Week 2 of the PG Spring League was moved indoors to the PG Indoor Facility and Hitters Baseball Academy. There were some quality performances worth noting. Our Taylor Weber was in Kenosha and here's his report on some of the top players from this past weekend at the Hitters Baseball Academy. The Week 2 recap for the simulated games at the PG Indoor Facility will be released tomorrow.
Hitters Baseball 2018
Parker Heidorf (2018 - Waukesha, WI) started out the weekend pitching for Hitters Baseball. He’s a 6-foot-8 right hander with long limbs and uses them well. He throws from a high three quarters arm slot and gets a lot of downhill plane through the zone with his fastball. He lived in the low to mid 80’s, topping out at 85 MPH with good command, able to work both sides of the plate at will. Heidorf made sure to never leave a hittable pitch over the heart of the plate. Everything he threw was a quality pitch around the edges, and when he missed it wasn’t by much. He also spun a solid 11:5 curveball with swing and miss potential. Parker put the hitters on track for the day. He tossed three good innings, giving up little, if any, hard contact.
Patrick Foldy (2018 - Colgate, WI) was the second solid pitcher of the day for the Hitters, and he picked up right where Heidorf left off. At 6-foot-3 he doesn’t get quite the angle as the aforementioned Heidorf does, but that doesn’t mean his stuff is less effective. His fastball crept up to 84 miles per hour and he showed very good command, putting the ball right where he wanted it time and time again. It took Foldy just seven pitches to get through his first inning of work, a three-pitch strike out, a fly out on the first pitch of the at-bat, and then another three-pitch strikeout. Foldy did flash a breaking ball in the low 70’s and, when thrown, showed good potential. He relied mostly on his command of the fastball, but developing that second pitch could go a long way.
Jarred Kelenic (2018 - Waukesha, WI) just keeps hitting the ball. He collected hit after hit during the weekend. You could probably count on one hand how many times Kelenic walked to the bench after an at-bat. And he did it several different ways. In his first at-bat of the weekend he barreled up a line drive into straight away right field that plated a couple of runner. Just a couple of appearances later he would drive a ball to right center field that almost no ball park in the country would have been able to hold. On day two it was more of the same. A couple of opposite field hits, a line drive back up the middle, and when pitchers tried to get him to chase he was patient and took his walks.
Another week, another ball that (would have) left the yard for Alex Binelas (2018 - Oak Creek, WI). The lefty connected on ball that made most of the scouts present do a double take. He handles the stick very well, helping the ball find the sweet spot more often than not. His strength really helps him get the bat through the zone quickly and when he connects it goes.
Nathan Rintz (2019 - Schaumburg, IL) was up to 88 MPH with the fastball and commanded the pitch well. He got some swing and miss on his curveball in the low 70’s. He buried it a lot getting hitters to swing over the top with no chance of fouling it off. His delivery is smooth and he’s able to repeat it well. He’s athletic and it shows as he’s got a quick arm, but he also has some room to add some strength.
Max Alba (2018 - Franklin, WI) was good on the mound on the second day. He’s strong and athletic but like Rintz he has room to get stronger. His fastball got up to 91 MPH. It was mostly straight with some downhill angle to it. He has a good secondary pitch in the slider. He commands both pitches well and is smart on the mound. He varies well and keeps hitters guessing.
Eli Campbell (2018 - Cudahy, WI) was also excellent on the bump for the Hitters. He is about as smooth as they come and his repeatability is very good. It’s very difficult to determine which pitch he is throwing before it’s out of his hand and it’s too late. He, like the other’s is tall and athletic but has room to fill out at 6-foot-5 195 pounds. His fastball was straight but created some angle with it, delivering from a slightly across the body. He has a tight spinning curveball with a 12/6 shape and had hitters swinging over it all game.
The youngest player to take the field for the Hitters was Ian Moller (2021 - Dubuque, IA). He really showed why he deserves to be among the best players in the 2021 class. His maturity defensively behind the plate is great. He uses his body well when blocking and didn’t let the ball get far. He receives well and can even steal a strike for his pitcher on occasion. He also shows a good ability to handle the bat for his age. In his first at-bat of the weekend he hit a ball that, upon debate among the fans, many believed would have left the yard.
AJ Vukovich (2020 - Mukwonago, WI) is another young player for the Hitters that shows great potential. He’s got great strength for his age and is able to hit the ball hard when squared up. He stays toward the middle of the field and can drive the ball to the gaps. Possibly the most impressive aspect of Vukovich's game is his patience at the plate for his age. He works the count and waits to get a pitch that he can drive. He hardly ever swung at a bad pitch and is willing to work a walk.
Iowa Select Black 2018
Brayden Frazier (2018 - Cedar Rapids, IA), one of the top recruits in the state of Iowa performed well up in Wisconsin this weekend. He shows solid hit skills and makes a lot of contact and not much swing and miss in his game. He was able to collect several hits against some tough pitching over the weekend. A strong aspect of Frazier’s game is his defense. He split his time playing between shortstop and third base and made several tough plays look routine, including starting a double play on a ball hit short and off to his right in which he had to charge hard and throw from a difficult angle.
Calvin Harris (2020 - Peosta, IA), a primary catcher, came in to close out the final inning of the day on Saturday afternoon. His strong arm behind the dish translated well to mound as he got his fastball up to 89 MPH. He has pretty good command is able to pound the zone with strikes. That can work against him as he can catch a bit too much of the plate at times, but it didn’t hurt him. He has a quick arm and it remains fast on his 12/6 curveball that gets good depth.
Sam Goodman (2019 - Dubuque, IA) started the first game on Sunday morning for the Iowa Select team. He’s a 2019 righty and was able to hang against some of the top hitters in the country. He got his fastball up to 89 MPH but sat mostly in the mid 80’s. He showed a big curveball in the mid 70’s that got several players to go down looking. His deception with the breaking ball kept hitters on their heels.
Clayton Nettleton (2018 - Davenport, IA), brought his best stuff this weekend. He ran his fastball up to 93 MPH and mixed in a tight curveball. Nettleton didn’t allow a hit in his three innings of work. The only runners allowed were a couple of walks and a dropped third strike that got away from the catcher. He looks like he's taking a step forward and has been consistent with his velocity climbing and maintaining so far this spring.
Will Christophersen (2018 - Bettendorf, IA) took the ball after Nettleton and threw three more solid innings. Christophersen utilizes a quick arm and gets a lot of movement with his pitches. His fastball got up to 91 MPH and showed some run down in the zone. He also has a solid 12/6 curveball with some late depth and 12/6 shape to it.
One of the final arms to go for Iowa Select was 6-foot-4 240-pound righty, Tyler Lewis (2018 - West Des Moines, IA). He struggled some with his command early, but once he got settled in he was tough to pick up. He has a big coil at the gather, and hides the ball well making it tough on hitters to pick on that ball. His fastball got up to 91 MPH and he threw a tight slider that had some good lateral movement.
Zach Bierman (2019 - Dubuque, IA) has improved with both his velocity and command since last fall. His fastball topped at 87 MPH on our gun with a couple other scouts in attendance getting him at 88 and 89. His fastball has a lot of run on it and his shown better depth and shape to his curve ball.