Malachi
Paplanus

Uncommitted, currently ranked No. 10 in the Illinois 2024 class. Strong looking build, broad shoulders standing 6-foot-1, 200-pounds. The right-hander’s arm works loose throughout his arm circle into a ¾ slot, playing quick to release. Down the mound, Paplanus works with a repeatable delivery down the mound; reaching balance point and using a drop/drive lower-half to drive down the mound, remaining in-line with a square landing foot. His fastball cruised at 86-88 mph, showing life out of the hand and some run to his arm-side. He went to a slider most often for his change of pace offering; playing off a 10/4 plane with sharp action and feel, 77-79 mph with depth. He also featured a late fading changeup at 78-80 mph, thrown with confidence and feel for the zone.

Uncommitted, currently ranked No. 10 in Illinois’ 2024 class, No. 389 overall in the country. Athletic right-hander with a strong, 6-foot-1, 200-pound build. The right-hander works from a clean ¾ slot, moving down the mound with an athletic/repeatable delivery. His fastball started off at 82-84 mph early on, but gained steam throughout his outing while the temperature started to rise; settling in at 84-86 mph, T87 later in the game. It is hard to find a pitcher in the 2024 class that is as polished as Paplanus; featuring two high-level off-speed pitches to go along with his impeccable fastball control. His first secondary offering is a sharp slider, which he is able to navigate all around the zone with obvious confidence, 74-77 mph while averaging over 2,400 rpm, topping out at over 2,600. He throws his changeup with confidence as well, thrown at 79-81 mph with late fading action and feel for the corners of the zone. High-level right-hander to keep close tabs on moving forward. 

Positional Profile: RHP
Body: 6-1, 180-pounds. Well-proportioned frame.
Delivery: Stretch-only. Athletic, drop and drive delivery. Efficient lower half. Remains in line to the plate, front foot lands square.
Arm Action: RH. Long draw out of the glove. Quick arm action, high 3/4 slot.
FB: T89.3, 86.6-88.5 mph. Running action to the arm side. T2311, 2280 average rpm.
CB: 74.3-76.9 mph. 11/5 shape. High spin. Out pitch potential. T2610, 2473 average rpm.
CH: 79.3-81.8 mph. Flashed hard darting action to the arm side. T1761, 1679 average rpm.

RHP Malachi Paplanus (Huntley, 2024) falls into a similar category to Teschke, showing one of the more complete arsenals of the day. He’s got a blistering fastball at 87-89 mph, but it's his breaking ball that’s a true separator. He utilizes a high-spin curveball that reached 2,610 rpm, thrown confidently, 74-77 mph, that creates devastating out-pitch potential. 

Positional Profile: RHP/2B
Body: 6-1, 180-pounds.
Delivery: Polished delivery, showed the ability to repeat, drop and drive lower-half, explosive down the mound, throws with intent, athletic finish.
Arm Action: RH. Long out of the glove with a loose high 3/4 slot, quick arm.
FB: T83.9, 82.3-83.6 mph. T2256 rpm, jumps out of the hand with ride through the zone, some arm-side life at times.  T2256, 2197 average rpm.
CB: 69.4-70.5 mph. Tight spin, 10/4 shape, advanced feel for age, showed the ability to locate for strikes, T2482 rpm with a 2425 rpm average.  T2482, 2425 average rpm.
CH:  72-73 mph. Thrown with intent, showed some arm-side fade, able to command for strikes.  T1848, 1848 average rpm.

Uncommitted. 6-foot-1 170-pound frame, right-handed pitcher; highly-projectable, athletic frame. Looks to be one of the top 2024 prospects in the state. The right-hander started on the mound for Huntley and went four innings while scattering four hits, an earned run and striking out five. Clean, uninterrupted arm action, high 3/4 slot. Athletic, repeatable, polished delivery, gets to a strong balance point over the rubber, drop and drive type delivery, strides in-line with the plate. Fastball sat 80-83 mph, mostly straight action, with feel for the corners of the zone. Slider was 72-74 mph with sharp 10/4 action, thrown in any count both for strikes and to put hitters away; showed his confidence in the pitch, throwing it for the first pitch of the game. Paplanus features a very mature presence on the mound, especially for this age. High-follow 2024. 

Currently uncommitted. Highly-projectable, right-handed pitcher with a 6-foot-1, 170-pound frame. Paplanus looks to be one of the top arms in the Illinois 2024 class that we have seen to-date. Came out of the bullpen and only needed 10 pitches to strike out the side against Neuqua Valley in his one inning of work. Fluid, athletic delivery, stays strong and controlled over the rubber at balance point and strides on line down the mound. Clean arm action, high ¾ slot. Fastball sat 82-84 mph with late arm-side-life. Curveball was thrown at 70-73 mph with sharp action with feel for the zone. Changeup showed to be his best secondary offering, sat 74-75 mph with late sinking and arm-side action; used it to backdoor right-handed hitters on the outer half of the plate. High-level freshman to follow who is seeing action for No. 6 Huntley.

Positional Profile: 3B/RHP
Body: 6-1, 170-pounds.
Delivery: Stretch only, drop and drive delivery, repeatable, strong front side, lands square, works in line with target, balanced finish.
Arm Action: RH. Long, loose arm action, high 3/4 arm slot.
FB: T84, 83-84 mph. Plays downhill, arm side run at times. T2290, 2232 average rpm.
CB: 70-73 mph. 11/5 shape, tight spin. T2616, 2566 average rpm.
CH: 74-75 mph. Straight change, intent to throw down in the zone. T1954, 1875 average rpm.

Hit: RHH. Tall, balanced setup, leg lift, long stride, athletic pre-pitch actions. Short, aggressive swing, works slightly uphill, stays inside the baseball, gap-to-gap approach.
Power: 88.95 max exit velocity, averaged 83.32 mph. 282’ max distance.
Arm: RH. INF - 87 mph. Short, whippy arm action, high 3/4 arm slot, throws carry across infield. Best infield velocity at event.
Defense: Steady hands, flashes range and ability to throw on the run, plays with proper direction.
Run: 7.26 runner in the 60. 

One of the top all-around performances on the day came from freshman RHP/INF Malachi Paplanus (Huntley), who was making his PBR-event debut. On the mound, Paplunas’ most impressive asset may have been his biting 11/5 curveball, spinning at an average of 2,500-plus rpm, it played at 70-73 mph to go with an 83-84 mph fastball. As a position player, he was equally as impressive. On the infield, he plays with pace, controls his body on the move, and his arm played lively at 87 mph with carry across the diamond. Offensively, it is an athletic right-handed swing with uphill tendencies in a gap-to-gap approach, and he recorded a peak exit velocity of 89.0 mph during BP.