Aidan
Berger

At San Benito: UCLA commit. Berger has been a known player for a couple seasons in the CCS and his skills behind the plate and with the bat have him continually catching my attention. The medium frame has strength, but there’s still space for him to tighten it as he continues to mature. Behind the plate, Berger used his one-knee stance well allowing him to have a quiet body and glove with a firm wrist; his ease with getting to blocks was also impressive and there were multiple pitches he smothered. Pitchers liked throwing to him as he was able to steal pitches and called a strong game. The arm strength is a tick below-average, with a quick release that kept balls on the arm side of the bag between innings; was on the bag in the game with a base stolen (2.18 Pop, 2.18-2.25 between innings). Balanced at the plate with a high back elbow, Berger has a compact barrel having control of the bat through the turn creating an upward path and showed he’s got the ability to drive pitches up in the zone like he did on a mid 80’s FB deep into RCF for a standup 2B. It’s a patient approach and the trigger is quick when he chooses to let it go. Berger should be counted on in the middle of the lineup and if he continues to hit and catch like he can should be a strong player at the next level.

Summer Scout - Medium frame showing strength in upper half and starting to have frame firm up. During game 1 showed loose wrists with some late bat speed from the left side of the plate. Squared ball up throughout the game slicing a 2B past the LF and two deep flyouts to CF (4.65-5.14T). During game 2 squared the ball up again right at the first baseman for a FC before being rewarded for good AB’s with a dribbler that he legged out (4.64 H-1st). Defense at SS was good with the ability to make plays in his range with good footwork and enough arm strength for the position; did rush a throw leading to an error. Flashed some catching skills as well with lateral agility and the arm strength working better there.