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Southern Colorado Prospect Games: Pitching and Catching Analysis

September 26, 2014


By Jeff Markle
Assistant State Director of Scouting

 

The Southern Colorado Prospect Games took place on Saturday, September 13th and Sunday, September 14th, at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO. This year’s event featured several talented, uncommitted players in Colorado’s 2015 through 2018 classes. Our first four positional analysis of the event we took a look at the top outfielders, utility players, corners, and middle infielders. This analysis will look at pitchers and catchers from this event. Some pitchers from this event have been featured in previous position analysis. 

Pitchers

Jordan Scheufele RHP/OF Fairview High School 2016
6-foot-3, 207-pound RHP with strong/athletic frame, power pitcher with good leg drive, fastball sat 81-83 topping at 84, showed good command of 70 mph curveball with sharp break, also flashed a 72 mph slider with good arm speed on all pitches. Scheufele constantly threw strikes and worked 4 scoreless innings in the two day event.  At the plate the big right handed hitter shows quick hands through the zone and excellent power to the left center gap. He hits from a balanced stance and has great lower body drive through the ball.  In the outfield, he gets a good jump on the ball and has a very strong accurate arm to all bases.  Ran a 7.32 60 and 4.70 home to first.


Casey Thompson,RHP/INF/OF, Lakewood, 2016
6-foot, 165-pound lanky right-handed pitcher, left handed hitter.  Hits from a balanced setup, with short stride, gets extension with a high finish and line drives from gap-to-gap producing 80 mph exit velocity off a tee. Defensively, threw 73 mph from long, loose, high ¾ to over-the-top arm slot in infield. Showed average hands playing through the baseball.  Ran a 7.35 60. On the mound, fastball sat 77-78 touching 79 mph from the same arm slot as in the infield.  Utilizes tall and fall delivery, stride direction falls off to first base side. If he utilizes lower half more and strides out could gain more velocity.  66-69 mph curveball and has a deceptive 70-71 mph changeup thrown for strikes with arm side run. 


Jordan Medina P/C/INF Highlands Ranch High School 2018
5-foot-10, 165-pound prospect uses quick arm  action through high ¾ slot, good pitchability, fastball sat 78-80 mph touching 81, mostly straight, good command of 64-68 mph curveball with 11/5 action, good arm action on changeup at 71 mph which showed good velocity difference from his fastball.  Medina worked two innings in this event and collected 2 K's.  Behind the plate he is an athletic catcher with good lateral movement.  His strong arm on the mound provides 2.10 pop times at the dish.  Hitting from a slightly open stance, he is able to drive the ball well to the opposite field gap.  Power down the lines will come as he grows in the next 4 years. He ran a 7.45 60 and 4.80 home to first.


Ryan Blackwood RHP, Highlands Ranch High School, 2015
6-foot-2, 165-pound prospect uses long arm action through two different slots, an almost submarine arm angle and he can come over the top, with minimal effort in delivery, pounds the strike zone from both angles and pitches to contact, fastball has good run and sat 78-80 mph topping at 82, curveball was 66-68 mph with gradual 11/5 action, showed a 72 mph changeup. He worked 4 Innings during the event collecting 3 k's and surrendering only one hit. Uncommitted Senior is an interesting prospect especially when you consider he has a lot of room to get stronger.

Devin DeBoer RHP/INF Columbine High School 2016
6-foot-2, 140-pound right-handed pitcher with projectable frame. Works from a short, loose, ¾ arm slot, simple delivery, picks leg straight up to balance point, crunches up slightly at balance point, stride direction stays in line with home plate, lands slightly closed at foot strike. Fastball sat 73-75 mph with sink, thrown for strikes consistently.  66-68 mph curveball flashed 11/5 shape with good tilt and occasional late bit, other times pulled off the pitch a bit making shape erratic.  At the plate Deboer hits with a balanced 50/50 stance and works the middle of the field well.  As he grows into his frame, additional power to the gaps will come. 


Chad Burkey RHP/OF Columbine High School 2015
5-foot-11, 160-pound prospect  works through a high over the top arm slot, arm speed stay consistent on all pitches and generates a 67-70 fastball and 68 curveball.  He works well from the stretch and filled the strike zone up at this event.  He  allowed two hits, walked two, and struck out two in his 4 innings of work.  In the outfield, he moves well on balls in and back, he has an accurate arm to second and third base.  At the plate Burkey hits with an open 70/30 stance.  More Lower leg drive will produce quicker hands through the zone allowing hime to use the left side of the field.

Jared Bonato RHP/OF ThunderRidge High School 2015
6-foot-2, 165-pound RHP, good pitcher’s frame with projection, uses long arm action through high ¾ arm slot, regular effort in delivery, fastball sat 77-79 mph, mostly straight, 66-68 mph curveball is thrown with good arm speed that produces a sharp 11-5 break.  Bonato has excellent command of the zone surrendering only 2 hits in 4 innings and striking out 3.  He uses his 6.91 60 speed to glide through the outfield and closes on balls very well in the gap.  That same long arm produced a OF velo of 80 mph.  At the plate the right handed hitter launches from a balanced stance.  Good hands allow him excellent bat control gap to gap. 


Seth Burkey RHP/OF/INF Columbine High School 2017
5-foot-7, 130-pound prospect uses shorter arm action through a ¾ slot, uptempo delivery, lower half stays online, fastball sat 67-69 topping out at 70 mph, showed very good command of 62-64 mph curveball with mostly 11/5 action, will throw curveball on any count and throws it with good arm speed.  In the outfield he move well to his right and rounds the ball well.  Accurate throws to the bases make up for arm strength that is still developing.  At the plate the right handed hitter stays in balance throughout the entire swing.  He hits the ball well to the opposite field and hits well deep into the count.  7.50 60 and 4.89 home to first.

Catchers

Tyler Carrasco C Dakota Ridge High School 2016
5-foot-9 155-pound light on his feet athletic catcher.  Soft hands allow him to set up on the edges of the zone and frame pitches with minimal effort.  Carassco does a nice job of anticipating runners and three separate times recorded a 2.13 pop time and a 77 mph arm velocity.  At the plate he stands with a slightly open stance but comes to straight balance on his load.  A long swing through the zone produces many balls to the right side of the infield.  A shorter stroke will bring the left side of the field into play.


Carter Bell C/OF Dakota Ridge High School 2017
5-foot-6 115-pound catcher who plays bigger than his size.  Bell does a nice job of handling pitchers of all styles and displays good movement both left and right.  At this event, he collected pop times of 2.28, 2.31 and a arm velocity of 68 mph.  At the plate, a balanced 60/40 stance produces good power.  Bell lives in the middle of the field and has a short controlled swing with quick hands through the zone.

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