By Rob Allison
Prep Baseball Report Minnesota

The Prep Baseball Report Minnesota's Preseason All-State event took place on Saturday February 28^th at the Vadnais Sports Center in Vadnais Heights, MN. The showcase featured over 70 prospects from the 2016 class who showcased their talents in front of our scouting staff, college coaches, and professional scouts.

Today we start our position by position analysis with catchers. This group had a variety of talent including catch and throw guys, strong receivers and blockers, offensive oriented players. When we create this list we evaluate the overall package of abilities along with future projection at the college level.

The top catching prospect at this year's MN Preseason All-State event is Sioux Fall's Lincolns Griffin Lockwood-Powell. Powell shows upper echelon ability to catch and throw at the next level. His arm strength is good and shows on-line carry to the bag. He projects to get bigger and stronger which will add to a swing that is fundamentally sound.

Rounding out the Top 5 in this category are Peter Fehr from Rogers who displayed an all-around solid skill set, Esko's Nick Emanuel who might have the biggest ceiling of the group, Dylan Gasner from Austin who has a projectable left-handed swing and enough athletcism to grow into the position, and Northfield's Caleb Malek who has arm strength and power in his swing.

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Top Catching Prospects

1. Griffin Lockwood-Powell, C, Sioux Falls Lincoln (SD), 2016
6-foot-1, 188-pound catcher. Lanky right-handed hitter who ran a 7.68 60. Line drive swing plane. Some length to contact but direct to ball with no wasted movements. Will swing with shoulders at times causing loss of bat speed and power. Slight arm bar and disconnect. Shows decent pop in bat with gap to gap approach. Has flexibility behind the plate and shows ability to receive and block. Very strong arm with clean exchange and release. Stands straight up at times losing direction and momentum to second base. Average accuracy with 79 mph arm strength and 1.97 pop time. Projects well. Has arm strength and will only continue to get better with minor adjustments to mechanics and increased maturity and strength. High Follow with ability to catch and throw; along with bat that will continue to develop.

2. Peter Fehr, C, Rogers, 2016
6-foot, 180-pound catcher who ran a 7.5 60. Gap to gap approach with flat bat path through zone. Consistent solid contact and showed ability to use hands in swing. Had above average pop in bat. 87 mph exit velocity off tee. Quiet actions behind the plate with ability to receive and block. Feet are quick and exchanges are clean. Best accuracy of event- all throws consistently on bag. 2.08 pop time with 73 mph arm strength. High Follow 2016 catcher.

3. Nick Emanuel, C, Esko, 2016
6-foot-1, 180-pound catcher. 7.28 60 time. Left-handed hitter with in-line stride and strength in the bat. Swing is uphill at times caused by hands drifting down before intiating swing. Uses a mid-pull approach and lifts balls with authority. 93 mph exit velocity off tee. Flexible lower half with ability to receive and block. Short quick arm action; weight shift early out front. Average accuracy with 2.09 pop time to second base with 78 mph arm strength. Overall good tools and projectable body behind plate. High Follow going into spring/summer season.

4. Dylan Gasner, C, Austin, 2016
5-foot-11, 150-pound catcher. Switch-hitter who ran a 7.54 60. Better swing left-handed. Loose athletic actions in box. Shows + hands left-handed with ability to spray ball and use whole field with solid contact. Bat stays in zone long time with ability to go with pitch away. Right-handed path is inverted effecting solid contact ratio. 82 mph exit velocity off tee. Flexible and quick behind the plate. Has athleticism and good actions. Release is long at times and needs to improve arm strength. Exchanges are clean and footwork is quick. 2.16 pop time with 70 mph arm strength. High Follow catcher for 2016 class based on athleticism- ability to switch-hit. High ceiling with strength gains and continued development behind the dish.

5. Caleb Malek, C/RHP, Northfield, 2016
6-foot-2, 215-pound catcher/right-handed pitcher with a strong durable frame who ran a 7.44 60. Loads with high back elbow creating inverted C swing plane through ball. Uphill path. Short to ball with above average power to pull side of field. Balls explodes off bat at times. Short finish after contact with mid-pull approach. Strength in swing with 89 mph exit velocity off tee. Decent flexibility for size behind the plate. Has strength to receive. Heads get out front blocking; loses body control and balance. Shows solid footwork on catch and throw. Exchange is low creating length to release. Arm strength is not a problem and uses lower half in throws. 2.18 pop time with 81 mph arm and above average accuracy to bag.

Best of the Rest (Listed Alphabetically)

George Fontenot, C, Eden Prairie, 2016
5-foot-10, 175-pound catcher who ran a 7.69 60. Good flat bat path through zone with high rate of solid contact gap to gap. Has balance in swing with quality linear actions from lower half. Loses bat angle in load effecting whip and power. 82 mph exit velocity off tee. Average flexibility behind dish. Blocking is solid. Needs improvement on receiving balls across body. Hitch in release effects pop time. Average accuracy to bag at 2.19 with 70 mph arm strength. Shows ability with bat and catching mechanics can be easily corrected.

Levi Hinton, C, Cretin-Derham Hall, 2016
6-foot, 195-pound catcher who ran a 8.16 60. Very active load in swing. Ultimately effects timing. Does good job of staying down and through balls at contact. Average pop with mid-away approach. 78 mph exit velocity off tee. Ok flexibility. Thumb gets underneath receiving. Would benefit from keeping elbow down and hand up while receiving pitches. Showed good footwork and exchanges were clean. Arm stroke is long at times in this event. Average arm strength at 71 mph with good accuracy to the bag.

Hunter Lindquist, C/1B, Totino Grace, 2016
6-foot-3, 205-pound catcher/first baseman who ran a 7.91 60. Big knee to knee trigger to swing. Flat line drive bat path through zone. Balance is good and keeps hands back. Upright at times causing top spin; solid ground ball contact gap to gap with average power. 81 mph exit velocity off tee. Shows rhythm and energy around bag. Makes tough plays and moves better than average for first baseman. 71 mph across infield. Upright stance behind plate. Late at times to blocking position. Works too hard to frame pitches. Stands up to throw- loses power from lower half. Would benefit by staying lower and working through the plate. Release is long created by hitch in arm stroke. 2.31 pop time with 70 mph arm strength. Big physical body that projects more as a first baseman at the college level.

Jake Malec, C, Proctor, 2016
6-foot, 175-pound catcher with lean body who ran a 7.12 60. Front heel trigger into short rotational swing. Base is slightly narrow and swings mostly with upper half. Solid contact with spray approach. Bat is short through zone. Strength in bat with 86 mph exit velocity. Good flexibility behind the plate. Shows ability to receive. Is quick to block. Head will get away from him at times losing body control in block. Comes out low with great momentum to second base. Exchange is clean. Long arm action effecting pop times. All throws were on bag with plus accuracy. 2.12 pop time with 72 mph arm strength. Has requisite tools. Some things need to be cleaned up. High Follow with ability to catch right away and has strength in swing.

Thomas Nemec, C, Eden Prairie, 2016
5-foot-10, 200-pound catcher who ran a 7.72 60. Balanced swing with good weight transfer through at contact. Consistent solid contact. Puts aggressive swings on baseball producing hard line drives with a gap to gap approach. Hands tend to drift down into swing creating top spin at times. Shows average power but has strength in swing with 86 mph exit velocity off tee. Shows average quickness on blocking. Late at times getting in position. Works to try and frame pitches. Tends to slide around plate at times on catch and throw losing momentum and direction. Length in exchange by taking glove down and around to throwing hand. Clean exchange to hand. Showed average accuracy to second base with a 2.13 pop time and 68 mph arm strength.

Zachary Sufka, C, St. Cloud Cathedral, 2016
6-foot-1, 195-pound catcher with a strong durable build who ran a 7.32 60. Swing is balanced. Stiff mechanics. Swings with shoulders. Some hand drift down causing slight uphill plane. Would like to see him use hands more in swing and not fight with barrel. Solid contact during BP with gap to gap approach. 83 mph exit velocity off tee. Shows strength receiving. Thumb get underneath at times. Has flexibility behind the plate- quick to block, soft body, keeps ball close. Best blocker of event. Stands straight up to throw. Loses lower half and momentum. Long arm action. 2.25 pop time with 71 mph arm strength. Has projectable body and ability. Needs to refine some things. Will continue to develop and be solid catcher/bat in college.

Noah Vreeman, C, Willmar, 2016
6-foot-2, 180-pound catcher with long lanky build who ran a 7.88 60. Knee to knee trigger. Quality set-up and mechanics. Inline stride with balance in swing. Solid bat. Consistently squared baseball during BP. Short to contact with quiet head. Average power with gap to gap approach. 82 mph exit velocity off tee. Shows ability to receive and block. Will lose body control at times in block. Stands straight up to throw. Loses momentum and power from lower half. Exchanges are clean and direct to throwing hand. Throws from low elbow ¾ slot. 2.37 pop time with 66 mph arm strength.

Jacob Wegner, C, Apple Valley, 2016
5-foot-11, 160-pound catcher with an average build who ran a 7.62 60. Stride with front heel turn trigger. Hands drift down before swing. Struggles to get on top of baseball. Shows some quickness with bat with average power and gap to gap approach. 79 mph exit velocity off tee. Shows ability to receive and block. Good body control in blocking mechanics. Catches ball too far out; lengthening time to get ball to throwing hand. Exchange is low at times. Slight hitch in release with average accuracy to second base. 2.28 pop time with 68 mph arm strength.

Austin Warren, C, Prior Lake, 2016
6-foot, 175-pound catcher with an athletic build who ran a 7.47 60. Rolls shoulders to load. Strides slightly across body to swing. Flat bat path through zone. Front foot hitter with above average pop to pull side of field. Shows hand eye coordination in swing. Solid contact with all pull approach. 83 mph exit velocity off tee. Average flexibility behind the plate. Soft hands receiving. High set-up. Late to blocking position at times. Shows quick feet and fast release on throws to second base. Glove exchange is long at times but exchange is clean. 2.06 pop time and 71 mph arm strength.