Prep Baseball Report

Summer Upperclass Spotlights: 2023 Catchers & Outfielders


Jason Burton
Scouting Director PBR Virginia/DC

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In late June and early August, over eighty-five uncommitted players from the 2023 class were in attendance for one, or both of our summer upperclass events. Our two upperclass summer events, the Upperclass State Games in late June and our annual Unsigned Senior Games in early August, were our most heavily recruited events in the state. Between the two events we hosted over forty coaches from the MId-Atlantic region. From those two events there have been a total of forty-two commitments in the weeks following our final summer upperclass event, with twenty-two of those commitments going to schools that were in attendance on those days. 

Today we are going to take a look at six uncommitted players from those events. 

Summer State Games Spotlights:

2023 Catchers

Gabriel Alexander C / OF / Woodrow Wilson , VA / 2023

Solid 5-foot-10, 180-pound frame. Alexander starts from a square stance, simple load and swing, and barrel has some length through contact. He did a nice job repeating the swing and showed some adjustability with the path. The arm strength from behind the plate is slightly above average and played well out of the hand. Throws were on line and had some carry. Solid runner at 7.08 and could contribute in the outfield corners. 

Strengths: Rhythm and repeatability in the swing, athleticism, accuracy on throws

Areas for Improvement: Continue to add arm strength, power production in game

  

Pierce Butler C / 2B / Matoaca, VA / 2023

Athletic 6-foot, 175-pound frame. Butler has begun to fill out and still has room to add more strength. Had a really solid day at the Unsigned Senior Games. Slight crouch at the plate, hands drop slightly on load, and does a nice job staying short to contact. Whippy barrel with line drive tendency. Had multiple hits in game on the day and showed his athleticism on the bases. Solid receiver with a very quick transfer and a hand driven path into the throw. Short arm action, but arm strength will need to increase to stay behind the plate at the next level.

Strengths: Feel for barrel, athleticism, frame

Areas for Improvement: Arm path, arm strength

Kyle Carpe C / OF / Stone Bridge, VA / 2023

Compact 5-foot-9 frame with proportional strength. Carpe is a multi-sport athlete with plenty of tools on the baseball field. This is one of my favorite uncommitted players in the state. The kid competes and gets it done in game. 6.95 runner, high end hand and bat speed, and rotates extremely well. His hitting data in BP, his consistency in finding the barrel, and his ability to hit in game are all at a high level. The arm strength on pops is average to slightly above average, but it is a little bit of a longer exchange and arm action. Carpe is athletic enough to play multiple spots in the outfield and has versatility in the offense. 

Strengths: Offensive production, athleticism, competes, versatile

Areas for Improvement: Arm path, exchange

2023 Outfielders

Jack Bowles OF / LHP / Hanover, VA / 2023

Compact 5-foot-7 frame. Contact bat with the ability to use the whole field and hit for average. Will show some occasional doubles power, more so to the pull side. The barrel has some length out front and has shown the ability to adjust to spin/offspeed. Average runner that is instinctive on the bases. Probably more left field/centerfield profile, but has the arm strength to play all three. Plays the game hard and the kind of player that you know what you are going to get in terms of effort and approach every day he shows up.

Strengths: Whole field approach, contact rate, arm strength

Areas of Improvement: Run tool, XBH production

Miguel Martin OF / 2B / Douglas Freeman, VA / 2023

5-foot-8, 160-pound athlete. It is a compact frame with lean strength present throughout. Two-sport athlete. Plays running back and defensive back for the Douglas Freeman football team. Square stance, hands have minimal load and stay tight and short to contact. Martin has above average hand speed and rotates extremely well. Had a max acceleration of 38.9 g according to Blast Motion. Has a little extra power to the pull side and doubles power to all fields. Average arm strength in the outfield with a left field/centerfield profile. Above average runner. 

Strengths: Strength to pull side, twitchy athlete, competes, range in outfield

Areas for Improvement: Offensive consistency, arm strength

 

 

Jeremy Stine OF / OF / West Springfield, VA / 2023

Athletic 5-foot-10, 170-pound athletic frame with lean strength throughout. Stine is an average runner with long term corner outfield projection. Slightly open to start, toe tap, and lands on line. Stine had an impressive couple of rounds of BP. Swings with intent, does not get cheated, and has some pull side tendency to the swing. Above average hand and bat speed and showed off some juice during BP. Was up to 94 mph exit velocity, as well as hitting one out of left field at 350 feet. Average arm strength and is a slower exchange to release. 

Strengths: Power to pull side, strong wrists, hand and bat speed

Areas for Improvement: Arm strength, exchange and release time, swing adjustability