By Matt Byrd
TN Director of Scouting

The PBR Tennessee Top Prospect Games took place last week with a position player showcase at Maryville College and game play at the University of Tennessee. The following is an in-depth look at the position players from Team White.  This is position player analysis only.  Those players who pitched for Team White had their pitching evaluations featured in a previous article.

middle infielders

Noah Sims, 2016, Sycamore, SS
The 6 foot 2, 185-pound prospect posted a 6.99 60 time. Defensively Sims had an 85 mph positon velocity across the infield with accuracy and good arm strength. Sims has soft hands, fluid footwork, and a quick exchange. Could slide to third base at the next level easily. Offensively from the right side of the plate, Sims had an 81 mph exit velocity off the tee with good bat speed in batting practice. Hits from an open setup with a leg kick and is a gap to gap type hitter. Shows a lot of potential and ability offensively and defensively. Still has room to add to his frame. Sims went 1-for-4 in game play with a single.

Jordan Holly, 2016, Science Hill, MIF
The 5 foot 10, 160-pound prospect posted a 6.83 60 time. Defensively Holly had a 78 mph position velocity across the infield. Holly has soft hands and quick/fluid footwork with a quick exchange. Showed average arm strength with accuracy on all throws with short arm action. Holly is what you call a true infielder that’s very athletic and makes every play with ease. Offensively from the right side of the plate, Holly hits from an open setup with a short stride. Has some bat speed and had a 82 mph exit velocity off the tee. Holly is a line drive type hitter with gap to gap potential.  As Holly continues to get stronger you will see his game take off to a different level. He went 1-for-4 in game play with a single.

Clark Poynter, 2017, Bearden HS, SS
The 6 foot, 165-pound prospect posted a 7.14 60 time.  Defensively Poynter had a position velocity of 79 mph across the infield. Poynter has soft hands and fluid footwork with natural instincts. Showed accuracy on his throws from a high ¾ arm slot. Offensively from the right side, Poynter has some bat speed and had a 82 mph exit velocity off the tee.   Hits from an open setup with good balance and hits the ball to all sides of the field. Is a line drive type hitter that has a good baseball build and shows some projectability. Poynter went 2-for-5 in game play with a single and a double, impressing at the plate in game action.

Jared Ruan, 2016, Clinton HS, 2B
The 5 foot 9, 145-pound prospect posted a 7.47 60 time. Defensively Ruan had a 78 mph position velocity across the infield with short arm action and accuracy. Ruan showed fluid footwork with a quick exchange and plays through the ball. Offensively from the right side , Ruan has average bat speed and had a 80 mph exit velocity off the tee. Hits from an open stance with a long stride. Has a level path and is a line drive type hitter with an aggressive approach, Ruan shows some projectability. He went 2-for-5 in game play with two singles.

Dalton Langston, 2016, Knoxville Halls, 2B
The 5 foot 9, 185-pound prospect posted a 7.25 60 time. Defensively Langston had a position velocity of 80 mph across the infield with some accuracy and a high ¾ arm slot. Langston has average hands, fluid footwork, and natural instincts. Offensively from the right side, Langston had an 82 mph exit velocity off the tee with some bat speed. Hits from a balance setup and has a long stride with average balance. Is a line drive type hitter with gap to gap potential. Langston went 3-for-4 in game play with three singles.

Corner INFielders

Bass Cooper, 2018, Knoxville Central, 1B
The 6 foot 3 ,185-pound prospect posted an 8.02 60 time and had a 74 mph position velocity across the infield. Defensively Cooper has soft hands and shows natural instincts , has solid footwork around the bat. Offensively from both sides of the plate, Cooper had an 89 mph exit velocity off the tee. From the left side Cooper hits more from an open setup and from the right side which is his natural side, hits from more of a balanced setup. Cooper very good bat speed, short stride , good balance, confident at the plate. Cooper is a gap to gap type hitter as of now but should develop into a power type guy as he continues to get physically stronger. Cooper went 0-for-5 in game play making several hard outs.

Dane Rheinecker, 2017, Knoxville Central, 3B
The 5 foot 8, 180-pound prospect posted an 8.28 60 time. Defensively Rheinecker had a 71 mph position velocity across the infield and showed average arm strength , accuracy, from a high ¾ arm slot. Has soft hands, slow footwork, and natural instincts. Needs to improve on overall quickness. Offensively from the right side, Rheinecker showed average bat speed in batting practice and had a 81 mph exit velocity off the tee. Hits from a balanced setup with a short stride, good balance , good approach, and is a line drive type hitter. Rheinecker went 1-for-5 in game play with a single.

Outfielders

Brent Richey, 2016, Knoxville Christian, OF
The 6 foot 2. 185-pound prospect posted a 7.38 60 time. Defensively Richey had an 87 mph position velocity from the outfield showing good arm strength. Richey throws from a high ¾ arm slot with long arm action and has accuracy and carry on his throws. Has average hands, fluid footwork, plays through the ball aggressively. Offensively from the right side, Richey had a 93 mph exit velocity off the tee. Hits from a balanced setup with a short stride, good balance, generates good bat speed, shows some pull-side power in batting practice. He went 0-for-5 in game play.

David Beam, 2017, Bearden , OF
The 5 foot 11, 165-pound prospect posted a 7.06 60 time. Defensively Beam had a position velocity of 84 mph from the outfield with good arm strength and accuracy, plays through the ball well. Offensively from the right side, Beam showed good bat speed in an impressive round of batting practice, had an 86 mph exit velocity off the tee. Hits from a balanced setup, short stride, explodes from his lower half, and is a gap to gap type hitter with some pop. He went 1-for-5 in game play with a single.

Easton Cline,2017, Brentwood Academy, OF
The 5 foot 9, 180- pound prospect posted a 7.43 60 time and had a positon velocity of 70 mph from the outfield. Defensively Cline shows average arm strength with some accuracy, high ¾ arm slot, soft hands, fluid footwork, and plays through the ball well. Needs to improve on his arm strength, Offensively from the left side, Cline shows average bat speed and had a 74 mph exit velocity off the tee. Hits from a balanced setup, has a short stride, good balance, good approach. Is a line drive type hitter that could eventually be a gap to gap type guy with his size. Cline went 2 for 4 in game play with a single and a double.

Catchers

Kemper Dixon, 2016, Portland HS, C
The 5 foot 11, 172-pound prospect showed good speed in  posting a 6.90 60 time and had a position velocity from behind the plate of 70 mph with short arm action. Defensively Dixon shows average arm strength and had a 2.21-2.30 pop time from behind the plate. Has room to improve pop times with quicker footwork. Offensively from the right side, Dixon showed some bat speed with an 86 mph exit velocity off the tee. Hits from a balanced setup, has a short stride, can get more out of his lower half, line drive type hitter. Needs to work on getting more extension in his swing and use his strength more. Dixon went 0-for-4 in game play.

Seth Armstrong, 2018, Knoxville Central, C
The 5 foot 9, 175-pound prospect posted a 7.55 60 time. Defensively Armstrong showed average arm strength at 69 mph with short arm action and had a 2.12-2.16 pop time from behind the plate. Armstrong shows fluid footwork and a clean exchange with average hands. Offensively Armstrong hits from a balanced setup ,has a short stride, some stiffness, fair balance, and average bat speed. Armstrong had a 74 mph exit velocity off the tee from the right side. Armstrong went 2-for-4 in game play with two singles.