Adam Akin
Director of Scouting

The 2016 PBR Tennessee Underclass Games took place on Tuesday, July 26 and Wednesday, July 27 and included a position player workout, followed by two 7 or 8 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 position player that was assigned to the Navy Team in Tuesday’s action.

Outfielders

Brad Grenkoski, RHP/OF, Farragut, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.63, Position Velocity:  88, Exit Velocity: 84
6-foot-3, 185-pound, RHH hits from a tall and open stance and uses a slight leg kick and a fairly long stride along with a slight movement back with his hands to get loaded, lower half works well but could be utilized much better with some more leverage, bat path is pretty flat through the zone but can get a little steep, front arm can stay straight and cause him to hit around the ball at times, drove some balls deep in the gap in BP when he stayed through it.  Defensively, uses his athleticism more than anything when working through the ball, a clean exchange and a high ¾ release produced some very good arm strength and accurate throws.  Grenkoski earned a spot on Tennessee’s Future Games team from his performance at the Underclass Games. 

Cal Burgett, LHP/OF, Mount Juliet, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.51, Position Velocity:  83, Exit Velocity: 74
6-foot-0, 155-pound, LHH hits from a wide and balanced stance, uses a toe tap and short stride along with some very subtle hand movement to get loaded, legs work but his hips glide forward and cause him to drag his bat through the zone at times, bat path is fairly flat through the zone and produced some low line drives in BP, swing was more aggressive in game action. Defensively, showed good hands, does a good job of being aggressive getting behind the ball and then getting collected and working through it athletically, transfer is clean and is followed by a momentous crow hop, ¾ to high ¾ arm slot produced some decent arm strength on his throws.  Burgett went 3/4 in game play with 3 singles.

Easton Hunt, OF, Friendship Christian, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.84, Position Velocity:  69, Exit Velocity: 72
5-foot-8, 130-pound, LHH hits from a balanced and slightly open stance and uses an early and short stride and a slight raise of his hands to get loaded, lower half gets through but glides forward just a touch, back elbow drops into a good slot and helps create a pretty flat bat path through the zone, finishes mostly balanced with an occasional lean forward.  Defensively, he put himself in a good position to work through the ball, sometimes catches himself a little flat-footed, transfer is a little slow because of a glove pat, accurate throws through a high ¾ arm angle and arm strength that can be improved upon.

Blake Joyner, OF, Eagleville, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.81, Position Velocity:  72, Exit Velocity: 76
5-foot-9, 170-pound, RHH hits from a wide and slightly closed stance, uses a quick and high leg kick along with a quick drop and raise of the hands to initiate his swing, front foot comes back down where it started, lower half is a little slow getting through the zone and causes him to get a little stiff, swing plane was fairly flat and did produce a few hard balls in BP, would benefit by loosening up.  Defensively, approaches the ball quite aggressively and sometimes gets a little ahead of himself, fields the ball a little on his heels at times and to the left of his body, transfer takes a while but works, high ¾ arm slot produced decent throws with arm strength that can be improved upon.

First Basemen

Trey Holt, 1B/OF, Pope John Paul II, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.52, Position Velocity:  OF-86, 1B-75, Exit Velocity: 81
5-foot-11, 175-pound, LHH hits from a fairly wide and slightly open stance and uses a pull back of his front leg before reaching out for his stride, hands don’t move much in his load and generally stay right around shoulder height, lower half has a hitch in which it moves forward a tad and then pops through, bat path is fairly flat with some lift at the end, lets go with his top hand a little too soon and loses balance at finish from time to time.  Defensively, showed okay hands and decent footwork around the bag, used a longer arm action and decent accuracy with average arm strength across the infield.  Holt also showed some versatility by competing in the outifield.

Colby Bumgarner, 1B, Beech, 2018
Home-1^st: 5.09, Position Velocity:  68, Exit Velocity: 83
6-foot-3, 210-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and slightly open stance, uses a little more of a stride than we saw at the Top Prospect Games along with that same little push back of the hands to get loaded, lower half still doesn’t quite fire with all of its potential and leaves a lot of power on the table, hit some balls hard when he squared it up, occasional lift in his finish.  Defensively, stayed under control and showed good hands and average footwork around the bag, arm slot came through a high ¾ angle and produced average throws, knows the 1B position and is capable of consistently making all of the routine plays.

Third Basemen

Zach Boze, 3B, Station Camp, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.84, Pop Time: 2.05-2.18, Position Velocity:  3B-73, C-70, Exit Velocity: 80
6-foot-0, 155-pound, RHH hits from a tall and athletic stance and uses a very abbreviated leg kick and stride, along with some smooth and rhythmic bat movement to get himself loaded, lower half explodes and allows his hips to clear with ease, swing plane is level through the zone and used that lift at the end to drive some balls deep into the LCF gap in BP, got through the ball very well.  Defensively, fields the ball a little deep and could work through the balls at him a little better, showed very sure hands and a clean exchange that led to a short arm action from a high ¾ slot.  Boze showed his versatility by competing as a catcher, as well, showing a quick arm and accuracy around the bag.

Middle Infielders

Jerry Hammons, SS, Knoxville Christian, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.75, Position Velocity:  83, Exit Velocity: 98
6-foot-0, 215-pound, RHH hits from an athletic and slightly open stance and uses a quicker leg kick and stride with a lowering of the hands to get himself really loaded up, lower half explodes and adds a lot of power and torque to his swing, bat path can get steep on pitches down in the zone but uses some lift at the end to really drive the ball, hit multiple balls to the wall and even a couple home runs in BP.  Defensively, showed good hands and average footwork, didn’t work through the ball as well as he’s capable, an efficient transfer led to a quicker arm action that produced some good throws through a high ¾ arm slot across the infield.  Hammons recorded the highest exit velo at 98 mph and earned himself a spot on Tennessee’s Future Games team.

Ashton King, SS, Farragut, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.72, Position Velocity:  79, Exit Velocity: 82
5-foot-9, 150-pound, RHH hits from an athletic and slightly open stance with a lot of hand movement over his head, uses a smooth stride and a lowering and reach back of his hands to get himself loaded and separated, lower half glides a little but does get through and sometimes even over-rotates, back side allows his bat to get on plane early and stay through the zone well, hit some low line drives in BP and went 2-4 with two hard hit doubles in game play.  Defensively, showed soft hands and above average footwork and the ability to make a variety of plays with good range, quick and efficient transfer and arm action help him to use some different arm angles to make very accurate throws with good carry across the infield. King is a 2019 that could develop into something special.

Andrew Carpenter, SS, Morristown-Hamblen East, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.66, Position Velocity:  75, Exit Velocity: 80
5-foot-9, 155-pound, RHH hits from a fairly tall and very slightly open stance, uses a toe-tap and stride along with a lowering and push back of his hands to get himself loaded, front arm sometimes bars on his load, lower half fires well but his backside stays a little tall and causes his bat path to be steeper than he’d like through the zone, showed a more fluid swing in game play, going 2-3 with a walk.  Defensively, showed good hands and footwork and a knowledge of how to play the position, played through the ball well and made a couple good plays in game action, quick transfer and arm action led to some accuracy in throws across the infield with above average arm strength.

Drew Hill, SS/RHP, Chester County, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.75, Position Velocity:  79, Exit Velocity: 84
5-foot-11, 174-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and even stance and uses a very abbreviated leg kick and a short stride to go along with a subtle movement back with his hands to get loaded, lower half gets through but sometimes comes a little too far forward on top of his front leg, swing plane simple and flat through the zone and is helped by good movements from his back side that allow him to accomplish that, produced some hard line drives to left field in BP.  Defensively, showed average hands and footwork as he tends to field the ball a little deep and on his heels, can get better at playing through the ball and allowing himself to use his athleticism, longer arm action comes through a high ¾ to over-the-top slot and produced above average arm strength across the infield.

Mason Malone, RHP/2B, Waverly Central, 2020
Home-1^st: 4.51, Position Velocity:  73, Exit Velocity: 72
5-foot-11, 150-pound, RHH hits from a wide and slightly open stance, uses a short and quick stride and no real movement of his hands to get loaded, lower half gets through but fires about the same time as his hands and doesn’t create much separation, bat path is a touch steep and could be flattened by loosening up a little bit, Malone did hit some solid balls in BP and had a single in game play.  Defensively, showed above average hands and footwork, fields the ball a little deep at times but you can tell he is making a strong attempt to play through the ball correctly, average arm strength comes through a high ¾ release out of short arm action and a transfer that sometimes includes a glove pat in the middle.

Dawson Hindman, SS/RHP, Houston County, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.76, Position Velocity:  70, Exit Velocity: 71
5-foot-11, 135-pound, RHH hits from a balanced and even stance, uses a very early and short stride that doesn’t help create much momentum or separation, lower half really just spins on his feet, bat path is very good, as he stays in the zone for a long time and is able to stay on the plane of the pitch, swing will benefit by some added strength as he gets older and develops.  Defensively, fields some balls a little too deep and forces himself back on his heels, transfer is efficient and helps to produce a shorter arm action through a high ¾ release point and some accurate throws with average arm strength.

Catchers

Beaux Escobar, C, Independence, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.91, Pop Time: 2.02-2.13, Position Velocity:  72, Exit Velocity: L-85, R-84
6-foot-0, 200-pound, SHH hits from a balanced and open stance from both sides of the plate and begins with his hands up near his head (a little higher from the left side), uses a smooth stride and lowering and push back of his hands to get loaded, lower half drifts just slightly but does fire well and creates some extra bat speed from both sides of the plate, bat path is a little steeper from the left side because of how high his hands start, but is still able to create some lift at the end of his swing, hit hard line drives to left field from the right side and a lot of ground balls from the left side.  Defensively, showed above average hands and good footwork by putting himself in the right positions, quick exchange and short arm action got rid of the ball with decent arm strength and accuracy.

Ryan Davis, C, Morristown East, 2018
Home-1^st: 4.68, Pop Time: 2.12-2.28, Position Velocity:  71, Exit Velocity: 83
5-foot-9, 152-pound, RHH hits from an upright and even stance and uses a smooth stride and backwards motion of his hands to get loaded, lower half is a little delayed and take away some of the separation potential he creates in his load, back elbow drops down into a slot and allows his barrel to get on plane and stay through the zone, doesn’t always stay balanced throughout his finish when his lower half doesn’t get completely through the zone, recorded one single in game play. Defensively, showed average hands and feet and used a lower transfer and fairly short arm action to produce throws with some accuracy to second base, decent arm strength.

Jackson Odette, C, Wilson Central HS, 2019
Home-1^st: 4.59, Pop Time: 2.19-2.34, Position Velocity:  66, Exit Velocity: 73
5-foot-8, 155-pound, LHH hits from a wide and even stance with very little movement in his set up, uses a heel lift and plant as a stride and slightly lowers his hands to get himself loaded, lower half does provide a strong base but could definitely be used to create a little more pop, swing is a little handsy and can be steep on balls low in the zone, doesn’t get much extension through the ball, hit some simple ground balls and low line drives up the middle in BP.  Defensively, showed good hands and average footwork behind the plate, fell off a little toward the third base side after throws, clean and high exchange with a short arm action over-the-top delivered his throws to second base with average arm strength.