Prep Baseball Report

SoCal ProCase Spotlight: OF Noah Williams


Jack Shannon
San Diego Area Scout

     

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San Juan Capistrano, Calif - Uncommitted outfielder Noah Williams out of Redondo Union HS stood out immediately as he was the only switch-hitter at the event. Switch-hitting is such a rarity these days and continues to decline yearly at the major league level. Williams showed ability from both sides during batting practice and live at-bats, handling the bat well and looked comfortable doing so. 

Raw athleticism both offensively and defensively impressed, giving him high projection overall and plenty to dream on. His hit tool could in fact be his best current tool and is trending in the right direction both with on field performance and through Blast Motion and TrackMan tech. 

The Report

Body: 6-2, 175 pounds. Athletic frame with twitchy baseball actions. Switch-hitting ability helps boost his athletic profile. Plenty of room for growth and athletic development. 

Hit: The only switch-hitter at the ProCase. Sets up at the plate with a corkscrew type load, feet pointed inward with the intent being to generate a powerful rotation, took the same approach on both sides of the plate. Analytically the splits for both the right and left side are close to even with average Blast Motion grades across the board. The Blast Motion hand and bat speed numbers are lower than one may desire but the eye test shows bat speed. In three at bats; hard line-out to left field from the right side, singled from the left side, grounded out to second base from the right side. In a small MaxPreps sample size of 32 at bats in his junior season, Williams collected 12 hits with 5 of them being for extra bases.

Power: Switch-hitters with power from both sides of the plate are an extreme rarity with Williams falling more in that category currently. However, Williams sluggled balls from the left and right side 335 ft in batting practice showing there is room for projectable power. If one had to pick I’d say there is more power from the left side. Increased body strength along with maturity will surely help along with receiving more reps from both sides. His ability to engage his lower half and drive his back hip into the ground will help develop power in his swing. Peak exit velocity at 95.24 mph and average 81.48 mph.

Field: Looked comfortable in the outfield and hustled back to his starting point between reps. Put himself in a good throwing position but at times took unnecessary choppy steps. Lacked that quick burst first step needed for next level center field but his sprint speed makes up for it. No issues in the live at-bats portion defensively.

Arm: 80 mph outfield velocity. Short and slow arm swing in the back but makes up for it with quick arm speed from ear to release and follow through. Accurate showing as he did a good job keeping his throws in line with his intended target. Long hop throws were much more effective. 

Run: 6.84 60 yard dash. Natural fluidity and looked even faster than the recorded time. Keeping his arms locked at 90 degrees and closer to his body will cut down wind resistance and could give him immediate gains. 

Summary: Athletic switch-hitting outfielders are rare to come by this day in age in the baseball world. Williams has raw ability throughout and showed hitting ability from both sides. One of just a few hitters that did not strikeout and recorded one of 5 hits out of forty at-bats on the day for the ProCase. There is work to be done but there is a lot to like. Williams could be a steal in the recruiting process and I wouldn't be surprised to see him make an impact at the collegiate level sooner than later. 

UPCOMING EVENTS

SHOWCASE STATE DATE LOCATION
Top Prospects ID CA 07/07 Hart Park
Rising Stars Games ID CA 07/13 Hart Park
Rising Stars Games ID - NorCal CA 07/14 Islanders Field
California State Games (INVITE ONLY) CA 07/16 Islanders Field
2021 PBR Future Games (California Invite) CA 07/28 LakePoint Sports
PBR Junior Future Games NATIONAL 07/28 LakePoint Sports
PBR West Coast Games (California Invite) CA 08/13 UNLV & College of Southern Nevada
Northern California Academic Games CA 10/09 Islanders Field


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