Underclassmen Report: 2018 RHP
December 1, 2016
By: Zac Bottoms
Arkansas Scouting Director
Recruiting runs at a rapid pace on Monday, a 2021 graduate committed to Mississippi State. This is the exception not the rule, in the 2017 class in Arkansas 45 players have signed their National Letter of Intent. In 2016, 89 players from Arkansas committed to play college baseball. 2016 is a typical year for the state to produce between 75-100 collegiate baseball players. With that being said, there will plenty of players in the 2017 class find a fit to play college baseball over the next few months.
That leads us to the 2018 class which only has eight players currently committed to playing collegiately. I want to take a look at the unsigned committed players in the 2018 class that I believe we be the next group to come off the recruiting board. Today we look at right-handed pitchers.
Jaden Hill, RHP, Ashdown HS
Hill is a 6-foot-4 195-pound right-hander with a large frame and physical build. He pitches from a H ¾ arm slot with a quick clean arm. He has a repeatable delivery with a distinct balance point. He finishes tall and online to home plate. He commands his fastball 88-90 mph touching as high as 92 mph. He compliments the fastball with a slider 76-79 mph with sharp 10/4 action. Overall Hill is a big physical athlete with a quick arm and a feel for a solid slider.
Will Richardson, RHP, Woodlawn HS
Will Richardson is a 6-foot-2, 170-pound RHP. He works from a Low 3/4 arm slot with a quick clean arm and he gets good extension. He locates his fastball on both sides of the plate at 82-84 mph with late sink and touched 86 mph. His changeup is a polished pitch thrown 71-73 mph with arm side run. He also locates Frisbee breaking ball consistently 72-75 mph. He repeats his mechanics consistently with balance and rhythm. Richardson has a projectable frame and an advanced feel to pitch
Miller Pleimann, RHP, Fayetteville HS
Pleimann is a 6-foot-2 right-hander with a projectable frame and athletic build. He pitches from an H ¾ arm slot with a clean arm action. His delivery is simple and is repeated on a consistent basis. His delivery is tall and fall. He maintains balance through his tall finish. The fastball works 82-85 mph with arm side run. The slider works 73-74 mph with late 10/4 action. He also commands a change up 72-75 mph thrown with near fastball arm speed. Overall Plieman has a projectable frame with an advanced feel to pitch
Landon Brown, RHP, Shiloh Christian HS
Brown is a 5-foot-11 185-pound right-hander with solid frame and build he commands the strike zone with a fastball 84-86 mph with slight sink. He compliments the fastball with a solid curveball with 11/5 break thrown 71-74 mph. He pitches from H ¾ arm slot with a short quick arm action. He repeats his delivery which allows him to command the strike zone on a consistent basis. Overall Brown is right-hander that commands the strike zone with two solid pitches.
Bennett Shoptaw, RHP Little Rock Christian
Shoptaw is a 6-foot-1 175-pound right-hander with an athletic frame and build. He uses a short quick arm action from a ¾ arm slot. He repeats his mechanics consistently without a distinct balance point. He finishes tall to the plate. His fastball works 82-85 mph with slight run. He uses a 70-73 mph 11/5 curveball with late break as his secondary pitch. Overall Shoptaw is a solid two pitch right-hander with a feel to pitch.