Unsigned Seniors: Pitchers

November 27, 2014

By: Zac Bottoms
Arkansas Scouting Director

Here is five quality arms that are still unsigned. Some of them you may already know about others may have fallen through the cracks, but they are all quality arms that throw strikes and have projectable stuff. Tomorrow we will look at the top unsigned infielders and Saturday we will look at the unsigned outfielders.

Ben Madison, RHP, Bauxite HS,
The 6-foot 2, 175- pound right hander, has a lean frame that is very projectable. He has never concentrated solely on baseball. He also excels in both football and basketball. That being said, I believe that his best baseball is in front of him. He has a clean quick arm, with a fastball 87-90. He has a loose arm and an effortless delivery. The curveball has 12/6 action (71-74) with good depth. The change up is serviceable but is still a work in progress.

Robert Harrison, RHP, Wynne HS,
Harrison is a 6-foot-1, 1 90- pound right-hander, works from a high ¾ arm slot with a short quick arm. He has smooth rhythm and comes to a controlled balance point. He commands his fastball on glove side with velocity of 82-84 mph. His command to arm side is not as good as his glove side command, but he competes on both sides of the plate. The fastball is heavy with late sink. He commands his curveball for strikes. It has 11/5 shape with sharp movement. He throws 72-73 mph, it has good deception due to throwing it with near fastball arm speed. His change-up is a work in progress, with little movement and velocity readings of 71 mph. If he will lengthen his arm action and have consistent extension, I believe his velocity will increase. His mound presence and his ability to pitch inside to right-handed hitters makes him ready to pitch when he steps on campus.

Chad Cox, RHP, Maumelle HS,
Cox is a 6-foot, 180-pound right-hander. He pitches off his fastball of 83-85 mph that has slight arm-side run when it is down in the zone. He throws his curveball for strikes with 11/5 action, near fastball arm speed, consistently at 71 mph. Mechanically he works from a ¾ arm slot. He has a quick arm but a short arm action, he stays online through the pitch landing square to hitters. Cox does not have a distinct balance point, which makes his arm drag behind and he gets very little extension at the end. He uses very little effort in his motion, that combined with some timing issues makes me believe he can easily pitch into the upper 80’s as he improves.

Gunnar Etzkorn, RHP, Southside HS,
Gunnar is a 6-foot-4, 180 pound right-hander, with a quick and free arm from a ¾ arm slot. He has smooth rhythm and normal effort. He stays online, but I would like to see him get more extension. He locates his fastball (81-84 mph) for strikes. He maintains his arm speed to throw an 11/5 curveball with sharp break. The velocity on the curveball is 70-72 mph. His changeup is a work in progress, he threw it for strikes but it lacked deception due to slowing his arm down to throw it. Overall, Gunnar has tremendous upside with a free and easy arm, and a frame that can hold weight. He also is a good student scoring well on the ACT.

Mason Gibson, RHP, Nettleton HS
The senior right-hander features a fastball that sits in the 85-86 range and tops out at 88-89 mph. Mason also features a changeup that works in the 76-78 mph range, as well as a slider and a curve-ball. His slider (75-76 mph) has sharp 11/4 action and is more developed than his curve-ball. Mechanically he is sound he works from a High ¾ arm slot and has good rhythm with some effort.

Unsigned Seniors: Pitchers

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