DFW Top Prospects Showcase: Middle Infield Analysis
August 9, 2018
PLANO, TX - Here is the middle infield analysis from the DFW Top Prospects Event.
Middle Infielders
Top Performers
Mason Greer, 2B/SS, Colleyville Heritage HS, 2019
Auburn commit. Strong, broad shouldered frame at 6-foot, 200-pounds. Greer made loud contact in BP from the left side. hammered balls from the left side during batting practice. The left-handed hitter has a balanced setup with simple strength in his hack. He swings with the intent to do damage at the plate, especially to right field. He has a planed-out swing with natural lift and loose hands and great extension through contact. He registered an exit velocity of 93 mph off the tee. Greer also showed arm strength by throwing 89 mph across the infield with high-end accuracy. He has soft hands on the infield, fundamental footwork, exchanges the ball quick and easy, plays on the run, and has an accurate arm that allows him to make all the throws to stay on the infield at the next level. Greer ran a 7.21 laser-timed 60.
Cody Akers, SS/OF, Azle HS, 2019
Athletic 5-foot-10, 185 pound frame. Akers started his day off running a 6.88 laser-timed 60, and the athletic switch hitter continued to impress at the plate by driving balls in batting practice. He pounded a 93 mph exit velocity off the tee, he controls his body well and has fluid actions in his swing, stays behind the ball well with his body, is in the hitting zone a long time with his barrel, and is strong at the point of contact. He has an athletic stance with a leg kick from both sides of the plate, maintains excellent balance throughout the swing, and has an explosive backside drive, and this translated into him driving balls into both gaps from both sides of the plate in BP. From the outfield, he has a smooth approach and transfer and made strong accurate throws with carry to the plate; topped out at 91 mph. He is athletic in the infield with fluid footwork, a quick exchange, and similar arm strength and carry (89 mph). Akers already has an impressive well-rounded tool set, and has yet to hit his high ceiling.
Weston Symes, SS/2B, Frisco Centennial HS, 2019
Navarro JC commit. 5-foot-10, 158-pound athletic frame with wiry strength and a high waist, room to add strength into his frame. Swung the bat well in BP, lacing balls into the gaps with backspin carry; 86 mph exit velo off the tee. Symes hits from the right side in an athletic stance with a smooth load, and quick-twitch ability in the hands at the plate and in the field. Symes carries himself with some swagger and has good energy on the field at all times. He has smooth footwork in the infield with soft hands, and works through the ball well with his body and has a quick release with carry and accuracy across the diamond; 81 mph. Showed the ability to change arm angles and made the play on the run look easy. Symes is also the starting QB at Frisco Centennial.
Nate White, SS/2B, Arlington HS, 2019
Very athletic 5-foot-11, 175-pound frame with a strong lower half. White’s athleticism is special, he started the day off by running a strong 6.83 with powerful strides. His athleticism transferred to BP where he showed solid balance and body control in his swing. White hits from the right side out of an athletic stance, and uses a low leg kick to control his weight shift from his load into the stride. He has fluidity in his body throughout the swing, staying behind the ball with minimal head movement and a fast bat. He popped an 85 mph exit velo on the tee, and flashed gap power during his BP round. In the infield he moves with rhythm, has fluid footwork with soft hands, and topped out at 84 mph across the diamond. White has a very high ceiling, and his athleticism would allow him to play any defensive spot on the diamond.
Diego Johnson, SS/2B, Hebron HS, 2019
Texas A&M Corpus Christi commit. Long-limbed 6-foot, 153-pound athletic frame. Johnson ran a 6.88 laser-timed 60-yard dash. He has fluid athletic movements in the infield with quick footwork, he funnels the ball to his midline, and has a quick arm action with accuracy (85 mph). Johnson pounded a 93 mph exit velo off the tee, and has more fluidity and rhythm at the plate. He hits from an athletic stance with rhythm in his hands, has a long load back with his hands to create separation, works on plane through the hitting zone with good extension, and has a lot of quick twitch ability in his hands/barrel. Johnson has a high ceiling, and his measurables should continue to improve as he adds strength into his frame.
Josh Bartolacci, SS/2B, Coppell HS, 2019
Athletic 5-foot-11, 165-pound frame with long levers. Ran a 7.03 laser-timed 60 but his reads, instincts, and angles help him play even quicker in the infield and on the bases. Popped an 85 mph exit velo off the tee. At the plate he hits from the right-side in an athletic stance with rhythm and his hands in a high set-up, he is smooth in loading his hands back and some weight into his backside and has a short early stride. He maintains balance throughout the swing, and handles the bat well. In BP, he has a smooth approach and showed the ability to consistently barrel up the baseball all over the field with gap-to-gap power. He has smooth actions from the shortstop position, and projects to stay in the middle of the field with his athleticism, footwork, and arm strength. He has soft hands and fields the ball out in front of his body with a solid glove angle working through the baseball. He played himself into hops well with his feet, and was accurate from different arm angles at 81 mph.
Cole Antonelli, SS/OF, Flower Mound HS, 2019
5-foot-11, 165-pound athletic frame. Antonelli showed his athleticism by running a 6.91 laser-timed 60. His athleticism showed at the plate with quick-twitch actions in his barrel. He has a simple swing with rhythm from the right-side with a short load and stride mixed with a short path to the baseball. His fast-bat and strong position at the point of contact created some loud contact during batting practice, as he drove balls into both gaps; 84 mph exit velo off the tee. In the infield, he has quiet glove actions with soft hands, fields the ball out in front of his body and plays around the ball well with a clean exchange and creates direction into the throw. He showed good accuracy across the diamond at 73 mph. A solid player for Flower Mound, and has also shown the ability to play multiple infield and outfield positions.
Best of the Rest (Alphabetical)
Grant Beste, 2B/RHP, Whitesboro HS, 2019
5-foot-10, 160-pound frame. Beste hits from the right side from a slightly open stance, has a smooth load with a short stride and minimal head movement, and has rhythm in his hands and body in his stance; posted 84 mph exit velocity off the tee. In the infield he has quick feet, and moves well laterally; moves well especially to his left. Beste has quick hands with a clean exchange. He keeps his body low throughout the play, and made accurate throws at 77 mph to first base. He ran a 7.43 laser-timed 60.
Drake Boggan, RHP/SS, Hebron HS, 2019
6-foot, 155-pound frame with wiry strength and a high waist. Boggan made loud contact during BP by hitting balls hard off the barrel that carried to the gaps. He has an athletic stance with weight pre-set on his backside, Boggan gets off that backside when he drives the lower half, and his barrel is in the zone a while getting good extension on plane. Boggan has a balanced approach and flashed fast bat-speed. From the infield he has smooth actions with a clean exchange and the ball has carry when his body is in rhythm; topped out at 86 mph across the diamond. Boggan ran a 7.12 laser-timed 60.
Ethan Green, 2B/RHP, Rowlett HS, 2019
6-foot, 155-pound frame. Green is a switch-hitter, and he posted exit velos of 83 mph from the left side and 79 mph from the right side with line drive power. Green’s left handed swing showed a little more fluidity, and the ball jumped off the barrel to the right center gap from this side of the plate. He has an open stance from the left side with loud rhythm in his hands and barrel, he is in his legs in the stance, and uses a low leg kick to generate a powerful load. From the right side he has a very similar swing, and he hit balls hard to the pull-side in BP. He has quick hands and wrists from both sides of the plate that allowed the barrel to get through the hitting zone. He had a high level of energy in the infield, showing a high motor. He moves well laterally, has a quick exchange, and threw from an over-the-top arm angle on all plays; topped out at 76 mph across the diamond. Green ran a 7.27 laser-timed 60.
Brett Hedges, SS/2B, Marcus HS, 2019
Five-foot-9, 160-pound athletic frame. Hedges flashed quick twitch ability in his hands and wrists in batting practice, driving balls with backspin and made consistent hard contact throughout the round. He has great balance throughout his swing with minimal head movement, and he showed the ability to hit the ball hard all over the field; 86 mph exit velo off the tee. He plays with a bounce in his step on the infield. Moves with rhythm in his feet, has soft hands on ground balls, and quickly transitions into an accurate arm stroke across the infield at 76 mph. Hedges ran a 7.38 laser-timed 60.
Dylan Herd, SS/2B, Bell HS, 2019
Long lean projectable frame at 6-foot-1, 150-pounds. In the infield, he has fluid movements throughout his approach to his release. Herd works from around the baseball, and plays through the ball with his body well, and this leads to highly accurate throws at 83 mph. He has a clean exchange and a quick release, especially while making the play on the run. Herd ran a 7.09 laser-timed 60. At the plate, he works from a tall stance, utilizes a short stride with a small weight shift in his hips, and has a short path to the baseball. He popped an 82-mph top exit velo off the tee. Herd’s athleticism, fundamentals, and the smoothness in his actions project him to be able to stay in the middle of the infield, or play strong defense on either corner of the infield.
Connor Jackson, SS/2B, Prosper HS, 2019
Five-foot-10, 155-pound athletic frame. Jackson has quick-twitch actions in his barrel from both sides of the plate with line drive power; 84 mph exit velo from the left side and 82 mph exit velo from the right side. He handled the bat well from both sides of the plate hitting consistent low line drives off of the barrel to all parts of the field. Shows a solid approach by hitting balls off of the barrel in all parts of the zone. In the infield he has great footwork with a plus exchange, with a loose quick arm action (80 mph) with carry and accuracy.
Parker Taylor, 2B/SS, Allen HS, 2019
Five-foot-6, 125-pound frame. Taylor ran a 7.11 laser-timed 60 to start the day. Taylor is an infielder with quick and quiet footwork in the infield with a quick exchange and has accuracy from different arm angles; 77 mph across the diamond. Showed mobility and range laterally to both sides in the infield. At the plate, he hits from an athletic stance with balance shown throughout the swing, and he hit the ball mainly to the pull-side in batting practice; 77 mph exit velocity.
Pryor Thomas, 2B/SS, Liberty Christian HS, 2019
5-foot-11, 175-pound frame with strength. Thomas ran a 7.20 laser-timed 60-yard dash. At the plate, he hits from the right-side with an athletic stance. He uses a toe tap back towards his midline with his front foot for timing and weight shift in his stride, he has loose rhythm in his hands in the stance, and has a level barrel path through the zone. He takes an aggressive swing, and posted an 82 mph exit velo off the tee. From the infield he has a clean and quick transfer from glove to hand, especially on double play balls. He has a quick release across the diamond, flashed some carry on the throws, and was 77 mph throwing to first with a short high ¾ arm action. His footwork is quick, and he made a nice play on the run.
5-foot-9, 165-pound frame. Thompson flashed some power in batting practice posting an 86 mph exit velo. He has an athletic swing with a smooth load, gets into his legs in his load, and has a very flat barrel path with a low finish below the front shoulder. He swings with the intent to drive the baseball. From shortstop he threw 79 mph across the infield, with a short arm action and a quick transfer to release while making the play on the run. Thompson ran a 7.27 laser-timed 60.