Fall Underclass Trials: Quick Hits

PBR Georgia hosted its second annual Fall Underclass Trials on Saturday, November 7th at LakePoint Sports in Emerson, GA. The event brought together over 50 prospects from the 2023-2024 class for a pro-style workout. Today, we will be spending some time highlighting the best things we saw from Saturday in the form of our Quick Hits post.

We already took a look at the top statistical performers with leaderboards and full stats on every prospect in attendance in our Statistical Analysis, TrackMan Hitting Analysis and TrackMan Pitching Analysis. Within the next few weeks, videos from this event will be posted into profiles and we will have scouting reports on each of the prospects in attendance. For now, here are the highlights from Saturday.

Two-Way Talents

+ LHP/OF Heath Whitlock (Starr’s Mill, 2024) was one of the breakout arms of the event. The southpaw has a short, quick arm out of a ¾ slot, and showed a real aptitude and feel to spin a breaking ball. His curveball took a slurve-like shape with sharp break sitting 72-74 and his fastball sat 80-82, touching 83. Via TrackMan, Whitlock threw his curveball for a strike 100% of the time, using both sides of the plate, and his fastball 83.3% of the time. At the plate, Whitlock showed a smooth swing and intent, going gap-to-gap.

+ One of the largest prospects in his class, 1B/RHP Alex Karst (Campbell, 2023) stands a towering 6-foot-7, 205-pounds. Karst has seen a nice velo jump over the past few months, topping out at 82 at the Underclass Games in June to now up to 86. With his large frame, there is no reason to believe the velo will not continue to tick upwards. What stood out for Karst on the day was his swing. There is big power potential in his bat and he has the advanced metrics to go along with it, posting the top exit velocity via TrackMan at 94.83 and some of the top Blast numbers with a max bat speed of 76.20 and a max hand speed of 26.60.

+ SS/RHP JD Rediger (River Ridge, 2023) is a smooth defender with an instinctive first step. He has plenty of arm strength to stick on the left-side. Something to watch moving forward will be what he can do on the mound. Rediger topped out at 82 on the mound with a 2509 spin rate. The fastball has heavy run as it comes out of a low ¾ slot. He compliments it with a sweeping slider at 72-75 with a 2359 spin rate.

+ One of the most projectable frames at the event, RHP/1B Trevor Booton (LaGrange, 2023) stands a lean, lanky 6-foot-4, 180-pounds. On the mound, his arm works short and quick to a ¾ slot with easy effort and an athletic delivery. His fastball sat 82-84, but there is much more velo in the tank as he continues to add to his fame. Booton showed feel for two offspeed pitches, a tight cutting slider at 74-75 and a changeup with fade and sink at 75-77. He also showed two-way potential with quick hands and a whippy barrel.  

Versatile Athletes

+ UTL Reid Harvey (Thomas County Central, 2023) keeps trending upwards in every facet of his game. He continues to add usable muscle to his 6-foot-2, 188-pound frame, which has benefitted his skill set. Harvey has a big arm defensively, going 90 from the outfield and 87 across the infield. He has the actions to handle a corner outfield position or third base as he moves forward. The swing has real pop in it, working short to the zone as he looks to elevate and do damage. During batting practice he blasted a few, posting max TrackMan number of 93.76 exit velocity and 361 foot carry. On the mound, he showed an easy effort delivery with a clean arm action out of an over-the-top slot. Harvey’s fastball topped out at 85 with a 2274 spin rate. He complimented it with a sinking changeup at 76-77 and an 11/5 curveball at 66-70. 

+ SS/OF Dominick Scalese (Wesleyan, 2023) is a quick twitch athlete with a big tool set. He ranked at the very top of arm strength from the event, posting the top velo from the outfield at 92, and top velo across the infield at 87. He has all the actions you look for in an elite defender. Offensively, he showed aggressive intent at the plate with a quick, whippy barrel, consistently driving the ball middle/pull.

+ OF/SS Elijah Smith (Houston County, 2023) is a lean athlete at 5-foot-9, 150-pounds, running a 7.21 laser-timed 60. At the plate, his swing works short and quick to the zone, level through the zone. He can produce line drive contact middle/pull, while also being able to elevate the ball to the pull-side with some force. As he continues to fill out, more power will come. Defensively, Smtih can cover ground well and attack.

Power Bats

+ 1B/OF Korey Fortson (Westover, 2024) stood out in batting practice for his loud round. Fortson generates hard contact with aggressive intent, looking to elevate and do serious damage. He posted the top hand speed at the event at 28.70 mph via Blast.

+ You won’t find many prospects in the 2024 class as physical as OF/RHP Quindon Wright (Terrell Academy, 2024), standing 6-foot-4, 205 pounds. Wright is a solid athlete too, running a 7.37 60 with room for improvement. With his natural strength, he is able to whip the barrel through the zone, 76.50 max bat speed, with bad intentions. 

+ 3B/OF Andrew Wells (Columbus, 2023) stood out this fall at LakePoint with Team Elite and did more of the same at the Fall Underclass Trials. Wells has a projectable 6-foot, 160-pound frame with a high waist. He can impact the ball with a smooth swing, gaining extension through the zone and driving pitches middle/pull. Via TrackMan, Wells led the entire event with hard hit balls (greater than 90 mph exit velocity).

+ The long committed prospect at the event, Georgia commit 3B/OF Jax Phillips (East Cobb Baseball Academy, 2024) had one of the top rounds of batting practice and showed off advanced arm strength in the field. At the plate, he has an easy gap-to-gap type swing with a ton of power on the way as he fills out his 6-foot-3, 175-pound frame. In the field, he can really let his arm go, throwing 89 from the outfield and 86 across the infield. The upside and power potential make Phillips one of the top 2024 prospects in the country.

+ OF KJ Moon (North Oconee, 2024) impressed during his round of batting practice with an aggressive swing. Moon showed the ability to drive the ball gap-to-gap with pull-side pop. His swing works mostly level as he looks to elevate and drive. He posted a top exit velocity during batting practice of 92.58 mph.

Big Arms

+ RHP Evan O’Neill (Blessed Trinity, 2023) has a strong, projectable 6-foot-2, 180-pound frame with plenty of room to add even more. O’Neill sat 82-85 with tilt, topping out at 85.71 with a 2105 spin rate. He added in a potential swing and miss curveball that took an 11/5 shape and had some sharp break to it at 68-70.

+ RHP Landon Lee (North Hall, 2023) has a lean frame with broad shoulders, standing 5-foot-11, 145-pounds he has quite a ways before he is fully physically mature. Lee offers up a four pitch mix with above average feel for his entire arsenal. His fastball sat 80-82, but it was his two breaking balls that really stood out. The slider has depth and hard downer action, coming in in the low 70s with a 2412 spin rate. The curveball takes a 12/6 shape with depth at 69-70.

+ RHP Nate Isler (Cambridge, 2023) carried one of the most intriguing frames into the event, coming in at a massive 6-foot-5, 215-pounds. His arm works clean out of an over-the-top slot with good tilt. Fastball sits in the low 80s with more velo on the way as he continues to mature. He showed good feel for a curveball and changeup.

High Upside Prospects

+ Left-handed hitting OF Tyler Bak (North Gwinnett, 2023) had maybe the most impressive round of batting practice at the entire event. Bak stood out with his ultra quick hands and consistent ability to barrel pitches. He was able to drive the ball to all fields with force. A lean athlete at 5-foot-11, 140-pounds, he posted the top 60 time at the event, running a 7.03.

+ SS Breydon Divine (Alexander, 2023) really stood out for his overall athleticism. He took one of the cleanest rounds in the defensive workout, showing a quick first step and great range to both sides. The glove work is clean and quick as he gets rid of the ball quickly with a loose arm. Divine was also one of the best runners at the event, going 7.14 in the 60 yard dash.

+ SS Tyshon Patty (Mountain View, 2023) is a dynamic athlete who can really swing it. He stood out all fall at LakePoint with Team Elite and really excelled during batting practice at the Fall Underclass Trials. The swing works quick and uphill through the zone as he drives the ball gap-to-gap. He generates advanced bat speed, Blast measured his max at 77.80, the top at the event.

+ SS William Maginnis (Newnan, 2024) is a lean athlete with a projectable 6-foot-1, 150-pound frame. During batting practice, he showed good feel for the barrel and quick, smooth hands. He utilizes a level barrel path, gaining extension through the zone, and generates hard line drive contact to all fields. 

Backstops

+ C Evan Doss (East Coweta, 2024) has a solid defensive skill set to build off of. The young catcher posted the top pop times at the event with a 2.04-2.20 range. His arm has a traditional catcher’s action, short and over-the-top, and keeps the throws low to the target.

+ C Carson Royal (Winder-Barrow, 2023) is a physical backstop, standing 5-foot-10, 180-pounds. He showed big power at the plate elevating the ball middle/pull with strong hands, posting a max exit velocity of 92.64 during batting practice. With his natural strength, he is able to produce quick bat speed, 26.10 via Blast. Behind the dish, Royal tied the event lead for pop time at 2.04.

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