Caden
Bodine

Cape Cod: The main reason Bender didn’t see much time behind the dish for Bourne until the postseason is the 5-foot-10, 200-pound switch-hitter, Bodine. Short and strong with a compact stroke and above-average bat speed from both sides of the plate he was one of the top hitters on the Cape this summer. The bat speed isn’t so great that he projects to hit for anything more than average power at the pro level, but there looked to be more juice from the right side than the left as he absolutely demolished a home run high and deep to left field during one of my looks against Falmouth on July 21. It’s enough pop from either side that he will need to be pitched to carefully and not just have fastballs shoved at him over the long haul. Bodine tracks all pitches well and doesn’t miss the heater very often. He also uses all fields from both sides and walked more than he struck out this summer (18 BB vs 13 SO) after doing the same this past spring for the Chants (34 BB vs 21 SO). Behind the plate he showed plus arm strength with POP times consistently around 1.95 and to the bag accuracy. His blocking skills are solid, but his receiving skills will need some polish as he follows the baseball, instead of beating it to the spot and feathering back into the zone. There’s no doubt he has the hands to improve, displaying their softness with a nifty pick and tag at the plate at the all-star game in Harwich. Bodine is on my list as a Day One follow for 2025.