JJ
Bleday

3/23/16- 6-foot-3, 195-pound Vanderbilt recruit with a live, athletic, projectable build. Smooth, fluid swing from the left hand side with a gap to gap approach. Quick hands with good bat speed. Head stays on the ball and stays balanced in the box with good pitch recognition. Smart batter. Shows range and the ability to track the ball well in the outfield. Clean, loose arm action on the mound sitting 85-87 mph, touching 88 mph a couple times with his fastball that had glove side run. Curveball sat 72-73 mph with good depth and tight spin. Repeats well, can get out in front more. More in the tank. Fields the ball well off the mound.

10/28/15 - Vanderbilt commit. 6-foot-3, 195 pound OF/LHP with a loose lean athletic body. Smooth, fluid left handed stroke with average type bat speed and very good hand eye. Looseness in swing with good approach and good balance in finish. Good hitters hands. Stays inside ball well and uses whole field. On the mound, he showed good pitchability with a fastball at 86-88 mph with tail and glove side cut. Curveball was a big loopy downer with depth at 72-74 mph. Locates fastball. Can pitch. Good 2 way guy for Vandy.

7/1/15 - Legit 2-way guy. Really like him at the plate. Good rhythm, athletic loose hands, good balance. Barreled a few balls and looked good in bp. Also made a diving catch in the OF. Has a strong, accurate arm. On the mound was 87-89 with ASR. Also threw solid CB.

6/19/15 - Vanderbilt commit. 6-foot-3, 195 pound lefty with a tall lean loose athletic projectable body. Loose easy working arm at a high ¾ slot. Fast ball was 84-88 mph with good tilt and tailing action. Curve ball was a downer and a solid average ML pitch at 72-74 mph. Arm is a little long but repeats delivery and throws a lot of strikes. Has a very good approach at the plate with a balanced quick bat. Swing has good plane with looseness and loft. Average type power. Loose athletic actions in outfield. More of a corner guy. Ran a 7.11 60 and a 4.4 to 1B.

5/15/15 - Vanderbilt commit.  6-foot-4 185 pounds with a tall, lean, athletic, and projectable body. Good athlete with above average speed. Loose, high ¾ arm slot. Smooth delivery. 84-86 mph FB. 70-73 mph CR that is sharp with good depth and breaks late.

5/20/14 Bleday displayed the skill set that made him a Vanderbilt commit this past fall. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound lefty glides to the baseball and flashed a strong arm on several throws. The LHH doubled and singled in two official plate appearances while reaching via walk twice as well. He has a bit of length to his LH swing, but creates good barrel whip and shows the same fluidity in his swing as with all his actions on the field. Bleday moved to the mound for the final two innings sitting 83-85 while touching 86 several times. His 1/7 breaking curveball showed sharp, late bite at 74 mph and his 78 mph changeup had some AS run at 78 mph. Bleday utilizes the same high 3/4 arm slot for all three pitches and appears to be destined to add significant velocity in coming years.

11/2/13 Bleday stood out as the top outfield prospect in attendance. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound lefty showcased fluid actions in the outfield with effortless throws of 89 mph to the plate. At the plate, the left-handed hitter utilizes a toe tap and holds his hands in a good launch position. He has a smooth stroke, some barrel whip, and juice in his bat (91 mph exit velocity). Having shut it down for rest purposes, Bleday did not showcase on the mound, but has featured a fastball at 84-86 during previous events.

9/27/12 Bleday is a 6-foot-3, 185-pound prospect with a lot of potential. One of only three freshmen at the event, his 85mph throws from the outfield were an event best. His 89mph bat exit speed was also among the best of the weekend. Bleday shows great promise on the mound. His fastball topped at 82 mph out of a fluid delivery with much more in the tank. His 71 mph changeup is thrown at near fastball arm speed. His 71 mph curveball has the makings of a plus pitch. Bleday is one of the top prospects in the Class of 2016 and should continue to get better.

4/27/19: This latest look was similar to that of Week Six, particularly with Bleday's run, throw and defend abilities. Offensively, he appeared more in sync at the plate with his stride/foot plant better timed up with his load/bat tip. He stayed connected and hit against a firm from side. But ironically, the result in this series was six strikeouts in 15 plate appearances with just one hit. It was a much different performance than the one game look against the Gators earlier this spring when he homered and walked twice versus one of the top arms for the 2020 draft (Tommy Mace). Bleday's lone hit in this Auburn series was a home run to left field where he displayed his tremendous extension. He currently leads the SEC with nine home runs in conference games this spring, yet somewhat concerning is that he has also struck out 25 times in 101 SEC plate appearances. Moving forward, Bleday will need to figure out something to simplify his timing, but he can hit. Despite his struggles during the Auburn series, Bleday remains a top half of the first round pick and is currently ranked No. 5 overall by Prep Baseball Report. (Seifert)

4/19/19: Oozes athleticism from his 6-foot-3, 205-pound frame and passes the eye test at first glance. In the box he shows confidence, loose hands on the pre-pitch, shoulder width stance with a small stride for timing, hands slightly drop on his load. Barrel path is repeatable, slightly uphill through contact. During BP he showed advanced barrel speed and power to the gaps. His lower half movements are effortless. (Cevette)

3/21/19: Impressive one game look at one of the top college bats in the country. Bleday takes his barrel to ball with good bat speed and strength. He is long through the zone and the ball jumps off his bat. Makes very loud contact. Slows the game down in the box. Recognizes pitches and hits them where pitched. Saw the ball really well against right-hander Tommy Mace who is a likely a 1st round pick in 2020 and Jordan Butler, a lower slot lefty reliever for the Gators. Bleday is also an average runner underway who cuts the bases well. Defensively, he is sure-handed and tracked the ball well. Showed an above average arm after catching a fly ball deep in right field and throwing on a line with a long hop to 3B. Projects as a future average to better defender with average range. Coming into this spring, Bleday ranked eighth overall in our Hitter Analytics, but the scouting industry wanted to see the 6-foot-3, 205 pound Bleday hit with more power to boost his draft value. He's done just that with seven home runs already this season. As a result, Bleday has now positioned himself as a top half of the first round pick this June. (Seifert)

2/17/19: Athletic build with good strength through upper body and forearms. Open stance. Gets square against RHP. Stays slightly open against LHP. Sits down into back side while loading. Sound swing. No wasted movement once swing gets started. Balance and present strength in swing. Hard contact through the middle to his pull side. Tendency to pull off ball moving away. Some swing and miss. Gets out of box well; 4.47 home to first on round. Good baserunner. Good cuts on rounds. Enough arm to play right in pro ball. One of the top college bats in the country this season. Likely first round pick. (Arnold)

8/15/18: Strong-bodied corner outfielder with exciting left-handed power potential that he has yet to truly harness. Showed off his strength with a deep fly ball to the wall in straight away center field, and also ripped a line-drive single through the right side on an 89 mph fastball in on his hands. Hit tool is more advanced than power tool at this stage, but it's easy to dream on the pop as he learns to make better use of the strength in his 6-foot-2, 205-pound frame. Showed below-average speed on a groundout (4.30 from the left side). But showed off a plus arm from right field, throwing a strike to third base in the air to catch Davis Wendzel trying to tag from second on a fly ball. (Aaron Fitt)

Named to both the Cape Cod All-Star game and an End of Season All-League team, Bleday led Orleans in batting average (.311) and slugging percentage (.500) this summer after leading Vanderbilt with a .368/.494/.511 slash last spring. Hit five home runs this summer with his best bolt, according to league Trackman sources, a 430’ shot to right center that left the bat at 109 mph. He could further tap into his power potential by adding some loft to his swing. As an SEC performer with a potential plus pro hit tool, he’s a likely first round pick this June. (Seifert)