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Scout Blog: West Coast Select

June 11, 2021
Brett Thorney
State Scouting Director

MESA, ARIZONA. - Our West Coast Select hosted by PBR Tournaments got underway yesterday with some high caliber teams & organizations competing at Riverview Park (home of the Chicago Cubs) & Gene Autry. 

For PBR Arizona, this has been a great opportunity to get a glimpse of the depth at some of the younger grad classes as well as continuing to get updates on some of the improvements players made over the course of the spring. It's also nice to see players from all of the different backgrounds and high school programs playing together or against each other in one place. Let’s dive into some of standouts from some of the pool play action thus far.

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2024 OF Ian Cabrera (Paradise Valley)- Medium athletic frame, some maturity for age. Played CF for the Aggies. Hits from balanced relaxed base, using a knee to knee/ toe tap trigger with quiet load. Barrel enters the zone early while get getting extended, used the whole field with some authority. Moves with some quickness in the OF with efficient routes, some arm strength for age.

2025 1B/3B Adrian Montoya (Valley Vista)- Came to our pre-event workout and it was good to see some of the same from Montoya in game action. He hasn't heard this from us yet but he will be receiving an invite to our PBR Junior Future Games from his performance. Has size & strength for age at 5-11/185- pounds. Hits from an upright base, using a leg kick with stretch load to create leverage & separation. Has solid bat speed for his age with an aggressive but yet controlled approach, looking to drive the baseball with some future power potential. Has a strong arm that he can also use on the mound. Ran his FB up to 82mph on Wednesday. Deceptively athletic feet defensively and on the bases that should continue to get better.

2024 OF Greg Serrano (AZBC)- young athletic frame. Right-handed hitter, setups in moderately wide neutral base, using a knee to knee pickup while preloading at times. Keeps his shoulders square with limited load as he starts his repeatable process. Tight turn with quick swing, showed some feel for the barrel with a double and couple other hard hit balls. 

2023 RHP/1B Josh Butler (Sandra Day O'Connor)- obvious size that stands out in wiry athletic 6-foot-6 frame. Shows athletic posture and balance in his plate set-up, gets to an advantageous hitting position with good spine angle and hands in the slot that move efficiently to get the barrel through the zone. Has great bat-to-ball skills with power potential, mostly to pull side, but is able to drive balls the other way as he showed on an xbh down the right field line. He moves really well at his size. Has two-way potential, having an impressive performance on the mound. Filled the strike zone with consistent 84-85 on his fastball, getting up to 87 on a few occasions. He also relieved on the last day of the tournament where he sat consistently at 87-88mph. Was effective by changing eye level with high fastballs and breaking balls down. Could throw the breaking ball for a strike as well. Showed effective 12-6 break at 72-74.

2021 Chaz Ortega-Clemons (Desert Edge)- Paradise Valley commit, playing for US Elite. Has driven several balls at this event. Impressive physical athlete showing top end strength and moving well on the base paths. Strength shows up in the swing with a solid base and lower body movements that creates quick bat speed for him. Hip-shoulder separation is there, to pair with an efficient hand path. High upside for Ortega-Clemons with some raw movements at the moment. 

 

2022 Cezar Fernandez RHP/INF (Buena)- playing for Nationals Scout Team. Confident on the mound, works at a great pace. Pounded the strike zone with both his fastball and breaking ball. Late life with some arm-side run on a 3/4 delivery, sat 85-86 and touched 87. Hides the breaking ball in his delivery, showing sharp bite. Used the curve as a competitive chase pitch, back door and front door strike. Worked the eye level of hitters effectively between elevated fastballs and breaking balls, hitting his spots well. Allowed 1 hit over 3 innings pitched. Spin on the fastball between 2400-2500, breaking ball at 2500-2600. 

2024 RHP/INF Jackson Forbes (Mountain Ridge)- Small athletic frame with quick twitch, plenty of maturing left. Playing for AZBC as a two-way player. Pitched in relief, showing some arm speed while pounding the zone comfortably with mostly FB. Sat 82-85mph with efficient & easy delivery with short direct arm path. Also, continues to show his short quick swing from the left-handed side of the plate that he displayed on triple down the RF line today.

2023 RHP Tyler Johnson (Williams Field)- Long wiry frame with room to hold more weight as he starts maturing more physically. Started on the mound on Friday for Canes Arizona (2023s). Threw 3 innings, not allowing a single earned run. Struck out 4 batters with no walks while surrendering only two hits. Threw with long arm action with some quickness out front with a delivery that can be refined in order to get the lower half involved for more gains. Threw strikes with some consistency with the FB at 79-82mph. 

2024 SS Jake Sanko (Sandra Day O'Connor)- Young small frame, still maturing, athleticism stands out. Has had quite the tournament so far for AZBC where he has made a nice impression on our staff. He has advanced actions for his age on both sides of the ball. Starts in a narrow slightly open stance, using a gathered leg kick to create energy. Has show feel for the barrel on two triples and two doubles this weekend. Defensively, he has athleticism & some foot speed with soft hands & easy turns. Should be a player to follow in the future.

2023 OF Caleb Nieman (Sandra Day O'Connor)- Large frame with present strength. Got things started on Friday morning with a big HR to LF for the Scottsdale Dirtbags. Sets up in an athletic narrow stance, showing body control in a small leg lift. Gets on plane relatively early, landing in a solid launch position with strength through his swing, AA future power potential. Defensively, he was playing outfield with usable feet and some arm strength. Should also have the ability to play some first base. 

2022 LHP/OF Stephen Hernandez (Perry)- Long athletic frame, had a great high school season for the Perry Pumas where he was one of the top hitters in the 2-hole and pitched some strong innings. He put his two-way potential on display on Saturday for the AZ Athletics and scouts should start to take some notice as they things open back up. The left-hander hits from narrow relaxed stance, creating leverage with a leg kick with some forward movement while staying on plane. The left-hander also worked 85-89mph on the mound with some serviceable secondary offerings. Hernandez should start to see some increased interest going forward. 

2022 RHP/1B Ty Thurman (Liberty)- Tall frame at 6-4 and well proportioned, plenty of room to add strength/mass. Played for the Southwest Sticks this past weekend. Very polished swing mechanics at the plate. Controlled load into heel strike that triggers a quick rotation of the hips around a good spine angle. Efficient hand path that works up the middle of the field. Swing should generate plenty of line drive contact. Showed some two-way potential, up to 82 on the mound, but the frame indicates more potential for added velocity. 

2022 SS Ty Acton (Verrado)- athletic body with balanced frame, physical maturity left. Came to our 2023 Top Prospect Games a week back where his maturity & feel for the game stood out. He continued to show that same baseball savyness throughout the West Coast Select, playing for the AZ Athletics.. Acton is a true switch-hitter with similar approaches from both sides of the plate with barrel awareness. He has as a bit more pop from the LH side currently mainly due to the frequency of use. Defensively, he has fluid actions with a strong arm & carry across the diamond. 

2023 RHP Will Shelor (Hamilton)- athletic strong bodied frame. Another player that attended our TPG a week ago that actually hit his personal best in velocity at the event at 88mph. He pitched in relief earlier in the weekend at the West Coast Select where he hit another PR, throwing consistently at 87-90mph with his FB while hitting the 90mph mark on several occasions. Shelor filled up the zone with some intensity coming down the mound, using his simple but powerful delivery. He throws with short arm action with some natural arm strength. Mixed a breaking ball at 73-75mph that has potential. 

2022 OF Isaiah Jackson (Cienega)- Large lengthy frame with present strength & athleticism. Jackson has really developed a name for himself as one of the top left-handed bats in state in his class. He was one of the more dangerous hitters of the tournament that played a significant role in the Tucson Champs first place finish. On the final day of the tournament, Jackson hit two big HRs and got hit by 7 pitches on the day, which could be some sort of record. He got hit by 11 pitches total on the weekend which is odd with what he can do with inside pitches that he showed on a HR Sunday morning. His consistency has picked up greatly since the start of the spring. His ability to get on base with his power left-handed will surly be followed throughout the summer. 

2024 RHP Petey Soto Jr. (Team Utah)- Small athletic frame with twitchy actions. Showed some pretty impressive stuff on the mound on Saturday for a player thats only going to be a sophomore. Used an athletic efficient delivery that he was able to repeat with some consistency. Throws with short loose arm action. Soto worked 81-84, topping at 85mph with his FB combined with a plus potential CV that showed late break with 11/5 shape. Should be one to follow in Utah.

 

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