Follow @PBRWestVirginia

By Dan Williams
West Virginia / Western Pennsylvania Director of Scouting

As the PBR West Virginia summer showcase events wrap up with the Eastern Panhandle Showcase on August 26th at Potomac State College, we will recap some of the top WV prospects seen at PBR events this summer. There will be an obvious geographical bias toward the southern part of the state which should change following the upcoming showcase. It is recognized in reviewing this year's high school and summer results that Northern West Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle are home to a significant pool of underclass talent. 

Top Prospects

Trevor Barnhart, 2018, University, OF
6-foot-1 220-pound right-handed hitter initiates swing from neutral set up with short stride.  There is good balance. hands are short and quick to baseball. There was some back elbow leak.  Weight shift and hip turn are aggressive and good associated separation exists.  Swing played to impressive round of BP with gap to gap line drives sprayed throughout.  A bat exit velocity of 92 was recorded..

Defensively, gets good reads, catches ball at it's height and plays through the ball.  Recorded 7.10 sixty and 87 mph on throws from OF.

Madison Jeffrey, 2018, Cabell Midland,1B/RHP
6-foot,185-pound right-handed hitter initiates swing from a neutral narrow set up.  Utilizes a long stride and aggressive weight shift in achieving good separation. He gets bat on plane early and maintains throughout zone. Hips and hands are quick with good extension to and through the baseball.  An 87 mph bat exit velocity was recorded.

Defensively, There is excellent athleticism for first baseman while showing good footwork and moving well laterally.  Throwing motion is somewhat long and Jeffrey tends to drop elbow.

On the mound, The right-hander pitches from a high 3/4 arm slot with a loose quick arm action.  He demonstrates good balance, stays in line and consistently repeats his delivery.  FB sat 86-87 with substantial run and sink.  CB thrown at 72-75 had 12-5 shape, late break and considerable depth. Slider sat 74-76 and at its's best was short and tight with 10-4 shape.  It was somewhat inconsistent on this day.

Brett Morris, 2018, Winfield, SS
6-foot-4, 200-pound right-handed hitter with long angular frame.  Morris initiates swing from a narrow base with short stride to neutral. He has quick, loose hands. Swing is short with direct path to baseball and good balance. Morris showed ability to use whole field in BP spraying line drives gap to gap. He recorded a bat exit velocity of 88 mph and ran 7.00 sixty.  He may benefit from widening out slightly and incorporating longer stride to achieve greater separation.

Defensively, shows ability to create good angles and hops. Demonstrates good range, soft hands and a clean, quick transfer/throwing motion. Consistent with height there is some tendency to play upright.

Nick Leonard, 2018, Brooke, SS/RHP
5-foot-10, 175-pound right-handed hitter had committed to Alderson Broaddus University in days leading up to showcase. He flashed a two way skill set that projects to considerable success at that level.  Initiates swing from neutral set up with short controlled stride.  Aggressive weight shift and hip turn away from hands leads to good separation.  There is excellent balance and rhythm to load and swing while consistently staying behind baseball. Bat is on plane early and late.  There is tendency to bury bat deep in hands and late head movement created some inconsistency in squaring baseball.  A bat exit velocity of 89 mph was recorded.

Defensively, fields ball bottom up and out front demonstrating confident, soft hands. There is excellent footwork creating appropriate angle and hops.  A clean quick transfer is present with Leonard consistently following throw.  Leonard threw 84 mph across the diamond.  Further evidence of Leonard's considerable athleticism was 7.07 sixty time.

On the mound, sat 86-87 touching 88 mph. Fastball showed subtle arm-side run.  Secondary offerings were inconsistent on this day. Although at it's best 71-73 mph CB had 12-6 shape with moderate depth. Slider thrown at 66-69 mph had short slow 11-7 break. Delivery was repeated well. There was tendency to spin with front side resulting in subtle arm drag. Leonard would benefit from staying closed longer and driving over front side more aggressively.

Noah Short, 2018, Hurricane, RHP
6-foot-1, 175-pound right-handed pitcher, Short demonstrated considerable arm quickness out of a high 3/4 arm slot.  FB sat 85-87 with substantial arm side run and sink.  There is good rhythm and repeatability to delivery. CB thrown at 71-72 mph had 11-5 shape and late, sharp break with good depth. There was difficulty commanding change up on this day. Mechanically, Short consistently brought his stride foot down and behind his drive leg prior to returning on line at front foot contact. This created a subtle forward weight shift during stride.  Benefit would be gained from staying in line from balance point through front foot contact.

Recent West Virginia News