Adam Akin
Director of Scouting


The 2016 PBR Tennessee East Tennessee Prospect Games took place on Sunday, September 4 at Thomas Stadium on the campus of East Tennessee State University and included a position player workout, followed by two 6 inning games. Players were afforded the opportunity to showcase their abilities to the PBR Tennessee staff and college coaches in attendance. The following is our evaluation of every pitcher that was assigned to the Royal Team in Sunday’s action.

 

Blake Osborne, SS/RHP, Davidson Academy, 2017
Max FB: 83, FB: 79-83, CB: 69-70,
5-foot-10, 150-pound, RHP starts his motion slower and build up to a pretty quick finish toward the plate, a fairly high leg lift gets his front hip closed off and loaded, strides and lands slightly closed and drives toward the plate, long and pretty loose arm action comes through a high ¾ to over-the-top release point, powerful finish falls slightly toward 1B but remains under control.  Fastball seemed heavy through the zone and showed some late run, curveball had sharp 11/5 shape and was thrown with fastball arm speed, threw both pitches for strikes on a consistent basis.

Dalton McLain, SS/RHP, Greeneville, 2019
Max FB: 83, FB: 80-83, CB: 67-70,
5-foot-9, 155-pound, RHP uses a consistent and compact delivery that he makes look easy and repeatable, uses a fairly high leg lift and gather at the top, drives toward the plate with his front hip, stays fairly tall throughout delivery and finish, strides in line with the plate and falls toward the 1B line on his follow through, athletic movements and arm action produce a high ¾ release point. Fastball was heavy through the zone with occasional run and usually spotted up, curveball showed 12/6 action and was usually sharp with fastball arm speed, consistent strikes with both pitches.

Joshua Young, RHP, William Blount, 2017
Max FB: 82, FB: 79-82, CB: 64-67,
6-foot-2, 195-pound, RHP showed the same rhythm and smoothness in his delivery that we saw at the Top Prospect Games back in June, good gather at the top of his leg lift and some slight shoulder tilt help him gain an angle before his approach to the plate, stride toward the plate enables him to finish under control and balanced, long arm action comes through an over-the-top release slot.  Fastball stayed mostly straight and didn’t show the velocity we saw early in the summer, curveball showed 11/5 shape and was thrown for strikes when it counted.

John Curtis, RHP, McMinn County, 2018
Max FB: 81, FB: 77-81, CH: 72-75, SL: 69-73
6-foot-2, 175-pound, RHP showed a unique and slightly different motion than we has seen in the past, rocker step brings his hands together just below his waist as his leg lift pulls everything up above chest height, near pause as he heads to the plate, strides and lands in line with the plate and finishes very collected and balanced, longer arm action comes through a high ¾ to over-the-top release point. Fastball showed some slight sink and occasional late run through the zone, slider was sharp with 11/5 to 10/4 shape, changeup faded and sank as it approached the strike zone.  Curtis threw 3 pitches for strikes and will make huge leaps with any velo gain.

Daniel Willie, RHP/OF, Ooltewah, 2017
Max FB: 79, FB: 75-77, CB: 65-66,
6-foot-2, 175-pound, RHP uses a consistent tempo throughout his motion that allows him to stay smooth and loose, pulls his knee to his chest in his leg lift and get some slight shoulder tilt before heading toward the plate, strides in line with the plate and finished in a balanced position a majority of the time, loose arm action comes through a high ¾ slot.  Fastball was mostly straight but was kept down pretty well, curveball showed 12/6 to 11/5 shape with gradual movement through the zone, threw both pitches for strikes.

James Terry, C/RHP, Sullivan East, 2019
Max FB: 74, FB: 71-74, CB: 64-65, CH: 66-67,
5-foot-11, 160-pound, RHP begins his delivery with very little movement, keeps hands and head still throughout rocker step and leg lift, keeps hands relatively high and reaches back with the ball to create a longer arm action, over the top arm slot created more of a downward angle on his pitches toward the plate, stride foot landed slightly closed and only fell slightly toward 1B on his finish.  Fastball was mostly straight but was left up in the zone a lot, curveball showed 11/5 shape with gradual movement through the zone.

Justin Sales, RHP, Grainger, 2017
Max FB: 69, FB: 67-69, CH: 62, SL: 60-62
6-foot-5, 180-pound, RHP throws exclusively out of the stretch, tall and lanky pitcher begins high on the mound with a slow leg lift and leads straight into his backside drop into the sidearm angle he uses as a release point, strides in line with the plat and only finishes toward the 3B side because of his arm action and angle, loose arm but doesn’t produce much whip or quickness.  Fastball stayed mostly straight and showed occasional run and sink on pitches down and in on the righties, slider swept across the zone with gradual 10/4 action, changeup was a change of speed.

Tait Phillips, RHP, Knoxville Christian School, 2017
Max FB: 67, FB: 65-67, SL: 58-59
5-foot-11, 180-pound, RHP threw exclusively out of the stretch, comes at hitters from a submarine angle they aren’t used to seeing, produces some run and sink on his fastball that is consistent with his arm angle, threw strikes but was a little less consistent than we have seen him in the past, quick leg lift jumps toward the plate in line and produces a balanced finish a majority of the time.  Fastball showed sink and run into the zone, slider swept across the zone with 10/4 action.