Oregon Dream Team

April 8, 2020
Dan Jurik
Scouting Director - Pacific Northwest

Without spring baseball, we’re left with a major void to fill in our lives. As we sit back and reflect on what could have been in 2020, the collective minds at PBR came up with the idea of creating ‘Dream Team’ rosters from each state we operate in.

Some states are made up entirely of their own players, others are a combination of multiple states. All in all, there will be 32 teams created with the following roster requirements: C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF, OF, OF, SP, RP.

The interactive 32 team bracket will appear on the Prep Baseball Report instagram account today. The user tag is @prepbaseball. Follow along with the action and be sure to show your support for Team Oregon.

Now, let's check out the squad....

Catcher

Logan Paustian, La Grande, Arizona State commit

Switch hitting catchers offer one of the most enticing draft ‘profiles’ out there. C Logan Paustian (La Grande) fits that mold and brings an exciting blend of defensive ability and offensive upside to the table. The switch hitting backstop has an easy swing from both sides of the plate and will likely tap into more power as he grows into his frame. Behind the dish, he’s an advanced receiver who’s athleticism translates well to his catch and throw skills.

Catcher is currently one of the deepest positions in the state. While Paustian gets the nod on the Dream Team, we gave serious consideration to ‘20 Jake Leitgeb (Lincoln), ‘20 Daniel Pruitt (Valley Catholic) and ‘21 C Wilson Weber (Barlow). Overall, Leitgeb presents some of the best receiving skills and has shown a consistently strong & accurate arm when controlling the run game. Pruitt, an Oregon State commit, has always had above average arm strength with plenty of bat speed at the plate. He showed very well this past summer amongst a talented group of peers at the NW Scout Games. Lastly, Weber, another Oregon State commit, is the youngest of this group but has arguably the most arm strength of any prospect in the state. He’s also showing improved physicality and looked poised to really break out this spring as an offensive threat.

1st base

Carson Lydon, Churchill, Oregon commit

Being a left-handed hitter and left-handed thrower, 1B Carson Lydon (Churchill) is an ideal fit at 1st. Add in his track record of hitting for average and power in-game and it made him an easy choice to fill this spot on the roster. Strongly built with short, powerful levers, Lydon has a tight, compact swing with that type of lift you expect to see in a power threat. He’s also shown some versatility to handle OF duties and can pitch it a bit. You can never have too much LH pitching and Lydon’s ability to throw 3 pitches for strikes with a low-mid 80’s FB is a nice bonus.

2nd base

Cameron Clayton, Lakeridge, Portland commit

While the ‘20 class has plenty of pitching and catching depth, it’s a bit thin with top-end, middle infield prospects. That prompted us to take a look at our options in the ‘21 class. We decided on Portland commit Cameron Clayton (Lakeridge) based on his quality defensive actions, arm strength and emerging power at the plate. Athletic enough to handle SS duties, moving Clayton to 2nd provides an extremely reliable glove hand with a mature offensive approach.

In the ‘20 class, Jackson Elder (Central Catholic), Michael Ball (Southridge), Jake Hoskins (Liberty) and Kevin Blair (Jesuit) all garnered consideration. Malcolm Williams (Lake Oswego) and Spencer Scott (Grant) would also have been strong options for the middle INF and we would expect them to be in the mix next year as well

3rd base

Bryce Boettcher, South Eugene, Oregon commit

The lone senior in the INF, Bryce Boettcher (South Eugene) could probably find a home anywhere on the diamond and hold his own. The 3-sport athlete and Oregon commit moves easily for his size and has impressive body control in everything he does. With his current strength and bat speed, he fits the profile of a strong armed, power hitting corner infielder.

Arguably 2 of the toughest hitters to leave off the squad also would have been great fits at the 3rd base position. John Taylor (Lakeridge) and Josh Schleichardt (Tigard). Taylor showed well in the Fall and has since added a ton of physicality to his frame with more of an uphill, power stroke. Recent Boise State commit, Schleichardt emerged onto the scene with impressive bat speed and enticing power potential. He’s done nothing to slow down offensively and has shown added polish to his defensive game on recent looks.

SS

Mason Guerra, Westview, Oregon State commit

Continuing the youth movement in the middle infield, Oregon State commit Mason Guerra (Westview) takes over at SS and also provides some serious thump in the middle of the line-up. At 6’3, 190 pounds, Guerra has tremendous size for the position with a frame that still offers projection. The general thought is that tall, large-bodied SS’s eventually outgrow the position as they get bigger and stronger. But for now we’re sticking with Guerra and look forward to seeing him show off his actions on the dirt.

OF

Thomas Dukart, Lake Oswego, Oregon state commit

Durham Sundberg, Barlow, uncommited

Ben Ford, Eagle HS, Idaho, Washington commit

Putting together a dynamic combination of outfielders is rather easy when you can start with guys like Oregon State commit Thomas Dukart (Lake Oswego) and Durham Sundberg (Barlow). Both have plus speed to go with lean, athletic frames at 6’2 and 6’3 respectively. Their physical tools bode well for continued offensive development as they get more seasoning and reps at the next level. Now, for the final OF spot, there wasn’t a 3rd option that was an easy slam-dunk choice. Instead of taking a prospect off of their primary position to fill a roster need, we ventured a little out of state and landed one of the most dynamic free agents out there, Washington commit and Idaho resident Ben Ford (Eagle, ID). The lone sophomore on the Royals Area Code team last summer, Ford is a dynamic 2-sport athlete with an above average run tool and premium bat speed. Overall, you’d be hard pressed to find a trio of OF’s on any Dream Team that will have more pure speed than this group.

Thomas Dukart

Designated Hitter

Jake Leitgeb, Lincoln, Washington commit

After getting narrowly beat out by Paustian for the starting catching gig, Jake Leitgeb (Lincoln) keeps his bat in the line-up and provides a reliable offensive threat with plenty of gap-to-gap power. The Washington commit has a strong, level swing with consistent strike-zone discipline.

Starting Pitcher

RHP Mick Abel, Jesuit, Oregon State commit

If we’re tasked with selecting merely 1 starting pitcher for the entire state, RHP Mick Abel (Jesuit) is the choice and has been for years now. At this point, you could argue that he’d get the nod if you have to pick 1 starter for the entire country. The velocity and upside is one thing, but his consistency at the high school level and on the national scene has helped prove that he is more than just a projectable, hard throwing prospect. The Oregon State commit possesses a calm, professional demeanor on the mound with the ability to make quick adjustments and work deep into games. The slider has continued to improve and grades as an above average offering when at its best. Although he doesn’t really need a CH to be successful, he flashes it as a quality 3rd offering and it will likely develop into another strong part of his arsenal. There’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding the 2020 MLB Draft right now. But whenever it happens, Abel will likely hear his name called towards the top half of the 1st round.

Relief Pitcher

LHP Dylan MacLean, Central Catholic, Washington commit

Given the fact that a majority of elite high school pitchers end up as starters, this was actually one of the tougher positions to decide on in the entire roster. We could have gone in a lot of different directions here but ultimately it was too hard to pass up on LHP Dylan MacLean (Central Catholic). The polished lefty and Washington commit was the 2019 PBR State Player of the Year after putting up video-game-like numbers during his junior season. Best of luck to any offense that tries to have to manufacture runs against a combination of Abel and MacLean.

Overall, he 2020 class has a wide variety of arms with impressive pitching depth. It’s exciting to think about what a starting rotation might have looked like if we could have included guys like RHP Jaren Hunter (Barlow), RHP Ian Lawson (Century), RHP Taylor Holder (Crescent Valley) and added a power arm such as RHP KJ Ruffo (Rex Putnam) to the mix. Although this group might not have some of the high end velocity that you see from other national prospects, their overall pitchability and feel for the game would have kept them in the mix against any other team in the country. ‘21 RHP George Eisenhardt (Lakeridge) also would have received consideration as a potential rotation arm with his upper 80’s FB and 3-pitch mix.