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 Gray Team in Wednesday’s action.

RIGHT-HANDED PITCHERS

Luke Chilcutt, SS/RHP, Clarksville, 2017
Max FB: 85, FB: 84-85, CB: 71-72,
6'1, 180-pound, RHP stayed well under control and collected throughout his delivery, starts slower in his rocker step and picks up the pace throughout his motion toward the plate, uses his leg lift to really gather himself and ignite his lower half, drops into his back leg before coming toward the hitter in a hurry, maintains good alignment and lands his front foot in a great position, long and loose arm action comes from a high ¾ angle with some good whip, finishes well balanced.  Fastball stayed straight but was very heavy coming through the zone and seemed quicker than 85, curveball has a lot of potential and showed sharp 11/5 action with late movement. Although command was a little erratic, Chilcutt threw strikes and got quite a few swing-and-misses.  

Jackson Walker, OF/RHP, Brentwood, 2018
Max FB: 79, FB: 78-79, CB: 63-64,
6'1, 151-pound, RHP starts wide and uses a slower rocker step and a high leg lift that gets his front hip closed to get himself started, gets separated early and takes his time before coming toward the plate, short arm action and a little shoulder tilt brings his arm through a high ¾ - over-the-top slot, alignment is good and generally strides directly toward home plate, will fall off toward 1B on his breaking ball, smooth and long follow through.  Fastball stays mostly straight but was kept down in the zone at nearly all times, curveball showed some 12/6 shape and has the ability to be very sharp. Walker could add some velocity and become a guy to watch.

Skylar Stalcup, SS/RHP, Powell, 2018
Max FB: 79, FB: 77-79, CB: 66-69,
6'1, 170-pound, RHP seemed to work with some better tempo than we have seen in the past but has kept his mechanics pretty much intact, strides a little across his body and finishes with a spin on and around his front leg, showed a longer arm action than we’ve seen from him but maintained his high ¾ slot, uses athleticism on the mound.  Fastball showed the same velo and life low in the zone as past events, breaking ball floated through the zone and wasn’t as sharp as we know it has the capability of being.

Wyatt Blessing, RHP, Goodpasture Christian, 2017
Max FB: 80, FB: 78-80, CB: 66-72, CH: 70-71,
6'2, 205-pound, RHP begins his motion in a very up-tempo manner and uses a short and quick rocker step to influence that to happen, good sized kid has a presence on the mound and keeps his hands near his chest while getting into his body turned and hips closed toward the plate, body and weight drop into his back leg before jumping toward the hitter and using a short arm action through a ¾ release point to deliver pitches, strides in line and finishes under control and only slightly to the 1B side at times.  Fastball stayed mostly straight and only some occasional life coming through the zone, breaking ball was more of a slurve with some gradual 10/4 shape, only changeups were thrown in the dirt but seemed to have some downward action.

J Ross, 3B/RHP, Franklin Road Academy, 2019
Max FB: 78, FB: 74-77, CB: 61-62,
5'11, 185-pound, RHP showed some good tempo early in his motion and maintains it through the majority of his delivery, uses a toe tap on the rubber when beginning with his rocker step and keeps his hands fairly still near his chest, gets tall at the top of his motion and comes down the hill with good use of his lower half, lands in line with the plate and pulls his head down and to his left a little bit, longer arm action comes through an over-the-top release point with some noticeable effort, consistent finish onto his left leg.  Fastball stayed fairly straight and was left up in the zone a few times, curveball showed 12/6 shape and the potential to be sharp.

Connor Smith, RHP/OF, Brentwood, 2019
Max FB: 75, FB: 73-75, CB: 60-61, CH: 60,
6'1, 155-pound, RHP starts his motion by facing the plate and stepping to the side with his rocker step to turn his body into a rhythmic leg lift, gets closed but comes back open very soon after, showed a long arm action through a high ¾ release point and some effort, landed open and pulled himself toward the 1B line throughout his follow through. Fastball stayed straight and was left up in the zone a few times, curveball showed some decent 11/5 action and was pretty consistent.  Better alignment and some added strength could help Smith tremendously.

LEFT-HANDED PITCHERS

Dylan Bonds, LHP, Mount Juliet, 2017
Max FB: 82, FB: 80-82, CB: 68-70, CH: 72,
5'11, 165-pound, LHP starts at an angle and uses a rocker step to the side to get moving, maintains the same shoulder alignment throughout his motion, leg lift has some rhythm to it as his hands stay in a higher position near his face, front side is closed when he moves toward the plate, long and loose arm action comes through a low ¾ slot and looks very clean, has the ability to drop down sidearm, stride leg lands closed and causes him to reach out around his body on his release and finish, stays very balanced and finishes well under control.  Fastball showed some very slight run but seemed heavy coming through the zone, curveball has 1/7 action and had some late break that had it moving a lot at the end, changeup was a good change of speed.  Bonds committed to Arkansas shortly after the Top Prospect Games.

Wiley Barton, LHP, Trousdale County, 2017
Max FB: 81, FB: 79-81, CB: 69-71,
5'6, 160-pound, LHP begins with his hands hanging low in front and uses a more up-tempo motion in which he pulls his hands up with his leg lift and uses some good rhythm throughout, front side gets closed early and stays that way in his initial movement toward the plate, arm action is shorter and leads to a high ¾ arm action without much extension that can look a little stiff, opens up his hips at just the right time to create some good leverage, strides in line and stays pretty balanced while finishing over and a little around his front leg.  Fastball showed some slight cut and was able to get in on righties, curveball was a good pitch with some powerful 1/7 shape and was thrown for a lot of strikes.

Cal Burgett, LHP, Mount Juliet, 2018
Max FB: 80, FB: 77-80, CB: 65-68, CH: 74,
6'0, 155-pound, LHP uses a very deliberate motion that includes a controlled rocker step and a high leg lift to begin, comes toward the plate from a very closed position and stays that way for a long time, eases back into line and lands only slightly closed, arm action starts out long and quickly comes up into a low ¾ slot to deliver his pitches, pretty loose arm with normal effort,  falls slightly to the 3B side at times.  Fastball showed a little bit of run and tried to sink while coming through the strike zone, curveball is a good pitch with 1/7 action that he can throw for strikes in almost any count, changeup fades slightly and is mainly used as a change of speed.

Andrew Franklin, LHP, Wilson Central, 2017
Max FB: 82, FB: 77-80, CB: 68-71, CH: 70-71,
5'11, 185-pound, LHP uses a calm and very controlled motion to deliver pitches through a high ¾ arm slot, low effort delivery allows him to stay collected and to hit the majority of his spots, front side gets closed early and hips get through late and with conviction, shorter arm action through that slot could be a little looser and could finish a little more fluidly, strides directly toward home plate and lands very balanced and ready to field his position.  Fastball stayed straight but hit a lot of spots he was attacking, curveball showed some powerful 1/7 action and was able to get some swing-and-misses when it was down in the zone.

Chase Cook, OF/LHP, Silverdale Bapist Academy, 2018
Max FB: 70, FB: 69-70, CB: 59-60,
5'8, 135-pound, LHP uses a generic rocker step and picks up the pace throughout his leg lift and onward toward the plate, begins toward the plate from a good position and stays fairly tall through his delivery, hands come up near his chest and lead to a short arm action with a little bit of a rush at the end of his release, arm is a little stiff and doesn’t achieve a very smooth follow through, lands slightly closed and falls toward the 3B side on his finish.  Fastball stayed straight and was left up in the zone a bit, curveball has 12/6 shape and showed some gradual movement.