With the 2024 baseball season fast approaching, players are working tirelessly in the weight room, on the mound, and in the box to be the best version of themselves for the season ahead. Talented players are littered all over the province, however, with the season on the horizon, we want to preview 5 players in the 2024 graduation class that are looking to make an impact this coming season.

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2024 Season Preview - Alberta Class of 2024 Watch List 

Matthew Murray SS / RHP / St. Joseph, AB / 2024 Rankings  StateRank: 21 / POS: 5 The Colby CC commit is one of the top two-way players on Canada’s West Coast. A twitchy athlete, he shows it all over the field. He plays a premium position on the infield and has the quick feet, arm strength, and range to potentially stay there long term. He also has the ability to play in the outfield, having shown us at the Best of the West tournament in Kamloops last year. At the dish there’s plenty of bat-to-ball with not much swing & miss, and he can spray the ball all over the field. He’s also been up to 88 mph on the mound with the fastball, and has two unique breaking balls that he can spot up for strikes. At the Canada Cup in August, he showed the ability to shut down talented lineups. A successful 2023 season and an offseason of development will have Murray looking to carry that momentum into 2024.

Owen Pote RHP / RHP / Archbishop Jordan, AB / 2024 Rankings  StateRank: 11 / POS: 3 Pote jumped onto the scene last year with one of the best bullpens we saw in 2023 at the New Year Open. He has true feel for his repertoire and pounds the zone with all 3 pitches. With that 6-foot-6, 195-pound frame, he gets downhill well that allows his fastball to play up. He sits in the 86-88 mph range and has been up to 90 mph with the heater that he can spin north of 2300 rpm. His steep VAA (Vertical Approach Angle) allows him to generate lots of IZM and weak ground ball contact when working down in the zone. The breaking ball has tight downward action that creates lots of chase with its -17.4 inches of IVB. He can also locate a changeup that has over 16 inches of arm side run. Everything looks easy for Pote, and as he continues to add strength to his frame, his arsenal will only continue to get better.

Kai Rempel RHP / National Sport School, AB / 2024 Rankings  StateRank: 17 / POS: 7 Rempel has one of the more polished repertoires on the West Coast. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Webber Academy product has 4 pitches with the ability to locate them all for strikes. He works both sides of the plate with a fastball that he has run up to 88 mph. He has a curveball and slider that both have unique movement profiles, both coming in at 73-75 mph, but the slider has more HB while the curveball has downward action creating plenty of OZ chase/swing & miss. The changeup is also effective with late arm side run and depth. Everything looks easy for Rempel, with his low effort/repeatable delivery and he showed us that he’s able to have success against talented lineups when he did so at the Canada Cup last August. With the direction Rempel is trending, he shouldn’t be uncommitted for long.

Sheamus Ryan LHP / Vauxhall , AB / 2024 Rankings  StateRank: 30 / POS: 4 Ryan won’t overpower you with velocity, but his repertoire has some of the best movement of anyone in his class. The 6-foot-0, 185-pound Vauxhall Academy product comes at you from a low-¾ arm slot and a fastball in the low-mid 80s. He has over 16 inches of horizontal break on the fastball that generates plenty of weak contact. His curveball, which profiles more like a slider, has 22 inches of horizontal break and 8 inches of vertical depth. The changeup has arm side run much like his fastball, but has late depth with just 2 inches of induced vertical break. The next step for Ryan would be a velocity jump, which would help add spin and movement to an already impressive repertoire.

Kaidan Baron SS / RHP / Memorial Composite, AB / 2024 Rankings  StateRank: 22 / POS: 6 Baron has taken some major strides since we last saw him at the Alberta Preseason Uncommitted last March. The 6-foot-0, 165-pound, two-way has added strength and twitch to an already athletic frame. He’s been up to 89 mph on the mound and can spin his breaking ball north of 2500 rpm. At the dish, he maintains balance and uses his swing to elevate with authority reaching an exit velocity of 93 mph, using the entire field. When on the infield he has quick feet and good hands gathering himself into a throwing position effectively. Has been down to a 7.02 60-yard dash time which should be sub-7 in the spring. The toolsy Parkland Academy product and USC-Lancaster commit will be someone to follow when the season starts up.

UPCOMING EVENTS

SHOWCASE	STATE	DATE	LOCATION
2024 Red Deer Preseason ID	AB	02/24	The Dome Red Deer
2024 ATHX Scout Day	AB	02/25	ATHX Performance
2024 Okotoks Dawgs Scout Day	AB	03/06	Dunvernay Fieldhouse
2024 Edmonton Spring Future Games Trials	AB	03/09	The Shop by SPMBA
2024 Medicine Hat Preseason ID	AB	04/14	Mavericks Athletic Park
2024 Calgary Future Games Trials	AB	04/17	Tourmaline Field
2024 Calgary Blues Scout Day	AB	05/10	Optimist Athletic Park
2024 Calgary Summer Open	AB	06/26	Webber Academy Athletic Park

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