Justin
Maler

Preseason - Long Island (February 23, 2018)

Justin is a 5’8” 155 lb C that ran a 4.84 home-to-first. Offensively: He bats with a slightly open stance, with his knees slightly crouched. He has most of his weight on his back leg, he uses a small stride. Did a very good job of putting the barrel on the ball, good use of his lower half. He  had a very good round of BP, hitting line drives all over. Defensively: His strength was in blocking the ball, pop time ranged from 2.28 to 2.38.

Long Island Top Prospect (January 16, 2017)

Maler, a 2019 right-handed hitting catcher currently ranked as the 6th best catcher for the class of 2019, stands at 5-foot-7 and weighs 138 pounds, ran a 4.27 from home to first. Offensively- Begins with an upright slightly open athletic lower half with the hands in front of the back shoulder and barrel of the bat straight up with a slight wrap towards the pitcher. Uses a simple toe-to-heel movement with a slight shift of weight back while the hands are loaded straight back outside the back shoulder during the launch phase of the swing. Displayed line drive pop from the pull side gap to the center of the field getting quality extension and keeping the hands behind the rotation of the hips as well as being compact and quick to the ball with the hands.   Defensively- Athletic square primary stance, knees angled slightly down the first base line, with the glove position above and in front of the shin guard. Received the ball with quiet hands, keeping the glove under the ball in the lower third of the zone which helped give quality presentation of the ball in the zone. Throws to second were strong and accurate, however the release could improve and get quicker with an adjustment to transfer the ball more consistently from the center of the body while keeping the throwing arm shorter as it wraps behind the head before release and getting to the power position. Registered an impressive pop time of 1.94 and arm velocity of 66 MPH with plenty of room to grow for this 2019 grad.