LATEST PG SHOWCASE REPORT
2006 National Showcase
Jaren Matthews is a 2007 left hand hitting 1st baseman from Don Bosco Prep, residing in Teaneck, NJ. Matthetws has a strong and athletic build on his 6'2" 200 lb. plus frame. At times he looks like he is capable of doing some veyr special things in this game and was ranked #38 among PG National Top 100 position players. As he gets more and more comfortable in the game and starts to slow down a bit at the plate and trust his natural ability, he could take off. Matthews hits from a slightly open stance and has offensive tools that can stand out. He has good raw bat speed and an aggressive approach, sometimes overly so. His hands fire well to the ball and his lower half works, but rarely does his lower and upper half work in symmetry. He works to get behind the ball and is pretty power and pull conscience. Matthews does have good present day power and more in the future. He is a free swinger and that can take away from consistently making hard barrel contact to all fields. The ball exits his bat well and he showed a nice ability to compete in left on left situations. Around the bag he is a plus defender, with excellent feet and a plus arm for the 1st base position. Matthews moves fluidly and is going to save his team runs while taking them away from the opposing team. a good athlete, he ran 4.42 home/1st and a 7.00 60. Some wanted to see him in the outfield and he went out there but did not show the same arm strength as he did in the infield and his natural instincts at 1st base did not translate in the outfield. College for a few years would be a great thing to buy his considerable tools some more time but it is possible that he could get a shot to go out this coming June.