Waco Preseason ID: Pitching Scouting Reports
February 18, 2024
PBR Texas Staff
TEXAS - On January 13th, we continued our 2024 Preseason with the Waco Preseason ID at Rice University. The day started off by the players running a 60, taking a round of BP, then throwing from thei. Following BP, Pitchers threw bullpens, where TrackMan data was recorded. Today, we take a look at the scouting reports from all pitchers at the event.
+ FULL STAT SHEET
+ QUICK HITS
+ DATA DIVE
Read on below for a look at all of the pitchers from the event, with the Top prospects ranked.
TOP PLAYERS
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Cade Julius RHP / OF / Mansfield, TX / 2025
Positional Profile: RHP/OF Cade has great upside. He shows the ability to throw and command a quality slider and changeup. He throws a good fastball and with some work on increasing his fast twitch and power his velo will continue to climb. He has a high ceiling and the potential to develop into a quality power arm.
Body: 6-6, 213-pounds. Tall lanky frame with broad shoulders and plenty of room to still fill out as he matures.
Delivery: Stretch only with hands set at the chest, feet shoulder width with slight bend in the back leg. Methodical delivery with glove pat. High leg kick with a fairly decent load into the back hip. Cade does a good job of utilizing his length and releasing the ball out front. With a better load into the backside and more explosive trunk rotation his velo could really make a quick jump.
Arm Action: RH. Long, 3/4 arm action that creates an uncomfortable at bat for a right handed hitter. Stays on top of the ball well with a loose arm that works. Average arm speed.
FB: T90, 87-89 mph. FB looks heavy and comes out of the hand downhill. Has some pretty good ride through the zone and looks like it could get some swing and misses and induce lotse of groundballs. T2062, 1992 average rpm.
SL: 72-75 mph. Tight and late break with good depth. Plus pitch that has big time swing and miss potential and will tunnel well off of a 2-seam/sinker from this 3/4 arm slot. T2087, 2010 average rpm.
CH: 75-77 mph. Cade shows a good feel for the changeup. He stays on top well with good hand speed making it difficult to pick up at release. Good speed difference with quality armside fade. T1917, 1891 average rpm.
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Hayden O RHP / OF / Frisco Centennial, TX / 2026
Positional Profile: RHP/OF Hayden is a solid fast twitch young athlete. He plays hard and throws/swings with aggression and posses multiple tools that when polished up have the potential to play at the next level.
Body: 5-10, 178-pounds. Wirey athletic frame. With some more time in the weight room he will be able to fill out well.
Delivery: Big glove tap with high leg kick. Good load and ride on the backside. Really gets down the mound with aggression attacking the hitter. The front leg needs to brace better at footplant so that he can get out over the front side better, but will improve as he matures.
Arm Action: RH. Whippy over the top arm action with a high release. Pulls down through the ball well with power and armspeed. Slight recoil at the finish.
FB: T87, 86-87 mph. FB needs improvement wiith both velo and command. Hard to repeat release point and stay through it as he spins off due to the lack of front leg brace. Plays at. higher percieved velocity because of his aggression getting down the mound and attacking the plate. Can be affective when thrown down in the zone. T2054, 1997 average rpm.
CB: 75-76 mph. Hayden shows the abillity to spin the CB well and command it. It has sharp and late 12 to 6 break through the zone. T2226, 2178 average rpm.
CH: 79-79 mph. Hayden has good feel for th CH. Quality armside fade and throws it with good handspeed. T1577, 1577 average rpm.
ATH: 7.15 runner in the 60. 1.69 and 3.94 in the 10 and 30 yard splits. Moves well and gets down hill. Aggressive runner with some good acceleration. 26.60 max vertical.
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Positional Profile: RHP Caden has continued to fill out each year while improving his mechanics on the mound. He attacks the zone with aggression. He will be affective on the mound with the development of a quality secondary pitch that he can land for a strike.
Body: 5-11, 187-pounds. Medium frame with broad shoulders.
Delivery: Fast tempo with a high aggressive leg kick. Not much load into the back hip, needs to spend more time loading over the rubber. Ride down the mound pretty well. Stays in line with his stride. Tends to open up with the gloveside early which causes him to fall off towards to the first base side.
Arm Action: RH. Loose over the top arm action with some whip to it. Avg armspeed with some pretty good downhill angle.
FB: T87, 85-86 mph. Shows pretty good command with the FB. Above Avg velocity, but will play up due to good spin and ride through the zone. T2336, 2272 average rpm.
CB: 72-73 mph. Avg CB with 10 to 8 shape, slurvey. When the hand gets on top and releases out front it could be a good out pitch. T2334, 2263 average rpm.
CH: 76-79 mph. Flashes a few changeups with some armside fade, but tends to slow the arm and body down with it. May tip offspeed to batter. T1564, 1518 average rpm.
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Luke Sandefur 3B / RHP / Aledo, TX / 2026
Positional Profile: 3B/RHP Luke is a solid athlete who shows smoothness both in the INF and on the bump. With time to develop he could add value to a lineup with his bat, and shows the potential to develop into a well rounded RHP with a quality 3 pitch mix.
Body: 5-8, 167-pounds. Medium athletic frame with solid lower half.
Delivery: Fast tempo with a smooth and clean delivery with a high coiled leg kick. Has good ride down the mound on the back leg and the start of a good back hip load, but rolls the hips forward loosing some velo. With a better hinge into the back hip rather than roll into the load he will make a quick jump in velo. Gets hand out front at release and finishes over the front side well.
Arm Action: RH. Loose over the top arm action. Quick arm with a slight jerkiness to it, but it works well and generates good layback and whip.
FB: T86, 84-86 mph. FB command needs to improve, but spins well and has good ride through the top of the zone. Will play pretty well now, but with an increase in velo has the potential to jump on hitters and get above the hands. T2212, 2110 average rpm.
CB: 73-74 mph. CB need command needs improvement but spins very well. With a better hinge into the back hip Lule will keep his hand on top of the CB better giving it a quality downhill release with sharp late bit through the zone. Potential to be a swing and miss breaking ball. T2748, 2653 average rpm.
CH: 78-79 mph. Luke shows the ability to have a plus changeup with good armside fade. With some work on commanding this pitch at the bottom of the zone he can create a lot of swing and misses/weak ground balls. T1809, 1747 average rpm.
ATH: 7.32 runner in the 60. 1.83 and 4.09 in the 10 and 30 yard splits. Average runner with long strides but does a good job of starting down in the legs. 30.50 max vertical.
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BEST OF THE REST (LISTED ALPHABETICALLY)
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Rylan Alaniz SS / 3B / Trinity, TX / 2026
Positional Profile: SS/3B Good athlete who plays with confidence. Good arm that shows up on in the outfield and on the dirt. Swings with intent, and shows some power. Has some polishing up to do, but all the tools are there.
Body: 5-9, 173-pounds. Athletic frame, will be able to add on muscle mass as he develops. Good lower half.
Delivery: Fast tempo from both windup and stretch. Attacks the hitter with aggression. Decent ride on the back leg down the slope, but back leg collapses early. Rotates trunk well when transitioning into the throw, but does not move as effeciently/fast on the mound when compared to his fielding. Slightly tips offspeed by slowing body down causing early release.
Arm Action: RH. Loose arm, over the top. Works well and moves freely.
FB: T81, 79-81 mph. FB has good ride through the zone. Gets up on hiters quickly, deceptive velocity due to combination of arm angle, speed, and quick trunk rotation. T1980, 1917 average rpm.
SL: 72-75 mph. Shows flashes of quality slider. Tends to pull off early causing it to back up and stay arm side. When he stays through it can become quality pitch with depth. T2249, 1961 average rpm.
CH: 74-75 mph. Nice fade and tunnels well off the FB. Good feel for the change-up. T1670, 1630 average rpm.
ATH: 7.16 runner in the 60. 1.78 and 4.02 in the 10 and 30 yard splits. 26.70 max vertical.
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Positional Profile: LHP/OF Grayson has good upside. With some work and more time his swing could develop some good power from the left handed batters box. He also shows promise on the bump and could give hitters some trouble.
Body: 6-2, 193-pounds. Tall lanky frame that will be able to hold 10+ more lbs of muscle. Lots of potential to turn into a power player type body.
Delivery: Fast tempo with high leg kick and decent ride on the back leg. Weight shifts to toe on the back foot resulting in a slight accross body throw from the left side. When he misses, he typically pulls off with front side early causing armside misses.
Arm Action: LH. Long high 3/4 arm slot with slight hitch on the backside. Despite the hitch, Grayson's arm still moves well and accelerates through release.
FB: T82, 79-82 mph. Fastball spins fairly well with avg. velocity, but can be deceptive due to his crossbody stride and arm slot. T2170, 2096 average rpm.
CB: 70-72 mph. Grayson pulls off witht he gloveside early making it difficult for him to get his hand out front/on top of the curveball. With his arm slot and pitching mechanics he has a good chance of developing a sweepy slider from the left side. T2073, 1976 average rpm.
CH: 76-77 mph. Good feel for the changeup. Tunnels pretty well off the fastball. Comes out slightly too hard, but flahses some good armside fade. T1797, 1759 average rpm.
ATH: 7.71 runner in the 60. 1.74 and 4.14 in the 10 and 30 yard splits. Long strides, needs to work on getting downhill. 22.10 max vertical.
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Positional Profile: C/RHP Hunter is a young player that shows promise of developing into a quality catcher and right handed bat. He also shows ability on the mound and with time could be a solid RHP on the bump as well. As he matures a lot will clean up and he will be one to follow.
Body: 5-9, 174-pounds. Athletic frame and just being a 2027 Hunter, will be able to really fill his body out and turn into a strong power player with time spent in the weight room during his offseasons.
Delivery: Methodical tempo with high leg kick. Hands set up at head level. Minimal load into the back hip resulting in him being heavily quad dominant and across the body with the stride attacking the right handed batters box.
Arm Action: RH. Short over the top arm action. Stays on top well and drives the ball downhil.
FB: T81, 78-80 mph. FB spins fairly well, has good ride through the top of the zone. Has slight cutting acting to it due to his tendency to stride across the body. T2133, 2058 average rpm.
CB: 71-72 mph. Hunter flashes the abililty to spin the CB well. Has 1 to 8 shape. With more command and development it could turn into a quality pitch. T2202, 2125 average rpm.
SL: 69-69 mph. Late break with some depth to it. Has potential to miss barrels. T2058, 2058 average rpm.
ATH: 7.53 runner in the 60. 1.81 and 4.19 in the 10 and 30 yard splits. Runs tall with arms/shoulders a little stiff. Hunter needs some work learning to get down into his legs for more explosion and acceleration. 24.20 max vertical.
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Positional Profile: RHP/C Cameron is a younger player that shows some quality traits. With more time to mature and develop he could turn into a solid player to follow.
Body: 5-9, 150-pounds. Loose and slim frame with long legs that will continue to fill out with more time spent in the weight room as he is just a freshman.
Delivery: Methodical pace with a high leg kick and striaght stride towards the plate. Average load and backside leg drive. Cuts rotation through the pitch short
Arm Action: RH. Long over the top arm action with a hitch on the backside and some jerkiness to it. Avg arm speed and trunk rotation.
FB: T74, 73-74 mph. Has some ride through the zone with decent vertical break, but will need to improve in velo in order to be consistently affective. T1788, 1692 average rpm.
CB: 63-65 mph. Commands the CB well and when thrown downhill has good bite. T1534, 1413 average rpm.
ATH: 7.53 runner in the 60. 1.78 and 4.14 in the 10 and 30 yard splits. Runs fairly well at his age with long strides. Comes up out of his legs as he is accelerating. 25.80 max vertical.
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Drew Wells 1B / LHP / Vista Ridge, TX / 2027
Positional Profile: 1B/LHP Drew is a solid young athlete who is versitile. He can be a contributor with his bat and also has potential to be an affective spouthpaw on the bump.
Body: 5-10, 193-pounds. Solid athletic frame, especially for his age.
Delivery: Moderate tempo with an average leg kick. Stiff and rigid throughout the delivery with a little jerkiness. Slight load into the back leg with avg drive down the slope and explosive trunk rotation. Falls to gloveside pulling off ball early.
Arm Action: LH. Short stiff arm action with over the top release. Arm is fast, but doesn't create much leverage or layback due to the stiffness on the backside with it.
FB: T79, 77-78 mph. Avg velo, but could play with a higher percieved velocity do to the jerkiness of his throw. T1909, 1820 average rpm.
CB: 60-62 mph. Has some good 12 to 6 shape with the potential to develop into a quality CB. Pops up out of the hand at release, needs to get that releae out front and more downhill to tunnel the FB. T1731, 1652 average rpm.
SL: 69-71 mph. Slight tilt to it, but not much depth through the zone to be able to miss barrels. Pulls off too soon giving it the tendency to back up armside. T1803, 1755 average rpm.
CH: 72-73 mph. Decent horizontal movement/armside fade and throws it with good handspeed. T1458, 1358 average rpm.
ATH: 7.77 runner in the 60. 1.80 and 4.25 in the 10 and 30 yard splits. Average runner,. Runs very stiff and rigid with choppy strides. 23.90 max vertical.
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