Mitchell
Morton

The 2021 JFG participant had one of the bigger hits of the night delivering a 3 run HR to tie the game that Plano West would end up winning in 14 innings. While his position in college will be behind the plate, Morton made several good plays at 3b. He showed the same soft hands at 3rd that he does while catching.  He has more than enough arm strength for the position as well. At the plate, there is plenty of bat speed and he has a lot of projection left in the body.  As he learns to use the whole field and stay inside the ball longer, Morton could hit at a high level.

Morton has some of the quickest hands at the plate for his grade in the state.  He has strong wrists and the ball explodes off his bat when he connects.  As he learns to use his legs more at the plate, he could be a power hitting catcher down the road.  He has a confident approach at the plate and took a very mature round of BP.  Behind the plate, he had a good presence about him catching pitchers he has never seen before.  The Jr. Futures Game participant has a high ceiling and will be an exciting follow.

Positional Profile: C/3B

Body: 6-foot-1, 165 pounds. 

Hit: RH. Balanced stance, hands set below shoulders pre-pitch, small leg lift load trigger, hands go back with the load to trigger the swing, slightly uphill swing plane hitting line drives and fly balls to the middle of the field and pull-side gap. 

Power: 87.8 mph max exit velocity in BP, 82.4 mph average exit velocity, 298 feet max distance.

Arm: RH. C - 75 mph. INF - 78 mph. Short arm action, good carry to the bag with accurate throws.  

Defense: Worked at catcher and infield. 2.15-2.25 pop time. Good footwork getting in line with 2B, quick funnel to release at times with good hands, quiet receiver, utilizes the one knee down stance, has strength to stick low pitch at times. On the infield, good footwork getting into fielding position, clean funnel to release, fields the ball in rhythm towards his target with good hands. 

Run: 7.56 runner in the 60.