Nico
Button

Body: 5-foot-10, 180-pound mature frame.
Hit: (LHH) Starts in a crouched balanced stance with a smooth load, then uses a small leg kick. Above average bat speed. Level finish, flat swing. Gap to gap approach.
Power: 94 mph exit velocity.
Defense: (C) 2.00-2.06 pop times. Sure soft hands, quick footwork, clean exchange. Athletic. Wide setup with average flexibility.
Arm: 80 mph catcher velocity. Short arm action, high ¾ slot, decent accuracy.
Speed: 7.20 (60-yard).

Bay Area World Series 2020 (BAWS) - Uncommitted; Have long showed tools that project for him to hit in college and they still show up, strong hands, pullside power, good barrel awareness. Obviously LHH catchers w/pop are valued. Hadn't previously seen the 78 mph arm (on more than one between inning throw) and laser trackers to the bag (2.05 pops) he made.

NorCal Preseason All-State: Button has been a regular over the years at PBR events and continues to show tools to be a strong hitting/receiving catcher at the next level. It’s a wider shouldered frame that continues to shape with more strength as he matures. At the plate the hands stay at the back shoulder allowing him to stay inside the baseball and allow the quick, direct hands to have the barrel follow. Button worked each of the gaps with lifted and hard line drives before finishing the round with more loft and power to the pullside. Behind the dish he showed strong footwork and the ability to get the ball out of the glove and to the bag quickly (2.11-2.20 Pop, 76 MPH); during bullpens his framing was consistent and works well with his flexible body.

BAWS 2019 - Squared medium frame with some length; projects added strength. Button flashed solid catching skills and a quick bat all weekend. Defensively he showed good agility and flashed solid blocking skills during games just missing a couple of runners; quick feet and accurate arm during workouts with solid exchange (2.12-2.16 Pop). The bat works tight with quick turns showing late hand speed; strong coverage of the plate on attack. Worked the pull gap with ability to show some backspin for carry (87 EV). During games he showed an aggressive approach attacking pitches early in counts and making lots of hard contact (2B, 1B); faced some solid pitchers and showed an approach and idea of what he was doing while squaring the ball up. The catching skills are good and I liked his ability to work with different pitchers and have success.

1/27/19 - PBR N CA Preseason All-State - Medium frame with wide shoulders and high waist; still has some youth weight but very strong and can continue to tighten body as he matures. Head down, hard runner with average stride length; could see run times improving with more maturity (7.53 60-yd). Wide, low target with athletic use of lower half; arm is bow and arrow with short actions before quick release and flashes more coming (1.98-2.10 pop, 75 MPH). Works hard behind the plate showing strong upper half and agile lower half with soft, quick glove. Narrow, slightly crouched stance with high back elbow and knees turned inward; quick leg lift while hands pull back while staying deep in back hip. Oppo approach currently in bat with ability to drive that way (82 exit velo); best swing is when he is able to let backside get through and drive ball into gaps including pull side.