Prep Baseball Report

NorCal ProCase Spotlight: MIF Jack Grant


Blaine Clemmens
Northern California Director of Scouting

  

PODCAST: Northern CA ProCase

ProCase Spotlights: NorCal Spotlights

STOCKTON, CA. - The 2019 MLB Draft was completed on June 5th and on June 9th we started to look toward the 2020 draft class at the Northern California ProCase. A select group of players were invited to participate in this exclusive event geared toward draft prospects and high level collegiate talents with future draft potential. Players were put through a pro-style workout with various stats/data recorded during the workouts which can be found HERE

Be sure to click on the highlighted player to see more video and notes from previous viewings at PBR events and game play from previous spring seasons. We continue our player spotlights from the event:

MIF Jack Grant (San Ramon Valley HS)

2020 SS Jack Grant (Arizona commit) listed at 6-foot-1, 165-pounds, with a lean body type and in the last year or so his frame is bigger, providing much more physical projectability that we may have otherwise previously envisioned. Regarded well by our scouts in previous looks, Grant was one of the players at the ProCase who significantly changed our opinions of the caliber of player he can develop into.

A very early verbal commitment to UCLA (which he pulled out from during his senior year before NLI time) was largely, if not entirely, based on his defensive abilities, and. Simply but, Grant was valued as a player who would catch the ball and throw it across on a consistent basis. At a program that is defense/pitching first like UCLA, the SS position is seen somewhat as the old school National League shortstop role, i.e. Grant can be still be valued as such because he continues to show clean defensive skills, with sure hands, calm feet and an arm that is going to play at average on the pro scale. Whether he stays at shortstop is still to be determined, as there are some footwork things to work out, particularly how many shuffles he takes to get rid of of the ball right at him. He gets rid of the ball well to the backhand side and moves gracefully through the ball to his left. With 81 mph velocity across the diamond, the release will need to quicken as the game gets faster at the college level and of course at the pro level.

It is the offensive side where Grant really started to open our eyes wider. His BP round was really strong, with good timing, a consistent swing plane and consistently hard barrel contact. The ball carried well and he showed some projectable power potential that while it likely won't be average, could certainly be near average. He showed balance throughout his swings and wasn't forcing the bat speed, which indicates that as he gains strength, the extra base pop will come. The run tool is fair (7.15 60-yard dash) and he will have to work to develop more burst and explosiveness to compensate for the raw footspeed.

If the offensive game continues to blossom, Grant will arrive at Arizona as a more complete player than maybe even the Wildcat's staff expected.

UPCOMING EVENTS

SHOWCASE STATE DATE LOCATION
California State Games CA 08/17 Vanguard University
Kern County Prospect I.D. CA 09/07 Cal State Bakersfield
SoCal Prospect Games CA 09/14 JSerra High School
NorCal Top Prospect Games CA 09/21 College of Marin
Rising Stars Showcase CA 09/21 Santiago High School
N. CA Uncommitted Senior Games CA 10/06 College of Marin


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