Luke
Blackwell

2024 Future Games: RHP Luke Blackwell (Valmeyer) is a talented arm from Southern Illinois to know. He stands in a strong, 6-foot-3, 200-pound frame with athleticism to pair. The big right-hander has simple and easy mechanics, with a compact and quick arm out of a ¾ slot. In his two-inning stint, he showed composure and confidence, and continued to show better as he went on. He worked his fastball up to 90 mph, touching it three times, but sat mostly 87-89 mph with mostly straight actions. Working off of his fastball, Blackwell showed feel for both a slider and a change-up, the former sitting 77-82 mph with short horizontal actions, and the latter sitting 81-83 mph with arm-side fade. He’s a multi-sport athlete with plenty of upside still to come on the mound.

Strong, physically advanced 6-foot-3, 195-pound sophomore that really looks the part in a uniform. Took the mound for the Pirates in a win over Dupo, punching out 13 over six innings of work with an earned run allowed on five hits. Works with tempo and rhythm, gets onto his backside, level shoulders work into a strong glove arm tuck, open toe at footstrike. Finishes with intent through release and onto a firm lead leg that sticks the landing consistently. Tight compact arm path, high ¾ finish with arm speed. Fastball held 86-89 mph throughout his outing, touched 89 multiple times late, with true hard arm-side run that covered the entire plate. Flashed tight slider with subtle tilt at 78-80 mph, used sparingly, and also showed feel for a fading changeup in warmups but did not show it in-game. Physically built small town multi-sport athlete that holds a high ceiling on the hill.

Uncommitted. Blackwell had an impressive week going 7-for-12 (.583) at the plate with a home run, three triples, a double and 12 RBIs. He started on the mound against Okawville, and struck out nine in four innings of work while allowing two hits.

Uncommitted. Blackwell went 5-for-10 with two doubles, six walks, three RBI, five runs scored, and two stolen bases offensively. On the mound, he got the save on Saturday against Midland Varna (0-4-1).

Blackwell stands in a 6-foot-3, 195-pound frame with long levers and seemingly more to come. His fastball comes out of his hand clean, and sat 86-87 mph with some arm-side action. He showed a short breaking slider that sat in the mid-70s, as well as an upper-70s change-up with an average of 17.3 inches of fade.

Putting together perhaps the most intriguing look during bullpens was RHP Luke Blackwell (Valmeyer, 2026). Blackwell stands in at an athletic 6-foot-3, 190-pounds with a short, compact arm action that works out of a tight window with some deception. Blackwell’s fastball played at 84-85 mph, topping at 86.1 mph, which was one of the day’s hardest marks, and he consistently threw it for strikes, too. Playing off of his fastball, Blackwell landed a slider with subtle sweep for strikes at 74-76 mph and he also threw a changeup at 75-76 mph that played with arm-side run.

Positional Profile: RHP/3B
Body: 6-3, 190-pounds. Athletic, high-waisted build.
Delivery: Athletic, easy delivery, medium leg lift into tall/fall delivery, lands square to home.
Arm Action: RH. Short, compact arm action. 3/4 slot. Hides the ball.
FB: T86, 84-86 mph. Clean with life out of the hand. 4-seam characteristics that play up in the zone. T2089, 2038 average rpm.
SL: 74-76 mph. Horizontal action that flashed depth. Out-pitch potential. T1945, 1927 average rpm.
CH: 75-76 mph. Circle-change, arm-side run with depth that plays down in the zone. T1936, 1906 average rpm.

RHP Luke Blackwell (Valmeyer, IL, 2026) is a lanky, long-levered projectable athlete to follow from this event with his high school career set to start shortly. Blackwell moves down the mound well for standing at 6-foot-2, 185-pounds and, with a few mechanical adjustments, should add more velocity down the road, presently topping at 80 mph. He spun a 69-71 mph breaking ball around the zone, and flashed arm-side feel for his 71-73 mph changeup, throwing it at fastball arm speed. 

Positional Profile: RHP/3B
Body: 6-2, 185-pounds. Lean frame with highly projectable levers.
Delivery: Tempo'd delivery, front hip turns in at balance point, gets onto his backside some to get downhill. Works across body, lands onto an open toe, square finish.
Arm Action: RH. Long arm action with a high back elbow that finishes from a high 3/4 slot.
FB: T80, 80-80 mph. Cuts it some, strikes. Clean out the hand, more velocity to come soon. T1994, 1949 average rpm.
CB: 69-71 mph. 11/5 shape, tight spin with depth at times, developing feel for the zone. T1979, 1851 average rpm.
CH: 71-73 mph. Kills spin, thrown at fastball arm speed, feel to fade it to the arm-side of the plate. T1591, 1483 average rpm.

Positional Profile: RHP/3B
Body: 6-2, 185-pounds. Lean frame with highly projectable levers.
Delivery: Tempo'd delivery, front hip turns in at balance point, gets onto his backside some to get downhill. Works across body, lands onto an open toe, square finish.
Arm Action: RH. Long arm action with a high back elbow that finishes from a high 3/4 slot.
FB: T80, 80-80 mph. Cuts it some, strikes. Clean out the hand, more velocity to come soon. T1994, 1949 average rpm.
CB: 69-71 mph. 11/5 shape, tight spin with depth at times, developing feel for the zone. T1979, 1851 average rpm.
CH: 71-73 mph. Kills spin, thrown at fastball arm speed, feel to fade it to the arm-side of the plate. T1591, 1483 average rpm.