By Chris Fuller
Kentucky Director of Scouting

A total of 21 middle infielders showcased their abilities at the Preseason All-State Showcase on Sunday, February 16 at Champions Baseball Academy in Lexington.  Top to bottom, the group of middle infielders was impressive as many solid performances were turned in.  In part one of our evaluations we will take a look at half of the group with the remaining half to be reviewed in part two.

additional middle infield content:

PBR Plus: Standout Middle Infielders

Jacob Abbott, R/R, SS, Lafayette HS, 2016
Abbott is a 6-foot, 165-pound prospect with an athletic build.  Defensively, his feet are fluid and quick and he displays good lateral movement with soft hands.  Abbott shows good body control and the ability to throw on the run from different arm slots as the slow roller play looked effortless.  At the plate, Abbott showcased a quick and compact swing with good balance.  He uses his lower half well and generates good bat speed , line drive hitter with occasional power, ran 7.06 60 yard dash, registered 90 mph tee exit velocity, high-level 2016 middle infield prospect.

Grant Anderson, R/R, SS, Prestonsburg HS, 2014
Anderson is a 5-foot-11, 185-pound prospect who showed a big increase in all of his measureables from last year’s Preseason All-State event.  Defensively, he showcased soft hands with quick feet and good lateral movement.  He plays through the ball well and showed an accurate arm across the infield with a top velocity of 80 mph.  At the plate, Anderson hits from a balanced setup with a short stride and maintains good balance throughout his swing.  He displayed quick hands and good bat speed while showing the ability to make hard contact to all fields with a line drive approach, registered 86 mph tee exit velocity.  The unsigned senior will make a solid MIF at the collegiate level.

Jed Arend, R/R, SS, Daviess County HS, 2016
5-foot-9, 150-pound prospect, shows solid infield actions with soft hands and good footwork, plays through the ball well, displays good body control with the ability to throw accurately on the run from different arm slots, top velocity was 75 mph across the infield.  At the plate, hits from a balanced setup with minimal stride, shows excellent balance, hands are quiet and show some quickness, line drive type hitter, continues to improve his game and show gains, ran an improved 7.46 60 yard dash, increased exit velocity to 81 mph, will need to continue to improve speed and arm to stay on the left side of the infield, definite follow in 2016 class.

Hunter Childress, L/R, SS, Nelson County HS, 2016
5-foot-10, 142-pound prospect with lanky build, displays athletic infield actions with soft hands, good body control, athletic arm at 75 mph across the infield (78 at previous event).  At the plate, the left-handed hitter hits from an open stance with a toe tap trigger, displays excellent balance, swing is loose with quick hands, good use of lower half, line drive type hitter with middle of the field approach, potential to develop some gap-to-gap power with added strength, ran 7.58 60 yard dash, will need to continue to improve speed, 82 mph exit velocity (84 at previous event), definite follow in 2016 class.

Carson Coleman, R/R, SS, Lexington Catholic HS, 2016
Coleman is a 6-foot-1, 168-pound prospect with athletic build with room to continue to fill in.  He continues to improve measureables each time we see him.  Defensively, he showcased soft hands with quick and fluid feet and good carry on his 82 mph arm across the infield.  He showed good body control but had difficulty throwing accurately on the run on the slow roller play.  At the plate, Coleman starts with a crouched/open setup and has made some adjustments in shortening his stride.  His quick hands and explosive use of lower half generate good barrel whip through the zone and it’s evident he has gotten physically stronger as he drove the ball with regularity in his round, ran a 7.24 60 yard dash, 91 mph tee exit velocity, potential to be high level 2016 prospect.

Matthew Gammon, L/R, SS, Shelby County HS, 2016
6-foot, 173-pound prospect with athletic build, shows soft hands and plays through the baseball well, quick exchange, good body control, top velocity registered 75 mph across the infield.  At the plate, the left-handed hitter hits from a balanced setup with a short stride, explodes with lower half and generates good barrel whip through the zone, creates some lift and gets to extension, potential left-handed power bat, will need to continue to improve speed and arm strength, best present tool is his bat, ran 7.68 60 yard dash, 82 mph tee exit velocity, definite follow in 2016 class.

Matt Harper, SS, R/R, Logan County HS, 2015
5-foot-11, 175-pound prospect with athletic build, displays solid infield actions, good body control on slow roller with the ability to throw accurately on the run accurate arm across the infield at 76 mph (79 at previous event).  At the plate, hits from a balanced setup with a toe tap trigger, creates some lift and shows good pull-side power, had an impressive round of batting practice routinely squaring up the baseball, uses strong lower half well, bat is best present tool, will need to improve 7.63 60 yard time moving forward, showed increase in tee exit velocity to 88 mph.

Ethan Harrison, R/R, SS, Dixie Heights HS, 2015
Harrison is a 5-foot-11, 170-pound prospect with athletic build.  He showed soft hands defensively with good lateral movement and quick feet.  Harrison shows athletic infield actions with good body control and the ability to throw on the move from different arm slots.  Projects as a 2B at the next level with his present arm strength.  At the plate, he hits from a an open setup and squares front side with a short stride, tends to wrap the bat in his load but gets the barrel through the zone with quick hands, uses good lower half torque in his swing and generates line drive production to all fields, ran 7.00 60 yard dash, registered 86 mph tee exit velocity, very solid 2015 prospect.

Daniel Little, S/R, 2B, Lexington Catholic HS, 2015
It’s easy to see why the 5-foot-10, 165-pound Little is committed to Louisville.  He shows soft hands with fluid and advanced footwork while moving well laterally.  His exchange is quick and he showed the ability to make the slow roller play easily with good body control and the ability to throw accurately on the move, top velocity registered 77 mph across the infield.  At the plate, the switch hitter is a true top of the order type bat and line drive hitter.  His speed is a big part of his offensive game as evidenced by running the top 60 time of the event at 6.69, registered tee exit velocities of 91 mph from the left side and 88 mph from the right side

Tre’ Watson, R/R, SS, Our Lady of Providence (IN), 2016
5-foot-11, 165-pound prospect, shows fluid feet and plays through the ball well, average hands, loose and athletic arm at 75 mph across the infield, good lateral movement.  At the plate, hits from a balanced setup with a short stride, displays good balance, hands are quiet and show some quickness, good use of lower half, line drive type hitter, ran 7.40 60 yard dash, will need to continue to improve speed and arm strength, showed present bat speed with 86 mph tee exit velocity, solid 2016 prospect to follow.

 
additional kentucky news:

• PBRPlus - Feb 21, 2014
  KY Preseason All-State Showcase: Standout Middle Infielders
• KY - Feb 21, 2014
  2014 Team Preview: Bullitt East