Jack
Bauer

Virginia commit, currently ranked No. 3 in Illinois and No. 15 in the country. Long-levered 6-foot-3, 191-pounds, some present strength in the lower-half, still holds room for added physical growth in the coming years. Was working with a 50-pitch limit and went 2.1 innings, scattering two hits with one earned run, one walk and five strikeouts. Easy and simple delivery, stays over the rubber with his back knee and drives in-line down the mound, slight cross-fire at times, not much perceived effort. Long and loose arm swing, ¾ release window with arm-speed. Fastball sat 96-99 mph early on with heavy arm-side run, collecting swing/miss in the upper quadrants of the zone, settled in around 94-97 mph in the second and 93-95 in the third. Slider was his best secondary offering with slurvy, sharp action and depth, showing the ability to dump it in for strikes, also used to backdoor RHH, 78-81 mph (2700 rpm). Flashed a changeup with hard dive, 83-84 mph, looks to be a potential quality third offering. High-level draft follow garnering first day attention.

Jack Bauer, LHP, Lincoln-Way East, 2025 Virginia commit. Currently ranked No. 3 in the state and No. 71 in the country. Got the ball to start for the Griffins and had a very loud showing in his two innings of work. The loose-moving 6-foot-3, 191-pound southpaw was sitting 98-100 mph with his fastball in the first frame, playing with armside run. Bauer would settle in at 93-97 mph with his fastball in the second inning. He showed feel for an 80-81 mph slider that was tight and gave opposing left-handed hitters trouble throughout his outing. He has a simple, segmented delivery with a higher leg kick into a slightly coiled balance point, paired with a loose, full arm action that plays from a ¾ slot. Bauer would go on to allow just one baserunner in his two innings, on a walk, while tallying six strikeouts. A name to watch as the MLB Draft nears in July.

Virginia commit. Standing in at a projectable 6-foot-3, 175-pound frame, Bauer (Lincoln-Way East, 2025) started on the mound for Top Tier Americans in Saturday’s game, throwing two innings with three strikeouts and not allowing a run. The left-handed pitcher’s three pitch mix gave hitters fits during his outing where he flashed multiple fastballs up to 94 mph and sat 91-94 mph on the day. With his offspeed, he employed a sharp slider at 78-79 mph and a changeup at 80-82 mph. While he continues to develop consistency with his command, his movement on his offspeed was the real breaking point in his performance, causing multiple hitters to freeze up. Bauer’s appearance was strong enough to earn Top Tier an 8-0 victory as he was able to showcase why he is one of the top left-handed pitchers in the country right now.

Prep Baseball All-American Game: Pure electricity from the left side. Standing 6-foot-3, 177-pounds with high-level projection remaining, Bauer uses a slower, methodical delivery with a loose arm action out of a three-quarters slot. Fastball will explode out of the hand at 92-94, touching 95 with heavy arm-side run. Shows aptitude to paint both sides of the plate and ability to create swing-and-miss with the pitch. Innate feel to spin (Avg. 2633) a low-80s slider that will get some sweep and can creates whiffs. Changeup could be trending towards an above-average pitch at 82-84 with present plus command and arm-side fade while maintaining arm speed. The Virginia commit will miss bats with all three pitches, and shows a ceiling that can remain one of the best pitchers in the class.

The top prospect in the Illinois’ 2025 class, LHP Jack Bauer (Lincoln-Way East), took the mound on Saturday for Top Tier Americans 2025. Bauer showed much of what we have become accustomed to seeing; premier arm talent with electric stuff. The overall polish and control for the Virginia commit continues to develop but his fastball sat comfortably in the low-90s, topping at 92 mph, while playing with all kinds of life and jump through the zone. The control was scattered some on this look but when it was in the zone, he was getting a number of uncomfortable, late swings. He also continues to improve the action and upside to his slider. He is still developing the consistent feel to land the pitch in the zone but the intent and spin have ticked up considerably over the past year-or-so. He is now throwing his slider at 80 mph with 2700+ rpm and when it's right it flashes late, tight sweeping action that has all the makings of a wipeout offering down the road. Will be pitching at the inaugural PBR All-American Game in Milwaukee.

LHP Jack Bauer (Lincoln-Way East, 2025) emerged as the top prospect in the state last summer, eventually earning an invitation to the PBR Future Games as one of the younger prospects in attendance, ultimately leading to a commitment to Virginia. Bauer clearly put in work this offseason, continuing to see his fastball velocity climb, now up to 92.6 mph. That velocity, however, was not the most impressive part of this smooth operating, easy left-handers bullpen as he showed off a much-improved, high-spinning, mid-70’s slider with all kinds of horizontal action, playing with an average of 16.6 inches of horizontal movement and an average of 2743 rpm. The pitch is thrown with much more arm speed and intent than we have seen in the past and has a chance to be a wipe-out offering if he can harness it moving forward. The changeup was also an above-average offering, landing in the zone 50% of the time with an average of 16.5 inches of horizontal movement, heading the opposite direction as the slider. Highly-impressive early season look at one of the top 2025 left-handed arms in the country.

Positional Profile: LHP
Body: 6-3, 175-pounds. Athletic, broad-shouldered build.
Delivery: Simple, hybrid delivery, tall and fall delivery works with extreme ease and on-line down the mound.
Arm Action: LH. Loose, free-flowing arm action, quick out front, 3/4 slot.
FB: T93, 90-92 mph. Advanced life and ease out of the hand, all kinds of finish and jump through the zone. T2346, 2266 average rpm.
SL: 76-77 mph. Advanced spin, thrown aggressively, tight 2/8 sweeping action. Potential swing and miss pitch down the road. T2817, 2743 average rpm.
CH: 83-85 mph. Maintains arm speed, showed feel, mostly straight. T2199, 2117 average rpm.

LHP Jack Bauer (Lincoln-Way East, 2025) emerged as the top prospect in the state last summer, eventually earning an invitation to the PBR Future Games as one of the younger prospects in attendance, ultimately leading to a commitment to Virginia. Bauer clearly put in work this offseason, continuing to see his fastball velocity climb, now up to 92.6 mph. That velocity, however, was not the most impressive part of this smooth operating, easy left-handers bullpen as he showed off a much-improved, high-spinning, mid-70’s slider with all kinds of horizontal action, playing with an average of 16.6 inches of horizontal movement and an average of 2743 rpm. The pitch is thrown with much more arm speed and intent than we have seen in the past and has a chance to be a wipe-out offering if he can harness it moving forward. The changeup was also an above-average offering, landing in the zone 50% of the time with an average of 16.5 inches of horizontal movement, heading the opposite direction as the slider. Highly-impressive early season look at one of the top 2025 left-handed arms in the country.

Arguably nobody in the state has been on a quicker, higher climb than Jack Bauer (Lincoln-Way East, 2025), who officially broke out at the PBR Future Games, and continued to show the same high-level stuff at the State Games. Bauer, who has a chance to soar towards the top of the Illinois rankings, has an ultra-fluid, easy delivery and continues to set personal bests everytime he comes to an event. This time around, Bauer, listed at an upside 6-foot-2, 175-pounds, ran his fastball up to 91.4 mph sitting comfortably in the upper-80’s. Bauer controlled the fastball throughout and showed two developing off-speed offerings for strikes in an upper-60s curveball and 76-78 mph changeup. Bauer struck out six in his three inning stint. The floor continues to elevate for Bauer and the ceiling remains arguably the top in the class.

Positional Profile: LHP
Body: 6-3, 175-pounds. Athletic, well-proportioned build.
Delivery: Controlled tempo, medium balance point into a slight drop/drive lower-half, maintains knee bend while pushing down the mound, stride works in-line with the plate. In-game stats: 3 IP, 6 K, 2 BB, 1 H
Arm Action: LH. Long arm swing out of the glove into a 3/4 slot.
FB: T91.4, 85-89 mph. Slight running action to the arm-side. T2272, 2154 average rpm.
CB: 66-67 mph. Flashed sharp 1/7 action. T2477, 2429 average rpm.
CH: 73-77 mph. Slight fading action to the arm-side. T2054, 1884 average rpm.

Positional Profile: LHP
Body: 6-3, 175-pounds. Athletic, well-proportioned build.
Delivery: Controlled tempo, medium balance point into a slight drop/drive lower-half, maintains knee bend while pushing down the mound, stride works in-line with the plate. In-game stats: 3 IP, 6 K, 2 BB, 1 H
Arm Action: LH. Long arm swing out of the glove into a 3/4 slot.
FB: T91.4, 85-89 mph. Slight running action to the arm-side. T2272, 2154 average rpm.
CB: 66-67 mph. Flashed sharp 1/7 action. T2477, 2429 average rpm.
CH: 73-77 mph. Slight fading action to the arm-side. T2054, 1884 average rpm.

The biggest winner on the mound was LHP Jack Bauer (Lincoln-Way East, 2025). Standing at 6-foot-2, 170-pounds, Bauer has all sorts of projection in his lean/wiry frame. He moves down the mound athletically with a drop/drive lower-half and minimal perceived effort, remaining in-line to the plate before firing from a clean/loose ¾ slot. His fastball worked in the 87-89 mph range, jumping out of his hand with life to the arm-side and spinning at an average of 2,291 RPM (T2440 RPM). His breaking ball plays off a sharp 1/7 plane, spinning at an average of 2,420 RPM, 68-69 mph. His final offering was a fading changeup at 76-78 mph, getting under it at times but thrown with near fastball arm-speed.

Positional Profile: LHP/OF
Body: 5-11, 152-pounds. Projectable frame.
Delivery: Starts with feet staggered (lead foot closer to first base), athletic delivery with a drop-and-drive lower-half, strides in-line, gains ground down the mound.
Arm Action: LH. Loose 3/4 slot, athletic arm.
FB: T79, 76-78 mph. Generally straight.  T2177, 2096 average rpm.
CB: 62-65 mph. Gradual 1/7 shape, short action at times. T2281, 2169 average rpm.