2015
PG/EvoShield Underclass National Championship: Day 1 notes | Day 2 notes
2017
righthander Johnny
Kuhn, Jr.
(Lakewood, Calif.) helped CBA Marucci advance in the playoffs and
defeat a very talented SACSN team. Kuhn, a 6-foot-5, 205-pound righty
earned the win by throwing seven quality innings in a
tightly-contested game. The Long Beach State commit has an
extra-large frame and still projects well as he has long limbs and a
high-waist, so he should continue to get stronger and add muscle as
he matures over the next few years. Kuhn had good success in the
early going because he was able to spot his fastball down in the
strike zone and to either side of the plate. The heater, which sat
consistently in the 85-86 mph range over the seven innings, touched
88 mph on a few occasions, and Kuhn showed that he could ramp it up
in the latter innings when he felt that the extra velocity was
necessary.
The
long, lean righty generates solid downhill plane and does a solid job
of repeating his delivery for a bigger body. At times, Kuhn will work
a bit across his body and yank his frontside out which can cause his
arm to drag, but over the course of his seven innings those instances
were few and far between and he did a good job of maintaining a
direct line to home plate.
To
go along with his fastball, Kuhn worked in both a slider and a
changeup, showing solid feel for both, and in particular the slider.
In the early innings the slider registered as high as 81 mph and
showed sweeping action to the gloveside. As he worked his way through
the order Kuhn was able to manipulate the velocity, depth, and shape
of the offering to give hitters different looks. Both the slower
74-75 mph and harder 77-79 mph sliders were effective, with the
offerings in the lower velocity band showing a bit more depth and
shorter tilt and those in the higher band displaying more horizontal
tilt and finish. He didn’t use his changeup as frequently as he did
his breaking ball, but the pitch still showed solid potential, and
Kuhn did a solid job of maintaining his armspeed and replicating his
normal arm action.
Kuhn
mixed his pitches very well, even pitching backwards to a few hitters
after working through the order a couple of times, and he displayed
the confidence and ability to throw any of his pitches for strikes in
any count. The combination of present size, projectability, and
pitchability make Kuhn yet another California prep arm to keep an eye
on in the coming years.
Tyler
Lasch (Lake Forest, Calif.) was a Junior National Showcase
participant this past June, and the class of 2017 catcher has
continued to impress as the summer winds to a close. Lasch, one of
the rare Mississippi State commits out of the state of California,
turned some heads earlier this summer at the 17u WWBA National
Championship when he turned on a fastball from 2016 righthander
Forrest Whitley (currently ranked 20th in the 2016 class)
and hit a line-drive home run over the right field fence that got out
in a hurry.
After
showing off some of his power potential earlier this summer, Lasch
has shown off a balanced and patient approach this weekend. The
lefthanded hitter has very good strike zone awareness and he rarely
gives in to a pitcher or expands his zone, working numerous walks
over the past few days and hitting the ball where it is pitched. The
5-foot-9, 180-pounder tracks the ball very well and shows that he can
manipulate the barrel with his quick hands and strong wrists, with
solid line-drive contact to both sides of the field.
Perhaps
even more impressive than his offensive game is his work behind the
dish. Lasch receives the ball very well and is quiet and smooth in
his actions. Despite his compact frame, he’s an absolute wall
behind the plate as he’s blocked nearly every ball in the dirt
thanks to good instincts, lateral quickness, and an ability and
willingness to get into the right position.
2017
shortstop Dylan Criquet-Danielson (Marshall, Minn.) was
mentioned in an earlier iteration of the tournament notes, but he’s
a very intriguing player that should be monitored carefully. The
6-foot-2, 180-pound infielder has the projectable, well-proportioned
frame and athletic build that evaluators and coaches tend to covet.
He played shortstop on Sunday and flashed the athleticism and
footwork necessary to handle the defensive requirements of the
position. Additionally, he runs well, turning in a plus home-to-first
time of 4.2 seconds from the right hand side. Finally,
Criquet-Danielson showed off solid bat speed and a line-drive swing
plane, putting a very good swing on a ball and ripping it off of the
barrel into left-center field for a single.
2018
righthander Conner Thurman (Mesa, Ariz.) has been clocked as
high as 88 mph earlier this summer, and while the young righty did
not run his fastball quite as high on a hot Sunday afternoon, he
showed good competitiveness and battled against a tough and talented
Southern California Bombers team. Thurman’s fastball consistently
sat in the 82-84 mph range and touched 85 in the early going, and the
offering showed considerable tailing life from his natural lower
three-quarters arm slot. When he was able to locate the offering down
in the strike zone it showed quality late sinking action and was a
difficult pitch to lift and barrel. Thurman also flashed some
potential in his sweeping breaking ball, which shows more of a
10-to-4 shape from his lower arm slot. The pitch, which sat in the
low-70s has some two-plane depth and late glove-side finish.
2017
righthander Trey Dillard (Phoenix, Ariz.) only pitched briefly
on Sunday, appearing out of the bullpen for SACSN in their playoff
game against CBA Marucci, but he displayed some big arm strength. The
6-foot-2, 200 pound righty has an up-tempo, high-energy delivery and
he comes at you with a fast arm from a high three-quarters arm slot.
In his quick cameo, Dillard worked in the 86-89 mph range, touching
90 mph with his heater on one occasion. He has a loose, fluid
arm-action and also flashed some developing offspeed pitches in his
74-76 mph breaking ball and 78 mph changeup.
Similarly,
Southern California Bombers’ Jorge Arellano (Cudahy, Calif.)
came on in relief and showed off an impressive fastball. The 2017
lefthander was up to 89 mph, working predominately in the 86-88 mph
range with his heater. The UC Santa Barbara commit has a long, loose
arm action and the ball comes out of his hand well.
2017
outfielder Kenji Henderson (La Verne, Calif.) hit well over
the course of the tournament. The uncommitted 5-foot-10, 195-pound
outfielder has a very sturdy, well-proportioned build and it looks
like he has the body and athleticism to play running back or safety
at the Division I level. Henderson makes good use of his particularly
chiseled upper-body, using his raw natural strength to his advantage
in his swing. He has quick hands and strong wrists that allow him to
whip the bat through the zone and generate considerable carry off of
the barrel. At present he doesn’t incorporate much of his
lower-half into his swing mechanics, but he’s still able to produce
impact contact into the gaps because of his strength and bat speed.
As he continues to develop, Henderson should see a handful of his
numerous doubles turn into home runs.
– Andrew
Krause
Tyler
Freeman (2017, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) has continued to play
well throughout the tournament and has helped lead his team into the
quarterfinals while playing an integral role in CBA’s opening round
victory over SACSN. A 6-foot, 170-pound shortstop who’s committed
to Texas Christian University, Freeman put together very solid and
noteworthy at-bats to begin the morning, each time effectively using
the opposite field. Not trying to do too much in his first plate
appearance, Freeman saw a sinking 89 mph on the outer half deep
before staying short to and through the ball and lining it into right
field to get his team on the board.
Coming
to the plate again with a runner in scoring position Freeman did a
nice job of keeping his weight back and recognizing slider out of the
pitcher’s hand before lining to the opposite field gap for a
standup double, giving him to impressive hits in consecutive at-bats.
Along with the bat Freeman also shows very sound actions up the
middle and made a difficult play look rather routine on a soft
chopper in which he came charging in on and delivered an off balance
strike to end the inning.
Speaking
of defensive web gems, Donta Williams (2017, Las Vegas, Nev.)
made one during the 8:00 a.m. time slot out in center field to take
away easy extra-bases. The University of Arizona commit put his sound
instincts and quick first step on display as he reacted instantly to
the crack of the bat and came charging in towards the left
centerfield gap before getting fully extended to make the grab.
Blake
Peyton (2018, Lakeside, Calif.) made his Perfect Game debut
yesterday for the San Diego Show Black and it was a good one as the
young left-hander opened some eyes. Listed at 6-foot, 180-pounds
Peyton has a strong look to him already and it’s a frame you can
project on moving forward. Currently uncommitted per his Perfect Game
profile, Peyton showed a short and quick arm action in the back side
while remaining balanced throughout his delivery. He came out in the
first inning sitting around 85 mph with nearly every pitch though he
did bump an 87 and showed later life to his arm side rather
consistently. Though his stride is a bit short at present and remains
a bit upright at release Peyton was able to generate downhill plane
to his fastball which left his hand easily and induced steady ground
ball contact when put in play. He flashed both a curveball at 71 mph
and a changeup at 73 mph but pitched mostly off his fastball and was
consistently around the strike zone with it. You can add Peyton’s
name to an impressive list of young, uncommitted left handers who
left a positive impression in the minds of the college recruiters on
hand throughout the tournament.
Altoon
Coleman (2017, Sanford, Fla.) is certainly no stranger to Perfect
Game events having done a full summer circuit with the FTB Pride
during the WWBA’s and traveled to Arizona this weekend as a member
of the SACSN National Team. Already committed to Florida State
University, the 6-foot-2, 225-pound right-handed came out attacking
the strike zone early and often and did so while showing a feel for a
nice three-pitch mix. Up to 93 mph this summer with his fastball,
Coleman worked very comfortably in the 87-90 mph range and was so
without exerting much effort in his delivery. With a rather simple
overall set of mechanics Coleman was able to repeat well especially
on his fastball and throughout the first couple of innings showed
much more sinking life to his fastball than I had seen in the past.
Along with the life and velocity on the fastball Coleman showed the
ability to harness that life and effectively locate in on the hands
of righthanded hitters, inducing steady and weak groundball contact.
Coleman
set the tone early for the frequency of which he was going to mix as
he showed a little bit of everything to the second batter of the game
and maintained the feel for his off speed throughout. After showing a
curveball in the early portion of the summer it appears as though the
young right-hander as gone to his slider almost exclusively in terms
of his breaking and has received nice results with the pitch when he
gets it down in the zone. Thrown in the mid-70s Coleman’s slider
showed sharp break at time and flashed the ability to get it to the
back foot of lefthanded hitters when ahead in the count. To round out
the arsenal he also showed a changeup in the 75-77 mph which featured
some fading life while coming out of the same loose and tension free
arm action.
He
may be young but current freshman shortstop Carter Young (2019,
Selah, Wash.) made a memorable impression this tournament with his
loose athletic actions up the middle and his projectable righthanded
swing. Listed at 6-foot, 155-pounds Young passes the eye test for a
player his age and it’s easy to envision him growing both stronger
and taller by the end of his four years of high school. Despite being
a 2019 grad Young was the starting shortstop on Pacific Northwest
2017 Navy Team and didn’t look out of place as he made a nice play
ranging up the middle with rather fluid actions before finishing it
up with a strong throw across the diamond from a short and quick arm
action. Similar to the arm action, Young’s righthanded swing is
also short and quick and he’s already able to generate solid bat
speed through the zone. In his final at-bat of the tournament he
showed feel to use the opposite field as he went with an outer half
pitch for a line drive single into right field.
Jack
Sterner (2018, Laguna Niguel, Calif.) is listed at a very strong
and believable 6-foot-4, 215-pounds which makes his present stuff
even more interesting as you project down the road a little bit. A
righthanded pitcher, Sterner came out showing a long and fluid arm
action and uses his length to his advantage by getting on top of his
high three-quarters slot and generating solid extension out front.
Working in the 80-82 mph range early on, Sterner reached back for an
85 mph bullet and spilled it back over the outer half to a
righthanded hitter to end the threat in the first inning. From that
point on it was smooth sailing for the uncommitted Sterner who
continued to work in the 81-84 mph range but did so while looking
like he was playing a game of catch. While he continued to pound the
fastball for strikes Sterner was also able to establish a feel for
his spike-curveball, an offering that showed some depth and 12-to-6
shape and at one point threw four in a row, all for strikes to
collect another punch out.
As
strong as Sterner is, Jayson Gonzalez (2017, Covina, Calif.)
may have him beat and he knows how to incorporate that big time
strength into his righthanded swing. Already committed to Vanderbilt
University, Gonzalez is able to generate some of the big bat speed
with the strength in his hands and he went to the plate yesterday
looking to hurt the baseball. After staying through a ground ball
that he hit up the middle which was probably 95-plus mph off the bat,
Gonzalez then used the opposite field in his next trip to the plate
and drilled a double to the gap, this time coming off at 102 mph per
TrackMan. During an at-bat in his team’s final game of the day
Gonzalez was almost robbed of his second double of the day as he
again drove a ball to the warning track in right field where it was
almost caught by a sprawling right fielder.
– Jheremy
Brown