Prep Baseball Report

Preseason All-State Corner Infield Analysis






By Jeff Markle
Assistant State Director

The Preseason All-State Showcase took place Sunday March 1st at Slammers South.  90 players from the 2015 and 2016 classes were on display at this event.  Prep Baseball Report Colorado will bring you analysis by position of the players who participated in the showcase.   Continuing our showcase analysis are the corner infielders and corner infielders/pitchers, where we saw good size and stats from this group of players.   
To see the overall stats of the event 
click here. 

Top Corner Infield Prospects:

Kyle Winkler, Chatfield, 2015, 3B/SS
6-foot-1, 195-pound tall, athletic prospect that registered a 3.9 home to first. In the field, he shows the versatility and range to play a number of positions. He displays quick, fluid footwork and soft hands. His exchange is quick and under control as he reaches a top velocity of 81 MPH using short arm action through a high ¾ arm slot. At the plate, the right-handed hitter uses a athletic wide setup, smooth load with explosive lower half with quick bat speed, 92 MPH exit velocity was second highest at this event.  Level swing keeps the bat in the zone with good extension.  Good carry on the ball with pull power.  Strong lower half with good drive through impact. 

Jake Eissler, ThunderRidge 2016, 3B/RHP
6-foot-2, 210-pound right-handed hitting RHP/3B.  Strong, solid prospect that registered a 4.5 home to first. At the plate, the right-handed hitter produces solid contact. He uses a smooth load, short stride, and explosive lower half.  90 MPH exit velocity, top 3 at this event.  Shows good pull power and good control to the opposite field gap. Not much movement in swing. Lets hands do the work. Took the day off from throwing because he pitched 65 pitches day before in scrimmage.  Ran a 4.5 home to first.

Best of the rest: (Listed Alphabetically)

Austin Alarid, Rocky Mountain, 2016, LHP/1B
6-foot-0, 200 pound left-handed hitting 1B/ LHP.  In the field, he uses short arm action to reach a top velocity of 78 MPH. Decent feet and hands allow him to get into his throwing position quickly and he delivers an accurate ball.  At the plate, uses a balanced set up with slight inward knee turn for load and timing.  Short hands to the ball with good extension out front at contact.  89 MPH exit velocity off the tee.  High one handed finish. Really attack the ball.  On the mound, compact in line delivery with over the top arm action.  Fastball was 81-82 and touched 83 twice.  Good command of the outside part of the plate with a 70-73 CB and 72-73 CH.  Ran a 4.68 home to first.

Michael Boxberger, Fort Collins, 2016, RHP/3B
6-foot-1, 180-pound, two-way prospect. In the field, he shows soft hands and above average footwork. He uses long arm action through a high ¾ arm slot to reach a top velocity of 80 MPH across the infield. At the plate, the right-handed hitter has a fluid rhythm to his swing. He uses an explosive lower half with good bat speed, 84 MPH exit velocity. On the mound, the right-handed pitcher uses quick, long arm action through a ¾ arm slot. He shows good command of an 79-81 MPH fastball with late run. His curve sits at 63-65 MPH and late, 10/4 breaking action. His changeup is thrown near fastball arm speed and sits at 68-70 MPH. Ran a 4.56 home to first.

Parker Eischen, Ponderosa, 2016, 1B/OF
6-foot-1, 185-pound, left-handed hitting 1B/OF.  Ran a 4.23 home to first. In the field, he shows average hands and footwork along with a quick transfer. He reached a top velocity of 72 MPH across the infield. At the plate, has a tall opened stance and he uses a high leg kick for timing stride and fast bat speed of 86 MPH exit velocity from the tee to create a line drive swing. Creates gap to gap power.  Lower body rotates through the swing with a high finish with his hands and weight on front side.  A wider stance will improve balance at the plate.

AJ Fell, Regis Jesuit, 2016, 1B/RHP
6-foot-1, 210-pound, right-handed hitting 1B/RHP.  At the plate hits from a slightly open crouched stance.  Short stride for timing and good lower leg explosion through the ball.  88 MPH exit velocity.  Displayed decent feet and hands in the filed, throws from a high ¾ arm slot with an 80 MPH positional velocity across the field.  On the mound, slight sink and drive mechanics with an in-line delivery.  Same arm action as in the field delivers a 78-80 MPH fastball with little movement.  67-68 MPH CB and 71-72 MPH CH round out his pitches.  Ran a 4.9 home to first. 

Aaron Ferguson, Ponderosa, 2015, 3B/MIF
5-foot-10, 170-pound, right-handed hitting 3B/MIF, that registered a 4.7 home to first. In the field, he shows average glove work with room to improve his foot speed and range. He uses short arm action through a high ¾ arm slot to reach a top velocity of 76 MPH across the infield. At the plate has open stance and loads back, he uses a 60/40 setup with a short stride. Crouches stance leads to an uphill swing plane.  Lower half rotates through the swing producing a 74 MPH exit velocity. 

Parker Friedentag, Smoky Hill, 2016, 1B/RHP
6-foot-2, 192-pound right-handed hitting 1B/RHP.  Starts from a tall balanced stance with short stride and minimal load, while utilizing a direct path to the baseball and good extension through the baseball to create a bat exit velocity of 85 MPH. He showcased he ability to square the baseball routinely while using all fields. On the mound sat 74-75 from a high 3/4 arm slot during his bullpen session with command of three pitches. His 67 MPH changeup is thrown at near fastball arm speed and his 67 MPH curveball shows gradual break to the right hand hitter.  Defensively, solid foot work puts him in good throwing position with a high ¾ arm slot, produces a positional velocity of 74 MPH with some accuracy.  Ran a 4.9 home to first. 

Evan Mares, ThunderRidge, 2016, 3B/RHP
5-foot-10, 235-pound, right-handed hitting 3B/RHP.  At the plate starts from a wide  balanced stance and slight toe tap for timing. He barreled the baseball frequently with a bat exit velocity of 83 MPH.  Lower body rotates through the zone, more weight transfer with increase power.  Defensively, threw 73 MPH across the field with average footwork on balls right at him, with good range to the back hand side.  Ran a 4.95 home to first. 

Joseph Mondragon, Eaton, 2016, 1B/3B
Solid, prospect that registered a 4.12 home to first. In the field, he shows above average hands with room to improve the quickness of his foot-work. He reached a top velocity of 71 MPH across the infield. At the plate, the left-handed hitter he uses a slightly open stance with a short stride. He take a short path to the ball and shows some pop in his bat.  Slight uphill swing path creates a ball with good carry.  87 MPH exit velocity off the tee.  Gap to gap power. 

Tyler Moore, Horizon, 2015, 1B/ OF
6-foot-1, 177-pound, left-handed hitting 1B/OF.  He shows average footwork and hands. He reached a top velocity of 75 MPH across the infield. At the plate, uses a slim balanced setup, top tap for timing with slight bat wrap on load.  Uses an explosive lower half and quick bat speed, 88 MPH exit velocity for the tee.  Good leg drive causes him to finish strong on his front side. He shows pull power, but good control gap to gap.  Ran a 4.31 home to first.   

Dylan Nelson, D’Evelyn, 2016 1B/RHP
6-foot-4, 230-pound, left-handed hitting 1B/RHP.  At the plate starts from a wide stance and utilizes a slow load back for timing. He barreled the baseball frequently with a bat exit velocity of 89 MPH. On the mound balanced and shoulder s and high leg kick and in-line delivery produced, and an 80-82 FB from a high 3/4 arm slot. FB showed some run away from right-handed hitter. He also flashed a 67-70 MPH changeup and a 62 MPH curveball with looping 10/4 rotation.  Gets good extension to the plate for his 6-4 frame.  Defensively, threw 72 MPH across the field with average footwork on balls right at him.  Ran a 4.52 home to first.   

Brayden Petroshus, Chatfield, 2016, 3B/1B
6-foot-1, 175-pound right-handed hitting 3B/1B.  In the field, he showed good foot work and hands with good actions getting the ball into the throwing window. Athletic corner. He uses short arm action from an over the top slot to reach a top velocity of 80 MPH across the infield. At the plate, slight crouched stance at set-up.  Short stride gets weight moving forward during swing which is level through zone.  Good bat speed, 88 MPH exit velocity, could increase by incorporating more lower half into the swing.  Ran a 4.16 home to first.  

Zane Phelps, Bayfield, 2016, 3B
6-foot-3, 195 pound right-handed hitting 3B. In the field Phelps shows above average footwork and hands with good actions and good fundamentals with good accuracy throwing 74 mph. At the plate he has a tall athletic stance with minimal load and short stride. Path is short and to the ball with a level swing and one-handed extension. Has good bat speed producing 84 mph exit velo off the tee with gap to gap power. If stance widens slightly could have even more power. Can't ignore athletic presence. Raw player to follow. Ran a 4.48 home to first.

Casey Thompson, Lakewood, 2016, 3B/RHP

6-foot-0, 165 pound left-handed hitting 3B/RHP.  In the field, he shows average footwork. He reached a top velocity of 77 MPH across the infield. Hands are soft and gets red of the ball quickly.  At the plate, he hits from a tall slim stance.  Minimal stride and load with good lower half rotation through the zone.  81 MPH exit velocity from the tee. Ran a 4.31 home to first. On the mound, he is a tall and fall pitcher with a smooth delivery. He shows average arm speed through a high ¾ arm slot. He sat at 77-79 MPH with his fastball, which has some run. He has good command of his 68-71MPH curveball and  69 MPH change-up. 

Alejandro Torres, Eaglecrest, 2015, 1B/3B
6-foot-0, 190-pound, right-handed hitting 1B/3B.  Uses a balanced athletic stance with slight leg kick for timing. Has an explosive lower half. Displayed fast bat speed and good extension from uphill path with a bat exit velocity of 85 MPH.  Squared the baseball routinely with a flat swing path and showed the ability to drive both gaps. Torres showed good feet around the bag at first base and an accurate 75 MPH across the diamond. He finished his day by running a 4.62 home to first.

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