By Adam Akin
Director of Scouting

The 2016 PBR Tennessee Top Prospect Games took place on Tuesday, June 14 and Wednesday, June 15 and included a position player workout, followed by three 9 inning games each day. Players were afforded the opportunity to showcase their abilities to the PBR Tennessee staff and many college coaches in attendance. The following is our evaluation of every pitcher that was assigned to the Navy Team in Tuesday’s action.

RIGHT-HANDED PITCHERS

Bryce Woody, RHP/OF, Roane County, 2017
Max FB: 87, FB: 84-87, 75-76 Slider
5'11, 180-pound, RHP has a quick arm that works through a short but loose arm action, high ¾ arm slot helps create some very good run and sink on his fastball that bears down on RHH’s on the inside corner and can come back over the plate when started away. High leg kick and explosiveness toward the plate can really help him get on hitters, falls off toward first base. Showed a sharp breaking ball with more of a 11/5-10/4 action than in the past that has some real swing and miss potential, made a couple of athletic plays on the mound.  Woody has increased velocity each time we’ve seen him and seems to athletic enough to add a little more, as well.

Joshua Young, RHP, William Blount, 2017
Max FB: 84, FB: 81-83, 70-73 Slider
6'2, 190-pound, RHP uses a smooth motion and delivery to pitch from a strong position on the mound, throws from an over-the-top release point and gets some decent downhill angles on his pitches, fluid arm action looks clean, stays tall for the majority of his motion and really tries to reach out and achieve a long stride with his lead leg.  Fastball stays mostly straight but does use that downhill action to its advantage, breaking ball had 10/4 slider action and showed the ability to be pretty sharp, both pitches were thrown consistently for strikes to both sides of the plate.  Young struck out 4 hitters in his two innings of work and has a chance to continue getting better.

Graham Tulloch, RHP/1B, Brentwood Academy, 2018
Max FB: 83, FB: 80-82, CB: 68-69, CH: 70,
6'4, 260-pound, RHP uses a fluid motion and a loose arm action to deliver pitches from an over-the-top arm slot, big kid really showed his athletic potential on the mound as he brought a strong presence and really took control of the pace of the game, worked smoothly and quickly and filled up the zone the entire time.  Threw a very heavy fastball with good tilt and downhill action and spotted it up exactly when he needed to, breaking ball showed some hard-biting 11/5-10/4 action when he got through it, hung a couple of them.  Big time potential in the 2018 class because of his combination of athleticism and size.

Graham Elkins, RHP/3B, Knox Halls, 2019
Max FB: 82, FB: 80-82, CB: 65-67, CH: 70,
5'10, 165-pound, RHP made quick work of his only inning on the mound, filled up the strike zone and competed very well, good rhythm in his motion leads to a very long arm action through a high ¾ to over-the-top arm slot, good use of lower half throughout delivery that uses quite a bit of effort and causes him to fall to the first base side after release. Some slight run on his fastball makes it an effective pitch, as it was thrown consistently for strikes on both sides of the plate, curveball was tight and broke at an 11/5 angle for strikes.  Elkins stuck out 2 of the 3 hitters he faced and showed a lot of potential on the mound. 

Keegan Westbrook, RHP/OF, Evangelical Christian, 2017
Max FB: 81, FB: 78-81, CB: 68-70,
6'2, 195-pound, RHP uses good rhythm and fluidity in his motion, strong and athletic 2-way player uses that athleticism on the mound to deliver pitches from a high ¾ arm slot and a loose arm action, lower body works well to add strength and stability, firm follow through takes him a little to the first base side of the mound.  Fastball had a little bit of run and was thrown for strikes, curveball had some gradual 11/5 action and was around the plate as well, left a few balls up in the zone but made adjustments, showed a fading changeup in warmups but never in the game. Struck out 2 batters in his two innings of work.

Ethan Walls, RHP, Ooltewah, 2017
Max FB: 82, FB: 78-81, CB: 69-70,
6'4, 200-pound, RHP throws from a ¾ arm slot and uses a long and loose arm action to deliver pitches from a smooth motion, uses his 6’4 frame to his advantage. Showed a fastball with good run and a little bit of sink that was at its best when it was kept low in the zone, bigtime 11/5 power curveball that can certainly be an out pitch at a lot of levels was used both as an early strike and to get hitters to chase late in the count, control was on and off throughout his outing, showed a change up with some fading sink that can be used to throw off the timing of hitters.  Hasn’t gained velocity since his last PBR appearance, but the potential for a jump is there.

Thomas Wilson, SS/RHP, Bearden, 2018
Max FB: 81, FB: 79-81, CB: 67-69,
6'1, 180-pound, RHP starts his motion with a small rocker step that actually goes forward, hands drop and rise in coordination with his front leg to create good rhythm and keep him in sync, stays in a great line toward the plate and is able to deliver pitches through a ¾ -high ¾ arm slot from a long and fairly looks arm action.  Fastball only had a little bit of run  but was kept a down in the zone and thrown for a lot of strikes, breaking ball was more of a slider and broke on a 10/4 plane that was sharp a couple of times.  Strong kid has a chance to develop and continue building on that velo and his command.

Lelan Lewis, RHP/3B, Centennial, 2018
Max FB: 78, FB: 75-78, CB: 67-68,
6'0, 180-pound, RHP uses a slow and calculated motion that builds until the very last moments of his delivery, over-the-top arm angle results from a short but looser arm action than we saw from him in January, does stride a little closed and has trouble getting the ball to the opposite side of the plate (away to righties).  Fastball stayed straight and had some trouble finding the zone for a while, curveball had 12/6 action with some late movement that got one hitter to chase it. Athletic enough to continue getting better and brush up on command in the future. 

Ben Willcoxon, SS/RHP, Sevier County, 2020
Max FB: 78, FB: 75-78, CB: 63-64,
5'8, 165-pound, RHP starts his motion very slowly with a rocker step just slightly to the side and picks up the pace as it progresses, uses good tempo and a loose arm action through a high ¾ release point that stiffens up a touch when he tries to put something extra behind it, falls off to first base side when throwing his breaking ball.  Fastball had decent run that will get better as velocity increases, curveball with 11/5 action was thrown for strikes with very good arm speed, lost control of a couple but overall solid command.  Willcoxon is one to watch in the 2020 class. 

Jacob Watkins, RHP, Bearden, 2018
Max FB: 79, FB: 76-79, CB: 61-63,
6'1, 225-pound, RHP uses a funky leg lift and drive toward home plate to form a unique motion toward the plate, a short and sometimes stiff arm action help him deliver pitches from a ¾ arm slot very consistently, stays balanced but finishes tall on his left leg. Fastball stayed straight and was flat when left up in the zone at times, sweeping breaking ball has the ability to move a lot but was hung up in the zone a couple of times.  Threw enough strikes to get outs, but will need to gain some more command to get the most out of his ability.

Jimmy Watson, RHP/2B, White House Heritage, 2019
Max FB: 73, FB: 71-73, CB: 59-62,
5'8, 140-pound, RHP uses a fairly simple motion with some rhythm to deliver pitches from an over-the-top arm slot, stays tall throughout his delivery but does a good job of trying to engage his lower half near the beginning, strides in line and maintains good balance.  Fastball stayed straight but was thrown for strikes, curveball was shown for a good change of speed but didn’t have much bite.  Needs to continue getting stronger.

LEFT-HANDED PITCHERS

Matt Young, 1B/LHP, Maryville, 2017
Max FB: 76, FB: 71-74, 67-68 Slider
6'3, 215-pound, LHP uses a smooth and very controlled motion to deliver pitches at low effort from a high ¾ arm slot, loose arm action doesn’t result in a lot of arm speed but definitely leaves room for some gains, strides a little closed off but is still able to clear his hips to the plate.  Fastball stayed mostly straight but did show some sink at the end and was located well on the outside corner, breaking ball showed some powerful 2/8 slider action and was used to strike out 2 hitters in game play.  Young is certainly a 2-way player to watch, as he is very close to breaking out.

Spencer Glover, LHP/OF, Bearden, 2018
Max FB: 75, FB: 72-75, CB: 62-67,
5'11, 158-pound, LHP shows a short arm-action that produces a loose finish and balanced follow through, smooth motion allows him to build some good momentum with his entire body, gets good use of his legs throughout the delivery.  Fastball has some cut from a high ¾ arm angle and was able to really run in on RHHs, curveball worked with 12/6 action and was a little erratic with its location, gradual break really changed the eye level on hitters.