2/8/2018 12:00:00 AM
Lefthander Ben Harris (2018, Alpharetta, Ga.) got the nod for Milton High School and was pretty sharp in terms of fastball command early on. The southpaw looks noticeably stronger and more filled out than in previous viewings, and still works with an athletic and balanced delivery. Harris worked in the 86-89 mph range and bumped a 90 mph pitch or two on a few scout's guns and worked the pitch to both sides of the plate with ease. The breaking ball worked in the low-70s with shape but the command of the pitch wasn't as sharp, however he landed a few for strikes in his one inning of work. The command of the fastball is what stood out for the Virginia commit, especially this early in the season as he looks to get ready for the regular season to get underway.
Cartersville's Anthony Seigler (2018, Cartersville, Ga.) also got himself a full day's work in as he did almost everything on the baseball field. Seigler caught two innings and had a number of opportunities to show off his above average arm strength behind the dish. He popped a 2.07 in-game time later in the game and the arm strength was a real weapon to keep runners tight at first or even to back pick a runner at second base. The flexibility and athleticism behind the plate obviously stand out and the receiving continues to improve. The Florida commit launched a grand slam during his final at-bat and showed off some pop while also demonstrating that he has some of, if not, the best feel to hit in the entire Georgia draft class. Although his professional career is likely behind the plate, Seigler is a downright wizard on a baseball field and tossed an inning lefthanded. The fastball came out of the hand with good sink and run while the pitch sat in the 86-88 mph range. He showed three pitches, a tight slider up to 77 mph and feel for a changeup at 79 mph, and showed again his versatility on a baseball field.
Leading the offensive charge for Milton tonight was catcher Danny Grillo (2018, Milton, Ga.) as he showed off some righthanded power with a long, no-doubt shot to deep left field. The righthanded hitter is very physical and works well to the pull side where he can turn well and utilize his lower half through the baseball. Grillo factors to be one of a number of seniors who will have big roles to play on what should be a very strong Milton team.
Righthander Dylan Matela (2019, Alpharetta, Ga.) got an inning and showed off some interesting tools during the scrimmage. Matela worked in the 85-88 mph range with a very loose and whippy arm. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound righthander is very physically projectable and there's a lot of velocity left in his frame. He gets downhill very easily and there's lots of plane to his fastball. He showed three pitches on Thursday night including a curveball that had pretty tight rotation and consistent shape to it, he had some trouble landing the pitch for strikes but there's clearly potential there. The best secondary offering he showed was his changeup which showed good fading action to the arm side and was thrown with conviction similar to his fastball.
Mason Barnett (2018, White, Georgia) also got an inning for the Hurricanes and the righthander was impressive despite the cold at PG Park. The Auburn commit showed off his fastball which worked in the 87-90 mph range with his traditional low effort delivery. The feel for the breaking ball was a bit off as he spiked a couple, but again it is very early in the season and it was very cold. Barnett still twirled a couple of breakers with good depth and tight shape. The most interesting development for Barnett was the development of his changeup. This scout had not seen Barnett utilize a changeup previously and he threw about five or six that were very impressive. The arm speed replication was very close to the fastball and the change faded away from lefthanded hitters and made some of them look foolish. Barnett even had enough confidence to triple up on the pitch for a strikeout.