Prep Baseball Report

Top Prospect Games: Team Grey Analysis



By Ethan Silverman
Missouri Scouting Director

The Class of 2015 and 2016 Top Prospect Games had a number of players who turned in top level performances over two days. The following is an analysis of the skill and ability of members of Team Grey.

Tanner Westrich, SS, Moberly HS, Class of 2015:
Westrich showed to be a smooth fielding, sure handed middle infielder. At shortstop, Westrich has a good approach to the ball, with soft hands and a quick, clean transfer. He also showed range to both sides with fluid footwork. Westrich recorded one of the top infield arms, with a top throw of 81-mph across the field. At the plate, Westrich has a long swing and showed ability to make consistent contact during batting practice. 

Marcos Martinez, MIF, CBC, Class of 2015:
Martinez is an athletic 5-foot-8, 160-pound middle infielder who showed well in all facets of his game. In the field, Martinez displays quick footwork with a good approach to the ball. He fields everything out in front with soft hands and a quick transfer and release showing some accuracy across the diamond (top throw of 79-mph). Offensively, Martinez has good rhythm with a balanced setup. He shows ability to keep his hands inside the ball with a short, compact swing and extension through contact hitting the ball gap to gap. 

Justin Perkins, RHP/3B,Francis Howell HS, Class of 2016:
Perkins is a projectable 6-foot-2, 190-pound two way player who has shown progression since his last event, especially on the mound. With quick arm speed and short arm action from a high ¾ arm slot, Perkins’ fastball sat in the 79-83 mph range, topping at 84-mph with some arm side run and around the strike zone. Perkins also threw a 11-to-5 breaking ball (66-mph) with late movement and a 64-66 mph change up with some depth. In the field, Perkins looks to be a sure handed fielder. He stays back on the ball a bit, but has a quick transfer and release with good arm speed (top throw of 76-mph). At the plate, Perkins has balance through his swing, using his strong hands to generate some bat speed. He showed ability to drive the ball hard with some pull side power and a top exit velocity of 81-mph. 

Dylan MacKay, OF/LHP, Blue Springs HS, Class of 2016:
MacKay is an undersized 5-foot-10, 140-pound two way player who continues to show progress and has the tools to be a consistent player as he continues to mature physically. In the outfield, MacKay gets to the ball quickly with fluid footwork and a clean exchange. His arm is loose and he plays through the ball delivering a top throw of 76-mph. During game play, MacKay showed some arm strength and accuracy from right field, holding a base runner at third who was attempting to score. At the plate, the left handed hitting MacKay has good rhythm and takes a short, level path to the ball; showing the ability to hit some line drives. As his frame continues to fill out, he should start driving the ball with some more authority. On the mound, MacKay comes from a ¾ arm slot with a short, quick arm action and max effort. His fastball was thrown in the 73-74 mph range down in the zone with slight cut action. He also threw a 58-60 mph breaking ball with gradual 10-to-4 break and a 58-60 mph change up that shows some cut down in the zone.

Joey Reeves, LHP/1B/OF, Parkway North, Class of 2015:
Reeves has a solidly built 5-foot-10, 190-pound frame and showed good ability on the mound with sound mechanics as well as feel and command for all three of his pitches. Coming from a high ¾ arm angle, Reeves shows real quick arm speed on all his pitches and loose arm action with easy effort. His fastball was thrown 77-81 mph with late, hard sink action on both sides of the plate. Reeves’ 10-to-4 breaking ball was thrown 66-68 mph with tight spin and late break. His out pitch could be his changeup, showing some of the best movement of all the changeups we saw at the event, with very late arm side run and depth thrown 66-69 mph. 

Preston Blount, C/RHP, Timberland HS, Class of 2016:
Blount has a lanky 6-foot-1, 160-pound frame. Behind the plate, Blount showed ability to receive and stick the ball with a firm wrist and soft hands. He displayed good body control and quick blocking mechanics, as well as fluid footwork while throwing to second base with a top pop time of 2.05 (77-mph). At the plate, the left handed hitting Blount has an open stance and wraps the bat a bit in his load.  His swing is long and level through the zone, spraying the ball to all fields. He also showed some speed for a catcher, beating out a throw at first on a bunt single in game play. On the mound, Blount threw a heavy 77-78 mph fastball and a 66-69 mph breaking ball with late sweep action. 

CJ Schaeffer, C/OF, Timberland HS, Class of 2015:
Behind the plate, the 6-foot, 185-pound Schaeffer impressed with his ability to handle pitchers as well as his strong arm. Schaeffer has a solid base and showed quick footwork and a quick release to second, recording pop times in the 1.84-1.88 range (76-79 mph). He also showed strong receiving skills, with a firm wrist and ability to handle pitches in all part of the zone. Schaeffer gives his pitches a good target to throw, and sets up late on pitches thrown to different locations. In the outfield, Schaeffer has quick footwork to the ball with a quick, clean exchange with playing through the ball. Hus throws were all accurate and on a line, with a top throw of 84-mph.  At the plate, Schaeffer has looseness in his swing, creating some barrel whip through the zone. His give a max effort on every swing showing some pull side power potential, as evidenced by his 90-mph exit velocity.

Camron Shipley, SS/RHP, Washington HS, Class of 2015:
Shipley is a projectable 6-foot-1, 165-pound two-way player who shows max effort in everything he does. In the field, Shipley is aggressive to the ball and throws from a ¾ arm slot with some carry on his throws. All of his throws were on a line, with a top throw of 79-mph. At the plate, Shipley gets his whole body into his swing, swinging hard and hitting hard with some backspin carry. His bat takes a long, uphill path, diving the ball to left side. Shipley’s top exit velocity off the bat was 83-mph. On the mound, Shipley displays good, loose arm action and repeatable mechanics. His fastball was heavy and sat 77-79 mph, topping at 80 down in the zone. He also threw a sharp 11-to-5 breaking ball with tight spin at fastball arm speed and a 59-mph change up. 

Neil Fischer, 3B/1B, Vianney, Class of 2015:
Fischer is a lanky 6-foot-3, 180-pound corner infielder who showed to be a sure handed fielder. He has short arm action from a ¾ arm slot with accurate 65-68 mph throws across the field. At the plate, Fischer had a good second round of batting practice, after making some adjustments. His swing stays level through extension, showing ability to make consistent contact and produce gap-to-gap line drives. 

Chase Hagerty, RHP/3B, Cape Central HS, Class of 2015:
The well-built and strong 6-foot-3, 205-pound Hagerty impressed with overall athleticism in his game. On the mound, Hagerty comes from a high ¾ arm slot with a quick, loose arm and good rhythm, keeping his momentum down hill at all times. His has a good mound presence and fills the strike zone will all of his pitches producing lots of swings and misses and ground ball outs. Hagerty’s fastball was thrown 77-82 mph, with heavy with run and sink action. He also showed a 71-73 mph slider with 10-to-4 shape that had tight spin and sharp break. Offensively, Hagerty shows some hand speed and effectively uses his lower half to produce some bat speed. His swing stays level with extension through contact and he hit the ball hard gap to gap during batting practice. At third base, Hagerty fields his position well, with sure hands and a strong, quick, and accurate arm. 

Ryan Perkins, RHP/OF, Francis Howell HS, Class of 2016:
Perkins has a projectable 6-foot-2, 190-pound frame and as he continues to progress in his young career, has the tools to be an impact player. At the plate, the left handed hitting Perkins has an open stance and does a good job of keeping his weight back. He uses a strong lower half to create bat speed through the zone, with a slightly uphill path to the ball and some pop in his swing, driving the ball hard to the gaps during batting practice. Perkins had a top exit velocity of 88-mph off the bat. In the outfield, Perkins is controlled to the ball with long, over the top arm action and all throws on a line, recording a top throw of 85-mph, one of the top velocities of the event. On the mound, Perkins shows ability to keep the ball down in the zone and produce lots of ground ball outs. His fastball was thrown in the 76-78 mph range with some arm side movement, while his breaking ball had 11-to-5 shape thrown 65-68 mph.

Erik Miller, LHP, DeSmet, Class of 2016:
The 6-foot-3, 180-pound left handed throwing Miller has a lanky frame and shows some promise on the mound. Miller delivers from a high ¾ arm slot with good rhythm and easy effort. His mechanics are repeatable and he showed good feel for his pitches. Miller’s fastball sat 74-77 mph, topping at 78-mph with slight arm side movement down in the zone. Miller showed he could throw his fastball for a strike on both sides of the plate. His breaking ball was thrown 60-62 mph and he also threw a straight change up with near fastball arm speed 66-71 mph. As he continues to progress in his career, Miller should see a spike in velocity and has the potential for be an effective front of the line starter with a few mechanical tweaks. 

Cole Miller, RHP/OF, CBC, Class of 2015:
Miller is a long and lanky 6-foot-2, 175-pound pitcher/outfielder. On the mound, Miller shows a quick arm while delivering his pitches with minimal effort. His fastball was thrown in the 76-78 mph range with late and hard run and sink movement, staying down in the zone. He also impressed with late, sharp movement on a 10-to-4 breaking ball thrown with near fastball arm speed in the 66-67 mph range and a 71-73 mph change up with some fade. With a bit more use of his back side, Miller could see a few more miles per hour on his pitches. In the outfield, Miller shows good movements to the baseball with fluid footwork. He fields the ball clean and delivers accurate throws on a line, with a top throw of 75-mph. At the plate, Miller has good rhythm with a long, level swing that produces consistent contact. His bat speed varied, and with some more use of his lower half, could find more consistency and increase his bat speed.

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