Aaron
Schunk

3/23/19: Two-way player who earned the save in both Saturday and Sunday's games. Showed an easy, repeatable delivery with good arm action. Pitched to contact with a 90-92 mph downhill fastball and a soft breaking 79-81 mph slider. He's a pitch to contact closer and did not miss many bats, but got outs by keeping his slider down in the zone and induced impatient LSU hitters to roll over the top of it for ground ball outs. As a position player Schunk has prototypical size for a third baseman at 6-foot-2, 205 pounds. He throws easy with a plus-plus arm and, although he has struggled at times on defense this spring (8 errors in 69 chances), projects as a future plus defender with agile feet, above average range, good body control and sure hands. His hitting mechanics are very similar to Cam Shepherd's (see above), but when Schunk gets to connection, instead of turning the barrel, he uses his hands to push the barrel, causing him to lose barrel whip and some bat speed. This may partially explain why his strong frame and above average bat speed hasn't produced much game power (8 HR in 456 career at-bats) to this point. With that said, his swing and intent to aggressively pull the ball has improved since my look last summer in the Cape. At this point it's tough to project much on the bat due to his low walk rate (4.1% career) and low ISO (.124 career), but he's a college bat with some projection remaining and a safe 4th-to-5th round pick. With a boost in power production over the second half of the season, his draft value will follow. (Seifert)

8/15/18: With a July 24, 1997 birthdate, Schunk just missed 2018 draft-eligibility by four days. At six-foot-two, 205 pounds, he’s the prototypical size for a third baseman and has the tools to fit there as well. Plus arm, throws easy. Sure hands and agile feet. Will only improve defensively with further instruction and reps. Above average-to-plus present raw power to his pull side, yet it does not transfer to game due to a line drive swing path and his approach of using the big part of the field. Zero home runs in 133 plate appearances this summer and just three in 267 plate appearances last spring. He was the best breaking ball hitter with authority that I saw this summer. Tracked and squared several quality sliders, one for extra bases. Showed good rhythm and used his lower half well in his swing. His upper half can get pushy as he tries to stay in the middle of the field and serve the ball to center field. Will need to develop greater lift in his swing and more of a pull attitude to get to his raw juice. Good base runner, above average underway. 4.34 down the line from the right side. Presently more of a third-to-fifth round draft pick, Schunk could greatly elevate his draft status with much improved power production this spring. He’s not so much a sleeper prospect, as he is one to watch closely this spring. (Seifert)