By John Nolan
PBR Virginia/DC

The Covenant School RHP/MIF and Class of 2017 Prospect Games participant Jacob Haney has committed to attend the College of William & Mary in the fall of 2017. Haney will be joined at William & Mary by Covenant teammate Will Moore (RHP, 2017), who also recently committed to The Tribe. The Covenant School had a strong spring with a very young team in 2015, and advanced to the VISAA Division 2 tournament before their season came to a close. The Eagles should improve with age in 2016 and will have a good one-two punch on the mound in Moore and Haney. 

On the mound, Haney has a lanky, athletic frame and throws from a three-quarters arm slot with a smooth, drop and drive delivery. He has a short, loose arm action and throws with max effort. His shoulders are level and closed as he strides out on line to a square landing before falling off as he finishes. Haney’s fastball has heavy sink and some running action to it and sat 82-84 at the 2017 Top Prospect Games in July. His slider had 11/5 action and flashed plus, with late, sharp action to it and full armspeed, running 68-71. His changeup was thrown with full armspeed and sinking action, sitting 76. 

Offensively, Haney hit from a balanced and athletic stance with slight bend in the knees. His stance was slightly closed and he had a smooth load back with a slight wrap. Haney’s stride was short and stayed closed. He utilized an inward turn of the knee to generate power and as a timing mechanism. He maintained balance in the swing with a good lower half and took an advanced approach in the batting practice round with decent rhythm. He had a short and level bat path with extension and fast bat speed with strong hands. Haney had an exit velocity of 84 mph and he has a line drive stroke with gap-to-gap potential. In the field, Haney threw from a high three-quarter arms lot with a long/loose arm action. His throws were accurate and have some life. He showed soft hands in the field with good actions. Haney a very projectable player with a projectable body and he should be able to stay on the left side of the field. His footwork was fluid and exchanges were clean and he had a positional velocity of 83 mph.

When he arrives at William & Mary, Haney has the potential to impact the Tribe as a two-way contributor. While he is a two-way talent, it’s likely that Haney’s greatest impact at William & Mary will come on the mound, where he has the potential to develop into a weekend starter and a professional prospect as he fills out and adds velocity. Both Haney’s father and grandfather had major league careers and he has the ability to follow in their footsteps at some point.