Colorado Top Prospect Games: Outfield Analysis
August 25, 2014
By John Cackowski
Director of Scouting
The Colorado Top Prospect Games took place on Saturday August 16th and Sunday August 17th, at Cherry Creek High School in Greenwood Village, CO. This year’s event featured several talented, uncommitted players in Colorado’s 2015 through 2018 classes. We recently highlighted the Top Catching Prospects, Third Base Prospects, and First Base Prospects at the event. In our next positional analysis we will take a look at the top outfielders. Cherry Creek's Carson Jax takes home top honors showing gap to gap power, the ability to cover good ground in the outfield, and great base-running instincts.
Here’s a look at the top outfield prospects at this year’s Colorado Top Prospect Games:
Top Outfield Prospects
1. Carson Jax, OF, Cherry Creek, 2015
5-foot-9, 165-pound athletic right-handed hitting outfielder. Jax hits from an balance athletic stance, hands load back smoothly, stride is short and lower half is explosive with good balance, bat speed is fast and path is short to the ball creating line drives from gap-to-gap with 82 mph exit velocity. Defensively, impressed showing good range outfield velocity of 77 mph from a long, loose, high ¾ arm slot. Aggressively attacks the baseball with quick, fluid footwork, and soft hands on the transfer. Ran a 6.90 60. Showed advanced base running aggression and instincts stealing 5 bases during the weekend, while also getting 3 hits on the weekend in 6 At-Bats.
2. Braiden Smith, OF, Lakewood High School, 2016
5-foot-11, 175-pound right-handed hitting outfielder impressed with legitimate physical athletic ability. Hits from a balanced athletic setup, hands load back smoothly, creating good separation. Has leg kick that he gets down early and shows explosion with his lower half. Bat speed is fast with a short path and good extension producing line drive gap-gap power producing 81 mph exit velocity off the tee. Threw 75 mph from the outfield from long, loose, high ¾ arm slot with good hands, playing through the baseball aggressively when fielding. Showed exceptional range in center, while also throwing a runner out at home during the games. Impressed everyone with running a 6.60 and 6.72 60. Athletic outfielder had a good day 2 going 2-2 with a 4.21 home to first time.
3. Ryan Faircloth, OF, Dakota Ridge High School 2016
5-foot-10, 150-pound athletic outfielder impressed with the best outfield velocity at 82 mph. Throws from a long ¾ slinging arm slot with some accuracy. Hits from an slightly closed setup, load is minimal with hands already back with a good approach up the middle of the field. Showed good bat speed with a short level bat path produced several line drives from gap-to-gap with 81 mph exit velocity. During batting practice showed he wanted to pull everything but hit very hard drives, but in the first game he drove an outside pitch down the right field line for a double and two RBI's. Also ran a 7.1 60 yard dash
4. Marc Alva, OF, Columbine, 2015
5-foot-8, 155-pound left-handed hitting RHP/OF hits from a balanced stance and hands load back smooth. Swing produces explosive bat speed with a bat path that is level with good extension through the zone. Has gap to gap line drive power and impressed with the second highest exit velocity of the games at 87 mph. Gets in trouble when he wants to lift ball. When he stays square through the ball he produces very hard line drives. Defensively charges ball aggressively in the outfield and threw 78 mph. On the mound threw 74-77 mph from short, quick, high ¾ arm slot with a solid feel for three pitches. His 67-68 mph curveball showed slurry 11/5 sweeping action and was thrown for strikes. Has a quick pick to first base. Ran a 7.00 60.
Best of the Rest (Listed Alphabetically)
Garrett Gipson, OF, Grandview, 2017
5-foot-9, 153-pound right-handed hitting outfielder impressed running the 60 yard dash at 6.85 seconds. Hits from a tall setup with a short stride, slight leg kick, hands wrap back, creating slightly uphill bat path with 74 mph exit velocity off the tee. Defensively, throws from a long, high ¾ arm slot at 73 mph from the outfield. Also ran 4.41 from home to first.
Chase Trujillo, OF, Lakewood, 2015
5-foot-5, 135-pound left-handed hitting outfielder hit from an athletic open stance, with a short stride, raises hands to load, producing line drives gap to gap with 76 mph exit velocity off the tee. Right-handed threw 73 mph from the outfield from short, over the top/to high ¾ arm action with some accuracy. Ran a 6.91 60, and 4.74 seconds from home to first.
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