Prep Baseball Report

Fall Prospect Showcase: Quick Hits (Part II)


Jordon Banfield
Arizona Scouting Director

The Fall Prospect Showcase took place on Sunday, October 14th at Brazell Field, home of the Grand Canyon Antelopes. The event freshman through junior prospects an opportunity to be evaluated in a college stadium in front of a number of college coaches. The showcase marked the biggest event to date in Arizona, with nearly 140 players registered. This event will become a staple for PBR every October, due to the response and large number of college coaches that travel to the area this week every year. Today, we continue our event analysis with the second portion of our Quick Hits on a few 2021 and 2022 prospects who stood out. As with all our top events, it is impossible to include every prospect who showed well in this article. We also posted tons of brief notes and videos throughout the day on Twitter. 

Complete video, data and pictures will be posted soon to players' individual profiles with scouting reports to follow in the coming weeks. As always contact [email protected] or direct message @PBRArizona on Twitter with any questions and/or information.

2021

-MIF Matthew Carter has always impressed with his energy and skill level in a very small frame and has now started to mature physically. Carter improved his 60 time from one 8 seconds the last time we saw him to 7.44 and shows soft hands in the middle infield.

-OF Andrew Biddle turned in a solid 7.04 60-yard dash and shows some of the best outfield actions in the class with a solid 84 mph OF velo. His improvement offensively will dictate what level prospect he becomes.

-MIF Nicholas Lustig showed solid middle infield actions and a solid swing with line drive path. Lustig's speed was the biggest question mark previously and he's clearly worked to improve in that aspect, lowering his 60 to 7.24 from 7.44 early this summer.

-MIF TJ Oster showed some of the top infield actions at the event, regardless of class. he does an outstanding job playing underneath the baseball with soft hands and generates impressive carry across the diamond. Oster really fights to stay inside the baseball on offense and could benefit from letting the barrel work and making more contact out front to take advantage of his fast twitch ability.

-Speaking of middle infielders, SS Chase Valentine continues to prove himself as the top infield defender in the class. The combination of elite hands, ability to throw accurately from all angles and instincts that consistently show up in game action have earned him that distinction. Valentine has grown significantly (now 5-foot-10) and should be able to make an impact offensively when he adds strength as he shows a solid swing with loose wrists. The run time will need to continue to come down.

 -OF Jake Terry has been on our radar since the summer and has continued to improve, posting a very solid 6.90 60-yard dash and 89 mph exit velocity. Offensively, Terry nearly bars his arm, but does an outstanding job keeping the barrel in the zone with a flat plane.

-RHP/UT Derek Figueroa does more work on the mound during the summer, but shows the type of tools that could project to a number of positions. His 83 mph OF velo and 85 mph exit velo were near the top for 2021 prospects and we've previously seen him run under 7.0 and work into the mid-80's on the mound.

-Jace Young shows an intriguing combination of offensive ability and athleticism in his immature 5-foot-11, 152-pound frame. Young turned in a 7.09 60-yard dash and 84 mph exit velocity with the type of swing that should produce as he fills out and adds strength. There's some work to be done on the infield, but it appears he could certainly handle LF if necessary.

-OF Crew Edwards is a guy we've seen plenty of throughout the summer and fall, but his 6.81 60-yard dash came as a bit of a surprise. He was an impressive varsity producer at Arcadia HS this spring and had the type of projectable frame and athleticism that make him a very intriguing follow.

-C Cole Sheehan is a guy we haven't seen in awhile and appears to have a chance as a true switch-hitter who can stick behind the plate. He turned in a best pop time of 2.06 with 75 mph velo and made hard contact from both sides during BP. It's very rare that we see players who can actually switch hit at our events and while we previously preferred his RH swing and he again generated a higher exit velo from that side, the LH version almost has a better rhythm now and is certainly shorter to the baseball.

-Listed as a primary RHP, Masen Schechterle is a candidate for the player to show the biggest improvements from previous looks. His 7.21 60-yard dash and 92 mph exit velo both represent huge jumps, and despite some length on the back side of his swing, Schechterle really drove some balls during his round of BP with big strength in his hands/wrists. Defensive future is likely in a corner OF spot or 1B.

-IF Ayden Markovich is one of the elite offensive prospects in the class and continued to show why. He's added signifiant strength to his 5-foot-11, 165-pound frame. Malkovich shows real bat speed from the left side of the plate and is a sub-7.0 runner. He'll need to continue to improve defensively to stick on the infield, but the bat will certainly play in the OF should a move be necessary.

-SS/RHP Aaron Limon has a number of loud tools that have the potential to translate to the college level.He's currently more advanced on the mound, sitting 81-83 mph, while flashing two real secondary pitches. As a position player he's an athletic mover with hands and arms strength that should allow him to play on the left side. The determining factor will be the bat as he's really looking to lift and pull with an uphill path and barrel that isn't in the zone as long as I'd like.

-In our first look at him, OF Dylan Lambert did a nice job getting on plane with the baseball and showed the type of swing that could be intriguing as he develops physically.

-IF Adam Moser came over from Nevada and posted on of the top exit velos for a 2021 at 90 mph. The path is somewhat steep and he doesn't get much extension, but not many rising sophomores can produce that type of exit velo.

-IF/RHP Kaden Schiefelbein has started to add noticeable strength/mass to his still thin 6-foot-1, 145-pound frame. The combination of arm strength and athleticism has always intrigued and as he starts to get some additional broadness in his shoulders the likelihood that he becomes a high-end arm only increases.

-1B Beau Ankeney has really started to improve his body. Ankeney is a serious physical presence at 6-foot-2, 215-pounds and showed the most raw power of any prospect at the event, regardless of class.

-Dawson DeHerrera is listed as a two-way prospect, despite losing far more advanced on the mound, but on this look we may have started to see why. He showed off solid infield actions and a much improved 7.15 60-yard dash, in addition to the quick arm and 80 mph velo we've seen from him on the bump.

-RHP Nick Suspenzi, a recent transfer in to desert Mountain from Illinois sat 80-81 mph on the mound with a clean arm action and thin 5-foot-10, 145-pound frame. We've seen him up to 83 mph in recent weeks during game action.

-Valentin (JR) Flores showed the best stuff we've seen from him, sitting 80-82 mph from a near sidearm slot with a long arm action. He threw all strikes with three pitches and looks like an absolute nightmare for left-handed hitters with the big sweeping breaking pitch and enough of a changeup to battle righties. Flores also showed off some bat speed from the left side.

 -LHP/OF Brock Jessup is another recent transfer in to Desert Mountain and ran his fastball up to 82 mph from a high 3/4 arm slot and has previously intrigued as a LHH OF.

-Big 6-foot-2 LHP Eric Perez touched 78 mph with a low-effort delivery and clean arm action. His sinking 72 mph changeup also impressed and Perez is certainly worthy of a follow moving forward.

-6-foot-2, 165-pound RHP Brady Nelson has  a very projectable frame and showed intriguing arm speed, running his fastball up to 80 mph with much more like to come.

-LHP Jake King touched 80 mph and showed one of the best young breaking balls we saw at the event. His 66-68 mph curveball showed consistent tight rotation and kept digging with 1-7 shape.

-LHP/OF Max Zdimal missed some time with injury this sporing and appears nearly back to his prior form. It's becoming more clear that his future is on the mound, where he touched 82 mph from the left side with angle.If a physical jump is forthcoming it's very likely that the velo won't be far behind and could see Zdimal climb up the rankings.

-There's significant crudeness to 6-foot-4 LHP Nolan Lopez' delivery and arm action, but I'm not one to ever give up on a big lefty. He really hooks the ball out of the glove and races down the mound with his upper body, but there's certainly some upside worth following as he matures physically and refines his delivery. 

2022

-OF Kaleb Duncan turned in the top 60-time at the entire event with a 6.74, all the more impressive when you consider he's an incoming freshman. At the plate Duncan starts and loads his hands very high, really hitting down through the baseball, but squared up some balls during BP and certainly seems to have enough offensive ability to take advantage of the likely future plus speed.

-MIF Kolt Kurzman stood out in game action a few weeks ago and I slightly prefer his game swing to what he showed in BP. On this look he showed a very short hand load (inside his shoulder), causing the barrel to be a little more in and out of the zone, but showed the same looseness in his wrists is hard to find and makes him a strong follow as a young LHH MIF. Likely 2B profile on defense.

-LHH IF Mason White showed off possibly the best swing of the day, regardless of class, with a loose, easy rhythm and advanced timing in the box. White effortlessly drove ball from LCF to RF and looks like a future big time bat. It will be interesting to see how he develops physically and athletically, but he's already made big improvements defensively since we last saw him and profiles as a future 3B.

 -LHH IF Trenton Harrington has a really nice skill set for a young prospect, turning in a 7.17 60-yard dash and 82 mph infield velo with his athletic 6-foot, 145-pound frame. He's made some swing improvements since we last saw him, barring his arm less and cutting down on a leg-kick that wasn't always on time. If he can work to stay behind the baseball, there's all the makings of a nice looking prospect. We've also seen him fill up the zone in the upper 70's on the mound with more to come.

-Physical 6-foot, 175-pound IF/RHP Ruben Villaescusa stood out during BP with a simple swing, driving the ball with authority to LCF. He does a really nice job leveraging the baseball and posted an impressive 88 mph exit velocity.

-5-foot-10, 145-pound Nick Arias looks like one of the top prospects in AZ's 2022 class. With a projectable, high-waisted frame, Arias looks the part as an infielder and also on the mound. Offensively Arias shows an advanced rhythm, getting started early with a balanced, knee-knock trigger and projects to develop power as he matures physically. Defensively, has the look of a future 3B, generating impressive carry on his throws across the diamond. Foot speed has improved since we last saw him and appears to be the type that will continue to get faster as he gets stronger. Arias is even more advanced on the mound, where he sat 80-81 mph with an under control delivery and very clean arm circle from a 3/4 slot. Arias flashed a true curveball with tight rotation and 11-5 break when at it's best. He also mixed is a very short slider, with more cutter-type break that I wouldn't mind seeing shelved in favor of a changeup that will give him a weapon against LHH as he matures.