Conor
Essenburg

1B/LHP Conor Essenburg (Lincoln-Way West, 2025), a recent Kansas State commit, showed off some natural actions on the infield, moving around the bag with fluid footwork and soft hands with a clear feel for the position - also reaching up to 89 mph across the diamond which is four mph harder than our last look. At the plate, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound, right-handed hitter has a fluid, upside right-handed swing that works on-plane with rhythm and feel for the barrel. The true, two-way prospect is a southpaw on the mound with an advanced fastball curveball combination, sitting 86-88 mph with some big arm side action, pairing well with a slurve type breaking ball that works across the zone. 

Positional Profile: 1B/LHP
Body: 6-1, 190-pounds. Broad-shouldered, athletic build.
Hit: RHH. Tall open stance, slight leg kick, minimal hand load. Fluid, athletic sewing, on the barrel and on plane. Stays balanced with present bat speed.
Power: 100 max exit velocity, averaged 95.5 mph. 354’ max distance.
Arm: LH. INF - 89 mph. Loose, athletic arm, plays from a 3/4 slot. Strong arm.
Defense: Soft hands, athletic actions with fluid footwork, plays with some rhythm and above-average feel.
Run: 7.18 runner in the 60. 

Delivery: Slight drop and drive delivery, long levers work rotationally.
Arm Action: LH. Long arm action out of 3/4 slot, easy arm.
FB: T88, 86-88 mph. Plays with arm side run, easy life. T2205, 2146 average rpm.
CB: 72-75 mph. Slurve type works across zone from lower slot. Occasional decel. T2244, 2148 average rpm.
KN: 75-77 mph. True knuckle action, minimal rotational, around the zone.

LHP/1B Conor Essenburg (Lincoln Way-West, 2025) has feel and instincts to his overall game. Offensively, the right-handed hitter has an athletic swing that stays on-plane and repeats natural gap-to-gap contact. Defensively, he moves athletically and his arm works in unison with his body, routinely firing firm and accurate throws that showed life and carry from a loose/whippy arm; also acting as an elite defender at first base. His arm easily translates over to the mound, working with a controlled tempo into a short balance point, gliding down the mound while remaining in-line. He worked his fastball in the 84-88 mph range, playing with clear life out of the hand and life through the zone. His best secondary offering was a sharp 1/7 breaking ball, thrown with feel to his glove-side on the back-foot of would-be righties, 70-73 mph. His changeup plays with hard fading action to his arm-side, kept mostly down at 76-78 mph. To round out his repertoire he went to an intriguing knuckleball, thrown hard at 73-77 mph while killing spin and playing with unpredictable action. 

Positional Profile: 1B/LHP
Body: 6-0, 165-pounds. Long legged
Hit: RHH. Tall, slightly open setup. Smooth leg lift timing trigger. Athletic swing, lets the ball travel, fast hands, works uphill and on-plane throughout, stays inside the baseball.
Power: 91.7 max exit velocity, averaged 76.2 mph. 305’ max distance.
Arm: LH. INF - 85 mph. Short, clean arm action. High 3/4 slot. Quick to release at times. Throws play with carry across the diamond.
Defense: Athletic actions, quick feet and exchange with feel for the position.
Run: 7.63 runner in the 60. 

Essenburg has an athletic look to his overall game and especially at the plate. It is a loose, athletic swing that gets extension through contact and is tailored to elevate the baseball with authority and sit somewhere in the middle of an order. He is also an above-average first baseman and has a bright future on the mound, though he did not pitch at this event; his 85 mph high across from a loose, quick left-handed arm is evidence of this, however.

6-foot, 153 pounds; long levers, high waist, present athleticism. Came in relief to strike out nine over five innings to secure the win on Friday night at our PBR at The Rock Championships. Upside arm, ¾ slot with a loose/quick arm speed, touching 79 mph with the fastball; 2/8 slider at 64-67 mph, clear feel to spin it, advanced for his age, measured around the 2,100 rpm range. Right-handed hitter with an aggressive presence in the box; gap-to-gap hitter. Quiet, fluid pre-pitch, simple and short to the zone, loose hands, all-fields batted balls. Launched several hard-hit baseballs into both gaps, up-the-middle approach offensively. Drove in 12 runs over the weekend, including five in the team’s championship game victory.