Prospect Watch - Buford Wolves
January 21, 2020
The spring season has begun in Georgia with tryouts recently taking place throughout the state. As part of PBR's coverage, we will be heading out this spring to cover games during the high school season, providing scouting reports, game recaps, Power25 rankings, and more. To prime our audience for that, we will be taking a look at just some of the standout prospects we have seen in our short, yet event filled time in Georgia. today, we take a look at the Buford Wolves. Buford very well may have the most talented group of 2022 prospects in the entire country and will rely heavily on them. We profile five of their varsity members members ahead of the 2020 spring season
Buford Wolves
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Joseph Salvo C / 3B / Buford, GA / 2020Rankings StateRank: 53 / POS: 7
One of the top defensive catchers in Georgia's 2020 class, Salvo will be tasked with the leadership duties and management of his talented yet young pitching staff. Salvo is a compact, strong-bodied catching prospect, checking in at 5-foot-11, 185 pounds. He poses a strong accurate arm producing a positional velocity of 78 mph, but his agility and flexibility behind the plate also leads to an impressive 1.89 pop time. Salvo relies on good footwork and a quick transfer to execute these catch-and-throws. At the plate, he has a sound and balanced approach. Salvo loads his hands to shoulder height, getting the barrel to a good launch position, and shows solid gap-to-gap type power from there. The Buford backstop’s actions are compact and sound on both sides of the ball. Salvo projects as a defense-first catching prospect with strong leadership qualities. |
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Dylan Lesko RHP / SS / Buford, GA / 2022Lesko is already a household name around Georgia and the rest of the country. A supremely talented pitcher, Lesko s the rare combination of now stuff and projection at such a young age. He shows advanced feel for a changeup, and future weapons in both his fastball and curveball. The word advanced can be dangled about this day and age, but the only prep to show these types of attributes at such a young age was one Dylan Bundy. Lesko is unafraid on the mound and has no problem establishing his fastball which he locates and hides well behind his technically sound front side and his on line stroke, especially for an arm that works so clean and easy. Big things lie ahead for Lesko. |
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Riley Stanford OF / RHP / Buford, GA / 2022Yet another supremely talented prospect, Stanford is about as live a bodied athlete as you will find. His 6-foot-4, 185-pound frame is long and has room for more weight. He generates elite bat-speed at the plate and he has the ability to keep the barrel in the zone for a long time. Every round of batting practice and at-bat for Stanford is an absolute must see, and as he can leave the yard at any moment. Defensively Stanford moves extremely well in the outfield and shows knowledgeable routes to the baseball. As you would imagine with his prowess on the mound, Stanford has major league caliber right field arm. Stanford's arm strength is impressive with a fastball that can reach into the mid-90's. His breaking ball is still a work in progress and can be inconsistent, but as Stanford learns to trust his stuff and attack the zone he will be a force to be reckoned with down the road. Stanford can be described as an energetic prospect who is constantly having fun on the diamond. |
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Jackson Gaspard SS / C / Buford, GA / 2022Gaspard continues to get better and better. He shows steady improvement in his arm strength, going 87 across the infield. Very fundamental in everything he does from his approach and defensive abilities. At the plate, he packs a punch with present bat speed, utilizing a strong lower half in his 6-foot, 175-pound frame. Capable of playing just about any position on the field, he may be best suited for work on the mound. With a present mid-80s fastball, it is his feel for his changeup and curveball that really stand out. The changeup is a power pitch coming in at 80-82 and with all kinds of movement. His curveball is a true 12/6 hammer that shows depth and bite, one opposing batters will struggle to deal with. |
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Stan Zagrodnik OF / LHP / Buford, GA / 2022Zagrodnik was a top performer for Team Elite over the summer at LakePoint with his quick, whip-like swing that plays in an uphill path through the zone. Given the strength in his 6-foot-1, 175-pounds, he is able to elevate and drive the ball with force. There will certainly be more power to come as he continues to fill out and mature into his frame, making for a promising young prospect. In the outfield, Zagrodnik possesses present upper-80s arm strength with a loose, athletic arm action. An all around good athlete, Zagrodnik moves well with quick, fluid actions defensively. |
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