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Recruits Scout Day: Takeaways

October 3, 2023
By: Diego Solares
Area Scout, Illinois & Missouri

On Thursday, September 28th, the PBR Missouri staff hosted the Recruits Scout Day on the campus of Maryville University with the Recruits Travel Club. More than 50 players from the Recruits travel program participated in a pro-style workout in front of our staff, collecting unrivaled measurables through the help of our tech partners.

For all of the stats from this event, click HERE. To see all of the players that attended, click HERE.

Yesterday, our staff highlighted some of the day's stat leaders from this event within our traditional 'Stat Story', which you can find HERE.

Then, with the help of TrackMan we took a look at some of the batted ball standouts from this event, which you can find HERE.

Now we’re going to shine some light on a handful of standouts from this event within these ‘Takeaways’. Below you’ll learn more about a few names that popped to our staff at this year’s Recruits Scout Day.

TAKEAWAYS

+ INF/C Nolan Sissom (Fort Zumwalt West, 2026) continued to look the part of a high-end prospect in the state’s sophomore class at this event. Committed to Mizzou, Sissom swings a simple and direct left-handed barrel with advanced polish for his age, peppering line drives on repeat to the pull-side in BP. He’s a top-of-the-order type of offensive threat that flashed some bat strength too, squaring up his hardest ball at 94.3 mph. Defensively, Sissom took reps both behind the plate and on the infield, and he looked the part at both spots, too. He’s accurate from the chute with a quick release, popping in the 1.92-to-2.00 range while reaching 76 mph on his hardest throw. Sissom’s a fluid mover on the infield dirt, particularly on the move, where he’s able to slow the game down to play in rhythm. He trusts his hands and feet, working around the baseball in rhythm, and is also able to throw from multiple arm angles when need be. Where his future lies with the glove is undecided, though it’ll be up the middle, and only enhance a profile that’s already shown capable of impacting the game positively in multiple ways.


+ Another name-to-know prospect in Missouri’s 2026 class that showed well in this look is INF Brendan Pyle (Fort Zumwalt East, 2026). The 5-foot-10, 175-pound sophomore was especially impressive on the infield, where he bounced around the dirt with a naturally confident presence to him. Pyle’s glovework on the move looked improve, particularly his backhand play, which he picked effortlessly and then fired an accurate strike across the infield. Offensively, Pyle worked direct to the baseball from a short, compact swing that was on the barrel to the pull-side, recording a 93.9 mph high. Pyle figures to be one of the top prospects in the state’s 2026 class throughout his prep career.


+ Still uncommitted, RHP Eli Woodall (Lindbergh, 2024) was the lone arm to toe the rubber at this event, and the 6-foot-2, 155-pound senior holds a fairly intriguing ceiling on the bump. Woodall’s fastball played in the upper-80s at this event, touching 88 mph, with true four-seam ride up in the zone. He threw his breaking ball with fastball intent and conviction, flashing sharp downer spin at 71-72 mph. Woodall rounded out his arsenal with a 76-78 mph changeup that showed subtle arm-side run and was also thrown at arm speed.

+ MIF Brady Tanner (Francis Howell, 2026) looks to be the next name-to-know in a long pipeline of talented middle infielders for the Vikings’ program. A left-handed hitter, Tanner routinely found barrels to the middle of the field throughout his round of BP. He’s hitterish without much added movement, staying direct to the baseball with athleticism and rhythm to pair. Tanner really looked the part on the infield too, showing above-average foot speed and glovework for his age that should aid him in staying on the dirt moving forward.


+ INF Logan Baumann (Vianney, 2026) put together the day’s loudest round of BP, pacing the event in both max exit velocity (96.4 mph) and average exit velocity (86.6 mph), while also driving the day’s second furthest batted ball (340 ft.). It’s a fast and intentful right-handed swing that generates power as a result, staying on a level plane through the zone.


+ INF Jacob Green (Chaminade College Prep, 2026) swung a loose, projectable left-handed swing in this look. The 5-foot-9, 165-pound sophomore showed balance through contact with a knack for the barrel into the right-center gap. Though he didn’t post high end exit velocities in this look, Green should continue to tick up in that department as he gets stronger and his natural ability to manipulate the barrel will allow him to impact the baseball on a consistent basis, too. Aside from his efforts offensively, Green also ran the event’s second-fastest 60 time (6.97).

+ OF Devin Freeman (Ladue, 2026) is a long, lean-limbed 5-foot-11, 155-pound athlete with loose levers that offer plenty of physical upside. Freeman nearly paced the event in peak throwing velocity from the outfield (T86 mph) and he also ran a 7.02, which was one of the day’s faster marks. At the plate, Freeman showed hand speed from a long, level right-handed swing that was on the barrel to the middle of the field. His hardest hit ball came off his bat at 90.9 mph and traveled 329 feet, per TrackMan.

+ OF Landon Matthews (Lafayette, 2026) packs strength and athleticism on a compact 5-foot-10, 175-pound frame. In BP, Matthews showed barrel accuracy (78%) and some bat speed to the pull-side, repeatedly peppering line drives into the left-center gap throughout his round. Matthews posted one of the day’s highest average exit velocity marks (85.9 mph) and his firmest barrel came off his bat at 92.4 mph. Matthews’ strength translated to the outfield, where he topped at 86 mph from a fast, athletic high ¾ arm slot.


+ INF James Huff (Parkway Central, 2025) had a strong sophomore campaign for the Colts and was another name that showed well at last week’s event. Huff, who holds lean strength on a 5-foot-11, 165-pound frame, ran the day’s fastest 60 at 6.94 seconds. He works uphill through the zone and showed intent to elevate to the pull-side in this look, squaring his hardest ball up at 90.5 mph in BP.


+ Two left-handed hitters to follow from this event are 1B/OF Jared Chorlins (Parkway Central, 2025) and 1B Benjamin Smith (Home School, 2026):

+ Chorlins, who’s a lanky 6-foot-2, 185-pound athlete, has a natural knack for elevating the baseball, working uphill through contact while showing natural pull-side power across a few looks this year. At this event, Chorlins led the event in average batted distance (304 ft.) as well as peak batted distance (361 ft.), and his hardest ball came off his barrel at 94.4 mph.

+ Smith stands at a strong 5-foot-11, 170-pounds with strength throughout his frame. He showed strong hands with some rhythm from the left side, posting one of the highest exit velocity marks (95.1 mph) of the day.

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