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Unsigned Senior Showcase: Quick Hits

October 3, 2023
By Drew Locascio
Illinois/Wisconsin Scouting Supervisor

On Oct. 1, PBR Illinois hosted the fall’s Unsigned Senior Showcase, as it does each and every fall, at The MAX complex in McCook, Ill., where over 50 prospects participated. These Class of 2024 athletes remain uncommitted headed into the final offseason of their prep careers, and this group that performed at The MAX last weekend underscored the unsigned talent still remaining in Illinois.

Today, we’ll begin breaking down the event’s highlights inside of this Quick Hits post. Stay tuned throughout this week as we continue to spotlight these ‘24s with additional analysis that on-site technology like TrackMan, Blast Motion, and Swift helped produce.

For now, here’s some of the day’s top performers, broken down by position players and pitchers.

QUICK HITS

C Dasaan Lee (De La Salle) has been trending up for much of the 2023 calendar year and continued on his upward trajectory at the event. The 6-foot,210-pound, broad-shouldered, right-handed hitter has a potent right-handed bat that was all over the barrel with authority once again. Lee lets the ball travel deep into the zone and stays on-plane with loose, strong hands and drove balls with natural lift to both gaps. Registered an average exit velocity of 91.1 mph, just four mph shy of his max of 95.4 mph, underscoring the amount of hard barrels he found throughout his round. He also launched his furthest batted ball 345’, had a top-three average bat speed of the event (73.2 mph), topped at 79 mph from behind the crouch and registered a low pop time of 2.08.

MIF Jalen Moraga (Maine East) had all kinds of presence and fluidity in the box during his round of BP. The 5-foot-8, 150-pound, well-proportioned right-handed hitter, has loose, athletic hands, stays direct to the baseball and controls the barrel, making hard line-drive contact to all fields. On the infield he plays from the ground up, flashed natural infield actions and plays with body control on the move.

INF/RHP Aidan Conners (Hinsdale Central) took one of the louder more intentful rounds of BP at the event. Despite inconsistent results, Conners swung with intent to do damage on every swing, has fast/strong hands, created advanced bat speed and launched his furthest batted ball 349’ with an average of 303’ off the bat. He also registered a max exit velocity of 91.4 mph and the top average hand speed of the event at 26.7 mph. The 6-foot, 185-pound, two-way prospect also ran a 7.22 60, was 83 mph across the infield and touched 81 mph on the mound with an above-average breaking ball.

Johnny Dwyer (Lincoln-Way East) and Caston Norris (Morris) were two other infielders to note from the event. 

+ Dwyer has an upright, relaxed look in the box, easy balanced swing and used the whole field during BP. Dwyer stays within himself, controls the barrel and registered a max exit velocity of 84.5 mph. 

+ Norris has a lean frame with more strength to come and loose, long-levers that provide upside in his swing. He creates easy whip, stays through the zone and drove balls back up the middle of the diamond. Also, ran a 7.18 60.

OF James Nydegger (Mount Carmel) had a strong all-around showing at the event, highlighted by a 6.79 laser-timed 60, the best of the event. He also was an easy mover in the outfield and topped at 84 mph with a quick arm. Offensively, the 5-foot-11, 160-pound, right-handed hitter has quick hands, creates bat speed and made a lot of hard, lifted contact. Nydegger peaked at 92.8 mph off the bat and also registered a furthest batted ball of 312’. One to follow coming out of the event. 

Kristian Shinohara (Glenbard West) and Joey Corcoran (Nazareth) are two more outfielders to follow from the day.

+ Shinohara has a 5-foot-10, 172-pound frame, ran a 7.07 60 and topped at 83 mph from the outfield. Offensively, he has above-average hand speed, showed feel for the barrel and the ball jumped off the bat with authority at times. Registered T92.1 mph exit velocity, average of 85.3 mph and his furthest batted ball traveled 317’.

+ Corcoran is listed as an athletic, 6-foot-2, 175-pounds and has a fluid, upside right-handed swing. Corcoran has loose hands, stays within himself, stays on-plane with natural lift through the zone and lifts hard contact back up the middle of the field. Corcoran’s furthest batted ball traveled 339’ and he registered a max exit velocity of 91.5 mph. He also topped at 87 mph from the outfield 

Nathan McBroom (Minooka) and Logan Tomlinson (Maine South), both right-handed hitters listed at 6-foot-1, 205-pounds, were two other right-handed bats that deserve a mention from the day. 

+ McBroom intrigued with his above-average speed for his size (7.09 60) and powerful bat. McBroom had the top average bat speed of the event, 76.2 mph, registered a max exit velocity of 97 mph and launched his furthest batted ball 346’.

+ Tomlinson flashed strong hands, twitchy bat speed and heavy/loud barrel. Tomlinson stayed on the barrel for much of his round and drove hard contact to both gaps. Tomlinson registered a peak bat speed of 82 mph, average of 75.1 and a max hand speed of 23.4 mph. Also registered a T93.1 exit velocity and max distance of 333’. 

PITCHERS

LHP Luca Fiore (Nazareth), no stranger to our staff, continues to show above-average stuff and spin on the mound. The top uncommitted left-handed pitcher in the state sat comfortably in the mid-80s with all kinds of horizontal movement and an average of 2108 rpm. Fiore separates himself thanks to his low-70s breaking ball that spins at an average of 2405 rpm with feel and sweeping, horizontal action. Fiore rounded out his above-average three-pitch mix with a changeup thrown with arm speed, fade and sink action and feel at the bottom of the zone.

LHP James MacMillan (DePaul College Prep) put together arguably the most polished bullpen of the day. The 6-foot, 162-pound, well-proportioned left-hander had above-average feel for his three-pitch arsenal, including his fastball that topped at 81 mph. He creates occasional tilt on the fastball and had intent to work it at the bottom of the zone. His upper-60s breaking ball landed for a strike consistently featuring sweeping action with feel and depth. His changeup plays with arm speed and pounded the bottom of the zone with it. Pitchability left-hander to know moving forward.

RHP Max Woodward (Kaneland) is a 6-foot-1, 160-pound, long, athletically-built, right-handed pitcher that seems to be scratching the surface of his ceiling. Woodward has a loose arm, four-pitch mix and ran his fastball up to 83.7 mph. He spun his low-70s breaking ball up to 2568 rpm with late, sharp break. His changeup also showed late action and a cutter at 75-79 m,ph with an average of 2305 rpm and sharp horizontal break.

Sean O’Dowd (Maine South) and Zakery Sumser (Naperville North) are two other right-handed arms who ran their fastball up to 84 mph and warrant a mention.

There are plenty of other names that deserve noting that were not mentioned above. Many of these will be highlighted in our upcoming tech and data stories, as well as our event rollout that will be released in the coming weeks.

CLICK HERE for a look at the Unsigned Senior Showcase event page. 

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