Prep Baseball Report

Missouri Bulls Scout Day: Quick Hits


By: Diego Solares
Area Scout, Illinois & Missouri

On Sunday, January 29th, the PBR Missouri staff traveled to Cape Girardeu, MO, to host the Missouri Bulls Scout Day at the organization’s facility. Roughly 30 players from the Bulls’ travel organization participated in a pro-style workout in front of our staff, displaying their talents to our scouts while gathering verified metrics in the process.

To see a full roster for the players that attended, click HERE. For all of the statistics collected at this event, click HERE.

We'll be rolling out several post-event content pieces, starting with these 'Quick Hits'. Below you'll find which names impressed our staff in this look. 

QUICK HITS 

+ OF Luke Peterson (Oran, 2023) is an uncommitted senior that put up big numbers at this event on Sunday. A 6-foot, 195-pound athlete with strength, Peterson recorded the day’s hardest batted ball (101.7 mph), highest average exit velocity (86.4 mph) and the event’s furthest batted ball (355 ft.), too. Peterson was up to 86 mph from the outfield too, tying for the day’s hardest throw amongst his positional group. Headed into his senior season with plenty of momentum, Peterson will look to help his Oran team return back to the Class I state playoffs.

+ Another upperclassmen that showed well was OF Jackson Witvoet (Cape Central, 2024). Witvoet showed bat speed and moved fast out of his load, utilizing that rotational strength to generate hard contact off his right-handed barrel on occasion. Witvoet recorded the day’s second-highest max exit velocity (94.8 mph) and his 42% hard-hit rate finished second on our leaderboard as well. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound junior also fired an 86 mph strike from the outfield on his firmest bullet.

+ LHP/1B Dalton Forck (Thomas W Kelly, 2024) provided an upside look on a 6-foot-7, 210-pound frame on Sunday. Forck flashed hard contact off the barrel from his left-handed swing during BP, showing length through the zone and extension as well. He controlled his long levers well for his size and reached a peak exit velocity of 94.6 mph with more thump in the tank.

+ Another highly projectable prospect with an impressive stature from this event was LHP/1B Grant Smith (Perryville, 2024). Smith really looks the part in a uniform at 6-foot-6, 210-pounds and oozes upside with plenty of room to add strength down the road. A left-handed hitter, Smith keeps his barrel through the zone with length to contact, flashing power to the pull-side with a fluid two hand finish. When on time, Smith got off some of the day’s best hacks, and it’s easy to see the upside he possesses within his left-handed barrel. He hopped on the mound later and generated projectable velocity from an easy, controlled operation.

+ C Christian McNew (Cape Central) is the latest 2026 to impress thus far into our winter circuit. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound backstop swung a quick left-handed bat in BP, working direct to contact and staying on top of the baseball while flashing feel to stay up the middle. McNew should grow into more impact as he physically develops and fills his frame out, but the current freshmen earned himself a spot on our radar after this event.

+ INF Noah Johnson (East Prairie, 2025) came away from Sunday’s event as another athlete with plenty of physical intrigue. At 6-foot-4, 170-pounds with lean levers, Johnson repeated a short swing with quick hands that produced leverage to the pull-side. On average, Johnson generated some of the hardest contact of the entire event (86 mph) and it’s reasonable to expect that he’ll hit for more power as he adds strength moving forward. Another intriguing ability Johnson possesses is his knack for the barrel, finding the sweet spot 70% of the time, which is a high clip for any hitter at any age.

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