Avery
Duncan

RHP Avery Duncan (Notre Dame Academy, 2024) has made some massive leaps to his game since our previous look at him in the summer and he got to show them off during Saturday’s talented event. Now listed at a stronger 6-foot-2, 183 pounds, Duncan put together one of the top ‘pens of the entire event. On the mound, Duncan is an easy, athletic mover and couples it with a loose, quick arm that topped at 89.9 mph on his hardest bullet to the plate. One of our staff’s biggest takeaways from Duncan’s ‘pen was the advances he has made to his breaking ball as he showed the utmost control over it and it now has a sharper, 11/5 bite than previous looks. He also showed confidence and feel for a changeup with late fade/depth to round out his repertoire.

Positional Profile: RHP/SS
Body: 6-2, 183-pounds. Athletic build with fill coming, strong lower-half.
Delivery: Methodical drop and drive delivery, toe lands closed at landing.
Arm Action: RH. Long, loose, quick arm action, high 3/4 slot.
FB: T90, 87-90 mph. Mostly straight with carry through the zone, mixes in a two-seam that has arm-side run. T2353, 2078 average rpm.
CB: 77-79 mph. 10/4 plane, hard break, shows feel. T2627, 2441 average rpm.
CH: 85-86 mph. Quality arm speed, shows fade and depth to the pitch. T1805, 1664 average rpm.

Inside of an upside, high-waisted 6-foot-1, 160-pound frame, Duncan exhibited some high projection from the mound on Saturday, reaching back for an 85.9 mph high with the fastball, the tops among sophomores in attendance. Duncan gets to his velocity without much effort, combined with a fluid delivery down mound, maintaining sturdy posture and a looseness that results in large elbow flexion from a ¾ slot. His arm slot results in big horizontal action on the fastball, averaging over 13 inches of arm-side break. Reportedly, Duncan is relatively new to pitching, but you wouldn’t know it by the confidence he has in his splitter. He throws it aggressively and kills the spin on it effectively, and he consistently spotted it at or under the bottom of the zone. Duncan also uses a short sweeping slider that projects, backed by quality spin that he showed the signs of gaining the control over. Overall, the Notre Dame Academy prospect has earned a place among the top 2024 arms we’ve seen this winter.

Positional Profile: SS/3B
Body: 6-1, 150-pounds. Thin, high waisted.
Hit: RHH. Stock setup. Vertical tip during the forward move. Vertical entry working from above. Scissoring backside. Pullside emphasis. Quick barrel action.
Power: 88.6 max exit velocity, averaged 81.2 mph. 285’ max distance.
Arm: RH. INF - 84 mph. Long, low 3/4 action with a loose quality. Arm angle adjustability. Carry with accuracy.
Defense: Travels low to the ball. Works from right to left with light feet and a stagger step. Smooth transitions.
Run: 7.34 runner in the 60. 

Delivery: Clean wind-up with a drop and drive slight cross striding action.
Arm Action: RH. Long loop action with a deep pocket and late rise. Some whip to the arm. Low 3/4 with relative arm speed for the frame.
FB: T85.9, 81.5-84.3 mph. Slot helps generate large side-to-side action; 19.5 inches of max horizontal movement, which was an event-high. T2156, 2030 average rpm.
SL: 71.9-75.2 mph. Limits his intent with the pitch, somewhat, reducing overall movement. Matches arm slot and projects to generate large sweep as it develops, adds confidence. T2199, 2096 average rpm.
SPLT: 75-77 mph. Maintained arm slot effectively. Featured some late vertical action under the zone; flashed cut-like action.

Positional Profile: SS/3B
Body: 6-1, 150-pounds. Lean, long levers, quality movement actions.
Hit: RHH. Tall narrow setup. Moderate stride length and early to plant.  Direct vertical path spraying to all fields. Handsy action.
Power: 81.9 max exit velocity, averaged 71.6 mph. 216’ max distance.
Arm: RH. INF - 83 mph. Long 3/4 action with carry and accuracy.
Defense: Organized feet with quick transitions and momentum capture.
Run: 7.25 runner in the 60.