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2.17 Preseason All-State: Kansas HS Catchers Analysis

March 9, 2014

By Sean McCann and Rob Fleeup
Prep Baseball Report Kansas

We will continue rolling out our analysis of the Kansas high school players that participated in our 2.17.14 Preseason All-State event at 68’s Inside Sports in Overland Park, Kansas, moving on to the position players this week - today we start with the catchers.

The Kansas high school Class of 2014 catching group might be the best ever as we’ve reported numerous times.  The Class of 2015 catching talent pool may not be as high powered and deep, but does have two emerging prospects in Tyler Garrison (Mill Valley HS) and Payne McCutcheon (Olathe East HS) – both of whom participated in this event. 

Brant Millerborg (2015, Blue Valley Southwest HS) is a country-strong beast of a man who both pitched and worked out with the catchers on the 17th.  Also in attendance was Kurt Paldino, an Olathe East Class of 2016 prospect, who possesses a projectable, athletic frame and is a left-hand hitting, right-hand thrower that can play a number of positions defensively.

Below are the scouting reports on the four Kansas high school catchers that participated in the 2.17.14 Preseason All-State event:

Top prospects 

1. Tyler Garrison, C, Mill Valley HS, Class of 2015
The sturdy-framed 5-foot-11, 190-pound Garrison is a left-hand hitting catcher.  At the plate he has a balanced set-up, smooth hand load and short inline stride.  He showed good balance throughout his swing with a short, level bat path and loose hands – a mostly gap-to-gap approach with some juice. His exit velocity was clocked at 86 mph and he ran a 4.39 home-to-1B from the left side.  During the defensive evaluations Garrison’s home-to-2B pop time was timed in the 2.15-2.19 range with a throwing velocity of 80 mph, the highest of all of Kansas HS catchers at the event.  He showed quick feet and very simple throwing mechanics using a short over-the-top throwing motion.  Most of his throws were on or near the bag. Garrison was also featured in a PBR Plus story by national writer Nathan Rode earlier this week: The Hotlist: Left-handed Hitting, Uncommitted Juniors.

2. Payne McCutcheon, C, Olathe East HS, Class of 2015
McCutcheon is a 6-foot-2, 190-pound right-hand hitting catcher.  He has a projectable, athletic frame that’s built to add weight to.  At the plate, he has a tall, athletic set-up and strides slightly closed.  He uses a simple hand load and short, level pat path working mostly gap-to-gap – he has excellent balance throughout his swing.  McCutcheon dialed in a 78 mph exit velocity and was timed at 4.33 during the home-to-1B portion of the event.  McCutcheon’s catching pop time was registered in the 1.90-2.00 range (best in camp), a throwing velocity high of 77 mph with the majority of his throws on or near the bag.  He has quick footwork, good rhythm and throws with an easy high ¾ motion.

Best of the rest 

Brant Millerborg, C, Blue Valley Southwest HS, Class of 2015
The physical, wide shouldered Millerborg is a 6-foot-2, 215-pound right-hand hitting catcher.  During hitting drills he showed a balanced, athletic set-up with a smooth load and short stride.  He’s somewhat upper body dominant but his strong hands allow him to deliver the barrel with some bat speed and has good extension.  He has mostly a pull approach.  His exit velocity was clocked as high as 83 mph and he ran a 4.51 home-to-1B from the right side.  During defensive evaluations Millerborg made throws to second base in the 2.15-2.29 range, a top throwing velocity of 74 mph with all throws on or near the bag – he was the most accurate thrower of the Kansas HS catchers.  He uses a quick, low ¾ snap throw type motion.

Kurt Paldino, C, Olathe East HS, Class of 2016
Paldino is an athletic-framed 6-foot-1, 185-pound left-hand hitting catcher and infielder.  He was one of a handful of class of 2016 prospects in attendance at this camp.  At the plate he has a balanced set-up with high relaxed hands then pre-sets his hands – then uses no stride, no load before delivering the barrel with some bat speed – a very simple swing with excellent balance throughout and overall line-drive approach.  Paldino registered an 83 mph exit velocity and also ran a 4.24 home-to-1B.  During the catcher’s workouts his home-to-2B pop time was in the 2.28-2.30 range with a throwing velocity clocked as high as 69 mph with most of his throws near the bag.  He showed average footwork and a short high ¾ throwing motion.  During infield work he moved well, used a mostly short ¾ throwing motion with some effort making several accurate throws and a top throwing velocity of 70 mph.

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