Alex
Vander Loop

6-foot-1, 190-pound frame. Currently ranked No. 40 in Wisconsin’s 2024 class. Vander Loop had quite the day on Saturday picking up a five inning complete game shutout while striking out 12 and only allowing three baserunners. Vander Loop operates through a ¾ slot with a long, loose arm action with effort. Vander Loop utilizes a side-step windup with a high leg lift and a drop/drive approach. Fastball sat in the mid 80s in the beginning of the outing, topping out at 87 mph with ASR and then dropped to low 80s later in the outing. Mixed in a sharp slider and a deceptive changeup that kept hitters on their toes. Also, picked up a couple of singles at the plate and drove in a run.

RHP Alex Vander Loop (Kimberly, 2024) has quickly become an uncommitted arm-to-know in the state’s to-be senior class and he only asserted that notion even more during Tuesday’s Top Prospect Games. Vander Loop is a powerful mover on the bump, working athletically and aggressively downhill, pairing it with a quick arm that pumped strikes with a three-pitch mix during his two inning stint. During his outing, Vander Loop sat 85-87 mph (T88 mph) with his fastball and created nearly 14’ of induced-vertical break on average. As for his offspeeds, he earned a number of awkward swings-and-misses, both in the zone and out, on a sweeping slider that maxed at over 2,500 rpm, and 14.2’ of horizontal movement. He rounded out his well-above average three-pitch mix with a deceptive changeup with 21’ of horizontal movement at its max and that too earned a number of whiffs.

Positional Profile: RHP/1B
Body: 6-1, 190-pounds. Sturdy build with more fill to come.
Delivery: High leg lift with toe point. Drop and drive. Aggressive downhill.
Arm Action: RH. Full arm loop with whip. 3/4 slot. Quick arm.
FB: T88, 85-87 mph. Life through the zone with carry and run.  T1911, 1838 average rpm.
SL: 73-76 mph. Sweeping action. Out pitch. Feel for the pitch.  T2537, 2423 average rpm.
CH: 77-80 mph. Thrown at arm speed. Fade and depth. Feel for the pitch.  T1431, 1195 average rpm.

Positional Profile: RHP/3B
Body: 6-1, 200-pounds. Sturdy build, lower half strength.
Delivery: High leg lift, slight coil, drop and drive delivery, toe lands closed at footstrike.
Arm Action: RH. Compact, 3/4 slot.
FB: T87, 85-87 mph. Life out of the hand, some arm-side run. T2127, 1986 average rpm.
SL: 74-76 mph. 10/4 shape, sweeping actions, late break. T2402, 2331 average rpm.
CH: 77-79 mph. Fade and depth, locates low in the zone. T1692, 1594 average rpm.

RHP Alex Vander Loop (Kimberly, 2024) listed at a strong 6-foot-1, 200-pounds. He showed well on the mound where he featured a three-pitch mix. He worked down the mound with a quick and compact arm with a fastball that sat 85-87 mph and topped out at 87.4 mph. He consistently worked the bottom of the zone with the pitch that showed life out of the hand with arm-side run. His slider had a 10/4 shape with sweeping actions, quality spin (2,330 spin rate avg.), and late break that he located low and away. He had above average feel for his changeup, throwing it with quality intent, and it flashed fade actions (16.7’ of horizontal movement) with the ability to locate the pitch low in the zone.

Built at a strong 6-foot, 185 pounds, the Kimberly sophomore right-hander was among the day’s biggest winners after sitting 82-84 mph in his ‘pen and then reaching back-to-back 85 highs with his final two pitches. Vander Loop’s fastball features some run that comes out of a lower slot, as one of the lowest average release heights in attendance (5.1 feet). His slurve-type breaking ball, 62-65 mph, also averaged the largest horizontal action of any curveball in attendance, at -18.0 inches. His fastball and sweeping curve play well off each other, and there’s a usable changeup here to round out a follow three-pitch mix.

Positional Profile: RHP/1B
Body: 6-0, 185-pounds. Strong, thick throughout. Above-average power mover.
Hit: RHH. Tall setup, open to square stride with a short stride length. Present wrapped barrel. Vertical action through the zone. Taking his backside into impact with a tilted upper half posture. Short hand action while clearing the frontside. All fields spray with lots of hard and low line drives.
Power: 89 max exit velocity, averaged 84.4 mph. 315’ max distance.
Arm: RH. INF - 78 mph. High slot with carry.
Defense: Slow gather and transition. Above average glovework./ INF simple actions with good timing.
Run: 8.04 runner in the 60. 

FB: T85, 82.1-84.6 mph.  T2091, 1993 average rpm.
CB: 62.4-64.9 mph.  T2048, 1920 average rpm.
CH: 68.7-69.8 mph.  T1253, 1215 average rpm.