Prep Baseball Report

2019 PDP: Friday Notebook


Nathan Rode
National Supervisor

BRADENTON, FL—Friday at the PDP League was cut short by weather, but wasn’t short on prospects. Teams Jeter and Howard faced off in the morning game, followed by Teams Jones and Larkin before the rain rolled in and the lightning siren went off.

Team Jeter vs. Team Howard

+ Team Jeter got out to an early lead with the first four batters reaching base. OF Dylan Crews (Lake Mary HS, FL) took a fastball up to center field for a hard single with a simple, compact swing. He walked twice and popped out before squaring up a flyout to right field in his final at-bat. He stole second and scored a run in that first inning and scored again in his second trip.

+ OF Petey Halpin (St. Francis HS, CA) showed barrel control in one at-bat when he got a fastball away and slapped it for a hard RBI single through the left side. He also stole a base and scored a run.

+ RHP Jason Savacool (Baldwinsville HS, NY) started for Team Jeter and went two innings, allowing a run on a hit, three walks and a hit batter. Clearly, he was scattered with his control, but he has a loose, quick arm and ran his fastball up to 93 mph, sitting 88-92. He also flashed an above average changeup with fade and sink. He struck out four.

+ LHP Luke Wagner (Red Land HS, GA) showed the ability to spin a breaking ball, a 2/8 curveball at 75-76. His fastball was 87-89, touching 90-91.

+ SS Colten Keith (Biloxi HS, MS) is known for his ability as a position player and had two hard RBI singles in his first two at-bats, but he also hopped on the mound and touched 93, sitting 89-92.

Team Jones vs. Team Larkin

+ The second game saw some big arms, starting with RHP Alex Santos (Mount St. Michael Academy, NY) for Team Larkin. The Maryland recruit has a long, projectable frame with a high leg kick and high-3/4 arm slot. His fastball was 91-94, but his curveball was even more impressive, an above average to plus pitch sitting 79-80 with sharp, downer break and tight rotation. He faced the minimum through three innings, allowing a leadoff walk that was erased on a caught stealing. He struck out three, all on curveballs, as seen in this video.

+ Following Santos was RHP Ben Hernandez (De La Salle HS, IL), an Illinois-Chicago recruit. He was also 91-94, featuring arm-side run. He struck out three and walked one in three innings. He mixed in a 72-74 curveball, but his out pitch was an above average changeup, which was 81-85 with run. He has tremendous feel for the pitch and threw it to both left-handed and right-handed hitters. This video includes two of his strikeouts, one on an inside changeup to a righty and the other on a fastball away.

+ SS Hunter Haas (Corona Del Sol HS, AZ) had two hits, squaring up a single against 91 in his first at-bat and adding another hard single on a fastball away in his second at-bat.

+ SS Carson Tucker (Mountain Pointe HS, AZ) made two very nice plays on defense. He charged a slow chopper and made a throw on the run and then went in the hole to make a sliding backhand catch before hopping to his feet and making a strong throw for an out.

+ RHP Charez Butcher (Kokomo HS, IN) pitched three innings, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out three. He was 91-94 from an easy, loose delivery while mixing in a fading changeup at 79-81 and 76-78 curveball.

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