. The fastball was his best weapon on the evening as he utilized the pitch to rack up a lot of swings and misses. The combination of Heatherly’s high three-quarters arm slot and his command of the fastball to the glove side of the plate made a very uncomfortable hitting environment for righthanded hitters. The curveball looked a bit inconsistent, though he seemed to get on top of it more often as the outing wore on and later in the game. The game was never really in doubt, and Heatherly himself made sure of that. After tossing a scoreless top of the first, Heatherly’s first swing on the night was a grand slam to kick off the scoring. He again pitched predominantly with a fastball-curveball combination, throwing very few changeups, but showed again why he is one of the top pitchers for the 2017 draft class.

One of the top hitters in Alabama, Heatherly’s teammate Owen Lovell (2017, Vinemont, Ala.), hit a home run of his own on Thursday night. The towering shot got out of the field in a hurry and showed off Lovell’s huge raw power once again. The swing has an exaggerated hand load with barrel tip, but he is strong enough to whip the barrel through the zone to hit the ball out in front. Lovell’s overall physical profile is very strong, at 6-foot-4 and 225-pounds, and shows very good speed on the base paths. That speed was on display in the championship game where he swiped second base despite a pitch out by the opposing defense.

Besides Fisher, Briarcrest had another 90-plus pitcher in righthander Connor Shamblin (2018, Lakeland, Tenn.) who showed off his high velocity on Friday night. Reaching as high as 94 mph, Shamblin settled comfortably in the 89-91 mph range, with multiple 92 mph pitches in the first. The pitch was straight but he showed short run to the arm side occasionally. The lower half size and strength helped him maintain velocity in the upper-80s to low-90s while having a very large frame overall. The Alabama commit threw from a three-quarters arm slot with quickness through the throwing motion. That athleticism shined on the mound from Shamblin as he was able to field his position well on bunts to both sides of the mound. The secondaries are raw right now but he mixed in a breaking ball that showed both traditional curveball and traditional slider movement. The pitches had soft break to them but were effective at changing the pace and mixing speeds. Shamblin battled on the mound with a bulldog mentality and showed off serious tools as a name to watch for the 2018 class.

Opposing Shamblin on the mound was lefthander Steven Washilewski (2017, Dyer, Ind.) and he pitched masterfully to the tune of six innings of one-run baseball while striking out eight batters. The southpaw showed off impressive pitchability as he was consistent with his delivery and mechanics while mixing speeds and looks well. The arm works well and is very loose and he throws from a higher three-quarters arm slot with hand separation that occurred after a lift above his head. The delivery itself is very timing dependent but his consistency in the delivery worked for Washilewski while also being deceptive in nature. The Kansas commit filled up the strike zone with his fastball. The pitch sat from 84-86 mph and if he needed more velocity he could bump the pitch up to 87 mph. There was little effort throughout and he mixed in a breaking pitch that flashed sharpness. The pitch had 1/7 shape and had occasional sharp movement that was effective at buckling the knees of same-handed batters. Washilewski would occasionally tighten the grip on it to show more slider/cutter movement to it.

Shining for Cullman in the semifinal round was deceptive righthander Will Morrison (2018, Cullman, Ala.) as he tossed a complete game while allowing only one earned run. The Mississippi State commit has a lanky, projectable frame at 6-foot-2 and 170-pounds. The talented righthander throws from a complete sidearm slot but will occasionally throw from more of a true three-quarters slot when he wants to gear up for velocity. From the three-quarters slot he was 85-87 mph and from sidearm he was 80-84 mph though his fastballs showed late, sharp arm side run. It would be interesting to see how Morrison looked throwing from a three-quarters slot full time, but he was effective regardless on Saturday morning. The arm is very loose and if Morrison can get more consistently sharp break from his slider that would be a devastating two-pitch combination.

One of the top lefthanders for the 2017 class is Perfect Game All-American Seth Corry (2017, Highland, Utah) and he displayed polish and excellent arm talent. The Brigham Young commit is well-built and ultra-athletic at 6-foot-2, 195-pounds and it shows on the mound; the athleticism plays well for the position and he is even agile enough to man centerfield on a regular basis for Lone Peak. The delivery is compact with a slight turn at the top and he creates separation upon release. The throwing motion is a bit shoulder dependent, but he repeats well. The Brigham Young commit showed some rust on the early season, this being his first start of the season, and battled through occasional command issues. The arm is full through the back and he delivers the ball from a high three-quarters arm slot. Corry’s fastball sat comfortably in the low-90s for the entire outing while hitting multiple 93 mph pitches and even touching 94 mph once. When the delivery is on time the pitch has excellent plane. He was able to mix that pitch well with a big breaking curveball that flashed tight spin and depth. The pitch was up to 2473 rpm per TrackMan and the command of the pitch improved as the game went on. By the end of the outing the curveball was devastating opposing batters. Corry will likely be a very high draft pick and he certainly showed why during his victory on Saturday afternoon.
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