Zander
Mueth

Ole Miss signee and one of the nation’s top pitching prospects, slotted at No. 27 overall on the PBR National Rankings. Lanky, long-limbed 6-foot-6, 210-pound athlete with lean strength and room for more projection. Toed the rubber in a Southwestern Conference win for the Lancers, punching out seven over 4 ⅓ innings of work while surrendering only a hit. Loose, fluid, and rhythmic downhill mover, stays connected to the rubber, finishes onto a stable lead leg at footstrike with a consistent linear direction to target. Still developing a consistent feel for his long levers, is as good as anyone in the country when he’s in sync. Showed some mound presence and poise in this look, pitching through early adversity and dominating as the game went on. Long, loose, and continuous arm swing, finishes from a loose ¾ slot that accelerates out front of his body. Fastball sat 95-97 mph in the first, settling at 92-95 mph with rise and run traits at times, while also flashing sink into the lower half of the zone. Turned to his slider more often in this look, showing tight bullet-like spin at times, while landing it for strikes more consistently than we’ve seen this spring at 78-81 mph. Continues to garner plenty of professional attention each time he toes the rubber and is a name-to-know MLB Draft prospect for this year’s circuit. 

Mississippi signee, slotted at No. 2 overall in Illinois and No. 27 overall nationally. 6-foot-5, 190-pound long, lean, and lanky levers more than capable of adding lean strength down the road. Toed the rubber in a non-conference matchup against Columbia, hurling three quality innings before a thunder delay knocked him out of the contest. Easy and fluid mover, creates momentum downhill at leg lift, gets onto his backside and stays connected to front footstrike. Arm lands on time, stays closed throughout, efficient rotator that lands onto a stable lead leg. Athletic through release with controlled effort, more polished overall in this look than our previous one this spring. Long, loose, and fluid arm swing, clean out the hand with clear arm speed from a ¾ slot. Ran his fastball up to 98 twice, sitting 94-97 mph, got around it at times, working mostly to the glove-side while climbing up in the zone on occasion. Turned to his slider more often the second time through the lineup, flashing late swing-and-miss sweep at 78-81 mph that played around the zone more consistently. Threw a changeup at 85-86 mph to left-handed hitters, used sparingly. A more impressive look at one of the top right-handed arms in the country that continues to generate heavy MLB Draft buzz. 

Ole Miss commit, ranked No. 2 overall in the Illinois’ 2023 class and No. 27 overall nationally. 6-foot-5, 190-pounds with long, lean, and lanky levers capable of tacking on more mass down the road. Drew the start against conference foe Belleville West, striking out eight batters over 3 ⅓ innings of work. Quick side step starts delivery, turns in line to target with a subtle pause before leg lift, front hip turns inward to balance point, gets on his backside and works drop/drive downhill. Noticeable extension at footstrike, lands onto an open toe, finishes onto a firm lead leg. Athletic through release with some recoil, square finish and in line. Long and loose arm swing with plus arm speed, finishes clean from a fast ¾ arm slot. Fastball touched 96, sat 93-95 mph early, settled at 91-93 mph towards the latter of his outing. Comes out clean with minimal effort, creates natural run and sizzle from arm slot, more sustained velocity in the tank. Flashed a slider at 80-82 mph in this start. One of the top right-handed arms in the country that’s generating plenty of MLB Draft buzz this spring. 

The top-three prospects in Illinois remain unchanged and all three are high-level draft follows this spring in OF Dillon Head (Homewood-Flossmoor; Clemson), RHP Zander Mueth (Belleville East; Ole Miss) and CIF/COF George Wolkow (Downers Grove North; South Carolina).

Mueth, who sits at No. 2 is another prospect that pro scouts will be eager to get their eyes on this spring. The 6-foot-5, 190-pound right-handed arm has the most dynamic stuff in the class, highlighted by a 96 mph fastball, frisbee slider and a loose, elastic arm and delivery, with much more velocity to come down the road. 

Mississippi commit, currently ranked No. 1 in the Illinois 2023 class and No. 11 in the country. Long-limbed, elastic frame, standing 6-foot-5, 190-pounds, ultra-projectable and fluid moving. Mueth got the start against No. 1 Edwardsville and went 3.2 innings while racking up five punchouts to just one walk, one hit and didn’t allow a single run. The right-hander’s arm is ultra loose throughout his arm swing into release, playing long out of the glove and into a ¾ slot with effortless arm-speed. Down the mound, it is hard to find many pitchers that replicate the fluidity and flexibility of Mueth; coiling into balance point with a high leg-kick before moving down the mound with an athletic drop/drive lower-half, creating elite hip/shoulder separation at foot strike with impressive mobility throughout, also controlling his long limbs with ease and repeating consistently. Mueth’s fastball explodes out of the hand with heavy sinking action to the arm-side, sitting 93-95 mph, mostly 94-95 and topping out at 96 mph; locating often to the outer half of the plate to righties and missing barrels constantly. The separator in Mueth’s arsenal is his wipeout slider; thrown with fastball arm-speed and out of a near identical release window, diving off a 10/4 plane with late/sharp action and kept down, 80-82 mph - also collecting a number of swing-and-misses. He flashed a changeup very briefly in his outing at 83 mph, playing with heavy fading action to the arm-side and coming out of a similar fastball release slot. It is hard to find anyone in the country with the pure electricity that Mueth possesses on the mound; already able to control his long limbs, we can surely expect to only see an up-tick in velocity as he continues to develop physically. 

Ole Miss commit. The No. 1 ranked arm in the state, No. 11 nationally. 6-foot-5, 190-pound, loose-bodied, long-levered frame with plenty of room for continued physical development. Features some of the most explosive, high-end stuff in the country. Despite getting elite movement on all offerings, filled up the zone at an 81% clip. Poured in a first-pitch strike to 9 of the 10 batters he faced. Fastball was jumping out of the hand with explosive run and ride through the zone at 94-95 mph, touching a few 96’s. Gets elite arm-side-run and life to his fastball. Slider tunnels off the fastball, flashing devastating, wipeout potential, thrown with intent and advanced horizontal movement and sweeping action across the zone; sat 79-80 mph. Fluid, athletic mover down the mound. Delivery works with rhythm, lands square and on balance, finishes athletically. Long, uninterrupted, ultra-loose and whippy arm action from a low ¾ slot with extremely low effort throughout. Went three innings allowing one hit, no runs, no walks and struck out six. Eye-opening first start of the season for the 2023 MLB Draft prospect.

Positional Profile: RHP/3B
Body: 6-4, 170-pounds. Long, athletic frame
Delivery: Advanced easy delivery, athletic, tall and fall type, smooth tempo, level shoulders, lands square, works efficiently in line with target.
Arm Action: RH. Loose arm action, 3/4 arm slot.
FB: T92, 89-91 mph. Heavy ball jumps out of hand, advanced control at bottom of zone. T2251, 2133 average rpm.
SL: 77-79 mph. 10/4 shape, advanced sharp action, tight spin, works lateral, feel for strikes. T2367, 2301 average rpm.
CH: 82-84 mph. Arm side run, thrown for strikes, arm speed similar to fastball. T1860, 1785 average rpm.

Verbally committed to Ole Miss.

Positional Profile: RHP/3B. High level follow in 2023 class.
Body: 6-foot-4, 170-pounds. Projectable frame with present athleticism and tools.
Hit: RHH. Tall, open stance with some rhythm in his hands. Leg kick load and big stride. Level swing path, some feel for the barrel, loud line-drive contact to all fields.
Power: 87 mph exit velocity from the tee. Good bat speed.
Arm: RH. Long, clean arm action, high-¾ release. Above average carry.
Defense: Above average glove, fluid footwork and exchanges in INF.
Run: 7.16 runner in the 60. 

Delivery: Smooth drop-and-drive delivery. Long, clean extension with minimal effort. Ball jumps out of his hand.
Arm Action: RH. Long, clean high-¾ arm action. Electric arm speed.
FB: 89-91 mph, arm-side run, pounds zone with strikes. (avg. 2237 rpm).
SL: 76-77 mph, 10/4 shape, above average spin and depth with feel. (avg. 2394 rpm).
CH: 82-84 mph, solid fade and sink action low in the zone.

Uncommitted. Recently threw in front of PBR Georgia at LakePoint where he sat 84-87 mph. Started for GBA in Game two on Saturday; the first time in front of PBR Illinois. 6-foot-1, 170-pound, loose-bodied, right-handed pitcher. Athletic, lively frame with plenty of room for continued physical development. Fluid delivery works with tempo and rhythm, slightly across body, lands square, easy effort throughout. Long, uninterrupted arm path, works loose and quick out front, ¾ slot. Fastball jumps out of the hand, lively through the zone. Fastball has varying action, occasional late run and sink to the arm side, straightened out to the glove side. Controlled the zone. Worked comfortably at 83-85 mph and bumped it up to 87-88 mph whenever he needed or wanted too. Breaking ball has tight spin, gets underneath at times, 11/5 to 10/4 shape, 70-73 mph. Changeup, thrown with arm speed and feel, used sparingly, 78-81 mph.. High-ceiling, athletic, right-handed pitcher. Has the potential to become one of the top arms in the state.
Final Line: 3 IP, H, R, 3 K.