UW-Milwaukee hosts Madison JC for scout day

On Oct. 18, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee hosted its fall scout day in conjunction with Madison College JC at the brand-new, state-of-the-art Routine Field just outside of Milwaukee in Franklin, Wis. Today, we’ll dissect our findings from the day, including a couple of draft relevant notes for next June.

UW-MILWAUKEE

Adam LaRock, 2020, OF
Junior, switch-hitting, tooled-up prospect with a tightly wound, athletic, twitchy 6-foot, 185-pound frame. His quick feet and instinctive feel for the game help him patrol center field well, but his big arm is capable of unleashing throws in the upper 90 mph range home, with accuracy. He showed it off in-game, too, when he nailed a runner at the plate. LaRock was actually one of Madison JC’s most productive hitters in 2019, before transferring to Milwaukee, where he hit .329 and slugged .534, with eight doubles, two triples, and six home runs. He swings similarly from both sides of the plate, but has a little more pop on the right side. From the left, he swings an even-planed fast bat with a middle-middle approach. He’s a competitive player who is constantly looking to gain an in-game edge.

Jack Mahoney, 2020, LHP
Junior, 6-foot-8, 213 pounds, with a highly projectable frame. A lean, high-waisted athlete who’s only added muscle to his lower half over the last year or so. His long levers have taken some time to harness, but it appears he’s turned a corner. After striking out 38 batters in 36.1 innings last spring, walks were still heavily attached to his game. But, a summer stint in Green Bay inside the Northwoods League seems to have helped Mahoney grapple with his command better. He pitched 39 innings over the summer with 46 Ks and 16 walks with a lowly ERA of 1.84. Mahoney seemed to prove that his time with the Booyahs was no fluke, after punching out six of the seven batters he faced on Friday. He walked one, but otherwise didn’t allow a single barrel, fair or foul, and was pounding the zone. He sat 89-92 mph in his first inning from a closed ¾ slot, which helps add deception to his already imposing presence on the mound. The separators here was the feel for his offspeed; a sweeping slider, 74-76 mph, that was earning chases, and he showed a couple changeups, 82 mph, straight with some slight fade. His size, velocity, ease of effort, and newfound control could help him gain some steam in the pro scouting community come June.

Mike Edwards, 2020, RHP
Junior, 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, durable/strong lower half. A weekend starter for the Panthers in 2019 and arguably the team’s most reliable arm, with a solid three-pitch mix he’s demonstrated real feel for. His pitchability was evident on Friday, coming out of the gate hard, sitting 90-91 mph early on. Edwards backs his fastball up with a downer 12/6 breaking ball that he’s able to drop into the zone or bury beneath it; it tumbles hard with above-average action, feel. He mixes in a straight change, too, that he spots well and is effective as a third offering to round out his arsenal.

Joe Vyskocil, 2018, 1B
A redshirt senior, 6-foot-3, 225 pounds, a physical/strong build. He broke out in the 2019 season en route to Horizon League First-Team honors, leading the team in slugging with 23 extra-base hits, including a team-high eight home runs. Vyskocil slashed .330/.403/.527 last spring and you can expect more of the same in 2020, based on what we saw on Friday. He barreled three baseballs in live gameplay, including when he smashed a hanging curveball over the left field fence.

Jack Thelen, 2020, C
Junior, 6-foot-4, 205 pounds, lean/strong athlete; a big-bodied follow coming off a nice spring in which he hit .313 and slugged .552, with eight doubles and five home runs. There’s some swing and miss in the path, the kind that resulted in 27 punch-outs in 96 at-bats, but there’s no doubt the same bat can result in loud barrels. In gameplay, he crushed a fastball some 400 feet after doubling earlier in the game. Thelen sets up in a balanced/athletic stance and is simple and quiet, bat plane is level, strong hands/wrists. A solid all-around catch-and-throw, consistent sub-2.00 pops with accuracy, average arm strength.

MADISON COLLEGE JC

Jacob Arndt, Fr., RHP
The 2019 grad from Oconomowoc stole some attention in his pre-game bullpen when he sat 87-88 mph with really quick, loose, and easy arm speed with minimal effort involved throughout. Arndt was also getting greater extension down the mound than he had he his prep days which helped his fastball jump a little more from his hand and allowed for a more carry through the zone. His feel to spin is still a little raw, but he mixed in a couple of changeups at arm speed that were excellent, with swing-and-miss upside. His lanky, high-waisted 6-foot-3 build offers serious projection, too, which raises the stock he’s already earned with his present stuff.

Bryce Konitzer, Soph., RHP
Konitzer is a 2018 grad from Mukwonago who spent last year at Illinois State and appeared in three games in relief for the Redbirds before deciding to head back to his home state. He’s built at a strong, compact 6-foot, 225 pounds with a thick trunk. He started the game for the WolfPack and sat 88-90 mph in his lone inning of work. Konitzer generates hard arm-side action on his fastball and mixed in an inconsistent breaking ball, 75-76 mph, that did flash sharp downer action.

Taylor Jansen, Soph., RHP
A former PBR Future Games member and one of the top prospects in the state’s 2018 class, Jansen has long been a raw, upside arm with big athleticism, a projectable frame, and arm strength – he’s beginning to show signs of it all coming together, too. The Sun Prairie alum sat 88-90 mph during his time on the mound, with a fastball that features hard, natural cut action on it. He’s polished up his motion to home, maintaining better balance throughout. Jansen still utilizes a high front though with a fluid and athletic low knee tuck and coil with a soft and easy landing. The feel to spin is still raw (74-75 mph curveball with deceleration), but he’s taken some of the necessary strides to find a more regular role on the mound, and his cut fastball has a chance to be an outpitch all on its own.

Eliot Turnquist, Soph., RHP
Turnquist was a two-way player at Columbus but his stuff on the mound has ticked way up and it’s allowed him to focus more on his work as a pitcher only in Madison. With a diminutive and thin 6-foot, 175-pound stature, it’s eye-catching to see his live arm unleash upper-80s velocity with downhill tilt to home. He sat 87-89 mph on this cold fall day, and there are reports of more in the tank, and it seems reasonable watching his arm go to work. He releases fastball from an over-the-top slot with some effort and creates some downward angle and run, with carry through the zone. Turnquist also backs his fastball up with a 12/6 breaking ball, 76-78 mph, with tight spin and hard downer action that should be a reliable swing-and-miss offering for him. These two pitches alone should at least allow for Turnquist to record high-leverage, late-inning outs somewhere next fall.

Riley LeTourneau, Fr., RHP
LeTourneau finished his prep career as the No. 12-ranked prospect in the 2019 class for his premium arm strength, up into the low-90s that we saw first-hand in the state tournament for Brookfield East. On Friday in Franklin, LeTourneau looked similar; a thick/strong 6-foot-4, 215-pound frame. He sat 89-91 mph, touching 92, with heavy run/sink action, thrown with relative ease. The difference here as compared to the prospect we saw four months ago was the feel for offspeed. The curveball, 71-72 mph, was thrown with greater feel and he was able to drop it in more often for strikes, thrown at arm speed with above-average action on an 11/5 plane.

Jett Thielke, Fr., RHP
From Bay Port’s 2019 grad class, Thielke is built at a premium 6-foot-6, 195 pounds, with long levers with fluid and athletic actions. He ended the day for the WolfPack, sitting 88-89 mph with arm-side run and life through the zone, with a quick and loose arm from a ¾ slot, featuring some effort and head whack. He had feel for a breaking ball with average 10/4 shape and average action, too, that should pair nicely with the fastball. The size and present stuff should elevate his game onto the JUCO prospect map.

Jacob Kaiser, Soph., C/1B
Kaiser captained Catholic Memorial as the team’s starting catcher during the 2018 baseball season, and he remains a physically impressive specimen – he’s only carved even more muscle and definition to his hulking 6-foot-5, 230-pound frame since. He spent 2019 at Iowa Western CC where he made just 41 plate appearances before deciding to transfer to Madison JC. On Friday, demonstrated many of the same traits that had him ranked as the No. 31 prospect in the state’s 2018 class. Kaiser moves very well, especially for his size, suffocating pitches in the dirt and has a calm demeanor with an inner clock that allows him to keep baserunners honest, with the tools to throw them out at second, a couple in-game pops at 2.01 and 2.05. His strong hands and wrists produce usable bat strength in game on a plane with some length to it that allows for him to get tied up at times. Still, as a sound defender with right-handed pop, Kaiser could help a program out next year and beyond.

Jeff Holtz, R-Fr., OF/1B
Holtz finished his prep career as the No. 5-ranked prospect in the state’s 2018 class and took his talents to Bloomington at Indiana University after a decorated athletic career at Arrowhead. He announced this summer that he had made the decision to transfer to Madison JC, where he’s been working out in right field and first base, as opposed to the catcher he was back in high school. Physically, Holtz looks much of the same. He stands at a large, strong 6-foot-4, 230 pounds, who profiles as a middle-of-the-order bat. Right-handed, short and level, quiet swing with bat speed, premium strength on contact with a two-handed finish; showed off pull-side pop potential in BP. He’s always moved well for his size, going back to his Arrowhead days, so it’s a wonder if his experiment in a corner outfield spot works out. If not, the bat will slide comfortably in at first base.

Jake Nelson, Fr., INF
No member of the WolfPack took a better round of BP than Nelson, the freshman from Altoona. At a lean and athletic 6-foot, 190 pounds, Nelson swings an easy, repeatable right-handed bat with bat speed that’s fit to produce hard line-drive contact without much swing and miss. A short and direct path to the ball on a fast, level plane had him pepper up-the-middle, low-lying contact in BP. He’s a steady defender with soft hands, too, and looks fit to operate as a second base-type long-term.

Cam Cratic, R-Soph., OF
Cratic is back with the WolfPack after suffering a hip injury that required surgery. Having only just been cleared to play recently, the twitchy outfielder was naturally a little rusty on Friday, but looked notably bigger and taller, adding weight he’ll be able to mold back into strength once he gets back into playing shape. Now listed at 6-foot, 185 pounds, Cratic has proven himself to be a sub-6.90 runner when healthy with all-around tools as a left/left prospect.

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