By Brent Alwine
PBR Michigan Scouting Director

 

Raising the Baar

            Keegan Baar (2014, LHP, Hudsonville High School) has grown up with baseball and is seeing his hard work in the offseason pay huge dividends. The Baar family is baseball in the Grand Rapids area; Keegan’s father, Bryan, starred at Western Michigan University and went on to a pro career.  Keegan’s older brother, Tyler, starts and hits in the middle of the lineup for the University of Toledo. In 2012, Tyler and Keegan were teammates at Hudsonville High School and won a state championship with Keegan on the mound.

Two years later, Keegan is a left-handed pitcher who has signed with Michigan State.  He has grown an inch and a half, gained 20 pounds, and now stands at 6’4 – 195lbs.  His superb showing at the Super 60 workout now has pro scouts calling and making schedules to see him early and often this spring. At the workout he sat at 90-91mph. His delivery doesn’t require much effort, and looking at him the ceiling is the limit once his frame fills out. He showed command of an 81-82mph changeup and a slurvy type breaking ball 76-77mph.

He credits PBR with getting his name on many draft boards, but the real work came this offseason. Keegan worked with Mike Paul on cleaning up his mechanics to add velocity and better control of all pitches.  He credits a weighted ball program from last fall to a velocity increase too.

The number 1 ranked player in the 2014 Michigan class has high goals this spring. Personally, he wants to be in the best shape of life.  As a team he hopes Hudsonville can contend for a conference title and be the best version of themselves they can possibly be.