Prep Baseball Report

Twelve Baseball Fall Scout Day: Quick Hits


Phil Haig
Texas Scouting Director

The Twelve organization had a full day in the hot sun on a fall Saturday at the University of Houston. They played three games and brought six different teams with ages between 2020 and 2023. Overall on the day the organization put out a number of highly talented baseball players in all graduating classes. 

GAME 1

+ LHP/OF Chase Davis #9 in class of 2022 
Texas A&M commit, 6-foot-3, 185-pound left hander is a physical presence in the box. Has an athletic setup with simple rhythm in his load. Not many moving parts and has a repeatable swing. Hit a couple balls hard on the day, driving one to the gap with an effortless swing. 

+ OF Max Belyeu #12 in class of 2022-
Alabama Commit, 6-foot-1, 170-pound has a quiet setup with not many moving parts, simple swing to the ball that packs a punch. Hits backspin line drives to all fields with ease. On the day he drove a fastball to the left center field gap for a stand up triple. Belyeu runs a 6.86 60-yard and can cover ground in the outfield. His bat is carrying tool and it is only going to get better with strength and natural growth.

 

+ Catchers Blake Mitchell (2023) and Nayden Ramirez (2023) looked the part defensively on the day. Mitchell has an athletic frame with room to grow. Behind the plate he received well with quiet actions and handled stuff from older arms on the day. In the box Mitchell has an athletic stance with natural rhythm in his hands and load. Currently shows off some bat speed with a lot more to come as he physically matures. Ramirez is much more physical at this stage but still has plenty of strength to be added. Behind the dish, he is quiet with his body as he receives, the transfer is a bit inconsistent, but the arm strength plays. In the batters box, he stands tall with his bat quietly on his shoulder. Has a simple load with his lower half but still needs more reps to fully tap into his potential. Overall both catchers showed flashes of promise and flashes of youth with more to come as they mature.


GAME 2

+ 2021 RHP Justin Barry-Smith (The Woodlands) stands 6-foot 160-pounds was 83-85 mph with natural cut and coupled it with a 76 mph breaking ball with depth. Both pitches paired well with each other on the day. Had success getting weak contact and a few swings and misses on the FB up in the zone. 

2022's

+ 1B/OF/LHP Jace Laviollete (Thompkins) - LSU commit, Standing a towering 6-foot-5, 255-pounds is a physical presence at the plate. He showed the ability to hit like he has for a while now. Staying inside a ball and sucking his hands in to hit it hard to through the hole on the left side of the infield. Laviollete has a wide base in the box, with a calm easy smooth rhythm into his load with a small leg lift. Has the ability to show off some power but on the day proved he is an all around hitter not just a pull side power hitter.

 

+ C Ryan Williams (Bridgeland) - 6-foot-1, 160-pounds has the look of a catcher behind the dish. Gets low in his set presenting a quality target to the pitcher. Threw 2.01-2.1 in between innings, presented the ball well when he caught it. Has the tools to be a quality defensive catcher at the next level. While at the plate Williams hammered a couple balls during the game, one going for extra base hits. Showed solid feel for the barrel and the ability to drive the baseball with more to come.

+ RHP/OF Trey Duffield (Strake Jesuit College Prep) - Long limbed and ultra athletic frame standing 6-foot-3, 190-pounds. Duffield showed well on the day both on the mound as well as at the plate. As a right handed hitter, he sets up balanced and athletic, showing off bat speed in the zone getting good extension through the baseball. Drove a ball past the outfielders in the left center field gap with a hard hit backspin line drive for a triple. On the mound Duffield has a long loose arm path. Maintained his athleticism through his delivery, his fastball was 82-85 mph that played true, showed a CH with good arm side action and depth at 78 mph, also mixed in a breaking ball with power curveball shape at 73 mph. 

+ 2022 Jax Traeger (Concordia Lutheran) - 6-foot-1, 180-pounds has some rigidness with his frontside but that helps create some deception in his delivery. Drives down the mound well creating tilt on all pitches when its right. His fastball sat 85-88 mph with tilt making it hard to square up. Threw the changeup with confidence at 76 with good arm speed and fading action on the pitch. He was able to get swings and misses from the left handed hitters with it. Also mixed in a breaking ball with power curveball shape at 70-72 mph. The spin on the breaking ball got better as the game went and had tight uniform spin getting some swings and misses from right-handed hitters. Look for Traeger to make jumps in the near future as he continues to develop. 

 

Jax Traeger 9.21.2019

 

+ A couple of 2023’s in Landon West (Caldwell) and Graham Laxton (Katy) showed their abilities on the day as well. West stands 5-foot-10, 197-pounds, received velocity and breaking balls well behind the dish. Very much looked the part in the sense of belonging on the field with an older, talented group. Laxton stood out for his ability to play all over the diamond and seamlessly fit in on defense. At the plate he has relaxed and balanced setup, simple repeatable load and swing that shows feel for the barrel. Showed the ability to backspin the baseball to pull side with an effortless swing during the game.

GAME 3

+ Featured a young pair of infielders that stood out for their athletic actions and tough at bats. 2022 infielder Trey Acreman (Montgomery) 5-foot-8 152-pounds showed fundamental defensive actions with natural athleticism and a feel for communicating on the field.  2023 infielder Blake Brown (Lake Creek) athletically built 5-foot-10, 155-pounds also showed lots of natural athleticism in the middle of the field and a feel for communicating throughout the game. At the plate he sets up with an open stance and high hands, hands and barrel worked around the ball but showed some natural athleticism and tools to watch as he matures as well.

 

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